Montana Birthday

I haven't posted in a really long time. I can't say it's because my three children take so much of my time that I can't blog because most of my friends have at least three children, most of them have more, and they all find the time to update their blogs. (Don't stop ladies because I LOVE reading them!) I have been busy, a very happy busy. And I really do want to share what I have been doing with all my family and friends. And I realize it is all about priorities. So this week, my blog will be my priority. And I am going to try and post one post everyday to get caught up. Even if it means watching Berlyn eat cookie crumbs off the dining room floor (like she is doing right now!).

I will start with my birthday trip to Missoula, Montana. Now Missoula, Montana may seem like a random place for me to go to celebrate my birthday. But I wanted to go to Montana to do some shopping in the USA - I know you Americans take Target, Ross, TJ Maxx, and all your other wonderful shopping stores for granted but I miss having them accessible. We knew we wanted to take the kids to do some fun things, so we picked the closest hotel with a waterslide. One Google search later and we were planning a trip to Missoula, Montana!

We had a realy good trip. It was Berlyn's first time swimming and she LOVED it. Even when she started getting so cold she was turning blue she was smiling, giggling, kicking her feet, and splashing. She was actually kinda hard to hold onto in the water. Neither of my boys liked swimming that much their first time. They sure love it now though!

 

On our first day, the waterslides didn't open until 4pm. We took the kids swimming, then went out and got lunch and did some shopping. We timed it so that we would be back to the hotel with just enough time to get changed and make it down to the waterslides right at 4. We got down to the pool and the slides weren't on. Scott went to ask someone to turn them on, only to be told that we weren't allowed to use the pool, let alone the slides, at all that night since it was rented out for a private function. Needless to say, our boys were really upset. Moses started crying on the spot! We were really angry with the hotel. I'm not sure if they realized that we had picked that hotel specifically for their waterslides! In the end they really did feel bad and gave us one of our nights for free. We went swimming the next  day and they turned on the slides a little early just for us. So it all worked out for the best!

We decided to take the kids bowling - anything to not sit in a hotel room with two very disappointed boys! We had a great time at the bowling alley. At this bowling alley, the bumpers moved up and down based on who was bowling. We could all bowl in the same lane, and thanks to the bumpers I got the lowest score! Yes both my boys out bowled their mother! Maybe I should use the bumpers next time....

We had taken Scott's neice, Jaycee with us. She is 12 years old and a great babysitter. I would recommend always traveling with a babysitter. She made it so that Scott and I could go out just by ourselves part of the time. Besides shopping at the above mentioned stores, we went out to watch a musical at the University of Montana. It was really fun! Scott and I both enjoy musicals and we don't go watch them as often as we should. The music and dancing were both great! I actually found a clip on YouTube from the actual show we went to. According to whoever posted it, it was even recorded the night we were there. (In fact, we remember a guy recording the show with a video camera in the row in front of us and thought he was a loser!) Not sure if they were supposed to record it or not, but I just had to post it and let all of you experience the show too. (click here to watch the video on YouTube instead)

Thanks for such a fun birthday trip, family. And that includes you, Jaycee. It wouldn't have been as good without you there!