Family Float

I've often said that the Missouri River runs through my blood...its true...its in my family.  We all love this mighty river, it flows within our family's history like a living being.  My grandparents, Ruth and Fred Barrett bought their house on "The River" when I was in elementary school.  We grew up fishing, finding crawdads, floating, swimming, barbecuing, climbing trees, hiking, catching snakes, bouncing on inner-tubes, and hitting golf balls across the river.  We ate crawdads, raspberries, apples, and chokecherries. Many family members, friends, and acquaintances have happy memories of Grandma and Grandpa sharing their little piece of paradise. 

We all loved this place and continue to frequent it even though "The River" property has left our family. This river was in our blood before the fly fishermen from who knows where discovered it.  We were swimming among the fish with our swim goggles when nobody would tell us not to go into their fishing hole.  Times change, places change, people discover your secret places...yet its not gone.  We still have those fantastic memories of growing up discovering on our river.  

I want to give a shout out to my family who does a "hecka" time keeping our memories alive on the Mighty Mo!  I love you all...Mom and Dad, Pam and Dan with your beautiful girls, Tony as well as our three future river runners, Randy and Sally too!  I love this place!

Mom and Dad getting ready to launch.

Pam and Morgan in the canoe

Syd, Amelia, Brenna, Dad, and Mom just getting going.

Peace!

Let the water fight begin.

My beautiful Mom!

Syd had the choice weapon.

Our copilot was a river natural.

Amelia and Morgan testing the waters.

Dad showing how it's done.

Sydney...animal lover and adventurer rolled into one.

Trying out the stool.

Love this smile.

Sweet talented Morgan trying out the water.

 She really does have no fear.

Our beautiful Brenna taking it easy.

Wish my girls were with us for this perfect day.  The best part about the Missouri is that there is always water when you find the time...so next time.

Lewis and Clark Caverns Spring Trip

When I began thinking about what do and where to go this Memorial Day Weekend I was really hoping to get on some water somewhere..anywhere.  I schemed up this grand plan to go somewhere I can't remember going and where my girls have never gone, Lewis and Clark Caverns along the Jefferson River.  I've never spent time in this part of the state and my only reference was maps, Google Earth, and various websites about the Jefferson River Canoe Trail.  I was excited to get a reservation at the state park and went about trying to figure out how to do our shuttle.  I thought the road to a bridge 9 miles down from the camp area looked remote and totally safe for the girls and I to ride our bikes along to do our shuttle.  Easy, we could just leave Skip at camp and take the boat down to the launch, drive the car to the bridge and ride home.

As the weeks went on and I told people my plan I got some looks, concerned looks, some questions, "Are you sure you can ride that far?"  It wasn't until my Mom gave me the "your going to kill me" look that I conceded that the river part of this trip wasn't going to pan out.  It finally got warm in Montana and the rivers were flowing.  After getting to camp I was sure glad we made the decision to just camp, hike, and bike for the weekend.  Lessons learned.

Our neighbor, Kendall, is like a sister to my two girls.  I was packing up the car and she somehow convinced her mom and I to let her "stow away" on our weekend camp trip.  Three girls, one dog, three bikes, a packed car, we were set.


The campground was a little bit of a disappointment.  We had the only site in the whole place without any shade.  I do recommend using Reserve America for state parks but I don't recommend site P006!  It was hot and horrible setting up our tents.  We left soon after setting up to find a spot to put our feet in the river.  At my "takeout bridge" we got firewood and cooled off in the flooded backwater..again so glad we didn't raft.  Then into Three Forks in search for ice-cream.  We made it back to camp just in time to batten down the hatches, throw together food, and head for our tents.  It was an awesome storm!  After the rain cleared there were some great trails right off the campground for hiking and mountain bike riding.

The next day we hit the L & C Cavern tour. What a great experience for the girls! They even have kennels for no extra cost for the dogs in a shaded place.  It's a two mile hike in total starting with a trek up to the entrance.  Avery and Kendall were glued to the tour guide's side right off the bat, Kyndra and I had to push our way to the front to be with them.  They hung on every word he said, asked great questions, and had a blast.  After the tour we went to the Missouri River Headwaters State Park.  The girls were totally unimpressed but I thought it was pretty awesome seeing the roiling, muddy waters.  The water looks so different than what we see on the Missouri around here.

Before we knew it we were packing up camp.  Kyndra helped roll pads, bags, and tents while the other two played at the campground.  It all goes together pretty easily with exception of putting the bikes on the rack. If anyone knows how to do this without throwing a hissy fit I'd be grateful!  Before heading home we walked/biked along the Headwaters Trail System that runs along the former Milwaukee Railroad bed.

We had a fun weekend hiking, getting some sun, and exploring.  I can't wait to go back and tackle the rivers over in this part of our beautiful state.

