Bozeman or Bust

We rolled out of Wibaux so we would have a few days in Bozeman and a few days out of a car before we had to get back on the plane to head home. 

We stopped in Billings and Nikki met us at the park with a pizza for lunch.  We played for a while to break up the trip then loaded back into the car for the final two hours.

Kya and I just got right into the lunch while everyone else played.

Helloooooo Ryker, are you in there?

We headed to Music on Main as soon as we got to town.  Ryker headed for the bounce house.

Poor Kya spends a lot of time waiting for her big brother to get done doing fun things.

I don't know why he's screaming either, Kya.

Yep, end of the night, time to go home. Ryker enjoyed the music, boogied a little, ran around in the streets, ate some delicious street vender food and was tuckered out for bed time.

 We had most of our meals on Kara's lovely deck.  Easy to clean up, much cooler, and a great view.

Of course, we took them on a campus tour....you know, just in case they want to be Bobcats.

One of the pieces of bread landed on this ducks back which really tickled Ryker.  The poor duck spent a lot of time chasing off other ducks that were trying to take it and then finally ate it himself.

Finally almost done.  He fed them a whole loaf of bread.  We tried to cut it short, but he would have none of that.

I know, way too many pictures of ducks, but I really miss the duck pond.

Snack break at the bobcat

Ready to head into the water herself

This is the slide Ryker wanted to go on. You can't even go down with someone.  You have to be old enough to go down by yourself.  He was disappointed, but luckily they had a little kid slide too.

And here it is, the duck slide!

Unfortunately we happened to go on a day that there was a storm rolling in.  It was nice and sunny until this big black cloud blocked out the sun.  It was fun while it lasted. 

Kara just explained to him what happens to little boys that won't get out of the pool when there is lightning.

Ryker was really disappointed that the pool closed so we looked for an indoor activity.  He and Kara raced remote control cars.  Then they played some arcade games.

Let me out of this thing.  This guy is a crazy driver.

Glitter gluing on Kara's deck

Ryker's favorite part about Kara's deck right now.  All the equipment lined up.

Back at the airport waiting to board our plane.  Thanks for the fun and the sun Montana!

Happy 30th!

Happy Birthday old lady!  We hope you have a wonderful weekend of fun and football.  Wish we could be there to help you celebrate, but we will see you SOON in Vegas!  Can't wait! 

Yes, I know, the least I could have done was put up a new pic for your bday.  Now that Seth is home, I'm finally going to get my dress for the wedding.  Also, my new computer will be here on Monday so maybe then I'll be able to get the rest of the pics up from this summer.  Have a great day!

Quick update

Update 1:  Seth got home last Tuesday the 6th at 10pm.  Yay! Ryker held on as long as he could, but fell asleep about 15 minutes away from the airport.  Kya was out the minute we left the house at about 8:15.  Ryker was very excited but he still did his usual look away from Seth for a couple minutes.  I think he just has feelings when he sees Seth that he can't quite understand.  He says he's happy and excited that Dad is home, but I think there is just something else there that he can't quite process instantly.  He warms up though.  I went to work a couple hours late the next day to be sure that Kya didn't feel like she was being left with a stranger and because those first few hours Seth is back are always the most entertaining.  It wasn't necessary though.  I don't know if she remembered him, but she sure did like him.  She had no problems warming up and actually couldn't get enough of him.  The entertainment was well worth missing work though.  Ryker basically went through all the "rules" with Seth.  You know, because he's been gone so long and so much has changed, he needed a refresher.  There were a lot, but here are a few to give you an idea: 

Don't ride your bike past the stump.  It's too close to the road where the cars go fast.

Shut the bathroom door or Kya plays in the toilet.

Always shut the gate because Kya can't go down stairs yet.

Don't let Kya put too much food in her mouth.

Water the pumpkin every day.

Don't feed Cosmos too much food or he will get fat.

 

Update 2:  Kya is walking.  I need to make sure I have that documented because she is now 11 months and she started sometime within her 10th month.  I'm sure someday they will ask the question of who walked first and I don't want there not to be a record of the fact that she walked within her 10th month too.  I think Ryker was a better walker by this time, but that was probably do to the fact that I was always working on his emerging skills with him.  Kya has been restrained to a stoller for much of the summer because we are always chasing Ryker on his bike.  Now that Seth is home, we will be able to give them both the time they need and Kya may even get to look at a book or two at her own speed.  Ryker started a word explosion a few months after his first birthday so it will be interesting to see what her first few words are compared to his.  She can say Mama and that is about it right now.  Ryker said Dada before Mama, but that was only because I felt bad for Seth that he had to miss so much the 6 months he was gone, that I worked extra hard with pictures of Seth teaching him Dada.  With Kya, Ryker pretty much taught her, by saying Mom 382 times a day.  He is always trying to help teach her words.  He will pick a word and say it all the way to day care in the mornings.  The only problem is that he picks words like porcupine, artichoke, kiteboarding, ect that he finds facsinating at the time.  I'll have to get out spreadsheet of his first words, (yes I have a spreadsheet, with words and dates) and have him start teaching her those.  He won't even stand for me pointing to Cosmos and saying dog.  He always has to jump in and say Cosmos or Cosi.  

