Lettuce Wraps

Montanna and Eden got a PBS Kids Movie from the library. It was the TV Show Arthur and they sat and watched it one day. Inbetween episodes there was a commercial for healthy eating and showed kids enjoying lettuce wraps. The kids in the comercial even said, "healthy food is delicious" They pulled me into the room and asked me to rewind it and if we could eat Lettuce Wraps for dinner one night. They even kept repeating "healthy food is delicious"! I had no problem with making lettuce wraps and love eating them but since I already had a plan for dinner that night we didn't do it right then. 

We were busy until late the next night and ate a quick thrown together dinner and the girls were still asking for Lettuce Wraps. The next night I finally made them. I thought they were delicious!  I made a marinade with sesame seed oil, rice vinegar, lime zest, lime juice, red pepper flakes, green onions, minced garlic and poured 1/2 of the marinade over the steak and saved the other 1/2 to eat with the lettuce wraps. I cut the steak really thin and cooked it and added shoe string carrots, bean sprouts and water chestnuts and made rice to go with it. The girls were so excited about eating dinner that night until... they took a bite. 

They did not like lettuce wraps at all. It was one of those dinners where they had to take a few bites of everything and it was torture getting everything down. Bummer. But, at least they are willing to try new things even if a TV show was the inspiration behind that great idea.

Ashes

The Webb family reunion was in early August in Virginia this year and since it was so far away and Adam was away on a work trip, we weren't able to go this year. So... we got to watch Ashes for Adam's cousins while they went to the reunion. Montanna and Eden are such good babysitters! They love Ashes and he loves them to a certain point and then he hides under my bed until he is ready to come out for more "love" from Montanna and Eden. We had him for about 10 days and he just came back to visit us for Labor Day Weekend too. The girls are running around in circles they are so excited he is back for a visit.

Montana

I have some catching up to do! Be prepared for a photo album documenting most of our really fun vacation to visit Grandma and Papa this summer. We were really lucky that both Lesley and Lauren decided to make their trips around the same time and so Montanna and Eden had so much fun playing and swimming with all but 2 of their cousins.We started off the trip with Lesley and Cameron spending the night at our house before we all took off the next morning.

All of the girls are dressed and ready to go and Lesley kept them entertained by reading them stories while I made sure the house was left in good shape before we took off for two weeks. Pinkalicious is always a favorite.

It was so nice having someone to travel with. I followed Cameron and Lesley most of the way to Bigfork and the girls all oved it because they got to ride with their cousins which made it more entertaining for them. Both Aubrey and Montanna hardly EVER take naps but Lesley got a picture of them snoozing after the DVD Player cord broke and watching movies was no longer an option. :)

We were in the water swimming almost every day we were visiting. Flathead Lake was the perfect temperature and it was so nice and hot outside that we were all excited to get in the water each day. I think the only day we missed getting in a lake was Sunday. We may have set a new record for the amount of time spent in the water! This picture was taken on the first night we arrived and since it was evening it was a little chilly for the girls, but they loved the water anyway and couldn't wait for a popsicle even though they were freezing eating them. 

Papa gave these three girls a special ride in the back of the truck after swimming down at Wayfarers. They had fun, but were happy to get into the truck as soon as we got to the highway. 

We spent quite a bit of time with Great Grandma and Great Papa Jelly Bean. Aubrey started that nickname and this time it really stuck. Grandma always has jelly beans and candy for the kids and so the name fits! She also had a special surprise and gave them bubbles. We all had fun visiting and sitting on the deck blowing bubbles.

There are also lots and lots of flowers and plants to water at their house and each girl had to have a turn. 

Lesley and Ada in Flathead

One day Cameron, Lesley, Aubrey, Ada, Montanna, Eden and I went up to the cabin for the day. We did everything you could possibly do in a day and crammed it all in. We got in our swim suits and rowed into the lake for a swim.

Cameron got shots of us all jumping off the rock. Go Lesley!

Eden and Montanna became quite the swimmers this trip and loved jumping in the water, floating and swimming. Here is a picture of me swimming and Eden floating in Swan Lake.

Cameron was taking pictures and felt this little crawdad tickling his foot. He caught it and let the girls take a look at it before we let it go. 

