2026, August 24-30

School is in full swing for Eliza, and we felt the first hints of fall in the air. The Missoula crew took in the first Griz football game of the season. 

Starbucks is now open seven days a week, and suddenly the place is humming. Campus in general has that busy first days of school energy. Hallie is a true neighbor.

We got a visit from another neighbor who drew Fergus's interest, but from a distance. 

It's officially fall now that pumpkin spice and other related flavors are back on the menu at Starbucks. Hallie got a hedgehog cake pop. We appreciate how warm and friendly the staff have been. Community finds itself in many different places. Mike and Hallie shared the cake pop on the way to drop Mike off at work as a fun fall treat.

Mike got a bee in his trousers and had to walk over to Rockin' Rudy's and get the six-ounce Hydro Flask mug he saw in order to test whether it would make a good mate. For the amount of yerba that Mike drinks in a given day, it's about twice as large as needed. Still, it feels good in the hand, retains heat, and is the right color to match the UM sticker he got from SHEELS. Had Mike not gotten it himself, Hallie and Eliza planned to go, seeing that our guy had the vessel on his mind over the weekend. 

Montana Shakespeare in the Parks returned to the Oval this week. Mike watched some of The Merchant of Venice on Thursday. 

Eliza went to jump in the river with new friends she met. Mom and Dad aren't completely sure about the situation, but it is good to see Eliza partaking in Missoula's outdoor adventures. Mike met up with her as they both returned from their activities and met Hallie back home after her work day (she's the tiny person in yellow to the center right beneath the dramatic sky). 

Eliza had her first actual day of classes on Friday. She got off to a bit of a stumble by not logging into her first period live session, and she wanted to throw in the towel and just go to regular school, but after a little encouragement (and no second period class to have to jump right into), she joined the rest of her day's live sessions and completed her school day successfully. Mike told Hallie he took Eliza's first day of school picture. She assumed it was a relatively normal photo. Leave it to Eliza to not do anything "normal."

Montana Shakespeare at the Parks presented Much Ado About Nothing on Friday. Hallie had to work until 7:00, and Eliza wasn't interested, so Mike stopped by for a little bit, and after Hallie got home, the grown-ups persuaded Eliza to watch (some of) the '90s movie version. The grown-ups appreciated the old favorite, recognizing that they were older than E is now when they first saw it. 

It's hard to tell, but there's a loud helicopter carrying water to fight a local fire there in the background. We still have fires in the state.

We saw a few more updated bear paws. 

Ferg chose Hallie as a cozy-up pal Saturday morning. 

This week a poll of USA Today sports readers named Missoula the "Best College Sports Town" in the US. Take that for what you will. We watched the home football opener at Washington-Grizzly Stadium against Jocie's new school team, Southern Utah University. The stadium crowd and tailgate preceding it were pretty fun. We got told by a Starbuck barista the following morning that the crowd was tame compared to how raucous it gets when the stakes are high (like when the MSU Bobcats are in town). 

We participated in the Griz Walk over by the Adams Center.

Hey, Monte! 

We had quite the view from the north end zone. 

Mike had a hard time knowing where to look for the selfie. 

More bear paws. We ended up leaving the game after the half, so we missed what turned into a nailbiter of a finish against an SUU team that everyone expected to be pushovers. That'll teach us to take a win for granted. Still, we were glad the Griz pulled off the win. 

Fergus is quite the sexy beast when he's napping on a Sunday morning. 

Drue invited Eliza to come out to the barn, and after dropping her off, Mike and Hallie drove down the Bitterroot Valley to the Tin Can Bar and Grill in Stevensville for a yummy lunch date. 

After picking Eliza back up, Mike went to the UM Oval to try to fly his kite (no luck despite some promising wind gusts). LEGO Movie wisdom right here. 

Hallie and Eliza joined him after running an errand. Here we see Eliza in the midst of a twenty-something summersault roll.  

Landon and Zeke moved into their new digs with a new roommate, and Diamond celebrated her birthday and Katara's two-month birthday. 

2026, August 17-23

Summer is almost done! Boo! UM had move in week, and Mike will start classes Monday. We enrolled Eliza at her new school(s) and will have to see what that looks like. Hallie has her fingers crossed that she will get hired at a local school. Summer and school: Both six-letter words, but the former was much more fun. 

