Mommy and Bailey's First Day of School!

Summer finally came to an end, and it was time for the first day of school.  Not only was Bailey starting 1st grade, but I was starting kindergarten too.  Yep, it's true.  I am officially a kindergarten teacher.  So it was a busy morning at our house on August 27th.  We started out with a filling breakfast of pancakes and bacon.  Bailey's favorites.  Grandma Kate was here to stay with Josie.  Bailey and I got dressed in our nice first day outfits, grabbed our school bags, took a few pictures, and headed to school together.  On the days that I teach Bailey gets to hang out in my classroom until it is time to play on the playground.  The first day went great for both of us, and we are excited for a fantastic year. 

My big first grader!

Bailey's classroom.

Grandma Lynn surprised me with first-day flowers.

2 Tiny Little Holes = Lots of Drama

Last year I told Bailey she could get her ears pierced for her 6th birthday.  She was so excited!  We decided to do it on a trip to Bozeman.  Unfortunately things did not go as planned once we got to the mall.  Let's just say that no one got anywhere near her ears and there were many, many tears.  Excuse the bad rhyme. After she admitted defeat and decided she just wasn't ready we didn't really talk about it again for almost a year. A few weeks ago we needed to make another trip to Bozeman to deal with our rental house, and out of the blue one day Bailey told me she was going to get her ears pierced while we were there.  She wanted to surprise everyone so we kept it a secret.  I was a bit skeptical about it actually happening, but I was trying to be hopeful and supportive.  We headed right to the mall when we got to town, and Bailey had no problem picking out which studs she wanted.  Then the tears came again.  And a little hyperventilating.  Then "I'm not ready yet."  With quite a bit of encouragement from me and multiple people who needed her to get out of the chair so their little girl could get her ears done, she finally did it!  Of course it wasn't nearly as bad as she thought.  She is now the proud owner of two tiny holes in her ears. 

Eastern Montana Fair!!

Bailey was in a panic because we were scheduled to be in Bozeman over the weekend of the fair/carnival.  She has been waiting "all year" for the fair to come back to town.  It turned out the carnival was going to start on Wednesday and that evening would be the all-you-can-ride night.  And boy did she ride.  And ride.  And ride.  Clea went with us and we stayed until almost 10pm.  We checked out the fair first then headed to the carnival area. Bailey was much braver this year and even stood in line to ride some of the "big kid" rides only to get turned away because she wasn't quite tall enough.  She did make it on to one of the more adventurous rides and I was a nervous wreck just watching her.  Overall a pretty fun night though.

I'm pretty sure they are trying to figure out how to convince me to buy a bunny.

We started with the carousel.

They are up there somewhere!

Cutie Patuties!

This hang gliding ride was scary to watch.  The girls loved it!

Treat time!

Bailey had to pet or hold every animal in the petting zoo.  Clea stood with the animals for a few minutes then decided it was gross and got out.

So the fair is done for another year.  We are looking forward to next summer. 

An Interesting Medora Weekend and Josie's 2nd Birthday

We had a great weekend planned in Medora with the Muscha clan, but it turned out to have a few ups and downs. The drive there on Friday was POURING rain, like the kind of rain that makes it impossible to see and is so loud you can't hear yourself think.  I was very tempted to make Miles turn the car around and retreat to the safety of our house. We made it safe and sound, but it continued to rain all evening and most of the night.  Just getting in and out of the car to get to the hotel and the restaurant left us soaked and cold.  I was not very optimistic that things were going to improve by Saturday.  Our luck changed because we woke up to sunshine!  Unfortunately the guys didn't get to golf as planned because the course was flooded and closed for the day.  They rescheduled for early Sunday morning with hopes of dryer weather.  Luckily for me, the spa was not affected by the heavy rain and I enjoyed a lovely massage followed by a nap with Josie.  Delightful!  Then we all got together in the park for a joint birthday celebration for Josie and Caden.  Grandma Kate brought a cake with Spiderman on one side and a princess crown on the other.  I can't believe my baby girl is TWO!  Our evening also included the Medora Musical, and we were hoping the rain would stay away for the evening.  It didn't.  It started raining as we were getting to our seats.  It continued to rain while we kept convincing ourselves it was going to let up any minute.  It finally cleared, but everyone was soaking wet and the show was over an hour late getting started.  Bailey started getting cranky at intermission and saying she didn't feel well, but we shrugged it off.  After she climbed into my lap to snuggle during the second half it became clear that she was burning up.  I guess she really was sick.  Sunday morning was a bit of a bust, Bailey spent the morning in bed while the guys golfed the part of the course that wasn't under water.  She attempted to get up and miniature golf but only made it through a few holes. We finally packed up and headed home. So it wasn't the very best trip we have ever taken but we did make some interesting memories with all the Muschas.  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the trip, even if it didn't go exactly as planned. 

Playing at the amazing park in Medora

A little miniature golf on Saturday

Josie and Jacey getting ready for cake!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

This is the rainbow that came out after the rain stopped at the musical.

Waiting out the rain before the musical

This is about an hour before the fever set in.

We thought this cloud looked like an eagle flying.

 We are looking forward to our trip to Medora next summer.  Maybe with a little less rain.