Avalanche Lake

This morning we jumped in the van nice and early and drove back into the park for one last hike before our next destination. As we drove Hyrum said, "Mom, Guess what? Ollie is so cute with his three little chins and chubby cheeks!" We wanted to hike the Cedar wood trail with the littles and figured the board walk would be nice and easy. Even though we got there early, we were only able to grab one of the last few parking spaces. I put a few granola bars in the backpack and made sure everyone had full bottles of water before taking off.

We got to a point on the boardwalk where the trail splits off and leads up to Avalanche Lake. We looked at the distance (7.5km round trip) on the map and looked at the slowly inclining trail. The family voted and it was decided that we would attempt the hike up to the lake. What was a half hour walk had now turned into a 5+ hour hike, but I am so glad we did it!

As we walked we listened to rushing water, chipmunks and birds. Nature is so soothing and wonderful. It took me to my happy place. It was great to do something hard and have time to ponder and think as we walked.

The world is such a beautiful place and I couldn't help but stand in awe of the rushing water, fallen logs, green trees, and unique rocks.

The boys were so happy to hike with their Dad! Sometimes our hike was full of great conversation, and other times we walked in silence as we took in the scenery and sounds of nature.

Finley trucked right up that mountain like it was nothing! I knew that if my legs were sore, his must be sore too! He didn't complain once the entire way up. It was incredible!

I feel so blessed to be called "mom" by these littles.

After Camilla's bag of snacks was empty she collected flat rocks along the way so that she would have something to skip at the lake. She carried them the whole way up pretty much, except when she deligated the job to a very helpful Joe near the end.

Nature is so amazing!

By the time we reached the end we were all hot and sweaty, but in good spirits!

I loved the sense of accomplishment that the children experienced as they reached the end. They learned that we can do hard things! 

After dipping our feet in lake and boosting our blood sugar with gummies that I had stashed away in the backpack, we put on our shoes and our hiking faces and made the long journey back to the bottom.

We made a few cute friends along the way!

These two ran the entire way down stopping every minute or so and waiting for us to catch up.

Ollie slept on my back the entire way! He was a trooper. 

We passed a lot of people on the way down and many of them would look at Finley making his way down the mountain with a determined look on his face. I heard one dad tell his twelve year old boy, "See! If he can do it, you can do it!" Finley honestly deserves a medal for the amount of walking he did today. He refused to hold our hands or be carried and was still running near the very end.

This kid was our comic relief the entire way down. Love him!

The afternoon was filled with driving, and a lot of potty breaks. We had picked up a few new movies for the kids and one of them was "diary of a wimpy kid". I'm not super fond of it, but one of the songs was called, "exploding diaper" and of course that's the only line that the kids remember from it. Well, at the very end of our drive, Fin was complaining of a tummy ache. When the ache finally went away he needed a diaper change, stat. When I pulled him out there was you-know-what everywhere! I probably used a million baby wipes on him and his car seat before sitting a naked Finley back into the car for the last half hour of our drive. The kids laughed at the whole "exploding diaper" thing and then we hit the road. We were all pretty happy to make it to camp. 

Daddy is a rockstar and set up the tent and sleeping bags in record time. There was a chocolate pudding fight and some other sibling rivalries, but once the sun went down we were able to settle next to a warm fire and make some smores. I was awake most of the night listening to the crazy people at the next campsite over, but the kids slept great!

Glacier National Park

This morning we woke early and finished packing up the van with a few last minute things. We had managed to get most of it packed up late last night after the littles were asleep, but there's always a few things you miss. We stopped to drop our puppy off at my sister's place and then made our way to southern Alberta. About an hour into our drive we made our first bathroom break of many. It didn't take long for the little one's to fall asleep. 

As we drove through Claresholm, Hyrum asked where we are. "Claresholm," I replied. "Camilla! We are at Clara's home! We're in Edmonton!" was his response. Mike and I had a good chuckle.

The children woke up one by one as we made our way into Cardston. We decided to stop and stretch our legs at the temple. My parents were married here, and any excuse to visit the temple and share it with our children is a good one. 

While they were mostly reverent, they couldn't resist running on the open green space. It felt good to be out of the car!

Finley, who had just woken up from a long nap, was a bit on the grumpy side. As he yelled and protested his way around the grounds I tried to quietly remind him that the temple was Heavenly Father's house. "Whose house is this, Finley?" To which he loudly growled back, "MINE!" It left Mr. Stannix and I snickering under our breath all the way back to the van.

We crossed the border to the States at the Piegan, Montana crossing. The wait wasn't too bad, and we made it in without any trouble. As we were waiting a grabbed a chip out of a snack bag that Finley had given me. After one bite I realized the chip was soggy and spat it out into my hand. Turns out he had licked all of the flavor off his Ruffles chips and put them back into the bag for me to enjoy (yuck). 

