Boating to Goose Island

After a delicious dinner at our new Cafe Sabor at Macks Inn, we went boating on Island Park Reservoir to visit Goose Island.

The island was covered with black cormorants and white pelicans and their young.

The only noise was from the birds.

Then we found a quiet channel where the water was like glass and bobbed for a while before heading back, watching for the grebes with their babies on their backs.

Cafe Sabor Comes to Island Park!

After weeping most of the day for the departure of our children and grandchildren, Brian and I met Scot and Kris for dinner at our new Cafe Sabor.  The menu and pricing is the same as in Logan.  I had a Mexican Caesar Salad and Coconut Soup - divine!  The others had enchiladas, tamales, and chimichangas.  We are all thrilled to have such a great restaurant come to Island Park.

Happy Birthday Rina! Oh, and America, too!

Today was Rina's 29th birthday.  Aimee made her a wonderful, delicious cake. It's Cheri's recipe called Kelly's Cake. (I had two pieces. It was divine....)

Oh yea and Happy Birthday, America.  And Happy Fourth of July to all of you.

Helen Likes the Taste of Fish

For breakfast this morning we had quite the feast.  We had hashed browns, eggs, bacon, and Helen's fish. She and Papa rolled them in a mixture of flour and cornmeal with a little salt and pepper.

Then they were laid carefully in the pan to fry for a few minutes on each side.







While the fish were frying on the stove, Helen snipped some chives to be used as a garnish and to add flavor.












The fish were turned over in the pan.






And voila! They came off the heat and onto a plate, garnished with chives.













Papa de-boned them.








And....

YES!  Success!

Daddy and Norah liked Helen's fish, too!

First Float Trip

The river was on the list of things to do today.  Since the river is my 'happy place' I was dying to go.

We took both canoes and the two new kayaks.  Sarah and I took the kayaks and the two families took the canoes.

After a short while, we tried out the feature I love most about the kayaks - a place for grandchildren to ride on with me.  Helen went with me for a short while, and Norah with Sarah.  We traded around after lunch with Norah and Penelope coming aboard. Norah wasn't sure it was the greatest thing, but the others seemed to enjoy the ride and the attention. 

We stopped on and island in the middle of the river for lunch about half way down, after working up an appetite following Jacob and Aimee into the willows on a side canal, which was lots of fun.

We did not see any moose today, which was not too surprising considering the traffic on the river.  The birds and water fowl were out in abundance, though, and we enjoyed seeing them. 

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy....

Helen has been talking about going fishing with Papa for weeks, according to her mother.  So this morning Papa got her up before the others and off they went to Henry's outlet.

 Papa taught Helen how to cast and set the hook when the fish bites.  But Helen wanted nothing to do with putting the worm on the hook or touching the fish!

Well, wouldn't you know, Helen caught FIVE fish in about an hour!  She made it look so easy!  Papa was more surprised than Helen, that was for sure.

Here Moosey, Moosey, Moosey!

Tonight Helen and I went on a moose hunt.  We were not to be disappointed! Not far from the cabins we spied a cow moseying along as she settled down for the night.  We called to the others to enjoy the sight as well.

The Long View

My first foray from the cabin this year was today when we took a ride up to Sawtelle Peak.  I don't know when I have been there on a clearer day.  We could see the Tetons, Mt. Jefferson and all the way into Montana, heck, maybe even Wyoming!  Jacob and his family were with us, as well as some friends of theirs.

The cabin is somewhere in the distance there along the river.

We met some yogis up there, practicing... yoga...

Mt. Jefferson

The 'long view'.  As I grow a little older I see that some things are just not important in the long view, and others are very important.  Family relationships are among the most important ones I can think of.  Also my faith in Christ. The weight of His sacrifice becomes more and more impressive to me as I grow.   I've often heard that life is short.  I  am realizing that is truly the case.  What we do with our time here should be epic, in terms of how we help each other, build each other, love each other.  The long view is hard to see when we take ourselves too seriously.  Or worry too much about details.  Or spend too much time in the 'thick of thin things', to quote a prophet.

On the way down the mountain we stopped at our picnic spot to pick flowers.  The girls found plenty to decorate our table with.

What happened at Lucky Dog Springs?

One day at the end of our summer, I wanted to visit Lucky Dog Springs again.  We have been there a few times alone and with friends.  I wondered what if anything, was new over there.  Well, what a surprise we found!  The biggest cabin is gone.  All that is left is a pile of rubble that was the fireplace and chimney.

Things were missing....

 Among the pile of rubble there was a cheerful sight. 

It made me very sad to see.  What ever occurred did not happen quietly.  Well, here's to what could have been.

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv

I was searching for my blog on google this morning and came across this blog.  http://blog.childrenandnature.org/   I poked around and found it to be in line with what I see at work and what I feel when I am outside.  Check it out, if you feel so inclined.

I ordered two of their books,  Last Child in the Woods,

and I Love Dirt!:52 Activities to Help You and Your Kids Discover the Wonders of Nature by Jennifer Ward.  I ordered both used from Amazon.

I will report back later what I find.

Sunday Morning Breakfast Menu, AKA, Time to Clean Out the Fridge!

This morning I made breakfast for everyone.  Dan and Lorraine were still here and Alex, Sarah's friend, had spent the night with Sarah.

Then Brian made my breakfast.

The menu included orange juice, hash browns, bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast with peanut butter and jam.  Shortly after that, Dan and Lorraine packed a lunch and left for the park and then home.  The rest of us left for church.  My sister and I had a wonderful time together.  Hopefully the next time they come the rest of Lorraine's family can come, too.