Fun with the Fam

(Trying to get a cousin picture... if more than half are cooperating it is a good shot which makes this a good shot.)

On our way cross country we took a nice long break to have a family vacation with my family. We spent a few days in Cody visiting and preparing for our trip to Flathead lake Montana... it was a beautiful beautiful place and lots of fun. We stayed in a great cabin with the whole family for a week and it was the perfect space. The cabin was a great size with a small fenced in front yard and a HUGE backyard with a firepit, two ponds, a waterfall, TONS of cherry trees, a peach tree, apple trees, pear trees, and raspberry bushes; we spent a lot of time picking and eating the really yummy fruit and we were lucky enough to be there right at the peak of the cherry season, they were delicious.

This is the view of the lake from the deck of the cabin.

All the cousins enjoying their bribe from the family pictures (which I still don't have a copy of).
We (well at least Jared, our kids, my parents, and I) enjoyed a trip to Glacier National Park and the beautiful scenery there... see how happy Dad is to be there!

There is so much color there... aqua water, red rocks, green plants... and Claire's red hair.

Claire was TOTALLY in her element here and could have walked around outside in the forest and near the water all day... Jacob wasn't so sure!
More Glacier....
And more...
There were a couple of times that we drove right through a cloud and could look down on it, it was kind of a drizzly rainy day but was still beautiful.
When we weren't at Glacier, picking cherries, or playing with cousins we were most likely on the boat... Claire loves the boat.
Jacob likes it sometimes.
I love to be behind it. We got one great day on a smaller much smoother lake and got in some great skiing. Jared really did well on one ski and went farther than he ever has on one and crossed the wake several times, I think he has it down now... unfortunately all the pictures from that day were on Mom's camera.
We went swimming and grilled burgers by the lake one evening... if you look in the distance I am rescuing my nephew who floated right over the rope for the swimming area. When I got to him and asked if he needed help he replied in a confident little 3 year old voice "nope! I can do it by myself, the waves will bring me back!" (his Dad didn't want to swim out to get him, so as he was panicking that he was getting to far out he kept telling him the waves would bring him back... they didn't)
We had lots of baths in this fun tub. (Showers in this tub were very interesting... the all around shower curtain was very clingy).
We also had lots and lots of glow stick fun... every night (the kids loved playing in the little loft).
More glow stick fun. Thanks Grandma!
And this is my beautiful daughter holding a giant slug... don't be fooled by her face, she did not hate it. You would not believe how impossible it is to clean slug slime off of hands! And why would she be holding a giant slug?????
... because she has cousins like this, who love bugs, snakes, bats, and apparently slugs. Giant slugs! They are trying to teach Claire their love for these things.
We also had a lot of fun with bubbles because Grandma brought lots of bubble guns and other bubble toys. This is my adorable niece Tyler, she is shy, she doesn't love new people, but she is really cute.
Claire loved the bubbles.
Thanks for such a great time Mom and Dad we can't wait for the next trip! :)

Thanks for the Markers Nana

...we LOVE them! Mom got a nice long nap in the car while we played with them. (we loved the rest of your car ride surprises too).

xoxo

Cousin Visit

Since blogger is somewhat cooperating today I can do a blog post. We had a great visit with cousins on our cross country trip. We only had one full day and two nights, but we fit in as much as possible. Jared's sister Camie and her family live in Minneapolis and we enjoyed our time visiting them.

Like I said... we fit in a lot of stuff, and the boy cousins were spent by the end of the day. Good thing they have each other to lean on.

We went to a great lake/pool with a beach that they have nearby... it was a fun place for the kids to play together. Claire and Lydia were looking very cute in their matching suits from Nana.
We had plenty of snack breaks... (Clayton was really enjoying just laying on the sand that day).
We also got to meet sweet baby Wyatt and see their beautiful home.
The cousins all played so hard together and had WAY too much fun sleeping in the same room (not as much sleeping as the parents had planned). We had a great time... Thanks for having us, we hope we can come back soon!

Leaving Cinci

So, I am really not a sentimental person, so leaving Cincinnati wasn't as hard for me as it maybe should have been, but it was still a hard thing. It was sad to see Claire's sad face as she sat in the car not wanting to say goodbye to Nana and Papa, and Nana's sad face as she was trying her best to be a supportive Mom and Nana but didn't want us to go. Papa and Nana were very forlorn the morning we left. We miss them (and Andrew).

Our car was packed to the max for the move with the back to seats folded down and the back chuck full of stuff, the car-top carrier up top and the bike rack on the back. By the time we were to Portland we had logged over 57 hours in the car (some of that was for the sake of fun vacation side trips)... Jacob and Claire were sooooo good, such troopers and only watched 2 movies in the whole 57 hours!
Our moving truck, which was also packed to the max... they packed it up then walked in the house and said "are those couches going?" They got them in, but barely and they were at the very top in the back.
One last picture with Uncle-T cutout!
Claire and Jacob really enjoyed spending our last few days at Nana's castle. They played to their hearts content and Claire found her favorite dress-up outfit ever ever.
We are loving it here in Oregon but we miss you family and friends in Ohio!