Down to Big Sky

Okay, a slightly boring blog post coming up. But if I told you all the soap opera-ish things behind the scenes, behind the sale of the property and all the family interactions I wouldn't be very loyal to my in-laws, now would I. Just trust me, there is a lot more going on than meets the eye. And I was exhausted by the time we got home. But, here is the nicey-nice, but really pretty honest, recap. Use your imaginations to fill in the gaps - probably make it more interesting anyway!

Last evening we went down to Big Sky for a walk and an evening picnic with some of Andy's extended family.

Prior to going I heard Andy talking on the phone about the fact that there will come a time, soon, when these trips won't happen because the family property is being sold. That makes Andy so sad. More than that, last night Jansse began to realize that the sale of the property would mean not only do his cousins move away, but he won't see Grandma and Grandpa very frequently. So Jansse is sad too. There was some panic and disbelief in his voice as he talked about this. I don't really have a way to comfort him in this regard. He is just going to have to adjust to the circumstances.

Anyway, we went for a nice walk with Grandma and Aunt Betsy, who is visiting from CA, and cousin Ben. Jansse is 3.5 years older than Ben, but loves to play with him. They had a great time shooting and running and hiding and imagining as we walked along.

There were quite a few wild flowers along the way.

And a bit of a rainbow to view from the top.
It wasn't a particularly long walk, but it was nice. (Note to self: get out and do some real exercise today or you are going to be in big trouble with your weight loss plan soon!)
We ate our picnic down by the creek behind Grandma and Grandpa's house. There is a beautiful little patch of wild roses down there to decorate our surroundings. There were also a million mosquitoes to join us, but a bit of DEET and smoke from a fire helped to make it tolerable.

Jansse and Ben did not seem to mind the bugs or to care too much about eating. They just played and played and played. (Sorry for the poor quality photo. Before I ran it through PSE it was all black with a little white speck where Ben's shirt is, but after lightening it, it is just not quite right. But, I think you can get the idea. And, once again I will say - "I need an upgrade of PSE and I need a class!)

All in all it was a pleasant evening.

See, I can keep some secrets!