While I Was Away

I was out of the office last week.
As a matter of fact, I was out of the state. 
And now I am out of my mind trying to catch up with everything.
But it is a small price to pay for a nice family vacation before the new school year starts. 
We went north this year.


There was a family get together in Northern Idaho  then we headed east to Seeley Lake, MT for a wedding and then we made our way to Hungry Horse, MT for Glacier National Park adventures. 
Here are a few observations while I was away: 

  • Montana is not too shabby on the eye balls. This is a view of Whitefish Lake on the way up to Whitefish Mountain Resort, one of the many cool places we got to explore. 
  • Ice cream is awesome and tastes so much better when you are on vacation. If my math is correct, I think we each had 17 servings per day. 
  • We cleaned up pretty good for the wedding. The Montana background doesn't hurt. 
  • Speaking of weddings, Catholic ones are still long. Even longer when the priest has a heavy accent. Not as bad as the guy from "The Princess Bride" but that is what came to mind during the ceremony.
  • This might be the last summer I am the tallest person in my family. This isn't saying much as I am only 5"7" as my side of the family descended from garden gnomes but Kyle is now 5'4". I look more than 3 inches taller than him in that picture because I am wearing shoes and he's barefoot.
  • Mrs. Shife found a childhood favorite of mine at a convenience store on our way to Montana so the the candy bar streak ended at 145 days. I absolutely loved Chocolatey Paydays when I was much younger but they got discontinued. I guess they heard about my streak and decided it must end.  
  • Another streak ended on the trip as well. I hadn't had a beer since New Year's Eve 2021 but decided to celebrate at the wedding and had a few barley pops. The end of those two streaks probably contributed greatly to the 5 pounds I gained. 
  • Don't believe everything you see. We decided to hike to alpine lake at Glacier because the sign said only 1.9 miles. Well, 60 minutes later and two kids who were ready to throw themselves off the mountain, we finally made it. It was worth it. We learned later that it was more like a 6-mile hike.

  • We left Ms. Frizzle with my in-laws while we were gone. She worked on her dock diving skills to keep herself busy.
  • The kids went back to school. We now have an 8th-grader and a 5th-grader living with us. 

I know it's hard to tell but Kyle really likes blue.


And Hayden is fond of black.

Thanks for stopping by, hope your week is going well and I will talk to you soon.


I will persevere.
I will keep moving forward.
I will be the stream.



Comments

  1. Montana looks absolutely beautiful and i bet even beer tastes better up there!

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    1. Now that I think about it, you are absolutely right, Bob. The beer definitely tasted better.

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  2. MT is a gorgeous place to visit! I've been there numerous times. You have a lovely family and they photograph well. So does the scenery! :) Moose Drool is good stuff--is that what you had?

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    1. Thanks, Margaret. Nope, I had PBR. It is my favorite and since I hadn't one in 8+ months that is what I wanted.

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  3. I would love to go to Glacier NP! Looks positively gorgeous! I’ve only been to the Bozeman area where Yellowstone is. So much to see out there. Love the wedding family photo, too.

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    1. You should definitely make your way there, Bijoux. It is pretty awesome.

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  4. I have a good friend in MT, right where you were, but he's probably in WA right now, with grandbabies. I'm super impressed by that hike to Mt. Glacier, and the two kids who boosted you up the trail. Have a good school year, you two.

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    1. Thanks, Joanne. I can see why people call that part of MT home.

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  5. PS, Kylie--your cats are still marking books. Thank you.

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    1. I will let him know, Joanne. Thanks.

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  6. Lovely post, Mr. S. The scenery is wonderful and the pictures of your family are keepers. I'm glad you had some treats - what is life without a few of those?? I laughed at your description of your ancestors - I think we might be related :D

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    1. Thank you, jenny_o. Lots of shorties on my mom's side.

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  7. Looks like you had a wonderful trip. I have always enjoyed my time in Montana.

