Glacier: St Mary and Virginia Falls

St Mary falls

The day after we did the beaver dam hike, we tried the St Mary and Virginia falls hike again. The <way too small> parking lot was full again, but there was a turn out just down the road that had one space for us. We parked there and hoped for the best (ie, no parking tickets) and carefully walked along the side of the road back to the parking lot and trailhead.

heading down the trail from road, looking down at St Mary lake

The hike starts in an area that was burned by wildfire a few years ago, but regrowth is very much in evidence. The blackened trees are surrounded by new growth and give the observer a good reminder of the cycle of life.

the downriver side of St Mary falls

St Mary falls weren’t too far down the trail, about a mile, and are quite pretty. The striking blue of glacier water is very evident and makes for some great photos.

the more exciting upriver side

After taking some photos and hanging on tight to the boys while we crossed the bridge over the water just below the falls, we continued on up the trail. As we walked, we found a couple good photo ops of water tumbling over the rocks, but they weren’t the falls.

Finally, about a mile past St Mary falls, and after some climbing, we reached the end of the trail just below Virginia falls. They’re quite spectacular in person. 

a zoomed-in pic of the falls as we drove by

You can see the falls across the valley as you drive down Going-to-the-Sun road, so you know they’re a good size, but seeing them in person is pretty impressive.

Virginia Falls

this shot was from a little ways down from the falls- we didn't feel safe taking impulsive little boys too close since the rocks were very slippery

After eating lunch near the end of the trail we headed back down. We hiked about four miles total from the trailhead to the falls, and back to the trailhead. There were some steep spots, but it wasn’t super strenuous, and it was definitely worth the effort to see the falls at the end.

there were signs saying there was a vault toilet near the top- we finally found it as we headed back down. they were on the other side of the river and reached by a log bridge, which is where I took this picture. it was scary, but we were desperate, so we all took turns using it before heading back down.

When we got back to the trailhead, one of the other hikers asked if we’d seen the bears. I asked “what bears?” And she said they’d seen a black bear and a brown bear just a little below the trailhead, but it turned out it happened while we were back by the falls. So we missed another wildlife sighting.

love Ocean's expression! 

he was not impressed with all my picture taking and my efforts to get him to smile didn't work

Fifth Grade Summary

This past school year was a stressful one, mostly because of Mr M's crazy busy schedule that left everything on me. When his schedule changed we knew this would be the case, but that doesn't make the reality of it any easier. We made it through the year, though some subjects did get glossed over in the interest of everyone's sanity. The post on our plans for fifth grade can be found here, and this is how things actually happened.

Fifth Grade Subjects

History and Geography
We spent the first half of the school year working on junior ranger programs, and completed them for Yorktown, Ft Monroe, Shenandoah NP, Blue Ridge Parkway, Independence NHP, and Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania NMP (actually four different parks, and we visited all of them). We also visited Natural Bridge SP.

Sunshine listened to a couple of the Story of the World books during the year, but our main curriculum this year was Year 1 of the history curriculum from The Good and the Beautiful, which allowed us to work a few more scripture based historical events into our timeline. The Good and the Beautiful history curriculum covers events over a long span of time, with each year focusing on different events throughout that span, unlike the Story of the World, which focuses on just one chunk of time for each book. We continued with our monthly history club meetings and went on field trips to Yorktown and a local cultural museum with the club.

Math & Logic
Sunshine continued using CTC math this past year. While I think it's an effective program for the most part, she was not enjoying it. I want her to learn to like math, not hate it, so we'll change things up for sixth grade.

She worked her way through all the logic puzzles in Mind Benders level 4. She enjoyed those, so we'll continue with the next level.

Latin
Sunshine finished Song School Latin 2 at the end of the year. There's not a third book in the series, so we could switch to a different curriculum, but she wants to give Greek a try next. We may re-visit Latin in a couple years, but for now I'm fine with her skipping around and being exposed to different languages.

Handwriting
We used level 5 of The Good and the Beautiful's handwriting curriculum this past year, and Sunshine enjoyed it as much as one can enjoy handwriting practice. It was a good mix of letter formation review, grammar, copywork, and drawing and coloring, so it was more interesting than what we've used in the past.