After we crossed the border Hyrum noticed a lot of bulldozers and construction equipment and said, "Wow! There's lots of construction on the States..." Then Joe rolled his window down and Mike quickly rolled it up again because the air conditioning was on. Hyrum then puzzled, "Why aren't you allowed to roll your windows down in the States?" They figured that things would be super different in another country and were quick to point every difference out. It was pretty funny!

We decided to take the scenic route and drive the Going to the Sun road through Glacier National Park. It was a beautiful drive! As we drove the children listed similarities and differences between the trees, mountains and waters here compared to home. A lot of it was the similar to what we see back home.

Even with the extra smoke, the views were breathtaking!

Half-way through the park we pulled over for a little hike to a water fall. 

The littles were pretty gung-ho about the whole thing and had lots of energy to burn after being in the car all morning.

We followed a trail alongside this gorgeous lake for most of our walk.

We tried to stick together as best as we could as we wandered the windy, narrow trail.

Finley was such a trooper and walked the entire way without any help.

After crossing over this little bridge, we had finally arrived at the beautiful falls!

We took a little break, tried to judge what time it was as best we could, and then decided to keep going and see what else was down the trail.

We stopped at the edge of the lake to dip our toes in the cold, glacier water and play.

Daddy showed the boys how to put water in their hats to keep cool.

We tip-toed across the rocks and enjoyed the cool water washing over our toes. 

When everybody had enough of the lake, we hiked back, hit up the bathrooms, and grabbed a snack for the road. As we drove I found myself shouting to the backseat quite often. Things like, "Keep your hands to yourself!" and "Stop putting chips on your baby brother's head!"

Even though the kids were the craziest for this part of the drive, it was still my favorite part. The views were incredible with waterfalls and cliff edges along the way.

We made plenty of stops along the way to hop out and snap pictures.

It was pretty slow going with traffic and switch backs, but it gave us lots of time to soak in the beauty that surrounded us. 

We pulled off at a little picnic area for dinner and pulled out our cook stove and dishes. I set Ollie up in the playpen and he was tickled to be out of his seat and moving around again. He giggled and danced away as we enjoyed some kraft-dinner. The kids helped me work a pump and fill our wash basins after dinner. The older three fought over who would do the dishes and eventually we decided that everyone would wash their own dish and spoon. It's funny how pumping water and doing dishes can be such a novelty!

Ollie: Ten Months

Time has escaped me this month. We have been having so much fun visiting family, planning a birthday and baptism, packing for our big camping trip and driving all over that I almost forgot to take Oliver's ten month pictures. Yesterday morning I stole a few quiet moments and plopped my wiggly baby on the couch. With all of the forest fires in the next province over, the morning sun cast a pink glow on the living room. Each time I backed away for a picture, he would move forward on the couch. 

 I envisioned perfect photos, but the reality was more like this...

 This boy has grown up so much this past month! He still smiles all the time and likes to show off his eight new teeth! He can wave "bye" now and has started picking up on social cues. He laughs when we laugh, and likes to make us laugh!

 He still has that adorable piece of hair that won't go down and I am in love with it in all it's whispy-ness. 

 Sometimes I can't get over how much he looks like his Daddy! He can crawl faster than a speeding bullet and he is already standing at any chance he can get. I'm sure it won't be long before he tries to take a few steps on his own. This boy is already a thinker and a problem solver. I love watching his wheels turn as he figures out the world around him. I could smooch his cheeks all day long (and sometimes I do). He has the perfect rolls all over his legs and wrists. He makes it hard to stop at five!

Camping Prep

 Today was a busy day full of camping prep, laundry, and house cleaning. We are planning on driving to the coast and camping for a few weeks for our family vacation this year. There are some days where I think I was crazy to book this and attempt it, and other days that I am excited to make memories as a family. 

 Mr. Stannix purchased a huge tent to fit all of us comfortably as we seem to have outgrown our last one. We set it up in the backyard today to test it out. The kids were super excited about the space and the room divider!

 I made up a huge double batch of monster cookies for the road. They have peanut butter and oatmeal in them so I consider them totally healthy and okay to eat for breakfast. They make easy car snacks and they're delicious.

A double batch of cookies meant that I was putting pans of cookies in the oven all evening. After tucking in the boys I had to go grab a pan out of the oven. I came back a few minutes later to find this sweet boy and his pup sleeping soundly. It was the first time in a long time that I didn't have to lie with him to get him to sleep. My heart absolutely burst at the cuteness of the moment. I sure love this boy!