Playing with Jaxson

Although our outings are fun, the real highlight of our family is Jax! He is getting so big and he is holding his neck up so well. He thinks it is hilarious to roll from his tummy to his back-he will do it over and over and over.

Giant Springs State Park

This was a nice outing for a Sunday afternoon. It is a landmark where Lewis and Clark found one of the biggest natural springs in the US. I think 150 million gallons flow out from this tiny pool each year. The water bubbles up and flows right into the Missouri. It was really neat to see how clean the water was and how colorful the plant life was underwater. There was also a fish hatchery that we walked through. We walked along the river edge trail for a bit, attempting to spot some wild life...no luck. Apparently, beavers and foxes frequent the area often...no luck for us! Jaxson slept through almost the whole thing. He woke up as we were leaving.

World Famous Sip n Dip and Piano Pat

Okay, this was really funny. My mom was here to babysit, so Tim and I got to slip away for a bit. We went to this bar that has mermaids swimming in a pool behind the bar! On our night...there was even a merman. We thought this was the good part....then came Piano Pat. She is about 90 years old, plays the keyboard, and sings music from Johnny Cash to ACDC. It was so classic. From the words of Piano Pat and "Sweet Caroline," our night was "So good, so good, so good."

Mom Visits

My mom came to play for a few days! It was so fun having her-I finally had a babysitter to get my hair done. We also had Tim's company barbecue-he put it together (and did a great job)! We went to dinner at a steak restaurant way out by some farms...it was nice. She stayed next door and I was jealous of her hotel! Her trip went so fast!

Weekend

After a week of being in the hotel, I was ready to get out and about over the weekend with Tim. We went to the sidewalk sale downtown, and then went to the CM Russell Museum. He is a famous cowboy painter that settled in the area. There were many paintings and sculptures that really showed the progression of the white man taking over and influencing the cultures and practices of the natives. There was also a very cool Buffalo exhibit that depicted the many ways bison sustained the people, and essentially, the whole western movement. The whole situation was really sad. Millions of buffalo became hundreds within a decade. There were also some cool Indian artifacts that were intricately designed. As you see in the pictures, there was a play room for the kids....or parents. Jax was sleeping most of the time. On Sunday, we went to the Montana State Fair..interesting people watching. We missed the pig races and hot dog contest, but we didn't skip out on watching the Spam contest and playing games. We didn't stop in to see the half-woman/half-snake. We enjoyed some classic corn dogs and cotton candy....oh the fair.... By the way, the horse's name (the one Tim is riding in the picture) is midnight :)

Paris Gibson Art Museum

Jax and I visited the museum, which is located on an entire block of downtown. The building is a giant square that used to be a school-very cool building. The featured exhibit was a collection of pieces that discouraged and mocked hate crimes. It was some heavy stuff. My favorite thing was a room full of tree people. Each "peron" was constructed from a tree branch and each was decorated in a unique way.

The Brady Family Visits

On our second weekend here in Great Falls, Tim and Kelly (Tim's parents) came up to see the new place. We checked out local restaurants and downtown shops. They brought fresh Huckleberries from McCall and made pancakes. We checked out the farmer's market and went to the horseraces.