McCall, Idaho 2013 - Part 1

We left for McCall bright and early at 6:30 Saturday morning.  The kids did pretty decent on the drive up.  I feel like they did a ton better on the way to California but I'm thinking it was because I was sitting in between them which was easier for entertaining.  Anyway, we made it up there and all got settled in. We stayed in Donnelley which is about 15-20 miles outside of McCall in a large cabin that accommodated us all, kind of.  There's a lot of us so it was a tight fit but I was completely comfy myself.  

Saturday night we went into town to let the kids play at the splash bad that wasn't working.  :)  They ended up getting in the lake and having a great time.

The sun was starting to set, kind of so the reflection on the water was super bright.  The water was pretty chilly apparently.  I'm realizing now that I barely put my feet in the water all week.  

Ha, ha, ha, ha, cannot stop laughing at this picture.  I cannot recall the conversation that was taking place here but this look on my face is pure disgust.  Lol!  Seriously funny.  

And Dan's eyes are closed on this one, lovely! But I am getting better at trying to remember to have somebody take pictures of us. 

After the kids played in the water for a bit we made our first trip over to Ice Cream Alley.  There have been years that we haven't gone to Ice Cream Alley very much but this year was not one of those years.  I think we went 3, maybe 4 times this year.  I'm not a huge ice cream fan myself.  I'm weird, I would rather eat licorice, swedish fish, etc. instead of ice cream.  And I did, believe you me. 

Everyone enjoying their ice cream!

Bubblegum ice cream for the WIN!

After ice cream most of the clan went back to the house but we decided to sit with Mom and Dad S to watch the sunset over the lake.  Gorgeous view but hard to take pictures of it. And look another family picture.  See, I'm getting a hold of this blogging thing again.  It just took me a couple years. :)

Sunday we got up and went to church.  It is tradition to take family pictures after church and Dan's Grandma Simmons has been really needing a couple of pictures of some of the family and all the grandkids together to finish off the family history she has made.  Which I can't wait to read and I"m sure is going to be amazing!

Tyler and Shelley have the newer/nicer camera so they got the shot with everybody in it and a good one of all the grandkids but I did get a decent one of our little family.  

Dang, this one is blurry but everybody is looking so....

Yep, this is the kind of shot you get with so many little kids.  I love it because that's just how life is.  

Ellie was clearly struggling as was Clara. 

After the photo shoot we ate lunch and then changed and head out for a hike up to Luie Lake.  Not sure of the spelling on that.  The kids did so good on this hike.  It was not a leisurely walk it was uphill a lot, most of it I would say.  if you've ever read this blog you know how I feel about hiking.  So we'll just say I feel like I had a good attitude about it. :)

Gorgeous lake though, no?

Monday was lake day.  It was super hot up in McCall as it has been everywhere and this is the first year we have had a house with AC it was so nice to be able to get out of the heat. The heat has been sucking the life out of me lately.  

Some people decided to play catch with the football.  It was hilarious to watch and Dan was awesome at really sacrificing to get that ball, I was impressed.  :)

I am pretty sure that kids love sand as much as I hate it!  They all had a blast playing in the sand and in the water.

After the beach we headed back to home base and most of the fellas went to play 18 holes of golf while the rest of us just hung out/took naps/rode bikes, etc. They had a great time golfing but there were 5 of them so it took them forever.  I'm impressed they could handle being out in the heat for so long.  I love the heat but I need to be in a swimsuit by a pool. We had great food the entire time we were there and I was going to take pictures of our meals but it was so crazy getting the kids fed and then myself fed that I forgot until the meal was over.  FAIL! Oh well, maybe next year.  This is the end of Part 1, stay tuned for Part 2.