Montanna and Aubrey were brave and wanted to touch it and see what it felt like. They just had to watch out for the pinchers.

Aubrey and the Crawdad.

Aubrey and Eden riding in the boat.

Ada and Eden in the boat.

Eden and Montanna collecting seaweed.

Ada and I watching the boat ride from the cabin.

Cabin shot

Montnana, Eden, Ada, Lesley and I riding in the boat.

My cousin Joe got married while we were visiting and all the girls loved getting dressed up and going to the wedding and reception. It was in such a beautifu spot on Echo Lake and Carly and Joe both looked amazing. We didn't get any pictures of them though! :( The girls kept us busy chasing after them and making sure they didn't end up in the water. It was such a hot day and we spent some time at the wedding and reception and then we snuck off and went for a swim in the lake. 

All of the girls loved the cherry tree in Bobbi and Mike's backyard. We would stop at the tree and eat a few before and after each swim session. The cherries were perfect!

Aubrey loved them more than anyone and asked for them all the time. 

Helping Grandma Make cookies! Yum!

Montanna building a tower out of the corian blocks at Grandma and Pap's house.

Lesley and I made delicious baked Maple Bars on Sunday and they were so good. Both Lesley and I agreed that the frosting was good enough to eat alone. It was almost like a maple fudge.

Great Grandma and Great Papa came over for dinner on night and again the kids are all entertained by a story. Lauren, Brian, Brynlee and Emily came on Saturday and joined in on all of our fun!

Ada had fun pretending to shoot people with this little toy gun. Papa was perfect at acting like he was really hurt and she loved it!

Ada and the toy gun. 

Grandma reading stories.

Montana 2

More pictures of the fun we had visiting Montana 

Montanna and Aubrey relaxing outside Grandma and Papa's house.

There were a lot of wagon rides and black cap picking. I think the black caps were one of the biggest reasons the girls wanted to go for walks. they would come back with blue mouths and black cap juice on their clothes and smiles on their faces. 

Fun in the water.

Eden the little swimming fish.

Montanna the little swimming fish.

Lunch picnic on the deck of the cabin.

Aubrey and Montanna lounging on the bunk beds.

After lunch we took a walk on the cabin road. It was so pretty up there!

Montanna on the trail.

Eden was getting tired of walking but made it all the way and back. We were starting to get some tired girls around this point. 

Montanna, Eden and I stayed at Great Grandma and Papa's house a few nights we were there since Britney came and visited us! Britney stayed with us there and the girls were so excited to see her. Montanna and Eden collected special rocks in the morning....

and Grandma got out paints and let them paint their rocks! They had so much fun!

Montanna painting her rocks.

Eden and Montanna showing Great Pap their masterpieces. As you can see, Eden got paint on her shrt and got to finish painting with no shirt!

It wouldn't be a trip Kalispell without a visit to Woodland Park to feed the ducks. We were so glad that there weren't any mean geese around to chase the girls this year, just nice quiet ducks. They both went through about a loaf of bread. The ducks were very well fed by the end of our time there. 

Pretty Girls 

Feeding the ducks

The girls love the water almost as much as Britney does and were doing acrobatics in the water. These pictures were taken on Britney's last day with us in Bigfork and we all got Swimmer's Itch. Britney got it worse than everyone combined because she was in the water almost the entire time we were there. 

Montanna and Britney doing tricks.

Montanna on the dock. 

We all went out to dinner at Burger Town one night and had a yummy Flathead Monster. I think all the kids had a good time and it was a fun end to our visit. Here is Brynlee, Grandma, Ada, and Emily eating their yummy food.

We left for Thompson Falls the next day to meet Adam and spend some time with our friends The Wendlings at their cabin.

Eden, Carter, Whitney, Montanna and Tristan at the Cabin in Thompson Falls.

Adam and Jake building a bonfire. The kids loved this. The Clark Fork was the perfect temperature as well and the girls had fun laying with their new friends and floating the river and jumping off the dock. We were sad when our little vacation was over, but we made so many fun memories and loved being lucky enough to spend so much time with family and fiends in such beautiful places.