We've got birthdays this week!

My sweet girl is turning 6 and my handsome hubster will be 33! It's amazing how time flies! :)

MEGA post...MEGA Montana Fun!

We were able to go on our first family vacation of the summer over the 4th.  What a FABULOUS time we had!! A huge shout out to Andrew and Elena for housing us, putting up with our kiddos, feeding us, and touring Glacier with us.  I cannot think of anybody who would have been more perfect to play with! THANK YOU!!

We headed to Great Falls Montana on Friday, June 27th.  The kiddos were rock stars in the car. We left bright and early (5:30) and made it to Great Falls by about 3:00, after a few stops and a lunch break.  Pretty good time.  Beautiful country to drive through!

 

  

We spent Saturday morning (okay, really all day) prepping for our Glacier adventure.  It is amazing what it takes to feed 2 families, while camping!  I was so glad to have one of my favorite kitchen buddies to prep with--my only regret, we didn't have a snazzy salad to eat!

Saturday evening, after getting the kids all settled in for a 3D movie, we left the munchkins with a sitter and headed out on a date. Fun!!  Go-carting, bowling, and site seeing.  My opinion of Great Falls--a little 'small-townish', but BEAUTIFUL country and fun things to do...although they do lack a Hobby Lobby!  It was a great evening!

Ghetto Bowling alleys are the best--although, one should always remember to wear socks!  EEW!

Sunday was spent at home, getting ready for church and enjoying a smoked chicken. Yum!! Gotta get me a smoker!  We played some games, cleaned up messes, prepped for camping, and checked stuff off lists.

Monday was the day to head to Glacier. It is AMAZING how much stuff it takes to take 4 adults and 7 kids camping for 3 days. Whew!  But our amazing master packers got it all in and we were off--with a boy car and a girl car! Two and a half hours later we pulled into Glacier country and the pictures started rolling.  Glacier is an amazingly beautiful place!

  

I was nervous about the 'Going to the Sun' road. I had heard about the sheer drop-off and cliffs. But to be honest, Farmington canyon, with all it's switchbacks, scares me more!  This is a beautiful piece of country and the views truly are breathtaking.  We drove through the park to get to our campsite and it was amazing!

The whole crew, minus a sleeping baby.

 Love this picture..so typical of our family. Luke is escaping, Josh is his own man, Katelyn is our little diva,  and Ben is asleep (or eating!)...so great!

 Katelyn and Kara got along SO well!!

 (Baby was asleep...)

We got in later than we expected, so it was a quick dinner and then off to the KOA for swimming. Elena and I both had some small wardrobe malfunctions, but thanks to a tent repair kit purchased at the gift shop, we were good to go! Ah, the memories! :)

The kids did amazingly well--once they got to sleep.  Getting 4 kids to sleep, in the full daylight (it didn't get dark til nearly 10), all in one tent, with their friends sleeping the next tent over, after driving all day, while on vacation, while camping...IS. A. JOKE!  But the parentals eventually prevailed and then everybody slept like a champ! It was hot, which I think helped Ben sleep awesomely--miserable for the rest of us, great for him!

We woke up Tuesday, enjoyed at breakfast at the KOA and headed back into the park.  We hit up the Trail of the Cedars--and it was perfect for kids. A boardwalk with lots of shade...awesome!  We had a lot of fun (until nearly the end when it was suddenly lunch time and the children were starting to fall apart!).

  

(A sidenote...KOA's are awesome!  Not too much more expensive then regular camping, and lots of amenities.  Pool. Ice Cream. Breakfast. Dinner. Shopping (we forgot milk!). Playground. SHOWERS!  I highly recommend going this route for extended camping trips!)

Love this next set of pictures.  Either Luke or Matthew were always running away...Matthew--come back!)

 We had lunch in the park most days and spent time playing in the river--the kids learned to skip rocks and Katelyn is really good! We enjoyed campfire dinners and water gun fights...thankfully we were right by a water spiket and had an unlimited supply!

Getting the fire-sticks instructions.  Happy to announce we didn't poke any eyes out!

Wednesday we decided to try out a hike that an old (looney) ranger suggested. It was hot. It was freaky (there was NO one else around. I was sure we were going to get attacked by bears), it was unpaved and steep...not meant for children. At least, not mine.  Halfway through, after we had turned back to go back to the cars, Mike said to Josh: "This is an adventure! Don't you like this adventure?!"  His response? "It was an adventure, but now it's not!" (Said as he way laying down across the trail, crying, whining, sure he was going to die.)  It had a fun name though--Huckleberry Nature Trail! :)

 It was pretty--the trail went through an area that had been burned in a fire 12 years earlier. It was neat to see the re-growth.

After the failed hike we had lunch and decided to try and beat the heat by driving the going to the sun road again and get the kids to sleep. This worked, somewhat.  Lots of pictures though!

At the top of the pass we stopped at Logan Pass.  I will forever have in my heart the happy memory of Mike and Elena jumping out of the cars to get a picture of the mountain goats and big-horned sheep.  Brings a smile to my face every time I think of it!

We finished off the evening by swimming and fishing in a Glacier Lake. This was a highlight of the trip--I'm so sad I didn't wear my suit to the lake to take a full dunk! The kids loved it, as did we!!  And surprisingly, it wasn't as cold as I anticipated.

Last day in Glacier we drove the road again and took more pictures.  At the end we stopped at the Ranger station and had the kids turn in their Junior Ranger packets and get their badges. We had lunch and headed back to Great Falls to pack for our return trip the following day. 

This was such a fabulous vacation.  Thanks again to Andrew and Elena for hosting us and spending so much time with us. We decided to vacation with them again--we just have to convince them to do the same! :)

Oh yeah...Katelyn also lost her FIRST TOOTH on his trip!! She was SO excited!! Enter the awkward phase~! :)