Island Park Adventures!

Last weekend, we planned to go to Island Park with Haley, Jon, and my mom. There was supposed to be a big storm, so we decided it would be best if we went up early since the rest of the crew couldn't leave Pocatello until after dark. We got up there without much problem. When we turned on the road where the cabin was, it wasn't plowed. Google Maps told us to keep going down this road and as long as we were going fast enough, we were ok. We got to the point where the cabin should have been and there was nothing. When we stopped, we were stuck. Our car was high centered on snow and our front tires don't have much traction. We just bought new tires, but those are on the back, as per the law. We were stopped for a few minutes and Brett tried pushing when a truck pulled up with a nice couple. They tried to help us to no avail. They left to go get help and Brett walked until he found a cabin with people home. A really nice guy came and tried to dig us out. He didn't want to tow us because we don't have a tow hitch. He even "borrowed" a snow plow tractor from somewhere and tried to plow us out. We couldn't get any traction! We were on a point on the road where we kept sliding off to the side with deep snow. After two hours of pushing, digging, plowing, and trying, we finally gave up and called a tow truck. The guy showed up in his plow truck, which ended up being a good thing. He said his tow truck would have gotten stuck in the snow too! He pulled us out to where he had plowed well enough and parked us down at a Subway. Haley, Jon, and Mom got there about ten minutes later. So much for leaving early!

We decided to leave our van down at the Subway for the night because the cabin driveway wasn't plowed at all either. When Haley was carrying Kayla in, they both slipped on slick porch wood and fell! Haley was pretty worried about her baby, but after sometime, she felt better and baby seems fine and active. There was so much snow up there! There were four foot boards around the sliding glass doors and the snow came up to the top of them!

Right after Kayla woke up, she kept saying her tummy hurt. She'd thrown up early Friday morning at home but had seemed fine since. When we went downstairs, she puked everywhere! Luckily after that, things seemed to go much more smoothly! 

The view from the loft out the windows was beautiful!

We woke up and headed out to play in the snow. Brett built snow caves and tunnels between them. We took the kids sledding on the road. 

 

 

 

 

We did a lot of relaxing too! The cabin was beautiful. Jon's parents own it as a rental and were gracious enough to let us use it. The kids had a blast!

 

We also ate lots of good food! Tyson stabbed his fork into this giant piece of potatoe and went to town on eating it. :)

 

On Saturday morning, the snow plow tractor arrived so we were able to bring the van up to the cabin. 

 

Kayla wouldn't smile for a photo in her sweater, but I LOVE it! And Brett got a lot of reading time in. 

 

 In the afternoon, we put the kids down for a nap and headed out with Haley and Jon to go cross country skiing. It was so beautiful! We went down the trail to Big Springs. Haley and Jon went for a while but then turned back. Brett and I were determined to make it to Big Springs, but after skiing for an hour and 45 minutes, we figured we should turn back. I guess we were close, but by the time we turned around, I was getting pretty tired and knew we had to go all the way back too. 

 

We thought it was so magical with the trees all covered in fresh snow from the night before!

 

By the time Brett and I got back, we had skied for over three hours and were famished! We stopped and grabbed some snickers and they never tasted so good! I felt like I could barely climb into the truck when we were done!

The kids had fun in the giant bathtub that night! 

We went to church up there and then went for a long drive to Quake Lake, which was created by an earthquake that my mom remembers feeling as a kid. It was pretty crazy but the whole area was so beautiful!

 

When we got home, Brett and Mom took the kids outside to play one more time. They had a blast! By the time they came back in, Tyson's cheeks were bright red! 

 

We had a good time with everyone together. It was a good weekend, despite the rough start we had. 

 

We're so excited to be so close to so much beauty! We're an hour from Island Park and can't wait to go back again and again, especially in the summer. Brett made the comment that we were going to be making up for three years without mountains and rivers this year. I can't wait!