We were deciding between going camping at Island Park, Idaho or going to visit my Grandma Buttercup in southern California, and we let Mike decide since he had been on his mission the last two years and he picked camping. It was really fun except that Matt last minute couldn't take off work so he had to stay home.
On the drive...pretty tiring.
Before we got to Island Park, we stopped at my Grandparents house and had a bbq with them and some of my cousins that I haven't seen in a long time. Here is Grandma Della and Grandpa Jack with the great-grandkids.
The kids love playing with Grandpa Jack's squirrel trap.
On the way to Island Park, we always stop at this little hamburger place in Aston, Id called the Frostop.
Frostop has all these fake animals around it.
When we first got there, it was raining. My Dad and Mike started out setting up the camper in the rain, while the rest of us waited in the vans. It started raining so hard though that they had to wait in the vans with us until the rain stopped a little.
water was dripping off of his head
Jonah found ways to be entertained in the van while being 'trapped' in there. Mikelle and Tyrel were in the other van.
We went down to Mack's Inn and the kids played around in the water. They used these cups to catch the little minnows, they were so proud of themselves. Don't worry, no fish were harmed :) Mikelle did get three leeches on her and Tyrel got one. They are pretty hard to pull off.
tiny fish
Rachel hanging out by the river
We did a lot of hanging out by the water and canoe and kayak trips. I was really surprised at how much the kids loved the canoe. The trip down the river takes about 1.5 hours and I thought they would get really bored. Jonah and Mikelle did a little at parts, but Tyrel absolutely loved it and wanted to get out any time someone else was going. I think Tyrel went out on four or five canoe rides.
Rachel, Jonah, Tyrel, Mikelle, and Grandpa
They loved sticking their feet in the water
Grandpa on the kayak
We saw a moose on one of the canoe trips down.
Mikelle watched a little too much of The Little Mermaid. She is singing 'Part of Your World' here on the rock like Ariel.
Eating breakfast on a cold morning.
Shopping in West Yellowstone.
The kids each got $5 for souvenirs and they each picked out a gun set. Here they are back at camp with their new toys.
They LOVED cooking mud here with these dishes and plates my Mom brought up for them to play with. It was such a great idea and kept them all busy and dirty.
Jonah's log cabin that Grandpa made for him.
Smores
We celebrated Rachel's 20th birthday while we were up at Island Park.
And she of course had to have the traditional birthday toilet-papering done.
She wanted a dutch oven chicken and potato dinner and a dutch oven chocolate cake. It was delicious.
We went to the local market to get some ice cream to have with Rachel's cake, but since we didn't have a freezer, we couldn't save it; so we just put the left over ice cream on a plate and let the kids have a go at it. They thought they were in heaven.
Rachel opening presents.
One of the days up camping, we went to visit Johnny Sack's cabin at Big Springs. The cabin was build in the 1930s.
A little muskrat in the water by the cabin
We brought the bikes up camping this year. The kids loved it.
Since it rained pretty hard the first day, the roads were all pretty muddy. Jonah hates being dirty, and didn't even like the bottom of his shoes being dirty. Here he is checking out the dirt, then pouting about it. I thought it was funny.
Tyrel in the camper
You get pretty worn out at night while camping.
Tyrel and Jonah
Mike chopping firewood
Hanging out in the camper with Grandpa and Grandma
Mikelle in front of Mack's Inn
