Glacier: Going to the Sun Road and Canada!

Throughout the few days we spent in the park, we drove the "Going to the Sun Road" often. It is truly unreal beauty that is difficult to comprehend. It was fun driving this stretch multiple times and at different times of day to see it in different lights. Mountain ranges in all directions, wildflowers everywhere, glaciers, and so many waterfalls!

At one of the pull outs a couple of mountain goats ran by us. We were all laughing after about how Davis pulled out his binoculars to get a closer look (when the goat was only a few feet away from him) and he said, "I see him!" When the goat stopped right in front of him and stared him down for a second I was definitely a bit nervous. Thankfully, it moved along pretty quickly!

There was one hillside on the road that was blanketed in these purple wildflowers and they continued down the mountain. So beautiful!

The second day in the park we originally planned to hike to Hidden Lake, but when we got to the top of Logan Pass, it was completely covered in clouds! You couldn't see more than 20 feet in front of you, which would make a sight-seeing hike sort of pointless. We decided instead to postpone the hike to the following day and continue North and head into Canada. The boys had been so excited about the thought of going to another country!

We drove into Waterton, and it turned out to be such a charming little town. We walked around the main streets and had fun looking through some of the shops.

We stopped at a convenience store and bought a bunch of Canadian candy to try. Jackson and I fell in love with the Wunderbar!

While in one of the shops, I saw a picture hanging on a wall of a place that looked really cool and I asked one of the employees where it was taken. He told me it was a place called Red Rock Canyon. I had no idea where it was and sort of assumed it would be too far for us to visit in our limited time, but when I asked, he said it was near Waterton and we figured out we would pass near it on our way back.  I am so glad I asked and that we stopped because it ended up being one of our favorite things from the entire trip! It was such a pretty little canyon with water running through it, mini little waterfalls and pools, bigger rocks to hop on and lots of rocks for the boys to throw. The water was crystal clear and cool colorful rocks lined the bottom. We all had a lot of fun exploring our way up the canyon and it truly was a little boy paradise!

The water here looks shallow because it is so clear, but it was actually really deep in this spot. Probably at least 5-6 feet deep.

We were all excited to get a cool new stamp in our passport books on our way back into the United States.

Pit stop on the way back to check out these cool snow drifts.

All tuckered out after a long day. 

We stayed at a place called the Kandahar Lodge in Whitefish Montana, which is a ski town about 30 mins from the Glacier entrance. The room ended up being perfect for our family. It had a loft with two queen beds and a king on the main level. The kids thought the loft was so cool, and it was nice having a little extra space so we could unwind after each day without being on top of each other (except in the case above where Molly literally was sleeping as close to Sean as possible!)

Glacier National Park

At the end of July our family took a trip to Glacier National Park. Sean and I had been wanting to go for a long time, simply for the fact that we had heard from so many people how awesome it is. We had talked about going last year, but never got it planned, and almost didn't get it planned this year either. I am so glad we finally just sat down one night and got our hotel booked, because it turned out to be such an amazing trip!

It was a pretty lengthy drive so we split it up into two days. We drove to Island Park and stayed at my parents' cabin the first night. We stopped at our favorite breakfast spot, Campfire Lodge, and the visitor's center at Earthquake Lake before continuing on to Whitefish (where we were staying). The boys all got National Parks passport books and had fun stamping them at different spots throughout the trip. 

During our drive the second day, we passed dozens of cherry orchards in Bigfork, Montana and on a whim, decided to stop at one. The farmer let us pick our own and it was so much fun and a welcome break from being in the car. I loved having Flathead Lake behind us as our backdrop. It is so pretty! And huge! The cherries were so good and we picked enough that were able to snack on them the rest of our trip.

 Downtown Bigfork, where we stopped for a yummy dinner at a brewery on the lake.

We made it!

On our first day in the park we made a quick stop at the visitor's center and then headed to the Trail of Cedars. So beautiful and green!

This waterfall appears sort of out of nowhere after you come around a bend. It was incredibly beautiful and I could have sat and just stared at it all day. The water is such an amazing color and SO clear. We learned this is the norm for pretty much everywhere in Glacier. 

The hike to Avalanche Lake connects to the Trail of Cedars, and we decided to go for it. I feel like it is always a gamble hiking with the kids. Luckily our kids usually really enjoy hiking and are pretty good about going a decent distance. I usually just plan on carrying Davis at some point if the hike is longer than a couple miles. Throughout the entire trip, our boys did a great job hiking. We definitely did have to carry Davis at times (even Bode a couple times), but overall, they did so great and we were proud of them.

When Avalanche Lake came into view, we were all pretty blown away. The kids suddenly had energy again and we couldn't believe how beautiful it was. The multiple crazy long waterfalls down the mountain, turquoise water, trees, etc. It was all gorgeous! Jackson and Bode played in the water to cool down before our hike back.

Boxcar Derby

For the past couple of years, Sean and Jackson have talked about building a soapbox derby car and racing it in the Steel Days soapbox derby. The minimum age requirement is 8, so this was the first year Jackson could participate. He was so excited! They spent the last couple of months planning, designing, and building his car. Jackson was involved throughout the entire process and I am so glad they could have this experience together! 

They spent a lot of hours in the garage together and I was really impressed with their design and how it all came together. There were two divisions-- stock, and the "anything goes." Jackson was in the stock division and his car had a bunch of specs it had to conform to and inspections it had to pass. I loved his car! And I love that they built it from the ground up-- it didn't come from a kit.

All lined up and ready to go for his first race!

Jackson didn't seem nervous at all. I was more nervous than he was, because the hill they race down is sort of steep! He did an awesome job racing. He listened and followed the lines Sean told him to almost exactly. The weight limit for the car is 300 lbs, and Jackson's was only about half that, so he was limited in his speed. Sean didn't want to weigh the car down this first year, but next year he probably will to help him gain more speed. 

I'm so proud of him for following through (with the help of his dad) on something he's been wanting to do for a long time. Way to go Ricks Racing! :)