We spent the first week of August up at my Uncle's cabin in Mack's Inn. Mark and I have been going to the cabin since we were teenagers and Mark had to share a room with my brother. It was pretty crazy to be up there with our four kids. We had the very best trip. There was a lot of love and kindness amongst the families. There was a very peaceful, happy feeling there. Claire, Sean and Luke had the greatest time of their lives. Each trip to the cabin starts out with new cowboy hats and bandanas.
The first day we drove into Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. It never gets old for me. Yellowstone is so beautiful. Each year Mark and I talk about how fun it will be to spend more time in the park and explore parts that I have not seen. Each year we look at our little family and say not this year. So we go to Old Faithful. It's exciting for the kids and fairly kid friendly.
We stopped off in West Yellowstone to pick out new Yellowstone T-shirts.
Sean found this funny tie dye shirt that was way to big. He was thrilled.
We had a campfire for smores each day.
Our kids are super close in age to my brother John's kids. Here are Claire and Johnson.
London and Lukey~total trouble
Sean and Mason. Mason is super patient with Sean. He knows when to give Sean space and will often do things Sean's way so he doesn't get upset. Sean gets lots of practice in being nice and being a good friend. Sean is so lucky to have Mason for his cousin.
I took A LOT of pictures of Kaylin! Here is one of my favorites. Kaylin slept perfectly and was her calm, happy, usual self. She did great in the car and of course had the perfectly timed blow out on the freeway on the way home. I should have seen it coming.
Cousin Brooke did face painting for the kids everyday.
This is Mark's ideal vacation. I'm so glad that he got lots of time to snuggle his sweet baby and to relax. It's good to see him so relaxed. Yes, Mark grew a beard and yes I like it!
I love cabin snuggles!
Grandpa rented 4 wheelers for us to ride on Saturday.
Too much fun to match with my daughter!
Mom had the boys and Dad had Claire for a fun ride to the bridge.
Mark showing off his archery skills.
Not too bad.
There were so many hands available to hold baby Kaylin. It was so helpful to pass her off so we could get the other kids bathed and ready for bed. I missed Brooke and Hannah when the left a day before us.
Our big kids were asleep by 8/8:30 each night and we were able to stay up and play with the adults and big kids. Kaylin goes to bed a bit later and we had fun snuggling around the camp fire.
Ready for church.
Cousin Hannah
Cousin Jaxson was so sweet with Kaylin. She looks really relaxed here. I didn't get a picture of Logan but he fed her a bottle right before we left. We love all these fun older cousins and wish we lived closer.
Our family picture attempt~Ha, Ha, Ha!
Sunday nap~like mother, like daughter
Kaylin's view
Claire, Sean and Luke's view! They are so good with their baby sis.
Feeding birds and fish at Big Springs
One of the days my Mom watched Luke and Kaylin and we took Claire and Sean on a river rafting trip. I didn't want to get my camera wet so I don't have any pictures. I was in the front and quickly realized that I was going to get wet and had to make my peace with it. We saw a bald eagle and watched another bird nose dive into the water to catch fish. It was a fun activity.
We wading into the freezing cold mountain water. Claire was brave and went all the way in. Sean would wade in up to his shins and then come out and take a break then go back in. Luke took his shirt off and acted brave for about 10 minutes before giving up, putting his shirt back on and sitting by me, Grandma and Kaylin. Mark rolled up his pant lets then squeaked like a girl,"It's too cold!!" It was a pretty funny event!
My Dad and brother both jumped off this bridge. They thought they were pretty cool. I'm glad no one was injured and that my husband was sitting on the shore squeaking, "It's too cold!" There is no way he would have jumped into that cold water. The water was only a few feet deep and they had to land on their rears.
It was depressing coming home from this trip. Regular life isn't as fun. I loved "living" with my family for a few days. I enjoyed the community kitchen and having other people cook for me when it wasn't my turn. I enjoyed not having to clean or grocery shop or run errands. I loved not being online all week. I chose not to connect to the wifi as much as possible and enjoyed being hands free. I actually made an effort to not pull my camera out all the time so I could simply enjoy being on vacation. I ended up taking over 200 pictures and my battery died on the last day! This was an awesome vacation and I can't wait to go back.
