The Cabin 2015

We headed up to the cabin on Monday after the 4th of July and had a very nice time, as usual. As we got up there, my cousin and his wife were finishing loading up all their things and leaving. They have four beautiful little girls. The youngest, Hattie, got along with June.

Our first full day up was warm and perfect for boating and playing in the lake and we took full advantage. It was a perfect cabin type of day when you're in your swimsuit until you finally shower about 5:00 pm. The girls were jumping off the dock (on the shallow side) and playing in the rocks and sand.

Unfortunately/fortunately, the weather after that day was spotty. It was overcast and there were lots of thunderstorms. Though I would have liked more boating time, it also gave us a chance to do a lot of stuff we used to do when I was young, but that we haven't taken the time to do on recent trips. We went up to West Yellowstone and saw some grizzly bears up close at an animal preserve. We went into the park and walked around the hot pots. I thought Willa would be totally amazed by the hot pots, and she liked them, but she also remarked that one geyser looked like the splash pad by Beckham and Brody's house in St. George. It's her favorite splash pad, so it wasn't a put-down, but it wasn't exactly the jaw-dropping reaction I was hoping for. My least favorite moment was when we were driving past a huge herd of buffalo and I kept trying to get Willa to look up from the Ipad in the car. One buffalo was really close to the car, but Willa wouldn't look because she was so into her Ponies game. I finally took the Ipad away so that she could look, and she responded maturely by putting her blanket over her head and hiding so she couldn't look. Oh well, I never said my children or my parenting skills were perfect.

June looking at the bears.

Being the general sissies that they are (which they get from me), the girls did not want to ride the waverunners. I took June for a short ride in which she cried the entire time; after that I decided just to leave Willa alone and not force her. They endured the boat with trepidation and, in June's case, her pacifier for safety.

One of the very nice things we did since the weather was cooler, was take a beautiful hike. I'd done the hike when I was younger but it had probably been ten years. It was such a pleasant way to spend the afternoon! It was very green and quiet and we were the only people out for most of it. I loved that June would squat down with her hands on her knees and very carefully watch the ants walk across the path in places.

Annual sink bath for the non-showering child. I'm a big fan of the farm sink with babies. You don't kill your back bending over the bathtub.