Ben is away in Billings, Montana this week for a big conference. The girls miss him already. He is a very busy man these days with starting the new job and two back-to-back conferences. He will fly out to Louisville, Kentucky next week...back to our old stomping grounds. We lived there for four years and I continue to miss it every day. I loved my job at Southern Indiana Rehab Hospital (SIRH). I loved being close to my best friend (Jake) and her family. I loved having new friends (Michelle). I loved the kids' daycare (Discovery Time). I LOVED IT!
On to the new...
The girls and I managed to get out of bed just in time for breakfast here at the hotel (9:00 am). I have started spending the late evenings on the computer searching for our next home, so sleeping in can be good sometimes. After breakfast and some morning computer time, we got dressed and headed out for a little fresh air.
Our first stop was the boat launch
area near the hotel. We have been waiting to catch a group of geese close enough or accessible enough to feed. The gulls got in on the action, especially with the brisk wind, and were catching pieces of bread in mid-air. I was having more fun than the girls, I think. It reminded me of a time that my family was in Corpus Christi, Texas staying in an upper-floor condo on the beach. We threw the majority of a box of Froot Loops up into the air and watched as the gulls caught most of them before they hit the ground!
The geese weren't too shy since they decided it was safe enough to accept bread straight from the girls' hands. We had so much fun that we went back to the hotel room for a little more bread and returned for Round 2...for which I brought the camera.
After torturing the girls with neighborhood cruising (driving past houses I want to see with our Realtor), we had lunch at my new favorite restaurant, the Macaroni Grill. This was our third visit and we were lucky enough to have the same waitress as our first visit...Breezy. Breezy is an adorable twenty-something that dotes on the girls and who also has an amazing voice. We overheard her singing Happy Birthday in Italian, I think, during our first visit. Samantha and Riley enjoy eating there since the tables are covered with paper to color on and because ice cream is included with their kid's meals. Note: Samantha learned to play Hangman during our first visit and did amazingly well at guessing my word "camel."
Post-lunch touring took us up to Giant Springs State Park on the North side of Great Falls. The park boasts one of the largest freshwater springs in the world...flowing at 156 million gallons of water per day. It is BEAUTIFUL to say the least. There is a fish hatchery on the same site where you can feed the trout (?) with p
ellets you can bu
y for a mere nickel. We gathered all of our nickels (probably $0.75 worth) and headed there first. We all had fun watching the fish jump and fight for the food. Some of those guys are HUGE and the albino one is especially interesting.
After feeding the fish we walked across a concrete bridge going over part of the spring's falls. I saw movement in the vegetation in the water and spotted a couple of cute furry guys hiding out. Samantha thought maybe they were beavers and I thought they were river otters. After researching on the state's website, I believe they were muskrats. The description seems to fit their general size, shape, and eating habits. We watched them for a while until the wind got the better of us and we had to move on. Our poor cheeks and noses were red and chilly for quite a while after that! Samantha got to tell Daddy on the phone about the "otters." He said he was jealous...we certainly would've loved to share it with him.
On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at one of the vantage points along the way to take a picture of Black Eagle Falls. I'm sure it would look even more incredible with ev
en more water traveling through the dam.
I cooked our first meal in the hotel room tonight. Samantha requested tacos, which to her just means a tortilla with meat and cheese. Tacos to Riley means lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and maybe some chips. I really should just learn to split everything between them since they seem to be such opposites at mealtimes.
Tomorrow is going to be the day I unpack winter clothes from the boxes we shipped to ourselves at Ben's office. Snow is apparently on its way...Billings is going to get it bad enough that Ben and his group are heading back one day early.....GREAT, just what I love...snow (not!!!).
It's off to dreamland for me.
Love to all!
Missy
On to the new...
The girls and I managed to get out of bed just in time for breakfast here at the hotel (9:00 am). I have started spending the late evenings on the computer searching for our next home, so sleeping in can be good sometimes. After breakfast and some morning computer time, we got dressed and headed out for a little fresh air.
Our first stop was the boat launch
area near the hotel. We have been waiting to catch a group of geese close enough or accessible enough to feed. The gulls got in on the action, especially with the brisk wind, and were catching pieces of bread in mid-air. I was having more fun than the girls, I think. It reminded me of a time that my family was in Corpus Christi, Texas staying in an upper-floor condo on the beach. We threw the majority of a box of Froot Loops up into the air and watched as the gulls caught most of them before they hit the ground!The geese weren't too shy since they decided it was safe enough to accept bread straight from the girls' hands. We had so much fun that we went back to the hotel room for a little more bread and returned for Round 2...for which I brought the camera.
After torturing the girls with neighborhood cruising (driving past houses I want to see with our Realtor), we had lunch at my new favorite restaurant, the Macaroni Grill. This was our third visit and we were lucky enough to have the same waitress as our first visit...Breezy. Breezy is an adorable twenty-something that dotes on the girls and who also has an amazing voice. We overheard her singing Happy Birthday in Italian, I think, during our first visit. Samantha and Riley enjoy eating there since the tables are covered with paper to color on and because ice cream is included with their kid's meals. Note: Samantha learned to play Hangman during our first visit and did amazingly well at guessing my word "camel."
Post-lunch touring took us up to Giant Springs State Park on the North side of Great Falls. The park boasts one of the largest freshwater springs in the world...flowing at 156 million gallons of water per day. It is BEAUTIFUL to say the least. There is a fish hatchery on the same site where you can feed the trout (?) with p
ellets you can bu
y for a mere nickel. We gathered all of our nickels (probably $0.75 worth) and headed there first. We all had fun watching the fish jump and fight for the food. Some of those guys are HUGE and the albino one is especially interesting.After feeding the fish we walked across a concrete bridge going over part of the spring's falls. I saw movement in the vegetation in the water and spotted a couple of cute furry guys hiding out. Samantha thought maybe they were beavers and I thought they were river otters. After researching on the state's website, I believe they were muskrats. The description seems to fit their general size, shape, and eating habits. We watched them for a while until the wind got the better of us and we had to move on. Our poor cheeks and noses were red and chilly for quite a while after that! Samantha got to tell Daddy on the phone about the "otters." He said he was jealous...we certainly would've loved to share it with him.
On the way back to the hotel, I stopped at one of the vantage points along the way to take a picture of Black Eagle Falls. I'm sure it would look even more incredible with ev
en more water traveling through the dam.I cooked our first meal in the hotel room tonight. Samantha requested tacos, which to her just means a tortilla with meat and cheese. Tacos to Riley means lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and maybe some chips. I really should just learn to split everything between them since they seem to be such opposites at mealtimes.
Tomorrow is going to be the day I unpack winter clothes from the boxes we shipped to ourselves at Ben's office. Snow is apparently on its way...Billings is going to get it bad enough that Ben and his group are heading back one day early.....GREAT, just what I love...snow (not!!!).
It's off to dreamland for me.
Love to all!
Missy
2 comments:
So now is a bad time to tell you that in Whitley it's going to be 75 tomorrow and Sunday????
Your pics are great and your story telling makes me feel like I am there with you. Keep it up! I'm lovin' it (and that's all that really matters ...hee hee).
~Carrie
Photos are terrific. Hope to see a scrapbook someday.
janet
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