Glacier National Park July 9-10, 2021

We went on a hike or an adventure of some sort everyday that we were at the park.  

On our third day we discovered what might have been my favorite hike, and also favorite place to go in the park.

As we entered the park there was a river that we had to cross.  We went on a short hike along the river.

The rocks were gorgeous!

And the kids loved getting into the river, playing in the river and discovering all of the different colored rocks.

Can you believe all of those colors!?!?

We came to this part of the river many times in our week long trip at Glacier.  It was a place were there were very few other people, and it was a perfect place for us to relax, play, and enjoy nature.

Then, back at the cabin, once again there were smores!

 

Glacier National Park July 7-8 2021

Steve and Sue (Matt's parents) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary!  They decided to have a special celebration to honor this huge milestone.

So they rented a cabin at Glacier National Park in Montana and invited Matt, Lana, Grace, Glen, Chris, Katie, Ellie and Jackson to join them.  Unfortunately Katie and Jackson were not able to come on this trip. 

The views were AMAZING.  The first day that we were in the park, we drove the Road to The Sun which is the road that goes across the whole park west to east.  Then we enjoyed driving back east again on the same road.

Most of these amazing sights were taken from when we pulled off of the road (or even while we were still driving by the sights).

At one point we stopped the car and found out that there was a short hike at that pull off area.  So Matt and I took Grace, Glen, and Ellie on our first hike in Glacier park.  They all seemed to enjoy it.

And at that time it was just good to get out of the car and walk around.

At our cabin we played a lot of games, but one of our favorite activities was to have smores by the fire.  

The next day we went to the park again and decided to do a longer hike.  This one was a hike in the ceders (look at how tall these trees are).

The hike in the ceders, then followed the river.

We kept following the water till...

We got to Avalanche Lake.  This lake is surrounded by mountains.

And as you can see in this image the water from high in the mountains that is feeding into this lake.

The kids had a great time walking in the lake, skipping stones, 

and just enjoying some time away from the hiking.

As we sat down to eat a snack, we found a chipmunk that was very friendly.

He was very cute, and not afraid of us at all.  However, we did not give him any food so he lost interest in us pretty soon.

Tired and wet from the lake, we finally made our way back down to the car. 

What a great hike...what a great day.
 

Summer July 4, 2021

First, one last picture of Harper's Ferry.  At the top of the hill where we hiked around a battlefield, there was a line of cannons...great place for a photo op.

This lower picture is what summers are for.  Friends, being outside, and swinging.  So glad that we have a great family where our kids made great friends, right next door.

 

Mash-up of Grace June 29, 2021

As you can tell from the date on the blog post, and the date that is in the title.  I am writing this about a year after it happened.  I am trying to get caught up.

So when I looked at this day's pictures I know that not all of these events happened in this one day, and I am not sure why these pictures showed up for June 29th but that is ok.

Here Grace and her friend Andrew were speaking about a song that they were about to do for their music performance.  This performance was both singing and also preforming on their recorder.

Here Grace is preforming on her recorder.  This would have been around April of her 5th grade year.

In this picture, Grace is helping Mark Harmon by displaying items that are for sale at the Highland auction.  This was one of the main fundraisers that Highland has.  Since I am on the board, the family comes to help and Grace has held items up for sale many times.  This would have been about March of 2020.

Ovi is Carol's dog.  This dog is so tolerant of all of the stuff that Grace puts her through.  Nothing bad, she just loves to love on this dog.  Here she is reading to Ovi...however, the dog does not seem to interested.

 This picture was in April of 2020.  Grace wanted a haircut but due to Covid all of the hair cutting places were closed.  So Eamon was able to get a barber chair and set it up in Carol's sunroom.  So we made a visit to Carol's house and Eamon was able to give her a great haircut.

Harper's Ferry June 12, 2021

A family trip to Harper's Ferry.

Glen was loving the hike because it was right by the river so there was a lot of mud and water to dig and play in.

One place that is close by that I have always wanted to go to was Harper's Ferry.  I don't know why, I have always just heard that it is a pretty place.  

Well I found out that it is a national park.  And Grace had a free pass to enter all national parks due to being in 5th grade (usually it is for 4th graders, but they added in 5th this year because most of the parks were closed for part of the year due to Covid).

So Matt, Grace, Glen, and I drove up to Harper's Ferry and decided to explore.

We went to the visitors center where we were able to get a shuttle bus to where the hikes are located.

We were all ready to explore.

On our hike we saw lots of deer.

And the deer came really close.  It was a really neat place to hike and so close to the river.

After we were done hiking and exploring we went back to the visitors center to turn in the junior ranger packets that the kids did and get sworn in a junior rangers at this park.

We then drove a little bit away from the visitors center to try out another hike.  This hike told a story about one of the many Civil War battles that happened in this area.  There were descriptions, charts, and maps on the signs telling what happened each day as you hiked around the field.  It was really interesting.

The typical image in the backseat of the car as we come home from hikes.  They were so worn out.
 

Grace's Graduation from 5th Grade June 9, 2021

It has been a weird last two years.  Grace's fourth grade year we were sent home in March to begin virtual learning due to this Covid pandemic.

Then her 5th grade year began completely virtual.  She only was able to get back into school to see her friends and teachers in person around April.

Her teachers stayed with her for both 4th grade and for 5th grade.  So the kids knew the teachers well and the teachers also knew the kids well and they did not have to try to get to know each other through a computer screen (which can be done, but it is hard).

The other good thing about Grace's class is that most of these kids have been with each other since kindergarten.  So relationships were already there and they are strong.

So we made it to the end of 5th grade.  Grace and her classmates walked out of the school, up to the track and did a lap around the track to classmates, students, parents, and other family cheering them on.

It was a windy day and their mortarboard hats wanted to fly off.

But it was a beautiful day, and a great way to say good bye to 5th grade.  Here Grace is with one of her good friends, Wesley.

Good bye 5th grade, Hello 6th grade and Middle School!