On Flathead Lake

Part of me wasn’t sure WS would rise to the challenge, but except for a couple of trips to the bathroom, a break for lunch (pizza) around noon, and a quick stretch in the afternoon, he spent all of Wednesday in the husband’s recliner watching videos (mostly Land Before Time). He even told the husband that should the husband ever get another recliner, WS would be happy to take his old one. That recliner is a bone of contention here. The girls and I would like to get the husband a new one, but he says the old one is broken in and comfortable. It’s also dirty and ratty and starting to fall apart.

[Before anyone has a hissy fit, no, I do not believe in a steady diet of TV-watching and inactivity for children. Once in a while, as a treat, however, that is what it is—a treat. Adults “treat” themselves all the time in the name of self-care. WS starts school on Monday, and he has worked very hard this summer. I thought he deserved the down time.]

I made one last batch of zucchini bread and did some other household tasks, occasionally sitting down to watch TV and discuss dinosaurs with WS. He is a wealth of information.

Yesterday, we headed out early to do errands and have lunch before our boat cruise at 1 pm. One of our stops was Joann Fabrics, where I told WS he could pick out some dinosaur-themed fabric for a T-shirt. I plan to use the Oliver + S School Bus shirt pattern, which has already been printed and taped together for tracing:

I’d love to be able to get it done in time for him to wear on the first day of school, but I doubt that will happen.

We had lunch at Chick-Fil-A—his choice, because he had never been there. I forgot that little boys can put away a lot of food. (You would think I would know better, being married to the husband.) I should have gotten him a regular meal, not the kids’ meal. I had cookies in my purse for dessert, though.

We got to the marina at the appointed time, presented our tickets, and boarded the boat. I suggested we sit on the upper deck near the wheelhouse:

Alas, I hadn’t factored in the southwesterly “breeze” as we headed south down the lake, so the first half of the trip was a bit windy. About 15 minutes into the trip, WS discovered that our neighbor Chelsey and her daughter, Anna—who we refer to as “Little Anna” so as not to confuse her with “Big Anna,” who has the catering business—were also on the cruise. I got to visit with Chelsey for a bit and the kids hung out together.

Despite the blue skies, we still have enough smoke and haze to obscure a good view of the mountains. This is looking north/northeast as we were on our way back to the marina.

Those are two distinct ranges. The Mission range is in the foreground. It’s the darker range that peters out toward the left side of the photo. Behind it is the Swan range, which are the mountains just to the east of our house. I know the landscape well enough that I could point out where our house would be if the picture were a bit clearer.

Montana is breathtakingly beautiful.

We got home in time for WS to watch another couple of episodes of Land Before Time before his mom showed up to get him.

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My plan for today was to touch up the garden before the tour, but it has been raining off and on all night, with more showers expected today. I’ll do what I can in between the raindrops. There are a few things that will have to wait until tomorrow morning. The husband will be here to help me fold up tarps and move tables and chairs. I dropped off the apron that I made for the gift basket and then realized I had forgotten to take a picture of it. Oh, well.

The garden tour will mark the end of gardening season, in a sense. I’ll still be bringing in tomatoes and the melons will be allowed to ripen, but I’ll finish digging up potatoes, trim back the lavender hedges, and pull up the cukes and zucchini plants. It’s time to start putting the garden to bed for the winter. I will not lie, though—I am looking forward to my overnight trip to Spokane next week. I need some time where the only person I have to cater to is me.