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    1. We most certainly did, Jeff. Thanks.

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  8. Hayden is my kind of girl. I'm a Black all the way boy.
    Mrs. Shife looks great. When someone pays attention to the clutch/shoes combo, I'm in.
    That glacier/lake look fantastic! I've never been to Montana.

    You're 5'7"? I'm 5'8".

    XOXO

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    1. Thanks, Sixpence. Montana definitely is worth a visit.

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  9. 60 minutes for 6 miles is a pretty fast pace. No wonder they were ready to jump off.

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    1. We had to show them that the old folks still had some gas left in the tank, Mike.

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  10. Looks like a FUN vacation. 6 miles of hiking is so great for your legs! And I will admit to never having a Chocolatey Payday, I will admit to eating tons of the regular Paydays. Nuts and Carmel, one of my many weaknesses.

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    1. I am a sucker for almost anything with caramel, Dave R.

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  11. Whitefish is truly beautiful ~ I worked with a woman who was from there. In fact, in one of those weird coinkidinks we had two ladies from Montana in our office.

    5 pounds huh? I can top that. Sadly. Epic road trips, and the snacks that go along with them (even though we tried to eat healthy road trip snacks) are killer on the waistline.

    Your kids just continue to out-do you in the cuteness department. :D

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    1. Lots and lots of gluten did me in, IACW.

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  12. Looks like you had a wonderful week and family vacay. You got some great shots of the mountains. Had to laugh about the distance in the hike. While we were in Park City, we headed up to hike a day(walk around a lake...I had my tennis shoes, not my hiking boots). Someone told us about this particular hike and how pretty it was and said it was fairly level. Um NO! We started out ok, but then it got very steep and rocky and we trudged on for awhile, until we realized around the bend it got worse. And coming down is always harder with loose rock, and I've had too many sprain ankles to count; though I am in better shape then my hubby and daughter since I walk alot and exercise...I suggested we call it and we did. Hope the kids have a good start to the new school year and you get caught up without being too crazy.

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    1. Thanks, Sandy. Glad you survived your hike.

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  13. I've been to Glacier probably 40 years ago. I recon it has changed quite a bit in the years since.

    My wife will probably be the shortest one in the family by next summer. I will probably retain the title of tallest unless some genetic mutation happens to one of my girls due to an accidental nuclear accident nearby.

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    1. A few more folks in the area, Ed, and the real estate is a little more pricey.

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  14. A six mile hike sounds like just the thing to do in the summer.

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  15. I watch Yellowstone and marvel at the beauty..but I don't know if I'm looking at Montana or Utah..your kis are so damn cute...glad you had a great vacation.

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    1. Thanks, YDG. I think a lot of the ranch scenes are in UT.

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  16. I'm not sure what it is, but kids seem to really sprout over the summer vacation. William has shot up probably 3 inches, which boggles my mind.

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    1. Must be all of that sunshine, Debby.

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  17. That candy bar must have tasted like heaven after all that time of not indulging! Chocolaty payday does sound so good! The scenery is beautiful and you have a lovely family! Kids in the public schools around here don't go back to school until after Labor Day. Either way the summers always go way, way too fast!

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    1. Much too fast, Jeannette, and thank you.

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  18. Those are wonderful family pictures, glad you had a good time. I've only been deep into Montana once but the drive was beautiful. I'm sure Ms. Frizzle had a great time too.

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  19. Wow these pics of this area were gorgeous! Your kids have grown so much since I've been a reader. Stop that!😁

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    1. They can't wait to be taller than me or Mrs. Shife, Peggy.

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  20. Montana always looks so nice. I love the pictures. My grandson is going to be tall, we can already tell. His father is 6'7" though so it makes sense. lol

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    1. No doubt. He is going to be a big guy.

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  21. I agree. Catholic weddings are soooooo long. So very long. So very long. Have a great school year kids! If they care to know, my favorite color is green.

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    1. I will let them know about your favorite color, JM

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