Our Vacation: Visiting Montana Friends

The real reason we went on vacation was to see our Montana friends, one of the families that we grew close to during residency in Wisconsin.  Both of our families were in the muck of residency together, although in different programs, and we also went to the same church and many of the same Bible studies.  They’ve managed to come and visit us several times in Minnesota, and so almost a year ago now, we began planning our trip to Montana to visit them.  It was the high point of our trip.  We had so much fun staying at their beautiful Montana home, and then spending a terrific night in their cabin in the mountains near Red Lodge.

I enjoyed every second of watching all the kids play together and all of their amusing adventures.  We got to go on a couple of hikes, and I”m always amazed at how much more fun it is to go hiking with friends.  The kidlets just don’t whine and complain when friends are tromping down the trail with them.  The hike through the mountain valley was especially fun.  Because the snow pack in the mountains is late to melt and unusually large, the streams and rivers were just bursting.  I’d look up and there would literally be water tumbling down the mountain.  In fact, our hike was cut a bit short by a stream that overtook the trail, but we had a great time snacking beside it.  The dads and kids worked for quite a long time trying to build a rock and log bridge across the water.

Best of all, though, were the great late night conversations between grown ups when all seven kiddos (and an eighth is on the way!  Our friends are expecting their fourth baby!) were tucked in bed and slumbering.  

This is our friends’ littlest little guy.  He’s missing in the top picture with all the kids because he was sitting on the end of the bench and vacated when he realized there were a lot better things to do elsewhere.  He has lots and lots of ideas, and he is ready to act on them.  He’s also pretty much completely adorable.

They had so much fun playing on the playground at the cabin.  Their favorite game was to hang on the monkey bars and set “world records.”

It was hot in Montana.  It felt especially hot to those of us used to the refrigerator effect of Lake Superior.  The kids spent almost an entire day playing in the water.  Our friends live next to a beautiful Montana-like canyon that drops down to a seasonal stream, and their yard has a perfect hill for a slip and slide.  Actually, we joined three slip and slides together.  They were so slippery that the kids kept right on going even when the slide ended.  In fact, if they weren’t careful, and a couple of my kidlets weren’t, they would go sliding a quarter of the way down the canyon over sage and cactus and all sorts of prickly Montana plants.  Mr. SP called it “the invisible slip and slide.”  It was glorious fun.  They went back and forth between the slip and slide and the inflatable pool and occasionally had a dip in the hot tub.  The hot tub was pretty grassy by the end of the afternoon.  Our friends are very good sports, I tell you.

There were a few minor sunburns even though we religiously applied sunscreen and reapplied several times.

This one was dangerous.  She doesn’t live next to a shooting range for nothing.

Here are the biggest big sisters.  They were helpful, inventive, and kept people in line when necessary.

It made my Mama heart nearly burst that my usually somewhat reluctant writer was often pulling out his little notebook and pens (given to him on vacation by our Bismarck friends) to record details he was noticing in the mountains:  rushing rivers traveling at 100 miles an hour and waterfalls and all sorts of great things.

Here are the two terrific dads with all of the kids. It was busy, crazy and wonderful.