Nora Evelyn McGowan

The amazing log cabin we were staying in in Montana was about an hour and a half from Missoula so we decided to stay in a hotel near the airport the night before our 8:00am flight. It was a Hampton Inn packed to the gills with (I swear I am not making this up) Hells Angels and Amish people. I overheard one of the Hells Angels asking the desk clerk for the WIFI access code. Also, perhaps even stranger, there were Amish people on our airplane!? (Maybe it’s okay because it’s plane?) Here’s a couple shots of Nora playing in the hotel.

clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree(s)…

Yesterday we went to Bigfork, MT — a tourist town similar to Saugatuck, MI; Park City, UT; Portland, Maine; or countless other such touristy places.  We passed up the fudge, t-shirts, and “art”, but being in possession of a cute baby girl fairly obligated us to purchase a cute baby outfit:

Happy 8 month birthday, Nora (and watch out for grizzlies)!

Sally, Rich, and Kwala took us on a delightful (if rather populated) hike near Holland Lake yesterday. We hiked up a mostly stroller-accessible trail (we’re not quite lazy enough to bring a stroller on a hiking trail, but other people tried and they didn’t give up their quest until about 2/3 of the way in; it was a very easy trail) to a lovely waterfall.

The waterfall pictures are forthcoming (they live in Rich’s camera right now), but here are some photos of Jen and Nora clowning around down by the lake after lunch. Note to any local social workers: no babies were thrown into any lakes during the taking of these pictures.

Nora and Jen have been spending a lot of time in the guest cabin while here in Montana. Here are a bunch of pictures of Nora apparently enjoying herself.

Nora’s hiding out in a cabin in the Montana woods not far from where the unabomber was eventually apprehended. Here is a view from our front porch:

Moments before this shot she was laughing, playing, and singing: sing, laugh, laugh, giggle, *deep breath*, SCREAM!

Here’s a hodge-podge of pictures to wrap-up our big first trip with the little bean. First, Nora and my lovely bride with the Pacific tide rolling-in behind them:

and a different view of her first step in the Pacific ocean.

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Nora, Jen, and I took the scenic route to visit Nora’s new second cousin (my first cousin, once removed) James. Here we see James and Nora holding hands (they really hit it off) while held by Jen and Deborah. Donagh (not pictured) is standing next to me and hopefully got some non-blurry photos with his much nicer camera.

Many thanks to Ryan Leigh for the assist on this photo (and for teaching us how to put on disposable diapers so they won’t leak). I think Nora preferred the real waves, but she is definitely happy not to have to deal with the sand. Sand makes Noras cry.