We had a happy little vacation at the end of July/beginning of August. First we went to Washington to visit my family and then we went to Montana with Chris' family for a few days. This post will be in reverse order because that's just how I uploaded the pictures and frankly I don't want to fix it. So there. :)
We had a blast in Montana. It was so cool and refreshing!! It had been so hot in OK that we were totally excited for the cool mountain breeze. We got our fill of it on one evening though! We took a trip to Ajax Lake. It's about an hour or hour and a half from the cabin and it was a bumpy ride the whole way up. When we got up there it was a beautiful lake. The weather, however was not so beautiful...unless you like to be soaking wet and cold. It did stop raining and we managed to get some good pictures, however, I keep getting errors when I upload them so this one will have to satisfy you. Isn't she lovely?
Chris' dad has a new hobby....flying, therefore, Chris and our brother-in-law, Andy, have a new hobby too! :) Chris' dad rented an airplane for a morning and we all took turns flying around the Big Hole Valley. It was incredibly beautiful. I took lots of pictures but since you won't know what any of the landmarks are, I'm putting one of me to prove that I was there. It was gorgeous and I totally loved it. We flew over the cabin so close that we could see Chris' grandparents waving from the porch and they could see us inside the plane too! It was crazy.
We also attempted to find Upper Miner Lake while we were there. The cabin is at the beginning of the trailhead to the Upper and Lower Miner Lakes. I've seen the lower one several times...every time we go to Montana we make a trip up there but I had never seen the upper one. So, we set off to find it one morning. Long story short, we got confused with the sign at the beginning of the trail and took the wrong trail. We ran into some hikers that said it wasn't worth it. Apparently it was incredibly steep and took them about 3 hours to get up. So we turned around...I wasn't up for it with a baby in tow. Kate stayed with Grandma Bakker at the cabin so we just had Chase with us. Here's the happy hiker himself!
So, we attempted to entertain ourselves around the cabin. Kate experienced her first four wheeler ride and loved it.
She also entertained us with some dress up in Aunt Stacey's rainboots. They were as high as her legs were long. So funny!
Here's the grand old cabin herself. Chris and his family built it a few years ago. Like, acutally built it...plumbing and all. They are pretty proud, as they should be. It's a wonderful place to escape the cares of the world.
Kate's not the only one who had some fun on four wheelers! Chris took my sister and I on a tour of the mountainside. Kim was an excellent driver.
We also found a frog pond that has literally thousands of frogs. Kate got to hold one. She wasn't too sure what to think of it but it sure was cool. Kate spent plenty of time on the swingset and trampoline and Chris was busy fixing the stain on the cabin and re-finishing a canoe. My time was mainly spent chasing after the two kids and attempting to make up for the lack of sleep I was getting. And, as is becoming a tradition with our trips to the cabin, we pulled out the old puzzles and did a couple of those. Another tradition we have is that we bring WAY TOO MUCH FOOD and we probably gained about 5 pounds each in the few days we were there. On the way to the cabin, we didn't have so much fun. One of the cars we were driving broke down and Chris had to drive it 100 miles without brakes. Scary!! So, this is how we spent a good chunk of two days in Missoula, Montana...in the repair shop.
The kids were EXCELLENT, I must say. It would have been downright miserable if they would have been fussy but they weren't. I think Kate secretly was happy to be out of the car for a day. So, we spent a night in Missoula and went swimming and after a lot of swimming this is how our day ended. Note: the baby doll with the crazy hair. It's a doll my mom has that looks just like Kate! She loved the thing and wouldn't leave my mom's house without it so it made the trip to Montana with us.
The next day we went back to the repair shop only to find out the car wouldn't be ready for a few days. At that point we opted to rent a car and get to the cabin. Good choice. Kate got pretty attached to her aunt Kimmi while we were there. She'd always have to sit down right next to her. Even now she'll ask me "Where'd Kimmi go?" and I have to explain that she's with Grandma Bakker in Washington. I sure wish we lived closer to you guys!
Rewind with me again to when we were actually in Washington. I got to see an old roommate and friend from college. She has two boys about the same age as Kate and Chase. It was good to catch up with her. We also spent lots of time with my sister's family. One day we went to the Aquatic Center and we had a great time! Kate found a toy octopus slide in the kiddie section and spent about an hour just going up and down the slide. Definately her favorite part of the whole trip I would say. (I had a really cute picture to go here, but Chase just deleted it. Sigh.)
The kids were EXCELLENT, I must say. It would have been downright miserable if they would have been fussy but they weren't. I think Kate secretly was happy to be out of the car for a day. So, we spent a night in Missoula and went swimming and after a lot of swimming this is how our day ended. Note: the baby doll with the crazy hair. It's a doll my mom has that looks just like Kate! She loved the thing and wouldn't leave my mom's house without it so it made the trip to Montana with us.
The next day we went back to the repair shop only to find out the car wouldn't be ready for a few days. At that point we opted to rent a car and get to the cabin. Good choice. Kate got pretty attached to her aunt Kimmi while we were there. She'd always have to sit down right next to her. Even now she'll ask me "Where'd Kimmi go?" and I have to explain that she's with Grandma Bakker in Washington. I sure wish we lived closer to you guys!
Rewind with me again to when we were actually in Washington. I got to see an old roommate and friend from college. She has two boys about the same age as Kate and Chase. It was good to catch up with her. We also spent lots of time with my sister's family. One day we went to the Aquatic Center and we had a great time! Kate found a toy octopus slide in the kiddie section and spent about an hour just going up and down the slide. Definately her favorite part of the whole trip I would say. (I had a really cute picture to go here, but Chase just deleted it. Sigh.)
Here's my Mom and two sisters holding Chase and my niece Cayla.
And here's where Chris spent his whole time...learning to surf! It really looked like a ton of fun. I wasn't up for making a fool of myself in front of all the people standing in line but Chris absolutely loved it. He got pretty good too! I did ride the lazy river with Kate. It was pretty fun. The whole family went on the tubes together and we all had a great time.
I tell you, the Moses Lake Family Aquatic Center (well, I think it's called Surf 'n Slide now...old habits die hard) has just about everything you can think of. High dive, water slides, lap pool, shallow beach end with lots of kid toys, surfing, a lazy river, and a spray ground. They even sell swim diapers in case you're like me and don't pack enough. Here's Cayla and Kate enjoying the spray grounds.
And here's the whole crew Mom, Kim, Chad, Hayden, Hayleigh, Cayla, Cindy, Chase, Chris, Kate and me.
All in all we had a fabulous time. I was completely exhausted when we got home and I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation. It was so great to see family. I wish we could do it more often. Love you guys!
And here's where Chris spent his whole time...learning to surf! It really looked like a ton of fun. I wasn't up for making a fool of myself in front of all the people standing in line but Chris absolutely loved it. He got pretty good too! I did ride the lazy river with Kate. It was pretty fun. The whole family went on the tubes together and we all had a great time.
I tell you, the Moses Lake Family Aquatic Center (well, I think it's called Surf 'n Slide now...old habits die hard) has just about everything you can think of. High dive, water slides, lap pool, shallow beach end with lots of kid toys, surfing, a lazy river, and a spray ground. They even sell swim diapers in case you're like me and don't pack enough. Here's Cayla and Kate enjoying the spray grounds.
And here's the whole crew Mom, Kim, Chad, Hayden, Hayleigh, Cayla, Cindy, Chase, Chris, Kate and me.
All in all we had a fabulous time. I was completely exhausted when we got home and I felt like I needed a vacation from my vacation. It was so great to see family. I wish we could do it more often. Love you guys! 
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