Weekly Pano: Flathead Lake

From Norma's lakeside cottage @ Flathead Lake.  Lacin' up my boots, listening to the osprey's skreech, enjoying my silent sleeping kids, and getting ready for another day in big sky country.

Party @ Loon Lake Chalet

Had another really fun trip out to Loon Lake Chalet.  The forecast was calling for chance of snow/rain/hail... but the weather turned out pretty decent for us the whole weekend. 10 degrees warmer and no wind would have been preferred, but this was still rather quite pleasant.  

Kai testing out the potty

Story time!

the boys hanging out downstairs...

Nikko was everywhere... 

Poppy!  What a beauty!

Pelicans.  Who knew pelicans flew up so high into the mountains.  

Taking the kiddos out on a paddle.  The wind picked up, but it wasn't enough to keep us out of the water.

D wondering how Nikko turned into a monkey.  

Mi-Suk fighting the wind home...

Kiddos had a blast.

Camille trusting her daddy's paddling skills.  

I've got a monkey on my back!

So we took him out to an island.

Kai being safe.

Schofferhoffer!  That's a breakfast beer.

during naptime I went on a short ride on the Loon Lake trail.  I got to a granite outcropping, played around a bit, and hike to the top of a small hill.  

Got a view of the second dam

Nikko asking E, if he could have this next dance with her. 

Happy boy!  And these mama's celebrating mother's day

Funk showed us on day 2 so he could keep the boys company

We ended up going on a nice night paddle later on.  The stars were amazing.  One of the more unforgettable moments of the trip.  .  

Metres took over story time on night 2.  

Jeff showing off his dutch oven cooking skills.  

This was amazing!

The next morning... during clean up time... 

Timbers Army sighting at Loon Lake.  

Nikko went for a paddle.  

While the adults just lounged

What is Kai wearing?  Who knows?  

SUP parade!

Hi ladies!

The crew... 

Weekly Pano: China Camp

Had a great time at China Camp.  What a fun place to camp.  Got to ride some of the fun trails with Sigman on Sat.  We lucked out on the weather and enjoyed an amazing beach day at China Camp Village on Sun morning.

Group shot

they got some recycling bins so you can carry your gear up to your site.  It's a 5 min walk, which is nice as the kids can run around without worrying about getting hit by cars.  

On Sat, after we set up camp, Kimbo went to Courtney's baby shower.  So I got to go on a long hike with the kiddos.  Kai loved the flowers... he especially like the sticky monkey flower.  

oooh.... moss...

Check out this huge Pacific Gopher Snake that Kai almost stepped on!

Waiting for Kimbo to get back so we can start riding!

@ the top of China Camp... the weather cleared up and we had a blast.  

The scene at camp...

Nikko is a master at lounging

We went on a short sunset hike so the kids could get ready for...

Smores!

Next morning at the beach

A great spot with picnic tables, really easy access, as we had 4 SUPs... and a lot of gear.

The kiddos were awesome.  

There's even a store that sells ice cream!!!

Kai is in heaven... 

Just learned that Dean Potter passed away.... another inspiration gone... a sad day.  Almost exactly a year after his buddy Sean Leary passed away doing the same thing.  With that I'd like to link to Steph Davis' post about Sean.  

http://www.highinfatuation.com/blog/sean-stanley-leary/