Hiawatha Trail

Obviously not posting for so long put me a touch behind. But we have so much fun in the summer I feel like posting it all, a little at a time. About a month ago Dave and I left the kids with my parents and drove over to Montana to ride the Hiawatha Trail. I knew that it was downhill one way and up the other. I wasn't sure what to expect. You can ride all the way down and catch a shuttle back up. I deemed that for wusses (and I'm too cheap) so we rode about 2/3 of the way down then back up. It was so fun. Its so pretty up there. There's nothing around except for this trail made on an old railroad. Its like undisturbed wilderness with bathrooms! Just my speed. In the pictures of the trail I'd seen, there are these scary high looking tressle bridges. I was pretty sure I'd have a coronary crossing them. Turns out when your on them you have no idea how high up you are. Its just some bridge with a great view. But when you get down below and look up at the bridge you've crossed your like "holy crap!" Well at least I was.
On one to the lower bridges, you can see one of those scary tressle bridges behind me.

Looking good in our bike helmets.

Dave by the waterfall right outside the long tunnel. When you start the trail you first go through this freezing cold, wet 1.1 mile long tunnel. Needless to say you need a bike light.

The view down from one of the lower tressle bridges. We had a really fun time. And didn't die riding back up. (I totally kicked Dave's butt) Shocker of all shockers I underestimated our drive time so we were flying back so I could make it to work. We flew in and grabbed our kids with a hi, bye, thanks and were ready to speed off so I could shower. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be appreciated if I showed up covered in sweat and a fine layer of dust. We were about to back out when my dad informed me I had a flat tire. My back tire was totally flat! Needless to say more speeding ensued and I made it to work by the skin of my teeth. Ironically I was a few minutes early as opposed to a few minutes late as usual. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again. Next time we'll leave earlier and do the whole thing. I think we might have to train our butts to take the seats first.

My crazy boy

I'm pretty sure I've got a Hailey squared on my hands here. Connor is just as crazy as Ha without the super cheesy grin. He's busy, busy, busy. Running everywhere, dumping everything out, and oblivious to all pain. Smack your head? No biggie just keep on trucking. He loves to wrestle with Greg or anyone who makes the mistake of getting down on the floor. Con loves to bang, bang everything that fits in his little fist. He's so silly and cute. But frighteningly like his crazy, hyper active sister.

Here's Connor enjoying a popsicle. He's actually pretty good at it. If he drips any on the table he bends down and licks it up. Just like any good Hailey clone he can't let any sweets go to waste.

Also anything is food. Sand, chalk, sticks, toys. You name it he eats it.

The kid loves water. He grabbed the hose one day and just played with it forever. He had a great time pouring water all over. He's a total maniac in the water. He likes to float in his life vest, kicking his chubby little legs. I don't think he quite gets the necessity for the life jacket to float. today at the lake he kept leaning back like he was going to float on his back and then going under. he kept getting mad that he wasn't floating like he expected. Once he got his jacket on, if you try to stand him up he gets mad and flops back down. Later he got an inner tube and tried to put it on. It was so cute to watch him struggle, frustrated. Dragging him out of the lake is just one big fight. Just like his big sister, he could spend all day in the water, near drownings are hysterical not scary. Hailey still swims around with her mouth gaping open with her cheese ball grin, sucking water in like a whale. I think I'm in for it with this one.