Trauma

Ever had one of those days where everything just keeps going wrong? Well, the DeWilde girls did today.

This morning something actually went right when Madison & Breanne unloaded the dishwasher and Aliya tried to help. That was actually great because the big girls thought it was fun to have Aliya "help" them.

Not too long after that, Breanne got her finger slammed in the van door by Madison. Ouch! This wound took hours to even start to feel better. The good news is Madison got to practice showing compassion toward Breanne. Thankfully, Breanne can still move all her fingers, they aren't too swollen and they didn't bleed.

A couple hours later, Madison and Breanne were racing to the deck to help make Breanne birthday party invitations when Breanne accidently tripped Madison and Madison got a bad scape on her knee. The good news here is that it didn't bleed too much and looked pretty good after we cleaned it up with some soap and water.

Minutes later, Aliya decided to eat sand. No matter what we did, she kept grabbing it and shoving it into her mouth. I tried taking her to the garden hose to rinse off some of the sand from her mouth. I was not very successful, but my neighbor walking past probably got a chuckle out of the sight.

By now, it's dinner time. Aliya's, "I'm getting tired and I'm getting hungry and so could you just hold me?" time. I was busy making dinner when Aliya pulled up on my legs, let go of my pant legs and instantly nose-dived into the step stool.

Calgon, take me away!

Squirrel!

Oh what a night! This past Friday, we took the girls to the Drive-In Movie Theater. We packed blankets and our camp chairs and the girls were ready to go. We were no more than parked and Madison points over to the concessions and says, "Um, I think that they might sell popcorn over there." The first movie was "Up." We all enjoyed it. But our favorite line (or word) was when the dogs that could talk would stop mid-sentence, point and say, "Squirrel!" All weekend long, we've been doing that with the girls. Madison will do it and then say, "That's kinda funny!"
Derrick and I (well I guess I didn't quite stay awake through all of it) stayed up for the 2nd movie, "Race to Witch Mountain." However, 2am is way too late for us old duffers! We could hardly function on Saturday morning.
Madison and Breanne made Derrick coffee Sunday morning for Father's Day. He finally got his coffee maker for the camper, and we had his favorite dinner, fajittas.
After dinner, our kind and gracious neighbor came over to round up the big girls and give them a horse ride. Joe has two easy-going horses: Red & Sam. Madison (our thrill-seeker) didn't hesitate a second and hopped right on. Joe said, "She's a natural." Meanwhile I'm thinking, horses are expensive; I hope daddy has a lot of money! Breanne took a little more convincing. I had to ride with her, but she did enjoy her ride.
This past Tuesday, our friends the Fullers stopped for a very quick visit. They moved to Kentucky last October and had to make a quick trip to Montana. The girls were very excited to see their friends and I enjoyed seeing them too! I was thinking it would be easier than 8 months ago because all the girls are older...however, Brandee pointed out that we added 2 babies to the mix....so it was still mass chaos! Oh, well!

Brandee loves on Aliya.

Mud Pie Soup. It's what's for dinner.

Breanne and Aimee.This morning, I picked some strawberries from our little strawberry patch. The bad news is, these berries are "enlarged to show texture." The good news is, what they lack in size, they make up for in sweetness.

Wonder Girl!

Time for another weekend adventure with the DeWilde family. Grab a cup of coffee and see our weekend unfold. We set out Friday afternoon for Woodbine Campground on the Stillwater River-a new destination for us all. The drive was beautiful and a great time for Derrick and I to catch up on our weeks since he had spent the week in Moses Lake, WA with work. Without any problems, we found a great campsite along a creek nestled among the relaxing smell of the pine trees. We were amazed at our daughters, who quickly took over setting up the camper. "No, mom, I can do this," Madison informs me as she lowers the jack from the camper. Breanne had her turn as well.

Aliya was just excited to not be camping in the cold and snow. She had a semi-"safe" place to roam in front of the camper. Truth be told, she probably ate her share of dirt, but we tried to keep the pine needles out of the digestive track.

The weather was terrific! We didn't need winter gloves, snowpants or hats. We were forever taking Madison and Breanne to the bathroom! From our campsite, they would like to take the shortcut across the creek to the toilets. Every time it was a MAJOR decision, should I take the rocks or the log across? Hmmm....(Madison only fell in once.) On the first night, we came back from the toilets to find Aliya had fallen asleep on Derrick's shoulder by the campfire. I had no idea that sometime over the course of our snowy camping trip, my oldest daughters became marshmellow "snobs." They are quite the roasters and it can't be burnt, they need red coals, no flames.....and they can polish off 1/2 a bag of marshmellows quite quickly! Breanne prefers the traditional s'more.Madison on the other hand likes the sm'oreo. She very carefully roasts her marshmellow to perfection, untwists the oreo and sandwiches it between the oreos cookies. We are unsure of the official count on how many of these she can polish off.

Saturday morning we started off with a big breakfast and got ready to hit the trail to Sioux Charlie Lake. A hike that follows the Stillwater and is 3.1 miles in length. This was Breanne's first big hike as a hiker, as opposed to a rider in the backpack.
The river was raging and loud. Madison often covered her ears, draining out the loud sound of the rushing water.
There is still much snow on the mountains as you can see in the pictures. It is so beautiful!
Aliya is a great rider. And didn't hardly complain a bit! I think she likes to be along and watch everything around her. She also slept a little bit. I have never hiked in Montana among so many flowers and butterflies. They were everywhere. Madison and Breanne loved it!The highlights of the hike were the exciting words from the trail blazer (or line leader) "Water on the trail," to warn everyone that we were about to cross a little stream or creek of water. It was kinda fun and no one even got wet. Breanne was even getting really good at navigating these crossing on the return trip. It made it exciting. We praised Breanne up and down for this huge feat (hiking 6.2 miles!) We have now nicknamed her "Wonder Girl" (I started this 2 weeks ago when she biked 4-miles..including up and down the big hill on Senators.)

