Get around, get around - down South edition

Sunday was Steve and Christina's anniversary, and as an awesomely amazing present Steve got Christina a beautiful new lens for her camera.  The girls appreciated this gift  in the form of turning the box into a bird house:

Christina appreciated it by taking pictures of everything in sight - including our BLT sandwiches we were making with Farmer's Market orange tomatoes.

It was about the time we were making these BLTs that we decided they would best be eaten on a picnic, and we drove down the Bitterroot to a wildlife refuge in Stevensville to eat and explore.

 

 We had some pretty noisy girls with us, so we didn't see too much of the wildlife that was taking refuge there (it also probably didn't help that it was 98 degrees and 2 in the afternoon by the time we started looking!).  We did find these killdeer (birds):

 

 And this pretty bird (we don't know what it is):

 

 And most beautiful, a great blue heron!

  

 

What we saw most of, however, were dragonflies and damselflies.  They were everywhere!!  And Christina took advantage of the new camera lens to take lots of pictures - here are some of them.

 

While Christina wanted to capture these insects on camera, Clara wanted them in her cupped little hands.  She is so gentle, and so enamored of insects, that we let her try.  We didn't really expect that she would be able to get these quick little guys, but to her delight, she did!

Elena was very happy to play tourguide, and she walked backwards much of the time telling us what we should be looking for.

Do pinecones count as wildlife?

Rocks?

It was a pretty hot walk, and Steve was smart in having it end at the river.  Clara and Elena loved getting in and splashing!

 

And, obligatory shots of how beautiful it is out here - Montana is definitely at its best in the summertime!