It's a First

We've decided that you can never get enough of the cabin... it's impossible. So, when Baylen ended up with a week off the first part of August, we decided to head up to High Valley again. We tried talking several people into going up with us, but it didn't work out for anyone. So, we went alone. We know so many amazing people (family and friends) that we NEVER vacation with just our family. I honestly don't know when the last time was that we did. This is the first time we've ever been up to the cabin with just our family. I had a few people in the Whipple clan ask which way we liked better- being there with everyone or being there by ourselves. Honestly, the two experiences are so different that they don't even compare. They are both amazing. We did miss the extended family but enjoyed spending more quality time with our kids, too. It was definitely strange that Baylen and I slept downstairs and all of the kids got their own beds. It was also strange to all sit around the outside table for meals.

Here are some of our adventures in High Valley...

Of course we spent a fair amount of time out on the lake. The lake was actually very clean this trip!

One day we set up a little restaurant for the kids. We made menus and Tanner was able to be the waiter... quite the amazing one, I might add...

We spent lots of time with these huge bubble blowers that I brought up...

We also made slime! Lots and lots of hours were spent playing with slime. We even got grandma Betty addicted to it!

We went on a few longer ATV rides. We found that as long as we went on flat road, the kids are still small enough that we could ride three people on each ATV...

One day we drove to Sage Hen Reservoir. I didn't take any pictures... probably because it was an awful experience. The roads were super bad and Ashlyn ended up getting car sick at throwing up all over the van. To make matters worse, we drove around the reservoir twice and couldn't find a single place to get out and see the water. So, we stopped on the side of the road, had a picnic with thousands of mosquitos, and drove back to the cabin. I'm writing about this experience so that we remember to never ever go back to Sage Hen Reservoir.

Another day we drove over to McCall. We took the canoe with us and found a spot on the far side of the lake where you can take a canoe trip down an inlet. The area had a fun sandy beach. So, while Baylen took the kids on canoe trips, I would stay back with the others to play on the beach. It was a really really fun day!

Grandma Betty and Randy were so sweet to come up and visit us one day. We had a great time with them! Ashlyn LOVES Uncle Randy. If he wasn't swinging her or taking her for an ATV ride, she was on his lap. He is so amazing with all of my kids!

On the last evening, the girls and I had fun painting faces. Ashlyn started out with a mustache in honor of Randy...

Later on, while we were on an ATV ride, we found hundreds and hundreds of wild raspberry bushes. We spent a long time picking them. They were soooo good!

I took this picture of Ashlyn because she had a thing with the orange helmet during this trip. She wore it all the time. If you notice in the slime picture, she has her awesome helmet and goggles on.

Right before we left, Ashlyn picked me a bunch of wildflowers. She had done it earlier in the week with Uncle Randy but I think she wanted to make sure I had some to take home with me. So thoughtful!

Here are our bear pictures. I wanted to post a few from our little photo shoot because I think they show what crazy, fun kids I have!

The following pictures are some of the scenery pictures that Baylen took while we were up there. I want to include them in this history because they truly represent the amazing beauty that we are surrounded by every time we are able to go to High Valley.






I'm so glad that we were able to take this trip. We were able to spend such amazing quality time together as a family. I know that we are closer because of it. We had so much fun together!