Boys' Trip to South Dakota

Doug, Will and Jack were in South Dakota the weekend before school started. This was for a Peppmeier family reunion. The boys have been looking forward to this trip for months and had so much fun.

Will and Jack checking out the battlefield at Little Bighorn, aka Custer's Last Stand in Montana.

Posing in front of some iron artwork.
Will and Jack at Mount Rushmore.

George looks pretty good from this angle. Crazy Horse

Wild Bill's grave in Deadwood.At Deadwood the boys took a tour of the mine, Doug looks scared.

Panning for gold.

The Peppmeiers

The Lego Master

So you've all heard how much the boys enjoy Legos. Well just within the last few weeks Jack has really mastered reading/following the instructions. He'll break things apart just so he can put them together again. It's quite impressive. Here's the SUV he put together. Way to go Jack!

First Soccer Games!

This weekend both boys had their first soccer game. It was so much fun to be out there with all the other families and watch the kids play. It's such a great way to spend a Saturday morning. Jack's team includes a bunch of his friends which is really fun. The kindergarten teams play 3 on 3 without a goalie. Will's on a 1st and 2nd grade team and I think he's the only 1st grader. They play 4 on 4 without a goalie. He loves to play and doesn't like having to come out of the game to let someone else have a turn. We're working on that.

Matthew, Jack and Reid a force to be reckoned with.

Annemarie on the team bench. Will's coach brings this for his team. It's so cute to see the kids sitting on it.

Will's so happy to be on the field.

Great first game Will!

Mom & Corey's Visit

Mom and Corey were just out here visiting. Mom stayed with the kids while we were in Great Falls for Eleanore and Leif's wedding and Corey arrived on Sunday. They stayed until Thursday. It was so great to have them here, I wish they could have stayed longer!

Corey, Mom, Jack, Will, Annemarie and Erin

Will joined Corey, Erin and my Mom for a trip to Glacier National Park. The enjoyed the usual sights, had lunch and took a hike.

Will took this pictures of the girls at Glacier. Not bad!

All of us after an adult dinner at the golf course. Dinner was SO good, thanks Mom!

City Beach

We've been to City Beach a couple of times this summer. Sometimes with friends other times on our own. I got a few pictures of the kids last time we were there. Here's Annemarie enjoying the water, she still has no fear!

Digging in the sand is a popular activity, here are the boys getting started.

Will getting ready to snorkel, good thing the water's pretty clear.

Jack loves the water, the boys are becoming quite the fish and love swimming in the lake even when it's cold.

Sip-n-Dip

I feel a place like this needs it's own blog entry. As mentioned before we were in Great Falls, Montana for Eleanore and Leif's fabulous wedding. We stayed at the O'Haire Motor Inn per the couple's suggestion. The best part was that the O'Haire Motor Inn is home of the Sip-n-Dip a tiki style bar with mermaids. Yes, real people dressed up as mermaids and swimming in what appears to be a tank behind the bar. What I soon found out is that they are swimming in the motel's indoor pool and there are two large windows in the deep end. So cool, so unusual, I cannot express how fun this was. Of course we also partook in the Sip-n-Dip's signature drink the bright teal fish bowl. When drinking one of these I would suggest drinking it quickly and while it's cold otherwise it ends up resembling and tasting like a melted slushy.
The Sip-n-Dip Mermaid. There is also a "merman" but I failed to get a picture of him the night before.

Another Fish Bowl, please!

Our MSU group (minus the groom, of course): Leif, Eleanore, Sarah, Scott, Ann, Stef, Doug, Kim and Jason.

Eleanore & Leif's Wedding

Eleanore and Leif's wedding was the wedding of the year for us. We've been looking forward to it and planning for it for months! And of course they did not disappoint! We started off festivities with a Bride's Luncheon at the Collins Mansion on Friday. It was hosted by Eleanore's aunt and cousin. It was a great opportunity to catch up with the bride. We were served high tea and had the option to wear hats if we so desired.

On Saturday the wedding ceremony was held at a local Catholic Church. The priest did a great job and the bride, groom and wedding party was just darling! The reception was held at the CM Russell Museum in Great Falls. The wedding decorations, favors, cakes, etc. were absolutely amazing. The attention to detail was astounding. Eleanore and Leif thank you for sharing your special day with us! Best wishes and congratulations!!

Eleanore and Sarah Spindle at the Bride's Luncheon.

Stefanie looking the part of a "lady at high tea".

