Ken's Quick Trip to Montana

So, Ava and I took a little time to travel to Montana to visit my parents.  We left our home at 4:30 am and arrived just in time for my nephew's primary program at church.  Here are some pictures of the weekend.

First up: Fall colors were great.  I really wanted to get the right picture of the sunset, but my camera is not the best.  Regardless, it was beautiful.

 The next morning, Ava and I were able to help do some chores.  We moved some straw into the newly remodeled chicken coop.

Ava, at first, was scared to death of the chickens--you could say she was "chicken" of the chickens.  It didn't take too long for her to warm up.  She helped move the chickens around as needed, and when we had to run errands, she got down to eye level, clapping and stomping to persuade the chickens back into their home.  This from the girl who would not initially get off the table when the chickens were nearby.

Another picture of the colors

On the second night in town, Ava and I were able to meet up with G&G Jones for dinner.  My parents were also able to join us.  Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures.  Ava got a ghost toy from G&G Jones, which kept her busy while the adults talked.  It was a lot of fun, and I'm glad we could meet up.

Ava found this bike and rode it around.  Cute, right?

Taking food to the chickens.

On the way home, we stopped in Wyoming briefly to see my grandparents.  It was a long trip home, and every once in a while Ava would ask me where we were going.  I would tell her the next major town.  She started to say she was hungry (imagine that), so I told her we would stop somewhere to find something to eat.  Quite randomly, she announced she wanted to eat pancakes.  I don't often think of pancakes while traveling but figured it would be fun.  She was sooooo excited for the pancakes.  I filmed her because she was so hyper and talkative.  Very cute.  When the waitress arrived, Ava announced without prompting that she needed pancakes.  She also announced chocolate milk as her choice of drink.  She worked on a kids menu coloring project.  Just before the meal arrived, she turned the menu over and saw the pictures of the food.  She pointed to a couple and stated she did NOT want them (a "scary" pancake face with bananas for the smile, etc).  Then she saw the picture of the hamburgers.  Just as our pancake dinners were arriving, she announced she wanted a hamburger.  What a silly girl.  All excited about pancakes, and then, as the food was arriving, stating she wanted a hamburger.  She was a little disappointed at first but had some of my hash browns with ketchup and then was all over her pancakes.

We made it home around 11 pm that night.  It was a lot of fun having her on the trip with me.