Top 10 of Cabin Life

The cabin in Island Park, Idaho is a family treasure.   

Glen's maternal grandparents built it themselves many years ago and Glen's been going to it every few years since he was a child.  Because of how far it is from home, we don't get to it as often as we'd like, but over the years we have made a lot of irreplaceable memories there.   Here are a few from our trip there this summer (Aug. 10-15, 2015).

    

 TOP TEN AWESOME THINGS ABOUT THE CABIN 

(in no particular order):  

10. The hammock.  

 What better way is there to relax outside than a cozy hammock big enough for three?  My kids consider the hammock one of their favorite things about the cabin and it is not infrequent to find one of them out there taking a nap on it!   When Cami had a fever for a few days, she spent a lot of time there on the hammock!

9.  Wazowie!  

 Glen's grandpa used to give him a big giant underdog push on the swing and yell, "WAZOWIE!!!" as he let go.    Glen told the kids about that memory one day and now he's constantly giving "Wazowie" pushes whenever we visit the cabin.   Probably more than he cares to.  But it's something the kids love, so he does it anyway! 

8.  Yellowstone.   

 Island Park is only about 20-minutes away from the west entrance to Yellowstone National Park, so we always like to spend at least a couple of the days we are at the cabin touring around the park.  We love the beautiful drives, hikes, and gorgeous vistas! 

7.  Wildlife 

Bison, moose, elk, zebra, great gray owl, bald eagles, prairie dogs, marmots...we love all the wildlife we see around the cabin!  Most of it we see in Yellowstone, but the two moose were actually in Henry's Fork of the Snake River near Macks Inn and the great gray owl and bald eagle were right in the backyard of the cabin!   

6.  Campfires

Every time we sit around a campfire, I always think that we should make them more often.  I love the conversations and the delicious fire-roasted food! 

5. Being Outside

The thick humidity and swarms of  bugs that are par for the course during DC summers, are noticeably absent in the West.    It did get pretty hot during the day, but it didn't have the same oppressive feel and the cooler (bug-free) evenings made it downright delightful to be outdoors!  

4.   Fishing! 

Glen is a fisherman at heart and he tries to work a little fishing into every vacation we go on.  We've been fishing in some pretty amazing places over the years--New Zealand, Asheville,  Canada, Minnesota, etc.      The crystal clear waters around Island Park though, are home to some of the best freshwater fishing in the entire world.  Henry's Fork of the Snake River is just a stone's throw from the cabin,  and most, if not all,  of my children have caught their first fish right under the bridge at Macks Inn.   

You can't fish at Big Springs, but we love to go see the amazingly pure water right as it bubbles from the earth and the large fish that  thrive there in the clear water that manages to stay 52º F year round!   

3.  The "stray" dogs-

-they aren't actually stray, but it's small towny enough that the neighbors let them wander freely and my kids took full advantage.   My kids loved friendly snuggles and games of fetch, and I loved that it helped alleviate a little of their sadness at leaving our own canine at home.   

2.  The Playmill in West Yellowstone!   

We saw performances of Mary Poppins (see below) and Damn Yankees (because you know me and how I like dams).   We love the small theater homey feel and we especially love the fun atmosphere and high quality performances.   We try to go to at least one performance every time we're in town.

1.   FAMILY!!!!  

 This is the best part of all.   We picked up Grandma Sandy in Denver on the way there and Aunt Lara and family flew in from California to join us.  We absolutely LOVED having them there and were especially excited to meet Carissa (1) and Caleb (3)  for the first time!   We are already looking forward to our next visit!