Update 3:  Ryker also got a new bike a few weeks ago that I haven't even put up pictures of yet and as of last night, he is training wheel free.  He rode his balance bike for a little over a year and then basically transitioned to a peddle bike seamlessly.  He had the training wheels on for about 3 weeks to learn how to brake on his new bike, but mostly because I couldn't chase him and push Kya's stroller.  Now that Seth is home, I took them off last night and he took off.  Guess he didn't need my help anyway.  Whoever invented the balance bike is a genious!  It's pretty amazing to watch a 2 year old on a peddle bike.  Okay, so he's almost 3.  Of course, he is now pushing to have Kya start riding his old bike so we can all go.  You know those parents that push their kids too hard?  Well that will be Ryker when it comes to Kya.  He is always after her to catch up!  Actually, it is great that he is always thinking of her and wants to include her in everything.  He even told me this summer when he was talking to her about how she needs to start pooping in the toilet, that he could help her wipe when she is bigger.  I sure wish I could take him up on that.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!  We got you an extra special present, you know, because you're our favorite Mom. Since even Ty is out of town though, it has been hidden in your house for quite sometime. Now you are annoyed that you haven’t run across it, aren’t you? Well, you can run home from work and search frantically or you can wait for a phone call with your first clue.  Good luck on your hunt and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Ryker and Kya’s present will be coming in the mail soon. It will be late because I didn’t want it to give away your gift from us. Hee hee…….

We like it HOT, HOT, HOT

When we arrived at Grandma's there was an assortment of 6 squirt guns neatly displayed on the kitchen table.  Like a fly to honey, Ryker was drawn right in.

He immediately coaxed someone into filling them for him and headed outside.  I was unloading the car and he was chasing Ty around the yard.  They were around the other side of the house and I hear Cam yell "Ahhh Ty, that's not even fair."  He comes running around the other side and through the other gate to cut Ty off so Ryker could catch up to him.  I immediately knew what had happened, but for Cam to be yelling at Ty about it, is completely ironic.  Ty had jumped the fence to get away from Ryker and Ryker had to run around to the gate.  The ironic part is that Cam saw this as unfair.  Cam and Ty are 8 years apart and from the moment Ty could walk, they would play wiffle ball in the yard.  Ty would get a hit and Cam would get him out every time.  Cam would hit every ball over the fence and be home by the time Ty would make it back through the fence into the yard.  When Ty got older and could hit the ball over the fence, Cam would jump the fence, get the ball and jump back in to get Ty out before he made it home.  Of course, there were some rules to make it more fair, like Ty got ghost runners, and only had to score once to win, while Cam had to score 10 times, ect., but it was never REALLY fair for Ty.  Now Cam is going to call Ty out on it; funny how soon we forget.

Anyway, Ryker ambushed every visitor that came to the house and we filled all 6 squirt guns for the Fun Run so he squirted the runners along the way.  They were all pretty thankful though since it was so hot.

He also got plenty of use out of the hose.

Kara giving him a few pointers

When it is this hot, you play ball in your underwear.

Swingin' for the fence

Making his way around the bases

Batter up, Grandma

A line drive from Grandma puts Ryker on his butt.  Recover kid!  Get up and get her out!

Safe!  Notice Ryker is trying to push her off the base.

Pass the Ryker!

Nikki's turn to launch him

Kya chillin' with Kara

Get used to it Kya.  Cam will STILL always steal the good toys.

Trying out our parade hats

I know I already posted about the parade, but I got these from my Mom's camera and this one has Kya in it and the next ones are action shots when we got updown.

Where have all the frogs gone?

I caught a tree frog one day for Ryker in our yard and we started talking about all the frogs that we could find in Wibaux on our vacation.  Of course I told him about the time I caught 14 stuffed them in a lunchbox and road my bike home with them and about the time I found 4 tadpoles in a puddle in the Tastee Hut parking lot, took them home, built an aquarium for them and watched them transform into frogs.  I left out the part where we eventually fed them to Mr. Thompson's science class fish.  I told him there were tons and that the best frog hunter around was his Uncle Ty.  Uncle Cam came in a close second, but since Ty would be there the whole week we were, I gave the big billing to him.  Pretty soon Ryker was telling everyone that would listen how he and Ty were going to catch a whole bunch of frogs when he was on vacation.  He and his daycare buddy Keegan had even made plans for Keegan to come with us.  Of course, that fell through when they asked their parents.  We saw plenty of frogs and a couple fish, but the creek was unusually high and so was the grass from all the rain and they were able to get into the creek before we could grab them.  Ryker had a great time anyway and still tells people that his Uncle Ty knows where to catch the most frogs.  He also came away with something else that I find very interesting.  Whenever Dirt Road, by Jason Aldean comes on the radio, he yells from the backseat of the car, "Mom, turn it loud, this Uncle Ty's song, jam out!"  I asked him why it is Uncle Ty's song and he answered with a puzzled tone to his voice, like he couldn't understand why I would ask such a silly question.  "Cause we hear it in Uncle Ty's truck, when we frog hunting and driving on that dirt road."  He has a few other songs that he associates with different people, but that one now belongs to Ty.  Even though we caught no frogs and I don't think he even saw one, they were so quick, Uncle Ty will forever be a frog hunting hero to him.  

Ryker threw rocks in the water while Ty searched high and low.

He also checked out quite a few clam shells and tried to skip them.

Miley and Ty at the Arena

Yep still lookin'

Moved on to the south slab

Ryker was thrilled with how the bottle floated through the culvert and out the other side. The only problem is that now he always wants to throw stuff in the water out here to see where it goes.  We are going to end up with a littering ticket.

Still no frogs, huh Miley?

Ty really wanted to find him a frog, but even though we didn't get any, frog hunting was a success.  Ryker got to wade in the water and throw sticks for Miley. 

Let's roll Ty!