RAWR means "I Love You" in dinosaur

This past weekend, we loaded up the van with Roland, my brother Cole and his girlfriend Nicky.  Colin had his regional conference in Bozeman, so we decided to make the trip down there with him and spend some time shopping and hanging out while he was getting his church on.

On the trip up, we stopped at a beautiful scenic viewing area between Helena and Great Falls.  Roland got loaded up in the BabyHawk (oh my god, have I mentioned how awesome this thing is?  We're still adjusting, but I think it's amazing...) and we went to climb up a few flights of stairs.  It's a beautiful stop looking out over the river.  Unfortunately, it was windy and a little chilly, so we didn't stay for very long.

Not long after our first little stop, my poor baby had a bit of an explosion in his car seat.  We have decided that on long car rides, he needs to drink juice or water instead of milk and avoid sugar.  Of course, for breakfast his uncle gave him a few powdered doughnuts and he was sucking down milk the whole trip.  This combined in a pretty gross explosion.  Poor baby was pretty upset, but we got stopped and got him cleaned up and changed.  After puking, he seemed much happier...figures.

After the few dawdles on the way up, we barely made it to Bozeman in time for Colin to get in to register for his conference.  We dropped him off and got checked into our hotel.  We stayed at our normal haunt, the Lewis and Clark Hotel.  It's fairly inexpensive (we paid $85 a night) and the people there have always been incredibly friendly.  It's right next to the Co-op, just a few blocks from campus, the rooms are spacious and clean with fridges and microwaves, and they have homemade banana bread and muffins for breakfast.  It's not super fancy and they only have a hot tub (no pool) but we've had nothing but good luck with them.

Friday night, we ordered Mackenzie River pizza--mmmm, so delicious--and Chas came over to hang out for awhile.  I was fairly exhausted from the long drive, so Roland and I hung out in the hotel room while the other kids went wandering.  Picked Colin up from his conference at 9 and handed over baby duty (lucky jerk, the baby fell asleep almost immediately) and then passed out.

Saturday was another full day.  We discovered that the Museum of the Rockies had a free admission day, in honor of Astronomy.  We wanted to try to time it so Colin could join us, but really, we couldn't miss out on free day.

Roland absolutely adored it.

First off, there were a ton of people.  We wanted to see a show in their brand new theater, but the line was huge so we didn't even bother.  The crowds were thick and kind of obnoxious.  It didn't take long for me to hit my people limit.

We did things backwards this time around and started off with the dinosaurs.  He was pretty excited by the different moving machines at the very beginning, and then wasn't terribly thrilled for the next few rooms...until we got into the room with the giant dinosaurs.  His eyes got wide and he leaned way forward in his stroller and started growling and roaring and squealing with glee.  So we pulled him out, got his baby leash hooked on, and then him roam.  He would wander up to the exhibit, stare up, and go 'RAWR!'  I think he was pretty impressed by the giant things that had big sharp teeth.

We didn't spend much time in the Native American section or in the Early American History section.  While they're both parts that are really neat, I've personally seen them many, many times, and I didn't think it was something Roland would be hugely interested in.

After that, we stopped in the Rain forest Experience.  This was pretty neat, and something I've never seen at the museum before.  It was a big maze they had set up that had different trivia questions about the rain forest to help guide you through.  Along the way was different sensory exhibits that were aimed at children.  Roland was particularly fond of the rain maker.  

At one point near the end of the exhibit was a set of monkey bars.  Uncle Cole lifted him up so he could grab the bar and then let him go (sticking close enough that he could grab Roland as soon as he let go.)  I didn't think that Roland would stand for that for very long, but he hung there for a good 45 seconds before letting go with a big goofy grin.  We did it again and got video of it.

Have I mentioned how my child loves to climb?  I'm going to have problems with this one, I think.

We headed up to the third floor for the Explore Yellowstone Children's section.  I had never been in this part of the museum, and I don't think I even realized that they had this up there!  This was hands down my favorite part of the museum.  It was filled with kid friendly activities aimed at children under 8.  There was a geyser that you could set off, a small frontier kitchen complete with tons of fake food and dishes, different outfits for dress up, fishing poles and fishes, a tent and fire pit, and a little play area with soft mats for toddlers.  At the front of the room, they had a bunch of small backpacks hanging up, with a green ranger vest and binoculars in each one.  Very, very fun stuff for little ones, and I think we will be spending a lot of time here next time we hit the museum.

Our only problem in the children's section was, once again, too many people.  By the time we left, the room was brimming with littles and their parents.  That and Roland took a small tumble down a few steps.  Poor kid was awfully upset, but that was in part due to him being sleepy and hungry and just generally grumpy.

We headed down to the gift shop and hunted for something to bring home for the boy child.  We probably spent...oh...half an hour trying to decide on what dinosaur to bring home.  I would give him two and tell him to pick one.  He would grab one...and then the other...and then throw them both in the basket.  He thought this was great fun.  We ended up with a soft T-Rex and a book on dinosaurs that RAWR's.  I figured that would make him happy, and every time he plays with his dinosaur, he starts growling.  Score one for mom.

We met back up with Cole and Nicky and headed back to the hotel.  At this point, I had a fairly cranky child.  We snacked a bit and attempted to nap for several hours.  Of course, he was too wound up and excited for that to work.  Poor momma could have really used one too!

Colin bugged out of his conference a bit early, and we hooked up with Chas and Sammy for dinner at the Montana Ale Works.  If you haven't eaten here before, it's an absolute must!  The food is amazing, the drinks are delicious, the food comes quickly, and the people are all incredibly friendly.  I had the rib-eye which was...exactly what I needed.  Roland was a little cranky because it was late and there were a lot of people, but all things considered, he was pretty darn good.

Oh, the best part about the Ale Works?  Desert.  Their creme brulee is to die for.  It's almost too much for one person, so it's best to share, but yeah...definitely not to be missed.

This morning, Colin had a few last meetings and church.  I was going to try to join him for church, but between being incredibly sore from driving and running around and not feeling well, it wasn't a very good idea.  We got packed and loaded and snagged him, grabbing food on our way out of town.  We didn't get to see Chas this morning because I was trying to get out well ahead of the bad weather.

Luckily, though we ran into some pretty thick snow, it wasn't anything too terrible, and it wasn't overly windy.

All in all, it was an excellent albeit exhausting weekend.  Our van handled amazingly well in the mountains (aside from in the wind, but that isn't anything new) and we got nearly 18 miles to the gallon.  For a 20 year old mini-van, I think we're doing pretty good!

I can't wait to take Roland back to the museum.  I'm thrilled that he's acquired our love for museums, and it's something I can't wait to share with him as he grows up.

Best part of the weekend?  After we got home from the museum and we were cuddling in bed, he decided he was going to attack me.  By pouncing on me and gnawing on my stomach and saying, 'RAWR' over and over again.  It was pretty damn cute!