Pioneer Day Fun

First, I need to apologize for my lack of blogging. Usually the summer is so full of activity I have a lot to post, but this year just seems more relaxed, I guess. It's probably been the calm before the storm, and August will have an exorbitant number of posts to make up for my slacking. Either that or we're just boring...

Now...on with the post. July 24 was Pioneer Day, which meant a three-day weekend - always a good thing, right? Erik was able to arrange his schedule so we could hit Island Park, Idaho, with some friends (it's about 30 minutes from West Yellowstone). So we packed up Friday morning and headed on our way. We stayed in a great cabin (one of those houses in the woods, really) with a full kitchen, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a loft with two more beds, and our own PRIVATE HOT TUB!!! Unfortunately, I passed on the hot tub the first night to play a rousing game of Wackee Six (Ryan and Amber absolutely creamed Ashley and me), and despite the absolute convenience of a hot tub right on our deck, it wasn't put to use again.

That evening, we had a DELICIOUS dutch oven dinner of BBQ chicken, potatoes, and strudel (although there was some debate about the appropriate term for what we had for dessert, right Tina?). I think it's safe to say Jared has perfected his potato recipe; it was FANTASTIC!!

The next morning, we got up early and headed for the river to do a little floating and fishing. It was so gorgeous. The water was crystal clear and the sky was as blue as could be. We couldn't have planned a better day to sit on a lazy river. We stopped a few times to allow some fishing, which (let's be honest) wasn't all that fruitful (fishful?). A few small specimens were stupid enough to take the bait being offered, but nothing was impressive enough to take back to the cabin for roasting (thank goodness!?!).

After a nice shower and nap (Hey - floating a river can be exhausting!), we headed to West Yellowstone for dinner and the Playmill's production of Guys and Dolls. My only experience with this musical is the medley we did for Chamber Choir my senior year. And most of what I remember from that is lame choreography to Sit Down! You're Rockin' the Boat! Without any costumes other than what we always wore for Chamber Choir. (If you'd like to see my lovely black, sequioned blazer, I would be happy to oblige. It currently resides with other choir and formal dresses that haven't seen the light of day in 10 years. Why I kept it, I don't know.) Anyway...it was nice to learn the story that went with the songs, some of which I actually remembered the words to. How can anyone not LOVE musicals? :-)

On Sunday morning, we packed up to head home, but we spent some more time in the area going to Big Spring (with some ginormous fish) and Mesa Falls. We also stopped at the river again for one more chance at catching the "big one." This stop wasn't any more productive than the day before, but there was some more beautiful scenery, and I was able to snap a ton of pictures.

Some of you may have noticed that Lillian's presence is conspicuously missing from our weekend adventure...and you would be right. While we were enjoying the company of other adults, Lily was enjoying the company of Addison with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Trent. They had a weekend as packed full of activity as we did: the Ogden Pioneer Day parade, the zoo, swimming, fireworks, finding bugs, and just plain wearing out grandma and grandpa in general. (Thanks to Trent for the pictures.)