Summer Sunshine :)

Out on the boat on Swan Lake

Riding the pony with her science fiction novel

Hiking in Glacier National Park with Bob and Erika

Being silly with granddad at dinner time

Petting the leopard at the sculpture garden

Enjoying Big Fork with Papa and Erika

We are back in the season now and have been out hiking with our friends Bob and Erika who visited for a long weekend from Seattle and we just made it out on Eila's first boat ride today on Swan Lake. Eila has been enjoying her time with her GiGi and Granddad and Kushang and I are getting a little time out alone together, which is very nice for us. We'll be taking the evening off tomorrow for our 7th wedding anniversary. We celebrated Father's Day here in Montana and Eila and her papa and granddad had a great day together.

Eila has now added Rhino to her list of words, which she calls Nino. She now calls several animals by their sounds, so cows are "moo moo", sheep are "baaa", and elephants are "hmmmm" in a really high pitch. If you heard her say it you would understand how cute it sounds.

Let it snow! (In June?)

Well, it is not exactly the summer vacation we were expecting but surprises are nice. It has been snowing here in Montana for the last 36 hours and the white landscape and snow dusted trees are gorgeous. We are still hoping for the 70 degree weather and sunshine to return by the weekend. For the meantime, we played a little in the snow and made hot cocoa and lit a toasty fire. Eila (and we) got a visit from our aunt Lisa and cousin Cindy over the last few days and had a great time hiking in Glacier National Park at Avalanche Creek and catching up. Eila got doted on a LOT during their visit and loved every minute of it.

The Wheels on the Bus!

School bus tent fun!

Splash!

Helping with the gardening chores

Mowing with grand dad

Eila's favorite stump

Miss Sherbert head

Kushang has requested for happier pictures in the mountains than the last posting. I am really working on taking better pictures and I am partially blaming it on my digital camera, which I don't like much. So, I borrowed my Dad's camera and it helped a bit. Here is Eila outside in front of the cabin driving in her big inflated school bus, mowing the lawn with grand dad, playing in the water and dirt, and being silly with the puppy dog.

Back to the Mountains- Yippee!

Out in the front yard playing by the pine tree

Multi-tasking- walking the dog and driving the wagon

Exploring in the front yard

"I picked some flowers just for you!"

Eila's pretend telephone

Playing with grandma GiGi

Worn out- asleep in the lego wagon

Eila loves being in Montana in the mountains- I guess its like going back home for her since she was born in the mountains of Vietnam and lived there for her first 4 1/2 months. The weather is gorgeous with snow topped peaks but warm and sunny around the cabin by the river. Eila has tons of natural toys (she loves rocks the best and luckily over the past month she has gone from eating them to just playing with them) and hand me down toys from all of the neighboring cabins where kids have also grown up coming here to play every summer. Her favorite is the lego wagon. Its great to have a family place to come that is so beautiful and relaxing.

Her language is getting more interesting and demanding. She knows 27 words and uses "no" the most in the last few days, unfortunately. We are really working on yes and please and thank you, but so far no luck. Her most recent word is "Snap", which she does when she pulls apart a snap. Her silliest word still is Yak, which she says "Gna" where the "gn" sounds like the spanish "n" in the middle of nino. Her naughtiest word that her god-mama taught her is "tattoo". Her cutest words are for polar bear and panda bear, which are similar but distinctly different as "po bear" and "pa bear".

She is still not a good eater but exploring new foods. She now LOVES strawberries, so I am constantly boiling water to pour through her stained clothes. She also loves black beans, especially flavored with a little salsa. She likes fish, yogurt, peas, corn, dried apricots and duck shaped cheese crackers or really anything that has anything to do with ducks. We are going to try out fresh stream trout (without bones, of course) very soon. We'll spare her from catching her own until next year. She also finally has learned to love her sippy cup and she goes to the fridge when she is thirsty and says "knock knock" and then "Mick" for milk when she is thirsty.

We'll update more mountain shots after we do some outdoor exploring soon and after her aunties and papa arrive next week.