Hammock Fun

 This hammock swing was a gift to my parents from my mom's mom (grandma Karen) about 8 years ago. Papa finally just took it out of the box and hung it from a tree in our front yard. We've had a blast swinging and relaxing in it.

Indoor Campfire

 With all the camping we've been doing recently...we were excited to roast marshmallows and make S'mores at home with our stuffed animals.

King of the Wild Frontier

We have fun role-playing Davy Crockett.

Karen Castano calls my look the "stink eye"!

Sleeping Buddies

Visiting McCauley's Lake Chelan Cabin

 Earlier in July we made a special visit to Lake Chelan to see the McCauley/Dubow families. I couldn't wait to wave to the Lady of the Lake boat. It takes passengers up lake to Stehekin and Holden Village (where I was named after).

 Emma and I spent lots of time playing "sailors" in this inner tube.

 Janie showed my mom how to use the paddle boards. When it wasn't too windy, they were able to stand up too.

 What a great setting to do crafts! Thanks for the pirate picture, Emma. I saved it in my room.

 Grandma Connie combed Lily's hair to look like a princess!

 I really liked the "chapter book" Janie was reading Emma at bedtime.

 Like previous visits to see Connie, my sister loved playing with her dog, Sadie.

 It was neat to see Evan and Petra's family for lunch before we left. Petra delivered her baby boy only days after we saw them. So exciting!

 I was brave enough to go on the paddle board with Evan.

 Karen preferred watching from the dock.

 My mom has so many fond memories going to the Lake Chelan cabin as a young girl with Janie. Thank you! XOXO

When leaving Chelan, we were very fortunate to get over highway 20. These pictures were taken from our truck. Our original plans of camping near Winthrop were changed with all the fires in eastern Washington.

 We made it safely to the west side of the Cascades and camped near Baker Lake instead. The lake was very refreshing and we also go to visit our good friends Karen and Dan Castano in Rockport as well as grandma D in Stanwood on our way back to Olympia. So many great memories!

Montana Camping Adventures

We had a wonderful trip to Montana (my birth state) in mid-July. We camped every night with lots of biking, hiking, sightseeing, and swimming during the day. My parents couldn't believe how well Karen and I slept. All the activity and fresh air made us sleep like logs! 

 This was a quiet state park in Thompson Falls right on the Clark Fork River.

With hot temperatures and my sister in the middle of potty-training, it was very common this trip for her to take everything off (including her diaper).

 This was a beautiful, peaceful walk-in camp site overlooking Flathead Lake. Notice Karen even did her part carrying 2 small bags up the trail to our site.

 Roasting marshmallows!

 With temperatures in the 90's, Flathead Lake felt amazing!

 The moon was full and bright orange as it rose above the mountains. It was a beautiful view from our tent.

 Hiking along Flathead Lake.

 We stayed a few nights at a really neat primitive campsite along Bowman Lake in Glacier National Park.

 Papa made the water look very warm and inviting. It was actually quite chilly, but still refreshing!

 We loved all the wild life that walked right through our campsite. We knew not to feed them, so Karen had fun feeding her little horsey instead (pine needles and bark).

 The views in Glacier National Park were incredible.

 I was so excited to see all this snow in July! It didn't slow us down from doing lots of hiking. We loved all the waterfalls, glacier lakes, wild flowers, peaks, bighorn sheep, and mountain goats we saw.

 We stopped hiking and had a little fun growling when we saw the sign below about bear danger but little did we know on our way back down we would see an actual Grizzly Bear. We saw it with binoculars, so our little point-and-shoot camera wasn't powerful enough to take a very good picture. But it was definitely a highlight.

 Biking through Glacier.

 Swimming, hiking, and camping in Northern Idaho near Priest River. I like to make the water look warm and inviting too, just like Papa!

 My sister is a "fish" as well!

We had a such a special get-away with so many great memories! We feel very blessed by all the beautiful places we got to visit as a family. The only thing I was disappointed that I didn't get to see was tumbleweed. I guess they have more of that in Great Falls (where I was born) than they do in Western Montana. :)