Giraffiti: Henry's Lake

Tuesday, August 30, 2016

Summer Family Vacation - Henry's Lake 2016

I just love our annual summer trip to the cabin. This year both of my kids and their families were able to come for some of the time. We started out on Saturday morning, June 18th. As always we stopped, in La Grande for a late lunch (breakfast for Wally). We discovered the Smokehouse Restaurant a number of years ago. They are famous for their smoked meats but also for the flapjacks.

Saturday evening we spent the night at my sister's new town house in Boise. My nephew, Bart and his family from Oregon joined us there. We had barbecued hamburgers with sister's son and his family. The kids had a lot of fun playing together. After dinner we walked through the grade school lot to a really nice city park and let the kids play and watched the sunset.

Boise sunset

Sunday morning was Father's Day. We always go to McDonald's for breakfast before getting on the freeway. On Father's Day, Dad's eat free. We arrived at the cabin on Sunday afternoon. Joe and Nikki with Kali and Taylor were already at the cabin in their new trailer with their two dogs. They spent Sunday in Yellowstone Park. Sue and Dennis arrived on Sunday, as did Bart and Autumn. Over the next week we had Becky, Dave, Nancy, Emily, Katie, Kylah, Eli, Scott, Natalie, Scott, Wayne, Andrea, Annelise, Avea, Amoura and Andrea's parent's Ted and Grace from St. George.

It was so much fun having so many kids there this year. They had a lot of fun playing together. Wayne and Andrea stayed at Mack's Inn with her parents in a rental cabin. They loved being there near the river. They had dinner with us one night and spent many afternoons hanging out, playing, canoeing and boating.

Our Dad's cousin Frank Peterson was driving a semi from Montana into Idaho and he was able to stop for a short visit and meet Wally.

During the week there were trips into West Yellowstone, some groups went into the park, we thoroughly enjoyed the new deck at the cabin. Jim came over and visited with us. And then there was the kayaking down the Henry's Fork of the Snake River.

It was going to be Natalie, Scott and I, then when we went over to the rental place we ran into Wayne and the family so they joined us. I started out in a tandem kayak with Natalie and Scott was by himself. Wayne and Andrea each had one girl with them. Amoura stayed behind with Ted and Grace.

At the beginning where we get in the river, it was very shallow. I had to keep getting out of the canoe and pull us. Eventually I talked Scott into trading with me. Then I was solo in a kayak for the first time ever. And I loved it. It was beautiful scenery, very relaxing. There were other kayakers and rafters on the water.

Then as we got closer to where we would be getting out we got a big treat. A mother moose with her baby drinking in the river. Natalie and Scott got awfully close to them. I stayed a little bit behind some people in a bigger raft, just in case I needed to get out of their way as they crossed the river. It was so much fun.

During the week at the cabin we had some really good food. I made bread twice for dinner. We ate white chicken chili, chicken haystacks, enchilada casserole, Emily's chicken, chili and a baked potato bar. We also had caramel corn, fudge and other treats.

My new quilt. Pieced by Sue and quilted by me.

Scott and his hammock.

Eli.

Great Uncle Dennis with Amoura. She always knew right where she was headed and it generally involved a dog.

Annelise and Kali.

It was a great week and it was nice to have the five of us siblings together.

Beautiful Kali. I could take her picture for days.

Grandma Becky with Taylor

Uncle Scott with Eli. Or as Eli referred to him one day, "that guy".

Joe and his fish

My grand daughter Amoura. She turned two on July 6th.

Aunt Natalie with Amoura.

This was our attempt to get all the cousins together. Nine kids, oldest 11, youngest not quite 2. This is one of the better pictures.

My grand daughters Annelise and Avea.

Scott and Wayne (cousins) these two have entertained us at the cabin for many years. I think my favorite was the video with Wayne and his gloves in his best Crocodile Dundee voice extracting a bat from the cabin. But then there was the time they got decked out in Grandpa's hats and jackets, or the time they walked in the dark outside the window with the axe and pretended to be One-Eyed Henry.

Carry on you two!

Katie with Elsie and Kylah

Having a little fun.

Siblings

Getting ready to go home.

It was a great week. Wally and I drove I-90 home in one day. We stopped for breakfast in Ennis, Montana. They have fry bread on the menu. Yay!

Thanks Mom and Dad for the cabin and all the great memories it holds.

See you all next year!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Family Time at the Cabin

Sometimes I'm amazed at how many years we've been going to the cabin for our annual family vacation. This year neither of my kids were able to be there. But as always my sister's are great at sharing their grand children.

Wally and I drove Saturday morning stopping frequently. Our favorite lunch spot for many years has been The Smokehouse Restaurant in La Grande, Oregon. Funny thing is though, we usually order breakfast for lunch. Wally discovered their giant hotcakes one year. But this year he passed on the hotcakes.

We then continued on to spend the night in Boise at my sister Sue's house. Before dinner I usually get a quick dip in the pool which always feels great after our 500 mile drive.

This time on Sunday morning, instead of heading directly to the cabin we were able to meet my niece Serene and her family for breakfast. It also happened to be Father's Day. She lives in Sacramento and her and her husband Scott have two children whom I had never met before. Seneca just recently turned 2 and Levi at the time was about 5 months old. They brought along some in-laws and we had a very fun visit. They were on their way to Canada for vacation. We had breakfast in Meridian at The Griddle. It was very good.

Sunday we drove to the cabin stopping in Rexburg to drop some items off to a young couple from her Mom her in Kent. We arrived at the cabin after Sue and Dennis. Later that evening we were joined by John, Sarah, Ethan and Austin.

Everyone else arrived on Tuesday, or was it Wednesday? This year we had Becky, David, Joe, Nikki, Tristan, Kali, Taylor, Nancy, Emily, Scott, Sue, Dennis, John, Sarah, Ethan, Austin, Wally and me. The big focus for the week was building a deck on the lake side of the condo. It was fun watching the progress and so many people helping out. We got to take family pictures on the deck before everyone headed home.

It was the first time in a long time we had all five of us kids together. And as always we ate well with everyone pitching in. I have to say breakfast is probably my favorite meal at the cabin. It's cooked on the grill, bacon, eggs, pancakes, fish, potatoes. It was always delicious, cooked mostly by John and Sue. Dave even made us sourdough crepes with berries one morning. Delicious. And of course we had caramel corn one evening.

We adjusted to the fact the younger generation enjoys their electronic games. And it was cute to see them sitting together so focuses. We had fun playing Rummikub which always makes me think of my Mom playing that with the grandkids.

The weather was very hot this year. There were mosquitos and there were bug bites. There were some fish caught. Most of us went home on Saturday morning. I missed seeing the moose across the water that morning. Sue and Dennis stayed another week and enjoyed the 4th of July fireworks from the deck.

Wally and I decided to drive home on I-90. We went to Ennis and had a great breakfast including Indian fry bread with honey butter. It was a very hot drive home. Each time we stopped to take a break or get gas we were blasted with heat. It was actually 112 degrees in Wallace, Idaho where we stopped for a late lunch of burgers.

When we got to Spokane and it was only 5 pm we decided to just keep driving to get home. I can't believe I drove 750 miles in one day. It was a long stretched out day with lots of stops and walking around. It was another great family vacation at the cabin.

Oh, and I won a quilt and Natalie won the other quilt!