Michael's Birthday Gift

I wanted to do something fun for Michael's birthday. I got a brainstorm. (Yes, a brainstorm...even blondes get them!!;-) I called our friends in MT, up by Glacier. Michael loves Glacier National Park, and we love our friends Keith and Jolene. So! Early the week of his birthday, I called about showing up on their doorstep in a few days. And they were gracious. "Sure, sounds good!" The dilemma? Crash in their house on such minimal notice (which is a tough decision for me, the queen of 'I don't want to put anyone out at the risk of feeling guilty for a lengthy amount of time') or pack the trailer? (which meant Michael would have to drive the whole distance because, yes, I don't drive the truck with it's intimidating stick shift, and, even if I did, I wouldn't want to while pulling a multi-thousand dollar trailer behind it, thank you very much!) I couldn't figure it out, and, despite trying to keep our destination a secret from Michael, I had to call him to get advice. "Sweetie, if we were to go somewhere where we could either bring the trailer for ease, or not so I could help with driving, what would you suggest?" And what did he say? "Are we going to Glacier?" Waaahhh! I should have known he'd figure it out!

We drove to Keith and Jolene's on Thursday...most of the day. The kids were really good travelers. We are always pleased when that happens. They enjoy LeapPads and snacks. Oh, and don't forget the CD of 150 kids songs we have. We have stayed away from getting a DVD player thus far, and are going to try very hard to keep that policy. We had some fun playing the ABC game..."I see something starting with an A..." We made it to G, I think...impressive for a 5 year old, I think! Some good books for long car rides? Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go and Usborne's Machines that Work, both full of cool pictures to look at. We arrived around 10pm and were heartily welcomed by our friends despite their having to get up early the next morning.

Friday morning, we got up and got ready to go for a small hike at Logan Pass. Here are some collages of things we saw. We really like Glacier National Park. It's a beautiful park; you really need to visit it to understand the beauty. Photos do not do it justice. It's valleys are created by glacial carve which is evidenced by U shaped valleys. (V-shaped valleys are usually created by uplift, not glacial carve.) Unfortunately, the glaciers are quickly receding...in 2001, I believe, we heard on a nature hike that the glaciers could potentially be gone in 30 years. Yikes...

Anyways, here's Logan Pass, some wildlife we saw,

the red cars, the kids on our hike,


That Friday night, we all met for dinner at Keith and Jolene's. Keith told Michael he had been invited to go on a hike with some friends. Michael was stoked!! But the law was laid...the rocks had to be laid in the flower bed that evening...;-)
See this pile? Yep! It needed to be shoveled into the flower bed.

So, the guys got to work and finished it. Then, early the next morning, they got up and headed out to do a big hike...the summits of Pollock Peak and Bishops Cap. Jolene, the kids and I drove back to Glacier ourselves and did the Trail of Two Cedars hike...maybe a mile long walk.



Click on the comment bubble (left bottom corner) of the slide show to see Michael's comments on the epic hike!!



The next day, Sunday, was a nice day with meeting at Keith and Jolene's, lunch at MacKenzie River Pizza Company with some more friends, a nap, the kids dressing up into all sorts of costumes, and birthday cake (German Chocolate) with still some more friends...