Happy Halloween

Hope you had a sweet day! More to come from ours. . .

Gymnastics

Shortly after we moved here a fellow running mom that I met at a road race was giving me the low down on all the kid stuff in town. She said I had to check out Lone Mountain Gymnastics. I'm glad we did--I think it's the highlight of Hayden's week!

He's in a parent participation class (all kids under 3 have to be) and let me say that the parent participation is high. Once class is over I feel like I just did a 45 minute run! The gym is set up with 3 stations, and each station has 7-8 "exercises" that the kids do in a circuit. There are about 7 kids at each station at one particular time. Guiding an excited toddler through a specific circuit--with lots of distractions--can be crazy. The only way I knew I could get any photos would be if someone else was along to be the "parent participator". Rich was eager to see what all the excitement was about, so when he joined us a week ago I was sure to bring the camera.

Hayden started the first station with one of his favorites: the slide.

Next was walking along the green and yellow strips (in the background) and then following the s-shaped fabric.

Next was the cylinder--up and over!

And finally at this station, swinging from the bar!

After about 8 minutes following the first circuit, it's time to move on to the next station. Hayden loves the rings!

Next up was a donkey kick. . . he doesn't quite have the hang of this one yet.

No matter, he's onto the next thing!

And after a few more exercises, it was back to the rings again.

Time to move onto the last station. . .

Some time on the balance beam. . .

By the second time around, he didn't even need an assist from Dad.

Finally, a run down the tumble track, jumping into the big mat at the end!

After doing all 3 circuits, it's "Free Time!" and the kids have about 20 minutes to play with anything in the gym. Hayden always goes for the balls. They have plenty and he sometimes even grabs 2 or 3. He runs with them, kicks them, rolls them and basically just has a blast. At the end of class, the kids sit in a circle, get a stamp on their hand, sing the goodbye song, and give high fives to the teachers. Hayden loves the High 5, running around to give one to each of the kids in the class, too. That wraps up the best 45 minutes of Hayden's week. Then we go home and all take a nap!

Cowboy

Several weeks ago I started contemplating Hayden's Halloween costume. While he definitely has more ideas about things he likes this year (as opposed to being 9 months old on his first Halloween), I was having trouble pinpointing the perfect costume. He loves cars and trains but I didn't think turning him into one of those with some cardboard box magic would be very practical. I didn't think he'd go for, "here, stand in this box and look cute for the next hour." Maybe when he's 8.

I kept thinking and then, sure enough, the pieces started to fall into place. I found the most adorable pair of toddler cowboy boots at an antique store downtown. I thought they'd be perfect for a future photo op and couldn't resist bringing them home. A few days later, Grandma and Grandpa showed up with an outfit they had found at Gymboree. . . any Montana boy had to have it. It's an overall set, complete with a tiny stuffed pony and a cowboy hat. EUREKA! With the boots and the hat, I decided we had a Halloween costume. I thought that if we could find a pony-on-a-stick we'd really be in business. The very next day while on a run through the neighborhood, I passed a garage sale. Piled among the toys was a pony-on-a-stick! For $2!! I knew it was meant to be.

That is, until we got home and Hayden had no interest in the pony and wouldn't leave the hat on for more than 2 seconds, if he even put it on at all!

Late last week, I decided we needed a costume trial run and photo session opportunity. I suited him up and crossed my fingers that he'd don the hat. When I told him it was a "horsie hat" he perked right up. When I told him he could wear it and we could go see the horsies, he was sold. The pony-on-a-stick didn't go over quite so well, but I took what I could get.

We started out on the front porch with the pumpkins, but since I had told him horsies were in his future that's what he really wanted to go do. Our costume trial was a rousing success, and I even got some of my favorite photos of him. Ever. Yep. I know I'm biased, but I must warn you to prepare yourself for utter adorableness. I dare you to keep from grinning as you scroll down. Go on, just try it.

(and here it is again, cropped, with a fun photoshop effect applied)

8 minutes after leaving our front porch, we arrived at the horses.

(here's that special effect again)

There happened to be a creek running right by the horse pasture. After a few minutes of "neighing" at his equine friends, he went straight for the rocks. . . no creek is safe from a Hayden rock-tossing expedition!

We rode off into the sunset, just in time for dinner, bathtime, and bed!

Told you you'd be smiling!

The treats are coming early!

Hayden has been obsessed with the "puh-kins" adorning neighborhood porches (including ours) and in his few Halloween books over the last few weeks. I didn't think he'd figured out the real meaning of Halloween (scoring some tasty treats), but this morning he had me thinking otherwise.

I've had these plastic jack-o-lanterns for a few weeks, and despite his interest in the real pumpkins around, he hadn't been too interested in these. As I was finishing up breakfast clean-up he greeted me in the kitchen, a jack-o-lantern in each hand, both filled with "treats" of the non-tooth-decaying variety.

He had filled them up with all of his toy cars. Look what I found, mom!

I think trick-or-treating is going to be a big hit with him. . . once he realizes other people will be loading him up with goodies and he won't have to do it himself!

Oh, here's a little unrelated tidbit. . . you know it's fall in Montana when you see a dead deer in the back of a pick-up truck. I've spotted this on 2 separate occasions in the last week. Welcome to hunting season!

Site-seeing

We took advantage of the beautiful weekend weather (after the snow melted!) and decided to venture a little ways outside Bozeman for some site-seeing. We feel a bit like we've got island fever because we haven't driven more than 15 miles from home since arriving in town at the beginning of August. . . quite different from our typical Colorado days.

Megan thoughtfully gave us some Montana guidebooks before we moved and after looking for some not-to-far sites, we settled on Madison Buffalo Jump State Park and Missouri Headwaters State Park. About 30 minutes west of Bozeman, we thought they'd make a good toddler outing--we could be back in time for Hayden's nap!

The main attraction here is a cliff that native people used for hunting as far back as 2,000 years ago. Basically, they'd drive the stampeding herd toward the cliff, when the animals unsuspectingly reached the edge they couldn't turn back and would dive to their deaths.

Today, a nice trail leads to the top of the cliff, affording fabulous Montana views.

Hayden immediately took to the trail.

Dad herded him back, then he got to ride the rest of the way, collecting rocks along the way.

After 20 minutes of hiking, we reached the cliff. Hayden kept saying "get dowwwwn". We didn't want him to suffer the same fate as all those buffalo, so he stayed put right in the backpack.

But he did get to enjoy some beautiful views of the Tobacco Root Mountains.

And look--proof that I was there. I don't make it into many of the photos in our collection. A rare exception. . .

After our hike we headed over to Missouri Headwaters State Park for a picnic. The state of Montana is peppered with historic Lewis & Clark sites, and this is one of them. This is where the Madison, Gallatin, and Jefferson Rivers converge to become the Missouri River, which then flows all the way to the Mississippi and onto the Gulf of Mexico.

We found some calming, gently flowing waters where Hayden could practice his latest favorite past time--throwing rocks. We can't pass a body of water without him stopping to toss some rocks.

Now that we've gotten our feet wet, we're ready to explore some more Montana sites!