Summer Review - July

We took Sarah to her first fireworks show on the 4th. We were nervous because we weren't sure how she would do with the noise but she loved it...all 3 minutes and 30 seconds of the show. Yep the show only lasted 3 minutes and 30 seconds. One of the first fireworks of the show started about 6 or 7 small fires in the field right by the audience. They continued to launch more fireworks as the flames got bigger. Finally the flames got big enough that 911 was called. Within a few minutes fire trucks and police were all over the place. We didn't want to get stuck in traffic so we left in a hurry. Needless to say we were very disappointed. Sarah absolutely loved the fireworks. She was sitting on Kevin's lap during the show and he had a blanket over the two of them. After every firework Sarah would bring her hands out from underneath the blanket to clap then she would tuck them back under. It was so cute. She laughed and squealed until they stopped the show then she wanted more.

I managed to get Sarah’s hair into real pig-tails for the first time in July. Here are some pictures:

Later in the month Kevin’s parents came out for a visit. We took Sarah bowling with them and she loved it. We had the bumpers up for her and they brought out a ramp that Sarah could push the ball from. She caught on really quick. She knew which ball was hers and she would stand by the ball return waiting for her ball to come back after every turn. She did surprisingly well considering she couldn't really aim the ball.

We also went on a tour of a local candy factory as well. It was called Hammonds and they are famous for making ribbon candy. It’s amazing to see how the candy is actually made. They start with a 75 pound roll of candy that is made right there, then they heat it to make it pliable and stretch it down to the right size and feed it through a crimper which gives it the ribbon shape. At the end of the tour we got to sample chocolate caramel covered marshmallow bars. They were yummy!

At the end of the month we took a trip to eastern Montana to visit Kevin's sister Heather and her husband David. While we were there we went 4-wheeling. I have never really been on a 4-wheeler before and I was a little nervous to ride it at first but after a few minutes on it I didn’t want to get off. It was so fun! I can see why so many people have them. Sarah enjoyed it as well. We took turns taking her on little rides here and there. Her favorite ride was with Aunt Heather. We also floated down the Yellowstone River. I didn’t get any pictures of it but we had a good time. Kevin was the “captain” of our boat and he missed the exiting boat ramp by about 30 yards. So we had to walk it back a little ways but it wasn’t bad. We also took Sarah to the park while we were there and they had this huge slide that slid all the way down a steep hill. It was hot so we sent Sarah down on a towel so it wouldn't burn her. She also enjoyed swinging on the swings which are her favorite. But Sarah’s favorite part of the trip was the kiddie pool Aunt Heather and Uncle David had in their back yard. Every evening we would fill it up for her and she would splash around and play ring-around-the-rosy in it. Kevin enjoyed lounging in the hammock and occasionally Sarah would join him. I had so many pictures from the trip I decided to put them into a slide show. Enjoy!