Glacier National Park

We did a "quick", long weekend trip up to see Glacier National Park.  It was supposed to be a 7-hour car trip according to Google Maps, but with breaks and meals, it took us more like 9.  Not too bad, and I was impressed with the kids' traveling tolerance.  Mostly, I credit that to lots and lots of snacks.  (Did I mention that Owen is into making funny faces for the camera these days?)

Here's one of our en-route breaks at a park in Missoula.  Don't you just love this daddy-daughter pic?

We stayed in a cabin west of Whitefish, Montana.  It was at the end of a mountain road off a dirt road off a road off the highway.  I think our greatest wildlife sighting was right outside our door when J spotted this great grey owl in the tree.  It was huge!

The cabin setting was great, but with in-town construction the drive to GNP was about an hour, which was not great after being in the car all day the day before.  Owen enjoyed the cabin so much though, that as we were leaving he pleaded that we move to the woods.

I think that was due to some of the "amenities" we had:

The next morning after a hearty breakfast, we ventured out to Glacier.

The morning was overcast and a bit chilly, but we stopped at Lake McDonald to stretch our legs before finding a good hiking trail.

It was past tourist season, which was nice, so we opted for a short hike around Johns Lake.  The hiking book touted it as a magical fairyland-type forest, and it did not disappoint.  The first picture is Owen telling me how spooky the forest is.  :)

Lunch time!  Man, these kids seem to eat all the time...

After lunch, Owen got very tired and asked to ride in the carrier that we borrowed from some friends.  I think he was at the upper weight limit, but it was definitely better than having no carrier!  The second half of the trail followed McDonald Creek by some waterfalls.  Very lovely, and the sun came out in the afternoon!

After the hike, we got back in the car to see what the Going-To-The-Sun Road was all about, hoping the kids might nap on the way.  (No dice there!)  Gorgeous scenery and motion-sickness-inducing views from the edge.  Gulp!

At Logan Pass, we exited the car and tested the kids' stamina sans carriers on the Hidden Lake Trail.  The first 1/2 mile is up but either paved or boardwalk, and we made it just past the boardwalk section before we decided to head back.  

We had a 2-hour car trip back through the park to our cabin, and both kids slept soundly nearly the whole time. Therefore, the drive was even more serene on the way out!

The second day we decided to minimize car time, so we tried out part of the Whitefish Trail nearby.  It was a nice hike, but we didn't see any views or wildlife.  Owen's limit is about a mile of hiking before he wants to be carried, so we had to turn back early on this hike too, as we were cutting into lunch time!  We made it back to the cabin for naps and some college football.  :)

In a nutshell, I could have used another day at Glacier.  With all the car travel and kid-carrying, I'd like to return in a few years when the kids can hike longer because there is so much more to see!  We have to go back before the glaciers are gone, supposedly in 20 years.

Owen, the Photographer

In honor of Owen's first week back at pre-school, this post is all about how he sees the world.  One morning, while Hadley was napping, we let him loose with the camera.  He took over 50 pictures, but some of them were actually kind of interesting perspective.  I could see them in a black and white collage framed somewhere...

The artist, rocking his dad's vintage polyester dress shirt!  :)

Last of Summer

I cringed when I wrote the title.  Sigh...  I found a few more pictures to share of the kids in the sun, okay a lot more.  I think this wraps up July and August finally!  I'll look back on this fondly when we are getting snow in a month.  :)

Parks and Playgrounds
Lots of time spent outside in the mornings.  Hadley is a climber and will try to go up the slides just like her big brother.  

The moms' group had a water balloon day at the park.  Owen is shirtless because I expected a chaotic, wet battle, but the kids mostly just enjoyed breaking the balloons on the grass.  They went through hundreds of balloons in less than 10 minutes.  :)

Roaring Youth Jam
The city hosts a music and arts festival for kids, so we went to check it out.  Owen really enjoyed playing the drums!  But he wasn't thrilled about the art projects - hoping he'll grow into those.  Oh, and be Bear Aware!  :)

Water Fun
Of course we hit up the usual splash park, but we ventured down to Pocatello to try out theirs one day.  It was pretty awesome.  How can we be sandwiched between two fantastic splash parks and not have one of our own in this, the largest "city" in SE Idaho?  

John's work had their summer picnic at Heise Hot Springs, but in the cold pool.  Maybe we'll try out the actual hot springs this winter!

I also tried my hand at water-skiing after an approximately 10-year hiatus.  It was fun, but wiping out was not so fun!  However, when you get to ski in a lake like this, it's still pretty amazing.

Backyard
There was much time spent in the sandbox, of course.  But we did break out the silly sprinkler and the kiddie pool for at least one hot day.  The trick is that you have to do this in the afternoon so that the water in the pool has all day to heat up.  It's still pretty cold though...

And August means lots of zucchini and tomatoes from the garden!  Owen likes to help me find the red tomatoes.  He still eats cherry tomatoes like candy, which I think is pretty wonderful.  I also tried out green beans this year.  They grew well, but I have yet to find a really great fresh green bean recipe that everyone enjoys!  And now our second-round of raspberries is coming in and looking/tasting better than the early ones.  Yea!

Inside
There's always lots of play inside when the temps and the sun are soaring.

Hadley has a slight obsession with fabrics, be they blankets or dirty socks.  She'll drag a piece around behind her like Linus, run her fingers methodically down the seam, wrap it around her neck, and go up and over her head with it stretched out.  Over and over.  If only I could figure out what that little brain is thinking!

She also really enjoys pushing this little guy around the house.  :)

14-month-old Raspberry Eater

Happy 14 months to my little raspberry eater!  She can never eat these secretly.  :)

And they are sooo good right off the bush!

How We Spent Our Summer Vacation

This has been a hot summer!  No lie.  The last two summers, we had maybe a week of temps in the 90s, but this summer it seems like most of July and August were flirting with that kind of heat.  (Yes, I know that hitting 90 degrees is no big deal for native Texans, but the sun here at 4700 feet of elevation is intense!)  Though it's still hot outside, I can already feel summer slipping away.  It has gone by way too fast.  This weekend is Labor Day, for goodness sake!  At least we tried to fill our summer as best we could.  Aside from family visiting, here are some of the ways we spent our time...

Our little moms' group arranged a tour of one of the local fire stations.  This always gets the kids' attention and is good for some general fire safety info that hopefully some of the kids hear and retain.  :)

Outside or inside, summer is always good for some fun with friends.

We even signed Owen up for some swim lessons at the outdoor pool.  He enjoyed going, but they seemed to play a lot of games and sit on the step.  Little did I know that at the end of the 2-week session (of going every day for 30 minutes!), he would receive a report card.  Unfortunately, he did not get check marks for floating on his own for 10 seconds, so he will have to repeat the same swim class next time!  Ugh.  I'm not even going to mention that I didn't see his class practice floating EVER...  Oops, looks like I did!  :)

The main goal for me in putting him in swim lessons was to have him overcome his recently-acquired fear of the water.  It did make him less afraid, but we still have work to do!  The grand finale of the lessons was to have them jump off the diving board. While he did not jump, he lamented to me afterward that he should have jumped!  Maybe next summer...

There are some sand dunes about 5 minutes from our house.  When Owen saw the humongous pile of sand, he was in heaven!!  The biggest sandbox he's ever seen!  We'll have to go back when it cools off a bit.