a Saturday in May

 
 About the only problems with Saturdays in May in Montana is that there aren't enough of them.

And the ones we do have just aren't long enough.

We started the day at Azia's softball tournament in Ronan. (Where she continued to try to remember not to dig a giant sinkhole out at shortstop where she is working on being a super attentive ball player while also cheering enthusiastically at her pitcher's strikeouts.)

Afterwards there was a quick Subway lunch stop and onto Polson for a much-too-long fabric buying trip. Since the boys were all at a car show in Missoula, Azia and I were without our most impatient shoppers and we ended up taking much longer than I had planned. There was also the problem that Azia was too distracted by all the zebra print to help pick out material for the dance outfits we need to make.

On the way back to Mission we discovered they are having a rendezvous at Fort Connah this weekend.

The little Fort at the base of the mountains becomes even more scenic when you add a few teepees.

Of course the downside to the busier days is the busier highway, which almost always leads to more wrecks.

But yet another upside, when someone needed help on this sunny Saturday afternoon, in only a few minutes Mission had more than a dozen volunteer firefighters and ambulance crew members show up to help.

Azia and I spent much of the afternoon helping grandma make flowers.  We started before I went on the ambulance call. I left her there with grandma & all her cousins to go help out on the wreck and when we I got back we worked for a few more hours on flowers. We aren't as much help as we should be yet, but I think we have potential.

In the evening we headed up to Ahni's house for her birthday party. She's already turning 7!

There was good food and presents and a pinata (which Bryce seems to be formulating some sort of plan of attack for. . .) and millions of cousins and friends and a black & blue zebra-stripped cake.  I had to leave a little before ice cream with a gang of the little girls to head all the way back to Ronan.

for even more softball!

The girls played well, but it got so late they began adding layers and warming up with blankets and hot chocolate in the dugout while waiting to bat.

They were still playing as the sun started to go down.

But, ending the game (and the day) with a round of the hokey-pokey is never a bad idea. 

Not enough hours in each day, not enough Saturdays in May. . .