Cupcake Bake Off ~ Winter Birthday Party

It's always been a challenge to find fun activities for Avery's birthday.  Kyndra's birthday is usually on or around the last day of school when there is tons of fun to be had outside.  For AJ...not so much.  We've gone bowling, roller skating, and swimming.  All fun but nothing personalized.  I was scrambling last weekend, panicked that I hadn't planned anything for her special day.  Pinterest to the rescue!  I found this fun idea from a really great blog, Foodlets, that I'll be visiting again!  

Cupcake Wars!

It starts with supplies, mostly from the dollar store.  Supplies include:

• Cake Mixes
• Pans
• Aprons
• Candy for toppings
• Sprinkles
• Cupcake liners
• Mixers
• Spoons 
• Spatulas
• FROSTING! (thank you Mom!)

We choose teams from a hat and the first step was brainstorming ideas for their cupcake creations.  Kyndra was suppose to be the Expert Chef and Decorator to help with any decorating ideas.  She did end up feeling a little unneeded because these 4th graders had lots of great ideas of their own.  

 Each team had to choose two flavors for their cakes in case the other team got to the box first.  They were drawing and even using organizational charts on their brainstorm sheet.  Avery's team planned on making a mint chocolate cupcake with crushed up mints inside their batter.  The other team decided to make a white cupcake with Nerds mixed inside using the "rainbow" theme.

 Ready Set Go!

They had 1 hour and 30 minutes to bake and decorate.

 How many eggs do you need?

The only person they were suppose to ask for help was Kyndra.

This worked for awhile but Mom and I did end up breaking that rule a few times.

 Read your directions ladies.

I think these two photographs give you an idea of how involved and excited they were. It was so cool seeing them measuring, reading, talking, mixing, and laughing.  I loved how serious they were about the task and really acted like little chefs.

Avery's team measured 1 1/2 cups oil instead of 1 1/3. I saw it happen and just held my tongue.  The result was some very moist and delicious cupcakes!

 On to filling the cupcake tins.

How much is 2/3 full?

 Every good baker must make sure their batter tastes alright.

 I was in charge of the oven...I can't believe we fit 48 cupcakes in there at once.

Next came decorating.  Luckily Tony and Jaida got Avery some decorating tools for her birthday.  The squeeze bags looked great but frosting kept squeezing out the top and onto the floor!  I'm sure there is a trick to them but we didn't have time to figure it out.

 Mints to top off the wintry mint chocolate cupcakes.

Look at the rainbow plate job in the background!

They were judged 50% on taste and 50% on display.

 Our judges panel...one judge stepped up to the task so I also helped decide the winners.

In the end Avery's team won best tasting and the other team won best display.

They didn't even blink at there being two winners.

What a crew!

 After all of that sugar you wouldn't think we needed any more but what do I know?  These super chefs didn't seem to have any problem with an ice cream cake.

Ten candles!  How did that happen?

 Happy Birthday Avery Jo!

Kings Hill Recreation

If you live in or around Great Falls you've probably been winter recreating around Kings Hill area.  We spent some time last weekend sledding and snowshoeing with some friends and wanted to share some tips.

It was windy and blustery as only Montana can be but the kids didn't seem to be as disturbed by as it as I always imagine they will be.  We were on our way to meet the gals in White Sulfur Springs when my girls spotted Jazmyn's pink coat on the hill sledding.  They were into their snow pants and before I knew it headed up the hill.

Tip #1:  Dress them warm and don't tell them how badly you want to stay in the car out of the weather.

Tip #2:  If they want to take their hat or gloves off...let them (I learned this from other smart moms...it's not my hands freezing off!)

Tip #3:  Let them pull their own sled up that steep hill.

Tip #4: Let them just be cute and hold their sled if they don't want to hike up.

We stayed at the Tenderfoot Motel in White Sulfur.  They have very cozy remodeled cabins right across the street from the hot springs. The owners were very hospitable and even cooked us all a waffle breakfast in the morning.  We will definitely try to stay there again.

On to Silver Crest Winter Trails

If you have been here before you know there are pretty nice trails at Silver Crest for snowshoeing, skiing, snowmobiling, and dog sledding.

This is a nice map of the area.

You are not suppose to bring dogs on these trails and snowshoes are frowned upon on the skiing trails!

The snowshoeing trail is only about 2 miles for the whole loop and there are a lot of options for shorter treks if needed with younger kids.  There is a restroom at the trial head!  Bonus!

There are a couple of spots where the wind might pick up but for the most part it's protected by the trees. On the snowshoe loop there is one overlook with a couple of benches but no shelters available yet.

You can check out snowshoes at the Forest Service office in Great Falls for as long as three days. There is no charge for the check out!  What an awesome service.

We love this place but have recently heard about Jefferson Creek snowshoeing where we can take our dog, Skip.  Hopefully we can get out there with a map before the snow melts. 

Get out and do this great trail with kids!  It's easy, close, and fun in the snow!