Our first stop was Trail of the Cedars in West Glacier.
On the way to East Glacier, we stopped to see some sights, including Running Eagle Falls (below).
Uncle Jason taught Matt and Ian the importance of holding a "bear stick" while hiking. Ian thought that was a fantastic idea!
We met up with Kim's parents and Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sarah on Sunday night. We stayed in some cottages near Glacier National Park. Just as he had loved the time with Matt's family before the wedding, Ian absolutely loved every minute with Kim's family, too. He was spoiled by all of the love and attention and came up with little jokes with each person. (For example, he'd joke with Uncle Jason about not liking blueberries and loved saying, "No way, Jose" with Aunt Sarah.) While we were together in the cottages, Uncle Jason had us all "go on a bear hunt" together. Ian kept saying, "Again! Again!"
Uncle Andrew taught Ian how to blow dandelion seeds! Ian kept saying, "Again! Again!" (Do you notice a trend??) :)
While in Glacier, we got to see some animals up close, including ...
a black bear,
a brown bear,
a moose (You really have to look carefully to find this one! We actually saw one closer than this, but we didn't have our cameras handy before it ran away. We were thrilled to finally see one. Each time we saw a cluster of cars stopped or people with binoculars out, we'd stop to find out what they were looking at. Three times in a row, we heard, "Oh! There was just a _(really cool wild animal)__ standing right here. You JUST missed it!"),
and some mountain goats.
On Monday morning, we woke up early to do lots more hiking. Ian was excited to get back in
the hiking backpack! He loved singing and humming while riding on Matt's back. Kim tried to capture a video of Matt and Ian singing a made-up melody together . Even though it's a little hard to hear, it's too precious to not include.
We stopped to get some nice pictures near St. Mary, including at Sunrift Gorge (see below)
and St. Mary Falls. Kim's dad (not pictured), Amy, Jason, and Andrew were brave enough to climb right over by the waterfall!!
The "Going to the Sun" road was closed due to snow(!), but we decided to walk along the cleared off part for a while to see what we could see. Turns out there was not much to see unless we wanted to walk about five miles one way.
But, we did have a good time singing and talking along the way. :)
After naps, we were ready for more hiking in Many Glacier. We saw many more pretty sights and ate a yummy Italian dinner at a restaurant at the trail head. We topped off the meal with huckleberry frozen yogurt, a Kalispell/Glacier specialty!
On Tuesday, we headed back to Billings for more family fun!
We went to a baseball game together.
Ian's favorite part of the ball game was the yummy berry smoothie he had there. (They WERE pretty good! :))
Dancing to the music was pretty fun, too!
Perhaps inspired by the baseball game (or maybe just inspired by the game-loving youth director Jason), the guys had a Home Run Derby contest in Jason and Amy's big backyard.
After getting the field all set up, the guys rock-paper-scissored to see who would play which position first.
After a nail-bitingly close competition, Matt emerged Home Run Derby champ!!
Way to go, guys!We also enjoyed going to Billings' "beach" (Lake Elmo).
We saw Uncle Jason's youth group's fireworks stand. Uncle Jason even lit a few fireworks for Ian, who kept saying, "Again! Again!" :)
And, of course, we just spent time relaxing and enjoying being together as a family ...
cuddling,
playing in the dirt,
cooking together,
celebrating Uncle Jason & Aunt Amy's
as well as Papa's birthdays,
reading books,
playing outside,
tickling and rough-housing,and JUMPING!
Thanks for being such wonderful hosts, Amy and Jason! We loved our time with all of you, dear family and can't wait 'til the next time we get to see you! :)
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