Our Montana Adventure

We had a great time visiting my family in Northwestern Montana last month--I took so many pictures that I'm just now getting around to going through them and getting "some" up on the blog! Jared was able to join us for two days before he left for the East Coast for a work trip. We had beautiful, warm weather, and it was great getting to spend time with everyone. We loved getting to know cousin Forest better--all three cousins had lots of chances to spend time together and really did play and interact with one another. It will be so fun watching them all grow up together. Parker and Levi got lots of quality Grammy and Grampy time, and they definitely had lots of fun growing experiences on the Ranch and in the Montana mountains. Thank you to everyone for a wonderful trip!

Boating on Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park

Grampy and Lee Lee 

The Prindles, while Jared was with us

Happy boy

Cousins! Forest loves to share with everyone :)

Grammy got a water table for Levi and Parker, it was a great thing for both of them to play with at the same time, and the perfect height for Levi to stand up at. It even had one side for each boy for the times when it's hard to share :)

All of the boys love the ATVs!

Going for an ATV ride with Grampy

Grammy and Lee Lee

Ian, Krista, and Forest's amazing cabin in the woods 

S'more time! This is becoming a tradition for us :)

SO yummy!!

We love you, Forest!

Auntie Krista and Lee Lee--blondies :)

Uncle Ian and Lee Lee

Levi got to join Parker for the traditional photo-with-the-bear

Smiley, dirty boy at Seeley Lake

Mama and her boys at Seeley Lake

Parker really wanted me to take a picture of him on this log...

Brothers. Love the expressions on both of them...

Parker really wanted me to take a picture of him and Rainbow Fishy

You'd be amazed how many pictures I have of Parker making this exact face...

Trying to get a picture of all three cousins with the bear...it was a challenge!

Paige, Parker, Levi, Ian, Krista, and Forest!

Heading back home to San Diego. Yes, he wore this cowboy hat the whole way home...he got lots of compliments in the airport and while making his way down the aisle in the airplanes :) He was so excited about it (although you certainly can't tell by the expression on his face).

Levi's First Airplane Ride

After saying goodbye to Em, Peter, Josie, and Chiara, we drove to the airport and headed to Montana to spend two weeks with my family. Jared was able to join us for our journey up there and vacationed with us for two days before heading to the East Coast for two weeks for work. This was Levi's first airplane ride, so we were curious to see how he would handle things, and how it would be flying with both kids! 


I must say that at this age, Parker now seems like a breeze to travel with. He was super excited about the flights and happily packed his own backpack with some snacks, toys, and games--and even carried and took care of his backpack himself the whole time. He loved the turbulence on our approach to Salt Lake City, asking us if we could do that again! 


Levi was totally excited about the whole scene as soon as we sat down in our seats on the first flight. He loved all of the new things to explore and flirted with everyone around us. He was so active the entire time, clambering over all of us to get a look out the window. By the time we finally landed in Montana, I felt like I had been wrestling an alligator all afternoon!

Some Family Pics

So, I'll bring our Spring 2011 travelogue to a close here...so many pictures to choose from, so many good memories. We're not sure where our next vacation will take us, but I'm sure we'll start itching to hit the road again soon. We just might make it back to Yosemite this winter for some snow play and hot chocolate in the Ahwahnee dining room! Anyone want to join us?

Life in Camp Curry

Two Handsome Boys

We had a picnic lunch with a view of Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls in the background. In fact, seems like most of our photos from this trip have one waterfall or another in the background! I tried getting a shot of both boys together at this spot and also in another place with a view of Half Dome in the background, but that's a tricky business!

Binoculars

After much debate, Parker finally chose the perfect souvenir from the Mountaineering store in Curry Village: a pair of honest-to-goodness binoculars. We all were able to enjoy using them (well, except for Levi), and he felt pretty proud of himself carrying his real binoculars around with him on our adventures. I'm not sure if he really ever saw what he thought he was looking at when he looked through them, though...??