Shortly after arriving at the lake, a couple came to inform us that they had seen a black bear 1/4 mile further up the trail. We really didn't want any bear encounters so we headed back down the trail and found a grassy spot on the other side of the lake. Breanne told us this was the lake without a bear by it. We nodded and just didn't tell her it was the same lake, different shore. We laid out the rain poncho and all laid down to rest. It was awesome to open our eyes and see this view.On Sunday, we planned to see the Woodbine Falls. A small hike (.8 miles one way) to see a fairly large waterfall.

Madison and Breanne were more excited about the water trickling off a rock on the way up the trail.
We returned to the campsite and Breanne and Madison were ready for another hike. Apparently a 2-mile hike isn't enough for our girls. We went on a couple little adventures along the creeks that flow into the Stillwater and around the campsite before packing up and returning home.
It's so nice to get away, but being home and able to shower is equally wonderful! Here's our newested bath tub fan, smilin' in the tub.

Until next time...

I'm movin' on up!

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas?

Ah, time to get outdoors in the wide open spaces of the Montana wilderness and go camping. Weeks ago, our small group planned a weekend of fun camping in the Custer National Forest. Great idea. As the weekend neared, we all noticed the forecast called for cold weather and possibly precipitation (some in the form of snow.) Ultimately, we decided to tough it out. After all, we are Montanans, right?

We left Friday morning and arrived at the campsite about noon. As I jumped out of the pick-up after a long drive I said, "I'm so hot!" knowing it may be the ONLY time I might say this all weekend. The day turned out to be great. We set up camp with no problems, ate lunch and decided to check out the nearby lake and do some fishing with the girls. Derrick is so good with them, helping them cast and even taught them to put the corn on the hook themselves. (Yes, these fish eat corn...DelMonte Spinners.) Once the girls were finished fishing, we headed back to see if anyone else had joined the camp. The Bichas had arrived and in no time at all had their gear all set up. Before long both the Rauch and Stewart familes arrived and set up tents, just before the rain started falling. Thank goodness Fred was prepared with two large tarps that we could shelter under while the rain fell. As the temperatures fell, it was time to make coffee! No problem, we had so cleverly placed our old coffee pot in the camper and with the battery power, we can use it....except, not quite. Apparently, the battery doesn't supply AC power (I think that what term Derrick used.) Plan B: heat water for hot chocolate. We warmed ourselves by the heater in the camper and within a few hours, the rain let up and we cooked pizza pies and s'mores over the fire. The girls went to bed and we all stayed warm in the camper.

We were thrilled to awake Saturday morning to sunshine. It was going to be a great day! The girls slept in, we had a great breakfast and set off to hike and fish. Breanne was getting quite good at casting her Barbie fishing rod! And Madison totally impressed us with her patience and endurance fishing. Aliya was a great camper, enjoyed riding in the backpack carrier and especially loved driving daddy's truck!

The Ottenbachers arrived late in the morning. Lucky for Madison and Breanne, who were thrilled to play with Toby and Karissa. They played in the Ottenbacher "tent camp." Later, they went fishing with Toby and Karissa. The day got colder as it went on. And then the rain began. Foil dinners were cooked over the hot coals in the rain. I was lucky, I "had" to eat inside the camper with the kids. By the time dinner was over, it was definitely without doubt, snowing!

We tried to make the best of it. We bundled up the girls and everyone made s'mores around the fire. By this point, Madison and Breanne can both roast their own marshmellows. Derrick lost count of how many s'mores or s'm-oreos they had. (Charisty had conviced Madison that she could make the world's first s'm-oreos with a roasted marshmellow and an oreo.) Breanne lost her hat hiking, so she had to wear my had. Everyone called her a little nome.It's amazing what you learn about your friends when you're camping in the snow. I'm sure everyone saw that I was stressed and crabby by this point. I learned the Jon is the realist...not upset about it by any means. Just real! He'd inform us just how cold it really was. (38 degrees, NOT 40.) And that yes, it was still snowing. And Fred, he's the optimist, "I was banking on the 30% chance it wasn't going to snow." As I tried to sit by the fire (in the snow) with Aliya in my lap, I can hear Toby singing, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas..." At least now I can laugh about it.

We set up a movie theater in the camper for the kids. They looked so cute cuddled up together under blankets. Derrick tucked the girls in bed and asked them, "What do you think about camping in the snow?" They quickly said, "Good!"

Sunday morning I woke up to get Aliya out of her crib (she slept wonderfully thank goodness!) and laughed at God's sense of humor. Six inches of snow (or more) covered everything. And it was still lightly falling. The camper held out great...the heater ran all night. We didn't even know we had a 4-season camper!At this point, it's best to count your losses, pack up and go home! Derrick started packing right away. Again, I "had" to stay in the camper with the kids. (I'm so spoiled!)

We all headed into Red Lodge for some breakfast at the local cafe. Best pancakes I've ever had and the best company too!

First S'mores...

Last Friday, we had some friends over to enjoy the evening. We grilled and visited while the kids played in the backyard. We greatly enjoyed spending time with our friends!! We had a campfire and made smores. Madison enjoyed her first marshmellow of the season. This is our friend Peyton. He just enjoyed the fire. Derrick coined him "Pyro Peyton." He was pretty cute being the master of the fire ring. And here's Toby. He apparently likes his s'mores "crispy!"

We experienced only one injury for the evening. Grace got a cut on her finger and we bandaged it up. Amazing what a Barbie band-aid can do!