The Livingstone Family: July (part 1)

The day after school finished, we left bright and early for a week in Montana! We went to Big Fork at a campground near Flathead Lake. Thompsons, Steve/Leanne's family, Kaylani and the 2 boys, Jeff/Amy's family, Grandma and Grandpa and Shari and her kids were all there- for at least part or bits and pieces of it.

ok, this picture of me was on the drive. We stopped at A&W for lunch and I had no idea why my hair was so big! I thought it was funny

We biked the Hiawatha Trail - an old train route that is a mild grade downhill for 18km. It was very pretty and all the kids enjoyed it! There are some tunnels that are pitch black, the longest one is over a mile long! Its sure cold and dark in there!! Lights on your bike were mandatory. We had fairly crummy weather most of the week, but this day, we got some sun and it wasn't super hot which was nice for biking.

At camp, the boys were all about the meat (of course!) and we had a couple of nice days where we could go paddle boarding and cliff jumping. We did some shopping and ate at Chick-fil-A!! (my first time - holy moly, delicious!) We had a great time, even though the weather wasn't great. Us and Mark and Devonee ended up staying one more night, in hopes of a great forecast of weather. It sure is so much fun to camp with so much family! The kids had cousins galore to play with which just makes it great.

These guys are so funny about their meat! Them and the searzall.

One of their few trips into krispy kreme!

Steve also is all about the meat!! And they all love to share their wonderful dinners. This is when Brian and Mark were just saying how full they were, but definitely wouldn't pass up a taste of meat!

We were there for the 4th of July, we watched the fireworks over the water and enjoyed a great show for over an hour. When it tapered down, we got up to leave and heard big fireworks behind us and behind the trees. The whole time, we were in the wrong spot for the State Fireworks, we were watching private homes put them off and we had no idea!! Being from Canada, we all had no idea the private ones could be so good! We tried to get to higher ground to see the big firework show, but only caught the tail end. It was ok, we got lots to see and the kids were SO TIRED! Kennedy actually asked to sit in the truck because she wanted to sleep!

Just us and the Thompsons went to the fireworks. No one else was interested.

Now, of course, we bought our own fireworks and set them off. Mark and Brian went crazy buying lots. Then Kaylani wanted to join in and got lots and then Steve too! We all took them to the bowling alley parking lot (we had permission from the owners) and set them off. EVERYONE got lots of turns to set off a ton and we were there for over and hour and a half! We had SO MANY fireworks! It was pretty crazy but so fun to watch. The clean up after was tricky in the dark, luckily with lots of us to help, it went fairly quick and we could leave it feeling like we cleaned up after ourselves.

At the lake....reading, cliff jumping, paddle boarding, swimming. Lots of family and food too!

Mark took this when we didn't know. This spot was near the cliffs and one of the places you could be in the sun. Our "spot" where we ate and set up camp by the vehicles is surrounded by trees so you've got to take your chair and walk if you want some sun.

Ty, Trevor and Kennedy

This is the big jump one. About 20 feet, I believe.

Anything I jump, Kennedy will jump. Or maybe its the other way around!? That kid is brave!!

We stopped by the Fitzner's cabin at Echo Lake after church to visit and see their cabin!

Back at home, we had a birthday party for Kennedy - we took Jayna to the movie theatre to see the Incredibles 2, then to dinner at Olive Garden. Then Jayna slept over.

The girls and I had a lake day on our own and these two kids played AMAZING! Sometimes, you just need a day with just your sister. They had all kinds of creative things happening. I think here, they're playing restaurant.