Big Sky Country vacation!

There's nothing like going for a visit in a whole different place to refresh you, and reset your perspective at home. The kids and I spent a week enjoying my sister and brother in law's company in Montana, and now I'm back at Mountain Meadow getting back into the groove of things! I figured an appropriate "back to Steemit" post would be sharing some of our travel adventures!

The kids on the plane! All photos are my own.

Flying from West Virginia to Montana with two preschoolers in tow sounds daunting; but luckily, I enjoy flying, and the kids have periodically traveled long distances since they were two-month-old infants, so they are used to the process. This was only their second plane roundtrip, though. They got a little squirrelly in the last hour of the second flight going out to Montana, because those little legs and voices had been cooped up all day and couldn't seem to help getting wiggly and loud...but they were at least well-behaved and happy wiggly and loud ;)

Old Homestead Exploration

Pixie in the wildflowers on some public land

It was overcast and/or rainy much of the visit, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out and about. One of our first little adventures was up to an old orchard and abandoned homestead site that had been donated to become public lands. My sister said it's popular for picnicking and hiking and exploring. We had the whole place to ourselves that morning and enjoyed looking at the gnarly old fruit trees and remains of the homestead.

Little Man in the building--we couldn't decide whether it had been a cabin, stable, or perhaps both at one time or another.

One of the log ends on the building.

Heading back to the truck, Little Man romped ahead through the high grass, enjoying the wide open spaces!

My sister was in front of Pixie, with me bringing up the rear, when a grouse suddenly exploded out of the grass, wings whirring wildly, smack in front of her feet. She stopped short, watching the grouse which landed close by, and then said "She's staying so close, I wonder if she has a nest..." and looked down. Sure enough, inches from her toes were four adorable, and tiny, grouse chicks hiding in the grass!

Can you find all four?

Mama Grouse did not approve, but I believe she sensed that we meant no harm, because while she circled us and clucked warnings, she left us alone. We admired her babies and then departed, respectfully not touching any although it was terribly tempting!

Wonderfully fragrant wild roses.

Hanging Out!

My sister and brother in law have their own homestead life going on! The kids were right at home--and yep, we went on vacation with our muck boots! :) Pixie took over the chore of gathering the chicken and duck eggs every day. Little Man was positively delighted with the ducks and thought they were the funniest things ever to chase, thanks to their loudly quacked protests. I finally had to ban duck chasing, but the chickens were fair game, and got caught and cuddled pretty frequently.

Pixie really liked the wire chicken-shaped basket for egg gathering.

LOL at the chicken seeming to ask "Can I have that carrot?"

HORSES!!! Pixie was in heaven. She considered it her duty to help feed them their hay every morning and evening; even if she was in her pajamas or in the middle of playing, she'd scramble for her boots at the announcement "I'm going to feed the horses." And yes, she and Little Man both got to go for a "ride" twice!

She's got a little more growing to do to reach those stirrups, ha!

Various Lake Adventures

Bridge across Lake Koocanusa.

We tried three different days to walk across this loooong bridge HIGH above Lake Koocanusa--which is really a 90-mile long reservoir created by the Libby Dam on the Kootenai River, and crosses from Montana into Canada. "Koocanusa" is a mishmash name of Kootenai (Indians), Canada, and USA, and was created to commemorate the treaty among the 3 entities to establish the dam.

View of Lake Koocanusa from a little way out on the bridge.

The first time we tried to cross, the brisk breeze on shore turned out to be high winds out over the reservoir, and we retreated to the truck before going very far. The second time, we made it halfway across, and then heard thunder rumbling from this storm cloud that unexpectedly popped over the mountain top behind us.

Bridges + lightning = NO THANKS!

After that we put off the bridge venture for another day, and decided to explore a small lake with a short hiking trail leading to it, that my sister and BIL had not yet checked out. Their 2 dogs and a fishing pole completed the party.

Great exercise for those energetic little legs!

Tranquil fishing in the crystal clear, amazingly bright green water...must be glacier fed.

After about a minute, one of the kids threw the Labrador's ball into the water, and the Lab was quickly followed by the other dog and both children. So much for fishing! We hung around and watched the kids and dogs play, instead.

They insisted it wasn't too cold!

We then left that lake, drove a short ways, and checked out yet another lake that had a beautifully maintained swimming beach and picnic area. The kids didn't want to get in the water again, so my BIL introduced them to Something New: the joys of sucking the nectar out of honeysuckles!

Pixie very much enjoyed this, and insisted that I pick honeysuckles with her while Little Man walked along the beach with his aunt and uncle.

Bright little treasures.

I'll have to cover the rest of our adventures and lovely photos in another post, since this one got long! I hope you enjoyed it--Have a great day, and it's good to be back! :)