Wonderful Weekend

Off we went on Friday to see our son and grandkids.  Hubby took a half vacation day and we left at noon to go over the mountains to meet them in Missoula, Montana.  It was about a 3 hour drive for us and about 1 1/2 hours for Jamie and the kids.  We were SO EXCITED!  Grandpa and I hadn't seen them since Thanksgiving, almost five months ago.

First mountain pass was Fourth of July Pass.  No snow yet but beautiful scenery.  Up, up, up we go!

What goes up, must come down.  Here we go, down, down, down to the valley floor.

A few more miles and then it was up, up, up into the snow heading up and over Lookout Pass on the Idaho/Montana border  And there was definitely lots of snow there.  And to think, I was wearing flip-flops. 

Icky, dirty snow at the pass.  Look at the exit number 0.  RIght on the border.

Then it was down, down, down again and around lots of mountain curves until we reached the valley floor and the river that runs into Yellowstone National Park.  All of these pictures were taken from a moving car with my iphone so please excuse any blurriness.

This is our hotel in Missoula.  The "Cmon Inn".  Do you see Grandpa, practically running?  Jamie had just texted us that they had just arrived and parked next to us.  We were definitely in a big hurry to see those kids.  Grandpa didn't even wait for me.  :-)

The waterfall in the courtyard of the hotel.  Both sides had a waterfall.  Do you see the taxidermy mountain goat on the top?  The kids loved that goat!

The lobby.  Antler chandelier and deer head.  I forgot to take a picture of the bear rug on the wall.  Yep.  We're definitely in Montana!

The courtyard.  This place was absolutely gorgeous.  I would love to have a log cabin like this.  Look at those stairs.  The construction was amazing.

There's our two kids in the pool.  There are two pools and five hot tubs.  We spent lots of time swimming and the two of them are like fish.

Something else we liked about the hotel was the amazing complimentary breakfast unlike any we've ever had in a hotel before.  Eggs, sausage, bacon, country fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, waffles.  Then were were 3 different cereals, oatmeal, bagels, fresh baked blueberry muffins,  toast, juices, milk, yogurt.  Tea & Coffee were fresh and available 24 hours a day.  It was really an amazing breakfast.  We will definitely be staying here again.  The people who worked here were the nicest hotel employees I've ever dealt with.  They are definitely doing something right.

We took Kyleigh a bracelet making kit and she made me a beautiful bracelet.  Grandpa had to work for  a little while on Saturday, but not for long and he used the ipad and was able to sit with us while he worked.

Here's Caleb with his Mars Rover hot wheel we brought him.  You can see Kyleigh behind him sketching the waterfall with the pencils and sketchpad we brought her as part of her birthday present.  She's quite the little artist and her sketch turned out very well.  She even drew the mountain goat!

Outside of McKenzie River Pizza Company where we had dinner last night.  This is a grizzly scuptue made from junk metal.  Look at that sky.  It snowed last night but was gone in town by the time we left this morning.  Look at tough little Caleb with no coat.  Grandma was freezing.

This was just before we left this morning.  Caleb has a picture he drew.  Oh my goodness it was hard to leave these two behind.  Both Saturday and Sunday they came and climbed into bed with Grandpa and me and we watched Looney Tunes Cartoons while their dad slept a little longer.  It's a tradition with us.  All the grandkids, even Piper, pile in bed with us in the mornings when we're together.  Sometimes we read books, sometimes we watch cartoons while their parents get some much needed sleep.  All of the kids are early risers.

Just outside of Missoula on our way home.  None of this snow was there on Friday when we arrived.  Winter hasn't left Montana yet.

Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho, just about 35 miles from our house.  This is really blurry as I was reaching across Dennis as we drove to try to get a picture with my phone.  This lake is one of the most beautiful lakes I've ever seen.  It's quite the tourist destination.

And then, just befoe we reached home I saw this cloud.  It looks like some kind of bird doesn't it?

And one last picture Mandy sent me of Miss Piper this afternoon.  This was her first time climbing into the chair all by herself.  Of course she had to take Monkey, Bunny and Baby with her and a blanket too!  Doesn't she look proud of herself?

And now we're  home for one night and it will be back to the lake tomorrow for a couple of days.  It was a wonderful weekend with Jamie, Kyleigh and Caleb and I already miss them.  They are so full of hugs and kisses for us when we see them.  I hope they never get too old for that.

Thank you for humoring me by looking at all of these pictures and I hope I didn't bore you too much.

Have a lovely evening my friends.

Blessings,

Betsy