Glacier Day 1

We left in the early afternoon to get to Idaho Falls. We were so rushed because we’d only been home from Bear Lake for two days, and we had Mark’s birthday, the Fourth of July barbecue, and the Webbs staying at our house. But we pulled it all together and arrived in Idaho Falls at about 6 pm. Stephanie spoiled our kids (and us) with an Idaho Falls Chuckers baseball game, and we were a little early, so we stopped by the river. The boys were excited to see a squirrel, an osprey, and especially a massive crawfish. Two of those three were on their Glacier Bingo Sheet. 

The Osprey nest was super cool, AND there were babies!

This crawfish was a great sighting.

The baseball game was really fun, and we made it through eight and a third innings, but it was getting late and the Chuckers were down 7-0. We went to Steph’s house and crashed for a too-short night. Dad had us up at six and on the road by 6:30. Dax insisted on taking a shower because Dad had said, “You can sleep in the van,” and he thought we were spending the night sleeping in our vehicle.

We are always up for a baseball game!

It is especially fun to go with cousins. 

The boys and Abby and Ray got to say ,"Play Ball," to start the game!

The brunette girls at this game. 

It was a really long drive to Glacier, and the only real stop was for lunch at a little place called the Stray Bullet in Ovando. It was a quaint, expensive restaurant that served breakfast or sandwiches. We did arrive at the park around three o’clock, so we’d made pretty good time. 

The restaurant was good, and everything was made to order. 

Dad has been wanting to come to Glacier for a LONG time, so we were so happy to finally be there!

We checked into our room, and it was absolutely gorgeous. We stayed on the south end of Lake McDonald in the Apgar Village Inn. Mom splurged for the expensive room because it has a kitchen, but it also had a front door to the parking lot and a back door to the lake. We could sit on our back porch and see the craggy mountains rising above the crystal blue water. There was even a massive picture window so we had the same view from the bed.

This was definitely the best room we ever stayed in. 

The lake was 10 steps away! 

Dax kept finding beautiful rocks.

Look how clear that water is? It is an amazing place!

We put our kids in yesterday’s shorts because we hadn’t packed swimsuits and walked the 20 feet down to the water’s edge. It was cold, but not numbingly so, and we waded and threw rocks for about an hour. 

Then we decided it was time for a hike. We drove up to the north end of the lake and did Johns Lake Loop. We didn’t seen a lot of animals, but we did manage a mule deer, a yellow-rumped warbler, and a chipmunk along the way. Dad was carrying the bear spray in his pocket just in case. Seth asked, “Hey, Dad, when are we going to put that bear spray on? Won’t it be too late when a bear actually comes?” He must have thought it was like mosquito spray!

Johns Lake was a beautiful little pond with lily pads all over it.

Mom and Dad snuck a picture.

Mom and Dax love hiking together. 

This deer used the bridge to cross the river just like we did!

We hiked along the river that empties into Lake McDonald. 

After the hike, we went back and Mom made tacos for dinner. By then it was getting late, but we drove up the road for awhile hoping to see something. We made it all the way to what they call The Loop, but it seems that the animals are on the east side of the mountains, just like at Yellowstone. 

This is called Heaven's Peak because it reaches toward Heaven. 

The boys loved walking along the rocks back to the car.

Someone offered to take a family photo for us!

We got back to our room late, and after showers, teeth, and scriptures, it was even later. But the lake is beautiful, and the sun was out late, too. Even though it was a lot of driving, we had a nice day.

We seriously LOVE where we stayed.  

The sunset was beautiful as we got ready to go to bed after a long first day in Glacier. 

Bear Lake

The family shirts featured Bear Lake.

We stayed in the same house for Bear Lake this year. It was a lot of fun because all of Mom's sisters and their children were able to go, even though Jason and Bob were working. Grandma and Grandpa only spent two of the four days with us, so we started with Grandma's Moose Olympics. The kids enjoyed moose track racing, blowing moose calls in the air, and tossing rings on the moose's antlers.

Team 1 for Grandma Olympics!

Team 2!!

Seth was a winner in the Moose Tracks competition.

Dax can really pin the antlers on the moose!

Mark is a great shot with the slingshot.

The kids shirts were custom made by Stephanie.

We spent two days at the lake and even avoided sunburns. It was fun playing in the sand, kayaking, and splashing cousins. We even found a new burger boat at the lake this year for lunch. After each of our trips to the beach we went to get a shake. The favorite turned out to be Jolly Rancher, which was surprisingly delicious.

Dad kicked the kids out of the kayak long enough to get a ride.

Mark is always ready to take little cousin out for a ride.

Dax is a really brave kayaker.

That smile shows how much Seth likes to kayak.

The Bear Lake burgers were total worth the swim... er... knee deep wade.

The cousins love to play on the beach along the North Shore.

The max weight of this kayak is 1 Randy + 1 Jonny - 1.

Mom and Dad fit on the kayak fine, though (Sort of).

Bear Lake has become one of our favorite family traditions.

Mom loves to be with her sisters!

Seth curled up in a towel.

No towel needed here!

We had so much fun at the lake.

Dad REALLY liked his shake!

Some of the best times, though, were at the house. There were multiple dance parties. The kids enjoyed movies and playing outside. This house has a huge yard that is perfect for tag and baseball. The adults stayed up late to play cards and eat snacks every night. And everyone enjoyed splitting up the meals so we each only had to cook one breakfast and one dinner.

The kids played our new Oregon Trail game.

All the little cousins love to play with Mark.

The yard is big enough for the kids to play.
It also has a big rock they use as an island.

These three are so cute!

The dance parties were frequent and funny.

We didn't do a lot of other exploring during this trip. We just drove up to Paris for the bird sanctuary. This proved to be a successful drive as we saw a peregrine falcon and a bunch of nighthawks. Mark was most excited of all. Other than a stop at the zoo in Logan, though, it was a pretty quiet trip. No hikes, no caves, and no long drives. We had fun with family, though!

We hadn't been to the Logan Zoo for awhile, so it was fun to see how it had changed.

Mark is smaller than condor, but still too big for his britches!

Dax enjoyed the shade at the zoo!

Can you identify that bird?

Ospreys are always fun to see.

There were several common nighthawks, which are pretty rare.

We'd never seen a peregrine falcon before!