Mike had on campus meetings during the week leading into the start of classes next week. He put the teacup he got in Little Tokyo to work with his favorite yerba combo. 

This is Hallie's work setup. Caleb suggested she get a camp chair to use instead of the folding one. Hopefully she doesn't have to worry about either if she can get the paraprofessional job she interviewed for last week. 

Fergus graced us with multiple bleps.

The deer graced us with multiple close sightings. These two fawns are on opposite sides of the chain link fence. The one on the left is about to bolt because of Fergus (not in frame). 

We moved a couple of chairs to the front yard so we could people watch and enjoy the cool early evening breeze. Eliza went out earlier in the day on Tuesday, and Ferg decided to join her. 

We had a bit of wind later in the day, so she and Dad went kite flying on the Oval. Sometimes due to the way the cross breezes flow, it's challenging to get the kite up. 

Eventually we did make it. Campus has been full of people now that students are moving back in. That feeling of this being "our" backyard has come to an end. This includes the blackberries. Someone else discovered the blackberry plant and made off with a number of berries Mike had left to ripen a little longer. Good thing he enjoyed the ones he had. 

Eliza went riding a couple of times with Drue this week. On Wednesday, Mom dropped her off before getting Dad so they could look at a house to buy. 

Here are the girls getting prepped for their ride. Here she is riding a horse named Payday.

While they were out, we joined our long-suffering realtor at a house in a neighborhood we've been interested in. The house we looked at had many nice features despite being on the flight path to the airport. That said, we have a feeling it's going to be a while before we get the house for us.  

Here is a close up of Eliza and Payday. She seems to really get a lot out of her time with the ponies. 

She also has spent a lot of time exploring different parts of town. In the evening, she climbed Mt. Sentinel the hard way and went to the copper mine before climbing down by way of the switchbacks below the block M. 

Fortunately, the air has been clearer this week thanks to some late-day thunderstorms. 

Mike woke up with vertigo Thursday morning that turned out to be the early symptom of a migraine. It's been a while since he had one of those. The timing could have been better considering he had his college's annual gathering today. But migraines don't obey schedules. He got to feeling somewhat better in the afternoon, or at least well enough to get some needed business done on campus. As he left, he caught sight of the marching band practicing for their number after Friday's State of the University Address. 

Hallie took some pictures of the painted bear tracks that have been updated for the new school year. 

She appreciated this banner over by Starbucks on campus. 

Mike appreciated in-coming President Shinn's address Friday. He resonates strongly with the message of "We serve students. We serve Montana." Let's get to work! After Friday's address, the campus community had a brief reception while the band played. 

As mentioned above, We caught Ferg blepping a couple of times this week. Here's part two. 

And the deer. Here's part two too. 

On Saturday, we went over to Rockin' Rudy's to get out of the house. The hanging plants outside the store have really grown. 

I mean, who doesn't? 

Later in the day, Mike took one of his customary campus walks. Dramatic skies to the west did not disappoint. We didn't end up going to the River City Roots fest or the concert at the Adams Center. Other opportunities will come. 

We joined Eliza and Drue and her daughter Lucy at the Big Sky Horse Park (as of today, Eliza is now a member). The girls went riding while Eliza's parents watched. It turned out to be a delightful time with great weather. 90 acres of preset jumps. What a beautiful experience it was for Eliza, Mom, and Dad. Eliza is a great sport, really. Drue called in the morning asking if Eliza wanted to go, and mere moments later the girl got up to go without a complaint. Eliza had only been to the park as a spectator before. This move to Montana has done great things for this amazing girl.

Later in the day, we went over to the area around the Southgate Mall. First we stopped at World Market because there's always something fun to find there. That sun looks an awful lot like the Sol de Mayo.

Our real reason for attending was to get swag at the annual SCHEELS Griz Fest. 

In the store, Monte sneaked up on Eliza. Mike was highly amused. 

Of course, we had to grab some gear for next Saturday's game against Southern Utah University (sorry, Jocie). UM truly is the family you choose. 

We also got an "exclusive" yard sign to put in the yard. Up with Montana!