Meech

Mitch came home from his mission so we hurried home from McCall so we could go to his homecoming.  It was one of the best mission reports I've ever been to.  Mitch got to speak with his good friend that had left a few weeks before him, so it was an entire meeting of mission stories.  They were both excellent speakers and I loved every bit.

When we went to Mitch's farewell, Nathan kept calling him Pitch, and Jason thought his name was Meech.  This time they could both pronounce his name correctly.  I guess two years will do that to most kids.  :)

We stayed after the report for food and to visit.  I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of Mitch or any other family members.  Instead, I got a picture of Jason writing on Herb's white board.

It says Herb Ace Ole.  That's Herb's nick name.

Not sure what's going on with Jason's hair, but he sure is cute!
Mike's cousin had a sweet Corvette and he took Mike and then Jake for a ride.

We were a bit anxious to get home because we had left Charlie again after leaving him for a week, but we were blocked in by another car, so we had to wait it out.
It was great to see family and to see cute Mitch.  He was the cutest little toddler when Mike and I were married.  It's been fun watching him grow up and turn into such a great young man.

More Cousins!

On Thursday, one set of cousins left and the other set came.  It was so fun to have time with both families.

 I loved that Nathan and Blake slipped right back into their years old routine of riding around on the kayak together.

 Allie, Nicole, and Taylor jumped off the dock a lot and swam all over.

 Knee boarding is fun with cousins too.

We went back over to the cliffs and nearly everyone jumped.  All of mine jumped from the high spot too!

 This time, we weren't the only group there, so my pictures have lots of random strangers in them and that yellow tube that insisted upon being in every picture.

We also got to see several planes load up with water.  What a fun outing! 

I'm not quite sure why the pictures are such a strange color, but there you are...

Tube Wars

We didn't see as much smooth water in McCall as I am used to.  There was a fire just up Warren Wagon Road by Bergdorf, so it was smoky and looked overcast.  You realize just how different it is to be in the mountains in the summer.  It cools down remarkably in the night and the mornings are cold.  I love it.

My kids are enough like me that they don't let a bit of cold water, or chop, keep them from being out on the lake.

We blew up the tubes and had so much fun.

I wish I had pictures of when my nephew Baylor, niece Oakley, and Jake were one.  They were hilarious.

 I do have pictures of my family (taken by Allie).

Are those not the cutest boys  you've ever seen?

 It cracked us up when they'd swap tubes mid ride.

Jason thought he was hot stuff every time he was behind the boat.

I was the boat driver and I had so much fun.  It really is a good time throwing people off tubes.  It's even more fun when you're in a huge lake and don't have to worry about running into other boats or swimmers.  McCall has spoiled me for all the lakes around our house.
Ah well...

An Unexpected Journey

One of the nights, I decided I wanted to take a drive around the lake.  My mom told me that if I followed Lick Creek road, it would go all around.  I took the kids who wanted to go and we were off for an adventure.

I ended up with Nathan, Allie, and Jake.

It was a beautiful drive.

 We drove by this part of the lake and then the road just turned into a long dirt road.  It was beautiful and we were seeing bunnies hop by and deer all over the place, but I couldn't figure out how long it would take before we saw the lake again and started turning to head around. 
About 5 miles in, Allie started to really complain of her head hurting.  We didn't have any medicine that she could take in the car, so I told her to lay down and try to fall asleep.
Several miles later (going slow on the dirt road) I started to wonder if we had taken a wrong turn.
There weren't any cars coming or going and we were starting to feel like we were in the middle of nowhere.  I started to think that maybe this was a bad idea.  I hadn't told anyone where we were going, and if something went wrong with the car, we were a long way from help.
We'd been driving for 45 minutes and the kids were starting to worry.  I decided that I'd give it 5 more miles and then turn around.  I just didn't want to turn back and drive 45 more minutes if the end was only a little way away.
The drive was totally worth it though.  The rock formations were amazing and it was taking me back to the old days when I'd go off roading for hours in AF canyon.

We said a prayer and pretty soon, we came upon a camp site.  There was a guy outside his tent and we stopped to ask him where the heck we were.  He told me that I had taken a wrong turn and the best way to get back to McCall was to turn around and trace my path there.  If I'd have kept driving in the other direction, it would be a 2 hour drive to Cascade.  I'm sure it would have been amazing the whole way, but Allie's headache had turned into a migraine and it was getting dark. 
I was glad we had run  into the man.  We turned around and had a lovely ride back to McCall.
We had a near miss when a deer darted out at us, but returned from our adventure in one piece.
I thought it was great.  And, now, I know where to camp if we ever have to come to McCall without somewhere to stay. 

Dusty Fire and Rescue?

The whole week we were there, we heard and saw airplanes and helicopters flying back and forth.  They were fighting the fire that wasn't too far up the road.

It seems like there are always fires up there when we go.  It makes for beautiful sunrises and sunsets.

 It was beautiful to see the smoke resting low over the trees.  Beautiful, but sad too.

 When we were over by the cliffs, we saw the most amazing sight.  Every 15 minutes or so, a set of two airplanes would come down to the lake to scoop up water.

It was so cool to see.
Nathan was such a huge Dusty fan when he was younger that we were all reminded of watching the Planes 2 movie when Dusty became a fire fighter.
It has to take crazy skill to scoop down on a lake like that and not have a crash.  We couldn't believe how many boats were near too.  There wasn't ever anything warning us to stay away from that end of the lake either.  One dude was just anchored there feet away from where the planes came every time.  It was nuts!
The night we left, there was a huge rain storm.  I hope it helped put the fire out. 

Beach Life

We were staying at Mill Park again and although it will never be like grandpa's cabin beach, it's still pretty nice.

 Jason spent hours digging in the sand.
He brought up some "guys" from home and played with them.  Slowly, despite the sunscreen, he turned into a little brown berry (that's what my mom always called us after McCall).

Nathan pretty much lived in the kayaks.  He really likes to paddle around and explore.  He's really good at handling the boats and went out as far as we'd let him go.

 My mom read a few books.

Mike sat with us too, when he wasn't working.

 We bought a flamingo on clearance last year and used it for the first time.  It was actually really fun to play on.

 Jake paddled around on various floating things.  He dived with Allie and even played in the sand with Jason.  He just didn't pose for many pictures.

Allie spent hours diving for treasures.  I know she found a few, but can't remember what they are now.

 Sometimes the boys would join her...

 I'm super sad that I didn't get all my sand pictures with the kids.  I took one for Sam, and one for me, but the kids were playing and I didn't want to drag them away.  Next thing I know, we're all home and the pictures never got taken.
Ah well...

 We need a bigger kayak.  This one doesn't hold Mike, so he can't ever go out with the boys.

 We got him on the flamingo and went for a ride though...

 I didn't stop smiling the whole time.  It was so funny.

When I'd leave to make dinner, this was my view...

I just love that we can spend all day in one place and not get bored.  I love McCall!