June 2024

Bryan's military ball was at the Hawaiian Hilton Village. It was fun to get all dressed up for the event!

Hiking up to the pink pill box with friends.

Kate has been learning how to make a few simple dishes this year: sloppy joes, macaroni and cheese, pigs in a blanket, and chocolate chip cookies.

My new favorite beach: Waimea

So fun to jump off the big rock!

Our first family vacation this year: Sydney, Australia. We had a blast hanging out in the city. We rented a car and were able to do a few excursions just outside of Sydney.

Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge

We did the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb!

Featherdale Wildlife Park is a smaller zoo outside of Sydney where you are able to pet some of the kangaroos, wallabies, and koalas. It was fun to see some of the strange and beautiful animals native to this area.

Sydney Aquarium: We got to watch the sharks, dugung, and stingrays get fed from the top of this tank.

Luna Amusement Park: A fun place to visit for our girls, who are very unfamiliar with amusement parks and rollercoaster rides. I do not advise going if you are weak in the stomach for spinning rides! Oh, there were so many!

Bryan and I swam laps are the famous Bondi Icebergs Pool. The water was freezing, as it was winter there this time of year (64 degrees). Jane was brave enough to jump in, but quickly regretted her decision.

Chinese Garden of Friendship was fun for all as we looked for the zodiac signs hidden throughout.

Instead of a guided tour of the Sydney Opera House, we got tickets to see the Sydney Symphony. It was a perfect activity for a rainy day.

Riding rented bikes in Manly.

Whale watching at Royal National Park.

Hiking in the Blue Mountains.

We had a wonderful trip down under and I am already trying to figure out a way for us to go back a visit a different area of Australia.

July 2021 Part 2- Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks

After Colorado Springs and Teton National Park, we drove the hour north to Yellowstone.  The girls immediately smelled the sulfur and learned all about the different kinds of hot springs and geysers.  The area is such a contrast from the Tetons with all the different colored waters and landscape.  We were lucky enough to have part of the Izu and Hadfield families join us for this part of the adventure. 

West Thumb

Jane found a frog at our campground at Bridge Bay.  We also woke up to an elk eating our neighbors chair in the morning!

The girls are playing in the black sand off of Yellowstone Lake. 

Jane got to celebrate her 6th birthday waking up in a tent! Her one request: Old Faithful

We decided to put up tents while in Yellowstone because we were jumping from campsite to campsite each night.  The pop-up trailer is a little more time consuming than our trusty tent. 

This is Grand Geyser.

Old Faithful

Birthday ice cream for all the littles.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. 

Funny story.  I wanted to paddleboard in Yellowstone, but the only river you can is between Lewis Lake and Shoshone Lake (roughly 10 miles).  I told Bryan we would never be able to do that with all the little kids.  Boy did that cause him to really, really make it happen.  So we did it and here is the proof!

Fire River with a rainbow. 

By day 3, the girls were pretty sick of seeing geysers and hot springs.  So we left the kids in the car and caught this beautiful rainbow amongst the thermal features. 

Mammoth Hot Springs

It took us about 6 hours from the northern most part of Yellowstone to drive to our next campsite near Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to get camping reservations in the park.  I looked 6 months in advanced! 

I think we should have done a little more research on Glacier National Park.  I thought one of our activities would be to drive the "Going to the Sun" road.  This is actually the only road in the park and it will lead you from the west side to the east side.  It takes more than 2 hours to drive the whole road and the parking is very limited and the roads are so thin. 

But the views were magnificent!

Once we found a parking spot, we hiked to Hidden Lake.

We saw mountain goats and touched glaciers.

We hiked St. Mary's trail

and some of us jumped into the freezing water!

Our family took a whitewater rafting trip Flathead River. We had so much fun! 

Of course, the kids enjoyed the campground filled with games and water and free breakfasts in the morning!

It was so much fun to hang out with family on vacation.  Beautiful scenery, lots of laughing and playing, and enough food for all thanks to Rachel and Becky's pantry and preparation!

July 2021 Part 1 -Colorado Springs & Grand Tetons

We had fun at the Belton parade on the 4th of July. Afterwards, we went to one of my co-workers house for the evening and watched the fireworks over Lake Belton.  Technically I was still on crutches until the 9th, gradually adding weight.  This worked out well as we were headed into a month long vacation touring national parks on that day!

We drove through the night to get to Colorado Springs. First stop, Garden of the Gods.

We stayed at an RV park with fun games and a waterpark.  The girls enjoyed riding their bikes around and jumping on the big trampoline.

I dropped Bryan off early in the morning to hike Pikes Peak. We met him up on the top after taking the funicular.  It took an hour to get up to the top by train. I think Bryan climbed up in 5.5 hours. Good grief he is fast!

My best friend Jennifer said I wouldn't be able to hike Manitou Incline. I had to prove her wrong.  My girls beat me to the top, but I did make it! I had some hiking sticks and used my left leg more to lift me up the 2,700 steps.  I am about 4 weeks post surgery, 3 of those weeks on crutches. I was pretty damn proud of myself.

Our reward: a macaroni and cheese pizza!

Our little home for the next 3 weeks.  My parents pop-up trailer.  Lots of card playing and telling the other side to quit moving at bedtime.

We found some fun little hike an hour or so away from Colorado Springs where Bryan jumped into the freezing water!

Next stop: Grand Tetons

We did a lot of paddle boarding on the lakes and hiking.

We got to watch some show in the streets put on during the weekends at Jackson. It was fun to watch and unexpected. Our timing was just right!

We did a little scenic raft down the Snake River. We saw moose, eagles, and osprey.  

Found Mormon Row for great pictures of the mountain range. 

Jackson Lake

Inspiration Point and Jenny Lake

Our camper at the Tetons.