We had such a great time! The weather was beautiful, the fall colors are just beginning to make their appearance, and I was so happy to get to spend time with my friend and her sweet family. The last time we saw them, their now 5 year old twin girls were only 8 months old. I really wished we could have spent more time with them, as I was reminded why we got along so well as companions.
After we set up our camp at the Upper Coffee Pot campground in Island Park, we met up with them at a place called Big Springs, where the kids fed the fish, ducks and a couple of muskrats, then we went on a walk along a nature trail. Once the kids (and adults, let's be honest) were sufficiently tired of being out in the sun and getting hungry, we all headed back to our camp where the kids all had a blast running around and getting to know each other. Sophie was quite taken with the cute little twin girls, Audrey and Chloe, who were very quiet and shy. It took her some time to get them comfortable enough to come out of their shells a little, but once they did, she was in seventh heaven. She was crying for a good hour that night after they left our campground to head back to their cabin.
Anyway, after we let the kids play and get very dirty, we enjoyed a meal of "camp food", and then splurged on some dutch oven cobbler with ice cream, and later, of course, s'mores. We attempted to walk a trail along the river that evening, that leads from the campground to the Upper Coffee Pot rapids, and we made it a little ways before half of the group decided they wanted to head back to camp and play some more. So my friend's husband took those kids and headed back, while Chris, Lindsay and I continued on a little further with the remaining kids. It was really pretty, but it started to get dark before we could make it to the rapids.
So the next day, after tinfoil breakfasts on the campfire, we took our four kids and hiked the whole 4 miles (round trip) to see the falls. The kids did complain some, but did better than I expected. Later in the afternoon, we took a drive and saw some antelope and elk. The next day, after packing up, we started the drive home, taking a detour to spend some time at Harriman State Park. We took a 2 mile hike on one of the many paths, hoping to spot some elk or moose, but all we saw were some pelicans, and the beautiful scenery. I would love to go back there and spend more time exploring, maybe on horseback next time. The kids were pretty much done with the hiking by that point. Finally, we made one last stop at Mesa Falls before heading home. To see all the photos from our fun weekend, visit the Picasa web album:
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| islandparksept09 |
3 comments:
We had so much fun with you guys. The girls have been talking about Sophie non-stop and I really feel like I didn't get nearly enough time with you! We have decided to make it a yearly tradition--especially once we get a trailer! Are you guys up for it? We can meet up in Jackson every year!
I agree! That would be perfect - we would definitely be up for that; the kids would love it, too! So did you enjoy the Jackson area? I'll keep watching your blog for the vacation continuation...and the boys wanted me to tell you to tell Isaac that he's "awesome". :)
My grandparents have a cabin in Island Park, ID. We have gone there every three years since I was born. Our next reunion is next summer so we will be going there again... It was neat to hear you mention big springs, island park, upper coffee pot rapids, etc. They are all familiar places we've been to:)
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