We had a lovely, long, relaxing vacation at Grandma Kitty's house in Montana. We drove straight through, both directions, for a total of 20.5 hrs in the car. Hazel was a trooper, never complained about the ride, and was happy to just read books, listen to Christmas music, and color. This is our first stop, at the Ginkgo Petrified Forest in Vantage. Sadly, Hazel had just tripped over a rock and scraped her knee. So I'm trying to find things to distract her - not much out there - as she cries and recovers.
We had walked about 15 feet from our car, when it was time to stop and rest on a wall on our way to the July 4th parade. Come on guys, it's only one more block.
There's Grandma Kitty! How often do you see your own grandma in the parade?
Jumping up and down - probably in anticipation of the next candy being thrown her way. Tootsie Rolls are a new favorite of hers.
After the parade, we stopped in at the Polson Historical Museum, where Hazel posed with Daddy's fire truck out back. They had free ice cream and fun pioneer stuff to play with in the kids' area. 2010 is Polson's centennial year, and Daddy's family has lived in the area just a wee bit longer. It's fun to find relatives in the school pictures hanging on the walls of the museum.
Hazel borrowed Aunt Trudy's festive hat and had fun with bubbles on the deck.
She was excited to be able to blow her own bubbles with this pipe and through a regular bubble wand. Being able to blow your own bubbles is very important.
We discovered some new toys in the basement we hadn't seen before... another train set and several felt board sets, of which Hazel was enamored. Here's Hazel modeling a Little Red Riding Hood cape that Grandma made for Aunt Trudy - we'll have to borrow it for Halloween some year when Hazel's a little bit bigger.
Hazel knew we were headed to Glacier to camp and go boating, so she wanted a fishing pole. This one was really neat. The fish is permanently attached, and you can cast it way out and reel it back in. I don't have any pictures from our boat trip, but Hazel had a blast reeling that fish in over and over and over again. She and Daddy got a little practice ahead of time out on the deck.
Okay, so we cheated a little at camping, but it sure was nice to be inside and away from the mosquitoes, and I felt a little safer from the bears. Hazel and Daddy did see a bear, just across the road from our campsite. Is it every father's first instinct to grab his three year old and get closer to the bear to see it better?
Hazel continues to dislike loud noises. On the 4th, she watched individual fireworks with ear plugs, while waiting for the big show to start. Once it started, however, it was too loud and she and I had to watch from inside the car. She endured the crackling fire for 5-10 minutes and then had had enough. She did stay outside long enough to try one bite of one toasted marshmallow, and that was enough for her.
She thought sleeping above the cab was pretty neat. I realized just how little sleep parents get when camping. Zzzz...
We rode the air conditioned park shuttle up to a lovely little walk in the woods. Hazel's lack of sleep caught up with her, and she took a 45 minute nap on the bus.
Her nap still didn't give her enough energy for the whole less-than-a-mile hike, and here's an advantage of her weighing only 32 lbs.
The summer heat finally kicked in, and Hazel enjoyed playing in the sprinkler... if we kept it about 2 ft high. Anything else was too high!
We had walked about 15 feet from our car, when it was time to stop and rest on a wall on our way to the July 4th parade. Come on guys, it's only one more block.
There's Grandma Kitty! How often do you see your own grandma in the parade?
Jumping up and down - probably in anticipation of the next candy being thrown her way. Tootsie Rolls are a new favorite of hers.
After the parade, we stopped in at the Polson Historical Museum, where Hazel posed with Daddy's fire truck out back. They had free ice cream and fun pioneer stuff to play with in the kids' area. 2010 is Polson's centennial year, and Daddy's family has lived in the area just a wee bit longer. It's fun to find relatives in the school pictures hanging on the walls of the museum.
Hazel borrowed Aunt Trudy's festive hat and had fun with bubbles on the deck.
She was excited to be able to blow her own bubbles with this pipe and through a regular bubble wand. Being able to blow your own bubbles is very important.
We discovered some new toys in the basement we hadn't seen before... another train set and several felt board sets, of which Hazel was enamored. Here's Hazel modeling a Little Red Riding Hood cape that Grandma made for Aunt Trudy - we'll have to borrow it for Halloween some year when Hazel's a little bit bigger.
Hazel knew we were headed to Glacier to camp and go boating, so she wanted a fishing pole. This one was really neat. The fish is permanently attached, and you can cast it way out and reel it back in. I don't have any pictures from our boat trip, but Hazel had a blast reeling that fish in over and over and over again. She and Daddy got a little practice ahead of time out on the deck.
Okay, so we cheated a little at camping, but it sure was nice to be inside and away from the mosquitoes, and I felt a little safer from the bears. Hazel and Daddy did see a bear, just across the road from our campsite. Is it every father's first instinct to grab his three year old and get closer to the bear to see it better?
Hazel continues to dislike loud noises. On the 4th, she watched individual fireworks with ear plugs, while waiting for the big show to start. Once it started, however, it was too loud and she and I had to watch from inside the car. She endured the crackling fire for 5-10 minutes and then had had enough. She did stay outside long enough to try one bite of one toasted marshmallow, and that was enough for her.
She thought sleeping above the cab was pretty neat. I realized just how little sleep parents get when camping. Zzzz...
We rode the air conditioned park shuttle up to a lovely little walk in the woods. Hazel's lack of sleep caught up with her, and she took a 45 minute nap on the bus.
Her nap still didn't give her enough energy for the whole less-than-a-mile hike, and here's an advantage of her weighing only 32 lbs.
The summer heat finally kicked in, and Hazel enjoyed playing in the sprinkler... if we kept it about 2 ft high. Anything else was too high!
Unbelievably, this was Hazel's first corn on the cob. She tried a few bites and asked me to cut the corn from the cob. 
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