Keeping up with the Feldman's

Monday, August 25, 2014

School Days

Summer was great but the school bells are ringing which means it is time to get back down to business.

Ella will start her second year of college at Iowa State and was kind enough to send me her first day of school picture since she is 2 1/2 hours away and would have been way to early of a morning for me to take it. So here is my cutie in front her sorority...Alpha Gamma Delta. Although today is her first day of class, she has been back on campus since the 10th of August preparing with her AGD sisters for formal recruitment. If you follow her on Facebook you already know that she is loving being back in Ames and especially at ISU.

Emily on the other hand has moved back down the ladder to the bottom rung as a Freshy Fresh. She is not thrilled with my new title for her but I feel way to sassy saying it to give it up too soon. So until it gets old she will be referred to as My Freshy Fresh. High School is treating her well and she has made the adjustment down the hall (if you are from Lone Tree that probably just made you smile because that is the biggest adjustment that LT students make from MS to HS) just fine. She has jumped into the HS life and all of it's opportunities with both feet and the front of the fridge is proof with it's overload of schedules. But I am happy to have a girl back in HS and all the activities that it brings.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Mount Rushmore - Day 10

You cannot travel through South Dakota without a stop at Mount Rushmore.....so stop we did. You would think that this would have been the excitement for the day....and would have been if it had not been for the fact that the Harley Davidson's Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis had started that day. I kid you not when I say that the amount of bikes we saw in Keystone might have impressed everyone more than Mount Rushmore itself.

But our real excitement came when we attempted to find a hotel for the night. That's when the real effect of the rally came into play for us. We could not get far enough away from Sturgis....finally after 2 1/2 hours with several stops at several very sketchy motels we did find lodging but unfortunately had also driven by the badlands in the dark so our trip was cut down by one day. But I will agree with the girls.....our home on Tuesday night, just in time for supper, was a site for sore eyes (and legs...and rears...and hips....well you get the idea....we were definitely sore from riding for 19 hours).

Last Day in Montana - Day 9

Emily and I were invited to join the members of the Yellowstone Club on their last big blowout of the season....The Float! Four hours of floating and eating...ahhh this is the life. We did find out that we are not that great at floating down the middle of the river and thanked our fireman, Jay, several times for dragging us back to the current and stopped at DQ to "thank" Emily for doing the same when Jay was off rescuing other floaters that stranded themselves in the banks of the Madison River.

The event was well organized and nobody went home hungry....or thirsty. Floating coolers were provided for refreshments and snacks at the start of the float. Two hours into the float we came upon an anchored boat that was grilling sausages and the Huckleberry Lemonade was flowing. Then again at the end of the float we were greeted with a full blown BBQ.

But all good fun must come to an end...so back to the cabin to pack the car so we can get an early start on our trip back home.

Side note: It made me smile when I thought back on the day I put Ella on the plane with tears brimming in her eyes only to find those same tears sitting there waiting to fall when we got into that car to head back home. Oh how life can change and that change warms a mama's heart.

Day 8....Why are the Feldman's in Montana Anyway.....

Ella went back to work and Emily and I needed a "just hanging out" day. So let me fill you in on why we are here. Ella was offered an internship in the Member Services Department for the month of July at the Yellowstone Club in Big Sky, MT. This is an exclusive, private and BEAUTIFUL resort about 10 miles out (or more accurately UP) from Big Sky. Ella was originally placed in a condo in Big Sky but was moved to a cabin on the resort 4 miles up the mountain. She fully enjoyed herself and the internship was well worth the travel. Plus, believe it or not, but they too loved Ella...so she left with an offer for both Christmas break and next summer...she will have to see what her future holds.

The cabin that Ella was housed in on the Resort.

A view of the cabin village

Yum....If this is not reason enough to visit Big Sky then you need to look at the picture again.....

Enjoying a mid morning FRESH donut.

Blue Moon in Big Sky. So quaint. Has delicious pizza and our nightly go to for dessert.

The town of Big Sky.

View of the fire pit in the town square

The grocery store in Big Sky

Yellowstone Club Entrance Gate

Warren Miller Lodge on Yellowstone Club

View of the golf course on Yellowstone Club Property

They even have their own fire department.

One of the beautiful homes on the resort. This picture does it no justice.

Inside Ella's cabin

Again....

Back side of the Warren Miller Lodge

Candy/Snack counter in the Warren Miller Lodge....Heaven

Friday, August 1, 2014

Day 7....Whitewater Rafting

Once more we started the day at Ousel Fall but with Ella this time.

Ella adding her rock to the pile as proof we were here!

But there was no time to diddle daddle for the whitewater was calling our name! The ride was a 10 mile thrilling combination of floating gently down the Gallatin River and flying through appropriately named whitewaters. The paddling, holding on for dear life and water was not the best environment for pictures and they were asking an arm and a leg for the professionally taken pictures so you will have to take our word that it was another great....fast.....wet way to see Montana.

Ousels and PBR...Day 6

Don't know about you, but a day ago if I had read the title of this post I would have assumed that the writer of the post sat around all day reading Dr. Seuss and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon (does anyone even drink PBR anymore?). Which in my opinion there are times that you need something to help with the nonsense rhymes in some of those books! But in Montana lingo this day was spent at Ousels Falls and the evening was filled with some GREAT Professional Bull Riding.

Ousel Falls

Yellowstone Club is sponsoring the PBR in Big Sky tonight so Ella was off doing her thing all day in preparation of this big event leaving Emily and I to explore Montana ourselves. Ousel Falls was the perfect answer. Armed with our bear spray we headed down the path in search of the falls. Every step of this hike was once again breathtaking. Emily and I took turns manning the camera....obviously the pics with Emily in them I took but Emily has quite and eye for scenery shots so credit is given to her for those pictures. We both decided that this is one place that Ella can't miss so we will be returning when she is with us later in the week.

PBR

There are certain benefits of having your daughter intern at such a great club....one is free passes to most of their events. Emily and I raided Ella's closet in search of some "western apparel" and headed to Big Sky to take in some Professional Bull Riding. The evening started with a stop at the Yellowstone Club private tent for all the food and drink that Emily and I could handle then into the stands. We had both hoped that former LTCSD paraeducator, Jay Morrow, would have been riding but our disappointment only lasted until the first rider was released and the excitement of watching these crazy young men try to hit 8 seconds atop a pissed off bull as the crowd roared from the stands in excitement. It was a great evening even if we didn't get to see Jay.