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.