The week of July 4th, Joe and I were able to spend it with some of my family at our cabin in Island Park. If you don't know where that is, it's about 30 miles away from Yellowstone Park. And it is a little piece of heaven. If you've never visited, now is the time! Anyway, we got there Monday night and left Saturday evening. With us were my parents; my sister Marielle, her husband Scott and their 3 boys; Terry, Scott's mother; and my brother Kimball, his wife Heidi and their 2 kids. It was one crazy cabin trip! With 5 crazy kids, it seemed there was always someone crying, screaming, or throwing a fit. But as I wrote in our cabin journal, I would not trade the crazy cabin trips for the days when it was just my parents, my siblings and their spouses. While the cabin used to be a place where I would find the kind of peace that was quiet and calm, the cabin now provides the type of peace and joy that comes from being with my family, and that includes all my crazy and adorable nieces and nephews. I wouldn't have it any other way!
Joseph and Xavier
Alli
Grandpa Dave and Joseph
Little Joe helping big Joe feed Xavier
Joseph, the messiest eater award goes to this kid!
Alli, Caleb and Ian looking over the loft
My mom hiding behind Xavier
Joseph loves to climb and then jump off things
Joe relaxing in the hammock we got in Mexico
Marielle and baby Xavier
The kids hanging out on the creek
Marielle relaxing
The kids loved to climb in here and play around on it
Watching Lion King
Before floating down the river
Floating the river
Caleb and Ian showing their canoe skills
Campfire! Heidi with Alli and Joseph
Ian, Scott and Caleb
Alli and Joe
The gatekeeper for all things s'mores!
Marielle loves s'mores...
They're Avengers fans...could you tell?
Joseph being the goofball that he is
Blowing bubbles!
Watching a movie
For this trip, we did the usual cabin activities. We played games, watched movies, went on hikes, rode our mountain bikes, had a campfire, floated the river, and went to West Yellowstone. Because it was the week of July 4th, we also had some additional activities that we were able to enjoy. This included some mechanical bull riding, bouncy house playing, and firework watching.
Bouncy house!
Let the mechanical bull riding commence...
Views as we wait for fireworks to start
And patiently waiting...
Fireworks!!
Joe also continued his 3-summer streak of seeing moose at the cabin. I keep telling him that it's not going to last because in my entire life of going to Island Park for vacation, I have never been that lucky. But I guess he really is a lucky charm. We were on our way home from West Yellowstone and crossing over Lucky Dog Creek, the creek that runs by our cabin, and bam! Lo and behold, there is a mom and baby moose hanging out near the creek. It was awesome!
Hello creepy eyes...
The mom by herself
Baby!
Not the best quality pictures but we were close
to Mom and Baby and didn't want to push it...
Joe was also officially initiated into the family. This is because he did the ride from Big Springs, which is near our cabin, up and over the mountains into West Yellowstone. Go husband! My dad, mom and sister Marielle also did that. They all rock!
We also celebrated Caleb's birthday while we were there. He turned 6 this year. He got more Avengers/Batman/Captain America presents than any kid I've ever seen! He loved it.
Heavy, heavy hang over...
And here are some other random pictures from the trip.
Kimball trying to convince Alli to jump
off the bridge after him...didn't work
Kimball jumping!
I think he enjoyed it
Doing puzzles is also a common past time at the cabin
The finished product!
Lots of games are played too
One morning we looked out the window and
this deer was hanging out in front of our cabin!
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