Spelling & Grammar

We didn't use a stand-alone curriculum for these, but both subjects were covered in Latin and Handwriting, so I didn't feel we needed to beat a dead horse just yet. 

Science
We did part of the meteorology course from The Good and the Beautiful, but it didn't really hold our attention, so we didn't finish it. We also participated in a science experiment club that Sunshine enjoyed. They hosted a field trip to a DNA lab and a science fair in the spring. Sunshine had the best project, not that I'm biased or anything :) The year ended up a bit light on science, but that's the way it goes.

Reading
Sunshine read lots of books, and while we kept a log, I know some of the books still didn't make it to the list. She prefers adventures that have some fantasy in them, so that's mostly what she reads. I'm trying to get her to branch out, with mixed success. I'm not pushing it too much though, since I don't want to turn her off reading.

Writing
Sunshine did some story writing on her own, but this is another subject that didn't receive a lot of attention.

Art/Cooking/Sewing
Sunshine did some art projects, and her sewing skills have improved quite a bit as she's sewed outfits for her dolls and stuffed animals for her brothers. She's also becoming more skilled in the kitchen, though I wasn't able to spend as much time with her on this as I'd have liked. Too many things to do, too little time.

Coding
Coding was on the list of subjects to cover last year, but it didn't happen. I didn't have the time, and I don't really understand it anyway. I'll let Mr M take this one.

Extra Curriculars
Weekly fiddle lessons
Weekly Irish music class/performing group
Weekly hikes
We started trying to go on a hike every week in March 2016, and have gotten more consistent as time has progressed. It's a rare week now where we don't go on a hike.
Weekly park day
We only managed to attend a few times. The boys' nap schedules and the timing of the Irish music class made it really difficult to attend on a regular basis.
Weekly gymnastics class
Sunshine attended gymnastics the whole year, but decided she didn't want to pursue it any longer.
Monthly science experiments club
Sunshine got to see a wide variety of experiments and participate in a science fair. The organizers have other things they want to focus on this year, so we won't be doing this again next year.
Monthly history club
We continued meeting with them and went on several field trips.
Summer day camps
Irish music day camp and nature camp.

