One week in Missoula down. No new news from Landon, which we're going to take as good news as he gets settled in. The rest of us are doing our own settling in.
Mike went to Oxford back in March. However, he withheld our gifts until we got back to Montana this week. It was definitely fun to receive the things he surprised us with.
Kai generally looks good on camera. We had the privilege of bringing him to Montana with us until August. We are warning you there will be a lot of pictures of Kai as we go through the summer. Here is Kai chilling in the passenger seat in Hallie's car on our drive to Montana.
We went driving around to get to know the local area early in the week, including communities south of Missoula. Off the road going toward Lolo, Hallie saw this cool structure on the bed of a truck. We now know it is the Historic Lolo School. In a recent days we have read about how they are moving the school to an area not far from where this picture was taken.
We drove to Florence and Lolo to see what the areas looked like and to see what homes for sale there look like. In all honesty there really was nothing in the two towns in our price range that meets our needs. The homes seemed nice from the outside but there is only one road going to and from there to Missoula. So if there is an accident or any kind of problem on the road, it would add a lot of time to get in from town. Probably not our best option. Sure is pretty out there though.
We stopped by one of our favorite stores, World Market, and Hallie bought a blind box and got the fun "lucky cat" below. Hallie took a picture and sent it to Amanda.
It is a bit tricky to explain our housing situation. When we first arrived into town, Mike still had his 1-bedroom apartment with a lease until the end of May. The three of us moved most of the contents of our 26-foot truck into the rickety garage of the home where we will be living starting in June and into a vacant home across from Mike's soon-to-be old home and next door to our soon-to-be new home. We are sleeping in the vacant home until the three girls currently renting there move out of the home with the rickety garage (technically today). By Thursday Mike had checked out of his apartment and we are down to stuff in the two neighboring properties.
Kai still always find where Hallie is sleeping.
Monday marked the glorious 25th of May, which is famous as Nation's Day in Argentina, Towel Day for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fans, and the People's Revolution Day to fans of the Discworld book series. It also marks a year since our
arrival in Japan. Where did the year go?
On Tuesday, Mike and Hallie walked over to campus. All around the Oval there are Adirondack chairs. We pulled up a couple under the shade of a maple and spent a bit of time enjoying the afternoon.
Meanwhile, Eliza took a walk and found the Clark Fork River. Later, she got on her swimsuit and dived into the river from a pedestrian bridge that runs over it.
Mike took Kai to the Oval and managed to get the wind to cooperate enough to fly his kite. Kai stayed near a chair.
The boxes that accompany the department pins Mike had made arrived while he was gone. They look sharp!
We learned that the City of Missoula takes parking violations seriously, even when it is abundantly clear that there is no one else on the street. Nothing like the wheels of bureaucracy turning with unnecessary brutality.
Hallie and Eliza went out for a bit to be tourists while Mike worked. They found a yummy restaurant called Soup Farm not far from the house. They then went to the
Import Market, which has been around for 50 years! The girls had fun looking around.
The girls saw these murals on walls downtown near the M Store.
Later Mike convinced everyone to head to the mall. In there Mike showed off
Golden Leaf Studios to Hallie (so many funny/mildly inappropriate housewares and gifts!), and we made Eliza go stand in front of the cool feather winged photo op. We then went into Scheels, where we obtained a University of Montana cup, and Miniso, where Hallie got a Disney blind box.
Mike got up close and personal with the chickadee he met a few weeks back on one of his morning walks this week. Someone must be giving it snacks for it to come so close.
Hallie likes having a backyard. She also likes spying her hubby taking care of chores. Here he is cleaning the cat box. We look forward to Fergus getting to know the neighborhood and doing his business outside.
Mike and Eliza walked over to the library later in the week. Here is a view of Mt. Jumbo and Mt. Sentinel (with the athletic training bubble) from the Madison Street Bridge. Mike taught Eliza how to take the bus from the library home as well.
Big Dipper Ice Cream is really too dang close to our house. We haven't gone every day, but the days we have gone we sure have enjoyed it.
The boys seem to be tolerating each other.
On Friday after Mike finished some work at the office, we drove up to Garnet, a nearby ghost town just an hour outside of Missoula! We enjoyed a scenic drive to this beautiful area and mostly avoided the incoming rain.
On our way back home, we stopped by Albertsons because Eliza "forgot" a toothbrush when packing. As we were looking for the toothbrushes we stumbled upon these funny hats. Good sports these two are.
Mike took Kai over to the dog park during a brief break in the weather.
He also rounded up Fergus, who had gotten out and was exploring the neighborhood. He seems a bit under the weather, hence the grass eating.
Mike woke up to "feed me" Fergus Saturday morning.
We took Mike out to buy new glasses after Mike and Hallie had a breakfast burrito and lattes at
Dog & Bicycle. Our intended trip to the Bricks and Minifigs grsnd opening was a no go with so many people in line to get into the new store. We decided we might come back another day. We also need to go to
Dreamy's Soft Serve next time we see Rumbleena. It looked really yummy!
We took another trip to the mall, this time to Hobby Lobby. Mike should not have taken this picture for Hallie. A future purchase may be in the works. Hobby Lobby always has good things.
More sleeping boys. The house we're staying in has been a bit chilly. Mike had to turn on the heater in the middle of the night.
Last week, Hallie saw a recipe on Instagram for charcuterie board nachos. We were without one ingredient. Hallie wasn't a big fan of the end result. That's OK. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
It started raining as we were leaving Garnet, and it literally hasn't stopped since. We had to put Kai in a jacket for his walks. Doodles take forever to dry.
Hallie's oldest niece Lily was married on Saturday. Unfortunately, we were not able to attend due to the move. Congratulations to the happy couple!
We went to see The Sheep Detectives at the AMC Cinema on Sunday morning in an effort to get out of the house and rain. We quite liked it!
