Montana - Ryan's Paradise

For the past seven years Ryan has been after me to go with him to his Dad's place on the Madison river in Montana.  This place is Ryan's paradise and he wanted me to come and enjoy it with him. This year he was able to find a weekend that worked for us, his Dad, and his Mom to take the kids (so I didn't have to worry about them falling in the River every second!).

The weekend started out with a little excitement as we drove right by a brush fire outside Dubois that had started about 20 minutes earlier:

I think they had it mostly contained by the time we drove through.

Friday I began my Montana experience by fishing (well I didn't really fish, it was mostly Ryan) off a pontoon boat on Hebgen lake with Ryan, his Dad, Steve, Steve's wife, Diane, and their good friend Harold or HP as we like to call him.  Isn't the boat a beauty:

Ryan in his happy place:

I was in my happy place sunbathing on the boat and listening to HP's secrets to a happy life:

I even got the pleasure of driving the pontoon back to the Marina:

The rest of the weekend Ryan fished and I got to read a couple of books while looking at this amazing view from the deck:

And to top it off, Steve loves to cook gourmet meals and drink really really good red wine.  It was tough.  I think I managed to have salmon, scallops and this yummy paella while we were there:

This was definitely one of the more relaxing trips I have had in awhile and I definitely came home well rested.  Steve and Diane, you are gracious hosts and we thank you for having us.  We may be back sooner than you think:

And I also want to thank Grandma Connie and Papa Randy for watching our kiddos while we were gone.  I could tell that they had a great time as they both looked like this about twenty minutes after we picked them up on Sunday:

Pool Party

This past weekend we did absolutely nothing and it was awesome.  Okay we did do one thing - we had our own private pool party in the backyard on Saturday and Sunday.  The kids were sooo excited to get the pool out this year and the weekend weather gods took mercy on us and gave us a fantastic weekend.

Isla striking a pose by the pool:

 I asked Isla to give me another pose while she was sunbathing and this is what I got:

Odd, but cute.  Day #2 out by the pool:

And we did celebrate Father's Day, but very quickly as Ryan was either working or watching golf.  Happy Father's Day to the best Dad (besides my own) in the world!  We love you Ryan.

Shower for Baby Boy Widmer

Last weekend I flew over to Portland to help my girlfriends throw a shower for Summer and Baby Boy Widmer.  Surprisingly we didn't have any babies with us the whole weekend!  We got to go out to lunches and dinners and stay up late and sleep in and not worry about feeding anyone or changing any diapers.  Of course it sounds good on paper, but I swear we were home by midnight each night and up at eight am.  So much for feeling well rested!

Here is the beautiful Momma to be, Summer:

 The shower set-up (thanks to Meagan for letting us use her home):

Opening gifts:

It was so much fun to hang out with my girls!

Aunt Anna is Awesome

There are many reasons why Aunt Anna is awesome, but one of the top reasons is the fact that she came down from Sun Valley on Memorial Day weekend to watch the kids overnight so Ryan and I could go to a wedding reception in Twin Falls.  Ryan and I are so lucky to have family that will do stuff like this for us and we look forward to repaying the favor someday.

Anna surrounded by kids and dogs before we left:

Two kids and two dogs by herself for 24 hours . . . that is one brave girl!

Ryan and I had a great time in Twin.  We bowled with the wedding party guests, took a nap, partied more at the Turf Club and then slept in!  Such a treat.

The wedding reception was for one of Ryan's good childhood friends, Jaimee Soran (now Johnson).  We were able to sneak a couple of pictures of her, Ryan and their mom's at the reception:

It was so nice to see her since she now lives in Florida with her husband, Jason.  It was fun to catch up and give them baby advice as they are expecting a baby boy in late August!

Bye-Bye Highchair

We hit a big milestone in the Skene household, Drew is no longer using his highchair (sniff, sniff).  While it is nice not to have the big highchair in the kitchen anymore, it is quite difficult getting him to sit longer than five minutes at a time to eat.

I love having my babies at the same table during meal time: