Our KOA Getaway!

We made plans with some friends to go camping at the KOA in West Glacier. We left Friday, Aug 19 and came back on Monday. We pulled our trailer there, which was the longest we`ve pulled it. I had the brakes wired the week before, so that made a huge difference. We made pretty good timing with pulling a trailer. We followed our friends, the Jenkin`s, down.

We got there just around noon. We set up camp and then decided to run into Kalispel to get groceries. So away we went. Our trailers were parked across from each other, so it was nice being close. Dean and Carole have 4 kids, but only 2 came. The two youngest, Catherine (11), and Anna (10). My kids loved having them around. After our grocery run we came back and went for a swim. Then we had supper together. Some yummy hamburgers and hotdogs. It was delish, since we were all starving!

After we ate we were all relaxing around the table. The kids were playing around us. I leaned back in my chair and took a drink of water. While I did this I looked up into the big umbrella that is over our table. Well I almost choked on my water and was trying to scramble away from the table. All this without saying a word. Everyone was staring at me like I was crazy then Carole looked up and she was trying to get away from the table. I finally found my voice and screamed, "BAT"! So gross. The kids and Carole all went screaming into the trailer. I just ran up to the truck, thinking I was safe. Richard grabbed someones shoe and hit the bat off. It started flying away then turned and flew straight for my face. I started SCREAMING and turned to run away. Well the stupid thing kept flying right beside my head. I started flapping my hands around so, it wouldn't get stuck in my hair (I've heard horror stories about bats getting stuck in peoples hair). It finally took off. I was so freaked out that my whole body was shaking. So disgusting. So everytime we sat at the table, I always had to do a quick check in the umbrella just to make sure we didn't have another little visitor!

Saturday morning we decided to go into Glacier Park and do a hike. We drove for about an half hour and got to our hike. Can't remember the name for it, but it was a boardwalk hike about 1 mile long. It did a big loop through these huge cedar trees. At the end we saw a really cool water fall. It was a fun hike and all the kids enjoyed it.

This is just before the trail head. Cute Abbi posing for me!

This picture made me laugh, with Brianna posing, Abbi distracted and Cadence thinking about crying! She had just fell and scraped up her knees, poor girl.

Here we all are ready to go on the hike...what a good looking group!

This is what the hike looked like with this board walk the whole way. It was really kind of cool and the kids loved it. Anna had fun giving Abbi piggy back rides.

Here we are again, minus Richard (he's taking the picture).

DJ had fun walking and pointing things out to us.

Cadence and her dad by a tree that fell over and you can see it's cool roots.

The kids liked to sit on every bench and tell us to take a picture, so I did! l-r, Catherine, DJ, Anna, Abbi, Brianna and Cadence

Looking at the cool water fall.

All the kids in and around this big hallow tree.

Catherine and Anna in the tree with DJ.

Cute picture of all the kids on random tree stumps.

Us at the end of the hike. It was a fun hike and I took TONNES of pictures, these were only a few of them.

Loved this picture of DJ on Richard's shoulders.

After lunch, I talked Carole into coming shopping with me while the guys watched the kids. The guys just wanted to do the shopping on Monday before we left, but I knew there was no way we'd hit all the stores I wanted to go too. So away we went. It was fun shopping with no kids. Got some great deals at JC Penny, and K-Mart. When we got back to camp they were getting supper ready. We had promised the kids that they could roast marshmellows that night, so we did. I knew my kids would be a mess afterwards so I planned on giving them a shower after. Good thing I did! Cadence had it everywhere, on her face, hands and stuck all in her hair! Good times!

M kids sitting around the fire waiting to roast marshmellows.

Roasting the mallows!

Cadence and I, a very rare thing, getting me in a photo!

Oh look another one! Funny picture of Cadence and I with Brianna!

Cadence eating her mallow, even though it's burnt!

Showing me that it's all gone. Oh that kid was such a mess afterwards!

Sunday morning we decided to do a combined brunch. Our kids were up way before anyone else (7:30am). So we fed them cereal and got them dressed and went for a walk. They rode their bikes around and played on the playground. Carole and Dean found us around 10am, and we all went back to start cooking. It was very yummy! My kids loved having 2 breakfasts! We decided to go for another hike. So we packed up and went. This time it was a hike through a burnt forest where new trees were growing. It was kind of cool. The only downside was it was super HOT, and the kids were a little grumpy! Richard was pushing DJ in the stroller and got way ahead. That made Abbi made and she'd stop and scream, "STOP DAD, WAIT FOR US, WE"RE THIRSTY AND YOU HAVE ALL THE DRINKS." He stopped and we caught up and everyone had a drink. Then away he went again, and we tryed to keep up! When we caught up for the 2nd time, we had Anna and Cadence complaining that they couldn't walk any further. We kept telling them that we were almost there. It was SO HOT! We finally made it to the parking lot, but Cadence was over heated and DONE! She had one major melt down right there in the parking lot. Screaming and crying. I tried to calmly talk to her but she was past that point. I looked over at Richard (he was in the truck with Dean), and he jumped out and ran over. He talked to Cadence and got her calmed down, in her seat with a drink and snack. I have a great husband. We work good together, when I can't calm a situation down, he'll do it and vice versa. It works both ways! Then we were on our way. The guys had a bright idea to go a back way out of the park. Oh my, talk about us almost rattling apart. The road was all washboard, the whole way. But we made it!

Cadence and Brianna eating breakfast and watching a movie.

DJ still sound asleep on his bed.

Abbi still sleeping on the top bunk.

Catherine, Abbi and Cadence at the beginning of our walk.

We finally caught up to Richard and everyone got a drink.

Richard and DJ down the trail waiting for us.

Everyone all along the trail.

Yup there's me at the back of the pack!

By this time we were all getting hot and tired. Even DJ who had the shaded stroller to ride in!!

My cute girls by a burnt tree.

We got back and all went swimming, so we could cool down. The kids loved the swimming pool and had a blast playing with Catherine and Anna. At this point DJ was a little tired and grumpy, so he pulled a chair into a corner where it was shady and sat there. It was so cute! He just sat and watched everyone. He did swim for a little bit, but mostly watched while sitting in the shade. We made steak and potatoes for supper that night. They were so yummy!

My girls loved swimming with Anna and Catherine. It was a life saver for us too!

DJ was being a little grumpy and then wandered off to a shady corner and sat on a chair by himself!

Doing a puzzle while waiting for us to finish cooking supper.

Cadence loved to find different places for her to sit so I could take her picture!

DJ laughing at Dean, who was pretending that on of DJ's cars was a phone!

Monday we woke up and packed everything up. The kids got dressed and rode around a little bit while we finished getting ready. We were out of there before 9am. We followed each other to Walmart where we unhooked our trailers so we could go do some shopping. Well we seriously got a lot of shopping done. I had cleaned out the kids closests to figure out what everyone needed. I think my kids got way too much sun and water this summer because they all grew TONNES during the summer. DJ shocked me with how much he has grown. He jumped from a size 3T to a 5T. He is also now a size 11 for shoe size. He is a big boy! No wonder I've gotten more and more people asking me if I have two sets of twins, thinking Cadence and DJ are twins! Anyways, we got everyone outfitted for school.

The nice thing about having the trailers at Walmart was we went back there for lunch. We sat in the trailer and I made a quick lunch and then we went to finish our shopping. Oh I should say that we went that whole trip, Friday to Monday without buying one meal, we made everything. Pretty good, eh?! Especially since we were so close to restaurants. Anyways, after shopping we had everyone go bathroom one last time and we hooked up and away we went. That bathroom break lasted all of 5 minutes......no joke! We had to pull over again for Cadence and Brianna, and that's how our trip home went. Drive me crazy...one stop after another. I was so ready to get home.

It was a fun trip and we had a good time with the Jenkin's. The kids love to camp and are always asking when we are going next!