Our table at the wedding. Ann Marlin and Sarah Spindle in the front and Scott, Doug and Stef in the back. Eleanore made everyone a napkin for a favor.
The bride and groom cutting their cake. Check out the groom's cake to the right...it's a stack of books!

Eleanore's niece Katy was one of the flower girls.

Matrons of honor Colleen and Alicia (Eleanore's sisters) and Stef. There were fake tattoos available, Stef's sporting hers.

The bride and I.

Nap Time??

This was Annemarie the other day around 5p. I was getting dinner ready and I turned around and she was asleep in her chair. She does not like taking naps anymore so I've been letting her stay up. Maybe it's time to bring back the nap?

Whitefish Lake

We were invited over to the Peschels' for swimming and dinner on Sunday. This was the first time we were out on the lake this summer. We had a great time and the boys even went swimming.

Jack and Doug making their silly faces.

John, Matthew, Will, Doug and of course Jack.

Great time for a swim!

Aunt Erin's Open House & Block Party

There was block party on Erin's street last weekend. She hosted an open house during it and invited lots of friends. We had a great time!

Face painting is the best! Will is a pirate and Jack got a T-Rex.

Annemarie sizing up Baldy the horse in the petting zoo area.

Enjoying popsicles on a hot day.

Kappa Sigma Reunion

This past weekend was Doug's fraternity reunion in Bozeman. We left the kids with Erin in Whitefish and enjoyed visiting with friends. We drove down to Bozeman on Friday with friends Andy and Julie who were visiting from Wisconsin. It was so fun to spend time with them. They are hilarious, we wished they lived closer. We arrived in Bozeman around dinner time on Friday when the fraternity festivities began. A quick stop at the Crystal for a drink and then a slow march past where the R-Bar used to be (for those of you who don't know it blew up in a natural gas explosion) finally stopping at the Pour House for dinner and drinks. There was a large group that night, maybe 50 people?

Saturday included golfing, bike riding, sight-seeing, etc. during the day and a barbecue at the fraternity house that night. Here are a few pictures from them weekend.

The brothers in front of their house, Doug's in the very back in the green shirt.

Mike, Kennet, Jordan and Doug at the Crystal.Eric, Doug, Jordan, Scott, Mike, Kennet, Wilhelm and Andy

At the Crystal the ID's that are confiscated are put up on the wall and ceiling. We found Doug's!

We took a quick walk through the MSU campus. The buildings are in such great shape and everything looks so good! Here's Montana Hall.

And Romney Gym which is one of my favorite buildings.

Summer Activites

There is so much to do in the summer. As for activities we signed the boys up for a week long gymnastics camp and a few rounds of swim lessons. I'm so disappointed I didn't get any pictures of the boys in the gym. Not one picture of them on the balance beams, bouncing on the tramp, climbing the robe or swinging from the uneven bars. However, they did enjoy gymnastics and if we can fit it into our schedule this fall I may sign them up for another round of classes.
The other summer activity included swimming. I feel like swim lessons are always a must. Instead of taking them to the Wave like we have in the past I decided we should be outside enjoying the sun. Swim lessons were at Woodland Water Park in Kalispell. I loved this program and the instructors. I really felt the boys learned a lot. As you will notice Jack is not in any of the pictures. He strongly resisted swim lessons this year (we're still not completely sure why) but he did take two private lessons and Will took four weeks of lessons. Funny thing is their swimming abilities are still pretty even. We enjoyed the swim park so much that we bought a summer pass and spend any free time we have out there.

Will floating in the lazy river.

Will working on his kicks.

3rd Annual Peschel-Peppmeier Camping Trip

I apologize for the size of the pictures. I've had so much trouble downloading them that I decided to just deal with the size and move on. So...we had another wonderful camping trip with our friends Laura, John and Matthew Peschel. Apgar Village in Glacier National Park has always been a good spot for us so that's where we ended up again this summer. In addition to the usual campground activities this year we took the kids for a hike up to Avalanche Lake. Even though the hike was only a few miles the boys did pretty well, though I have to mention that they also went though Laura's entire stash of band-aids.

All of us at Avalanche Lake.

Doug and Annemarie. The little one enjoyed being packed around. The big one was a good sport about having to carry her.

Time for s'mores!

We tried out campfire marshmallows this trip. They were enormous!! I held Will's s'more for him because it was so messy.

Team Peppmeier, all smiles after a weekend of camping!