Daddy's Happy Place

Is there a place that just speaks to your soul?  That literally replenishes your reserves and leaves you whole again?  Well, Danny does.  And it's Island Park.  

It had been way too long since Danny had been back to his grandparent's cabin.  We spent an amazing week there for our honeymoon, but since then had only been back three times, and each were very short visits.  So, since we had a few days open between the Call Family Reunion and Jessie's wedding, we decided it was time to go back to the cabin. 

We left after the blessing on Sunday, and got to the cabin at about 10:30 pm.  It really was nice to be back!  Danny was on cloud nine.  I've always kicked myself that I didn't any pictures of the cabin while we were there for our honeymoon, so I took a few pictures right as we walked in.

I love the kitchen at the cabin!  I could cook all day.  And these pictures don't capture the two bedrooms and loft upstairs, or the loft above the garage!  Anyway, Grandma was coming up with Great-Grandma Lovell, so they arrived about an hour after we did.  Once we were all there and the cars were unloaded, we went to bed.  Danny loves sleeping at the cabin.  It's so dark and quiet.  Ahhh....

The next morning, the kids spent time playing with Grandma while Danny and I got a slow start to the morning.  

Sophie was so proud of her "flower magic wand" that she made with Grandma, that she carried it around for the rest of the time.  

We had been watching the weather, and we knew we were in for rain for a significant amount of time while we were there.  But Monday morning was absolutely perfect, so we got the girls out for a walk while Johnny took his morning nap.  I'm so glad we did, because it literally rained the rest of the time we were there!

Isn't it gorgeous?  Island Park is only about 18 miles outside West Yellowstone, and it really is picturesque.  There was even some snow for Claire and Sophie to plan in...or on.  It was pretty much ice.  But being the desert girls they are, grass and snow have become pretty exotic!  They'll play on, in, or around it anytime they can. :)

Danny and I are realizing more and more that while it was a sacrifice to have our children so close together, especially Claire and Sophie, we're so glad we did!  Claire and Sophie would be lost without each other.  They truly are best friends.  Sometimes, Claire will just walk up to Sophie and just say, "Best Friends Forever!".  I sure hope so!

And no, the hand-holding was not posed.  That's just how they walk when they're together.  Pretty stinkin' cute, huh? :)  As we were walking, we enjoyed the fresh mountain air and talked about owning our own cabin there someday.  And we even took the time to stop and smell the roses...er...dandelions. 

All that walking pooped the girls right out.  So once we were back at the cabin, they cuddled up with Grandma for some story time.  Grandma tells the best stories!  Grandmas are good like that...

Now, Johnny had been sleeping while we were walking, so he was up and ready to play!  And there's nothing like a little lunchtime peek-a-boo to make a little John-boy happy!

"Where's Johnny?"

"There he is!"

Since he was feeling good, Johnny decided to go on a bear hunt.  Yellowstone is a great place for a bear hunt!

And with that, it was dinnertime.  Since we were at the cabin, and feeling a little wild and crazy, I let Johnny have his first spaghetti-in-the-high-chair experience.  He was in heaven!

The downside to the spaghetti experience is the spaghetti clean up!  Johnny didn't have to clean up his chair and the surrounding 5 feet, so he thought the clean up process was just another perk. :)

It started raining on Monday afternoon, and continued through the night.  When we woke up on Tuesday, it was still raining!  We decided to take an outing to Rexburg, since we needed to do some grocery shopping anyway.  We had an eventful trip!  Grandma came with us, and was the unlucky one in the middle seat when Sophie got carsick.  She took it in stride, though!  Considering this was the first time in all her child-rearing years that anyone had gotten carsick on her watch.  Sorry, Grandma!  It was only an hour to Rexburg, so I hadn't packed an extra set of clothes for anyone.  We made an emergency stop at Wal-Mart and I got some new clothes for Sophie.  Then, once Sophie was clothed and feeling better, we ate some lunch at Wingers before heading to BYU-I to do a little reminiscing.  Danny spent two years there before transferring to BYU-Provo, and that is also where Grandma and Papa met.  I believe Grandma said even Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa went there!  

We started out at the new conference center, right as Devotional was getting started.  Claire said she wasn't feeling good, but she says that a lot.  I should have listened this time.  As soon as we got on the sidewalk leading up to the entrance, Claire threw up all over the sidewalk.  Luckily, she missed her clothes.  And luckily, we had enough paper towels in the car to clean up the mess!  Awkward.  After that little episode, we walked around campus and saw the steps Grandma used to kiss all the boys on, and where her old boyfriends used to live.  Grandma was quite the wild woman in her day! :)  Don't worry, Papa, we also saw the Biology room that you brought Grandma's diamond ring to.  :)

We finished up our shopping in Rexburg, and made an uneventful drive back to the cabin.  And it was still raining!  What to do when it's too rainy to play outside?  Crafts with Grandma, of course! 

With it still raining, the sun set on our Tuesday in Island Park and rose again on a rainy Wednesday morning.  At this point, it didn't matter how relaxing the cabin was, Danny was starting to feel some pressure to get his school project done.  So he ended up spending virtually all day on Wednesday doing homework.  For a while, he moved his desk out onto the porch to work in the beautiful outdoors, but eventually it got a little chilly.  The high was only about 53 degrees that day!  While Daddy worked, we all found things to do to pass the time.

Daddy even took a break to play on the porch with Claire.

But, as always happens, the time came for us to head home.  It really was hard to go.  Especially since Danny had to dedicate so much of our time there to finishing that project.  But, we did realize that we want to make it more of a priority to get up there as a family, so I'm sure we'll be there again soon.  Relatively, anyway.  It won't possibly be soon enough for Danny!

We're so grateful for Grandma and Grandpa Lovell.  It's their cabin, and without them we wouldn't have this wonderful place to create memories with our family.  

We love you, Island Park!  We'll come back soon!