24 Hours of Adrenaline

It was time once again for the annual 24 Hours of Adrenaline race! I packed up the kids and picked up Missy for help and we headed out to Canmore. We were running a little behind schedule and walked into camp just as Mike was finishing the first leg of the race.





Missy was a great help with all the kids. She took them on little adventures and had them cheering the riders along the trail! She is so great!

Off on a little adventure!

Alex was a huge help with James all summer! I loved watching these 2 together! We would be so lucky to have James grow up to be just like Alex! We adore him!!!

James was pretty much a mud bomb the whole time he was in camp. He was into EVERYTHING!!

Canmore is such a pretty setting for this race.

Mike and James

Dirty face Paige! She was in the dirt as much as James!

We werent able to stay long this year. We saw a storm fast approaching and I knew with James it would be a disaster...so we headed off! It was fun to cheer the team!

(sorry I was unable to get riding pictures this year...James was too hard to have by the trail)

Our first visitors to the Cabin

This cute little bear showed up on our doorstep when our first guest came to visit! My brother Blake and his family drove up from Flathead for an evening dinner and dip! It was so sweet of them to find this little welcome bear for us! We adore him!

I told Blake there was no boat at our dock and we had a bring your own boat policy..lol. They came without boat and the kids had a ball anyway. They loved the canoe and swam and swam with the multiples of floaties.
James loved to play with Cooper and now has a cute dog noise that he makes.

Melissa and Alex went for a swim...somewhere...

Mary and her kids came for dinner too. Blake and Mary went to highschool together and they had fun catching up on the 'olden days'.

The hot tub got a good work out with all the kids warming up from the lake! Even James and Claire hopped in!

Alex, James & Stephanie

Melissa and James

Blake cooked up one of his famous chocolate cherry bomb cake desserts for us! It was delicious! We also had a few flavors of icecream to share! We had such a fun visit! It is always great to have cousins around! When it came time for them to leave I had to pry Stephanie out of their vehicle!! Thanks for the fun visit! Come any time!!!

Ps I swear we had a picture taken on the front step...but I have no such picture..either Im losing my mind or the picture is on Blake's camera...

Island Park, Idaho -- A day trip to Jackson Hole Wyoming

The Grand 'Tetons'

While staying in Island Park, Mike had the urge to ride his bike over the pass that crosses the Grand Tetons. Finally, we had a free day so he set out ahead of us and dropped his vehicle in a small town and rode his bike over the pass. We followed a couple of hours behind and picked up his vehicle and met him in Jackson. It worked out perfectly (except that he had 2 flat tires on his journey). We had the Hagermans along and spent the day in Jackson.

Our first stop was the alpine slide ride. This was a huge hit and everyone loved it. There were speedy riders and slower riders but it was so fun! Ben LOVED it and probably would have riden all day! He liked to go fast! James was too little to go so we played while the kids rode. He loved racing down the grassy hill side!

Next the girls wanted to try the bungee trampoline! It was fun too!

Then we headed into downtown Jackson for some shopping (or should I say window shopping!) Lots of fun and interesting stores but the wares are pretty pricey! We had a nice home cooked meal at a little bakery style restaurant and then we headed back to Island Park. It was a beautiful day and the scenery was amazing! We definately want to revisit this fun town! Thanks to the Hagermans for joining us!!
These antler arches were amazing and there was one on each corner of the town square! 4 in total! The girls thought Poppa would love them because he collects antlers!

Island Park, Idaho -- Scavenger Hunt

We decided to do a scavenger hunt for the kids. They divided into teams of 2 and headed off to find their list of items:

They headed out and worked really hard!

Stephanie was very determined to win...she does not like to lose...

Ben and James were serious players too...

Emily hunting away...

James found a stick!! Woo hoo..its on the list!

Madison scored and found a bush full of berries!

The teams worked hard and had fun! When the items were brought in...they had found almost everything! I have no pictures of the final items..because I was judging!! They did a great job and worked together! This activity is always fun!

Island Park, Idaho -- A trip to Mesa Falls

Sunday after our adventure to church....we decided to check out Mesa Falls. So we all packed up and headed out! As we got closer to our destination, I started snapping pictures out the window, noting that we were approaching some DARK clouds!!
The cars were parked and entrance fees were paid and the first drops of rain began! They fell fast and hard so we waited in our cars. Mike had taken off with our car keys and I had left a window down. Luckily, McGyver (Dad) was parked next to me and provided an umbrella! Whew!

As soon as the rain slowed, McGyver was drying off his vehicle. We all chuckled.

Here we are about to attempt the falls. We are all offspring of McGyver but not one of us was prepared in any way for rain! So we grabbed whatever items we could find in our vehicles to use as coats and rain gear! Channy the fashionista wore a cute plastic bag!

It began raining again so we sprinted for the museum to wait out the rest of the storm. This was fun and educational for the kids.

The museum. Luckily the storm moved on quickly and we were able to view the falls! Im so glad we waited because the view was worth the wait!

The falls were amazing with a mist that arose up the valley. It was so green and moist it was hard to believe we were in Idaho where typically it is dry.

My mom overlooking the falls!

James was full of more WOW's. He loved the views! I could not get him to ever look at the camera (pretty much the whole summer I only have the side or back of his head).

This picture cracks me up...

We drove up out of the valley a bit to the other falls. These were just as spectacular! Wow!

Family photo

Finally a smile from my boy!!

Sweet Stephanie

This was a great little trip and well worth it! We left with much laughter and fun memories. We will not soon forget Mesa Falls!