Field trips
We went to a number of national park sites, a state park, a cultural museum, and a science lab.

~~~~

We used a notebook to track each day's assignments, and that worked so much better than anything else we've tried. I love the flexibility of it as well as the ease in tracking what was accomplished.

Glacier: Beaver Dam Loop and 1913 Ranger Cabin

Saint Mary Lake through the trees

Our second full day at Glacier NP we waited around for a shuttle and finally found one after about an hour, only to find out that the shuttle for the St Mary side doesn’t start until July 1. The one we were waiting for was for the Apgar side. Well then.

closed up ranger cabin

We had wanted to go hike to St Mary and Virginia falls, but couldn’t find parking at the trailhead, so we went to the 1913 Ranger Cabin that’s just outside the St Mary park entrance. The cabin wasn’t open, but it did have an interesting sign telling some of the history of the cabin.

closed up barn

We then went on a hike that was supposed to take us past a beaver dam that is actively being used by beavers. Unfortunately, we didn’t bring a trail map (the hike was a loop, so I figured we’d be ok), and I started second guessing our route as the trail moved further and further from the lake. A beaver dam should be in the water, right?

We ended up turning around and hiking back the way we’d come and taking a short spur trail to a rocky beach, where we tried skipping more rocks.

River wasn't super happy during most of this hike (he was tired and should have had a nap), but I did convince him to give me a smile for a picture

When we returned to the trailhead, we consulted the map there and determined that we turned around just short of where we would have seen the beaver dam. That realization was a bit frustrating and disgusting. But we plan on going back to Glacier, so we’ll repeat the hike and not turn around just before seeing what we came to see.

Saint Mary Lake from the rocky beach we found

Despite not turning out how we'd intended, it was still a good hike, so it wasn’t a complete loss. We hiked about 4 miles total during this hike.

Ocean looking exceptionally cute :)

August 4 Mile Race

Saturday morning I ran a 4 mile race with my friend C. I ran this race last year and the year before, and I really like the course. It's so scenic and it's got a small field of runners, so it's not crazy crowded (like the 4 mile race that's held the following weekend).

It was a really good thing that C was meeting me at our house, because I didn't wake up until she texted me to say she was here. I'd completely slept through the two alarms I'd set! Because I'd laid everything out the night before I was able to very quickly get dressed and grab my stuff, and we were out the door only ten minutes later than planned. I hadn't slept very well the night before, but that doesn't usually keep me from hearing my alarms.

the cows weren't very interested in the race

I've only run four times since the Glacier half marathon, but I felt pretty good. Not in shape, or anything, but not like a complete couch potato, either. Between traveling, being super busy, and trying to let my feet heal, I've let my exercise time get pushed to the back burner lately. I want to change that, but am still trying to figure out how to fit everything in.

In any case, we walked and ran the race and had a good time, and then proceeded to walk more than a mile and a half more afterwards as we retraced our steps to take some pictures of the scenery. It was a good cool down that should save our bodies from being too sore (C hasn't done much running lately, either).

This year I completed the race in 47:17. In 2016 I ran it in 45:20, and in 2015 I ran it in 1hour and 18 seconds and just under 6 weeks after giving birth to Ocean. So not my best time, but not my worst, either, so I'm ok with it. And it has motivated me to be more diligent about finding time to exercise.

4.03 miles in 47:17
1st mile: 10:30   - we went out a little fast
2nd mile: 12:27
3rd mile: 12:24
4th mile: 11:37

My mileage dipped again this week, but I wasn't completely sedentary. As I mentioned, time is a huge factor in my ability to get anything done, and unfortunately running is still the easiest to move to the bottom of my to-do list. Lack of sleep (which also gets pushed to the bottom of the list) makes exercise so much less appealing.

Monday Sunshine and I watched the eclipse while the boys napped (a nice coincidence of timing that meant I didn't have to worry about them trying to look up at the sun and getting blinded). We thought it was cool, but weren't able to get any good pictures. We weren't in the path of totality, but we had a higher percentage than I was expecting.

Thursday we went on a hike at the park we went to with the Cub Scouts the previous Friday so we could retrace our steps and see how far we'd gone. There's more trails at this park, so we'll have to come back and do some longer hikes. We also found some old metal that seems to indicate dumping occurred here at some point in time. After our hike we played at the playground for a few minutes.

Weekly Mileage
Thursday: hiked 1.43 miles
Saturday: ran and walked 4.03 miles and walked 1.58 miles
     total miles: 7.04 miles

hike #33 towards #52hikechallenge
397.43ish miles towards #365milechallenge

Sunday Funny

River has started doing this thing when he doesn’t want to do something. We call it his “noodle legs.” He throws his legs out to the side and walks all wonky and spins in circles and says he “tan’t do it.”

The funny thing is that he uses so much energy walking all weird and spinning in circles. If he just calmed down and walked normally he’d use so much less energy.  But there’s no arguing with a three year old.

He also tries "noodle arms" where he can't pick up anything when we want him to.

Weekly Mileage

Ocean powered up this hill 

Last week I managed to be much more active than I have been lately. I hit the treadmill three times and we went on two hikes. I even managed to do some running two of the times I was on the treadmill. I’m still having problems with my plantar fasciitis, so any running I do is a victory, though I pay for it later.

Our first hike we went to the nature park we’ve been to several times since January. Last time we went, back in May, the water level was quite high and some of the trails were flooded. 

under that water was the boards the kids are walking on in the picture below

This time we were hoping to be able to play in the stream, but it was barely a trickle- the lowest we’ve seen it yet. The reservoir was also much lower than we’ve seen it, which Sunshine and I thought was interesting since we’ve gotten a good amount of rain this summer. I think the problem is that the rain comes down so hard and fast that most of it stays on the surface, rather than soaking in.

high, rushing water back in May

disappointed by the trickle

We went on a second hike with our Cub Scout pack. We’d planned on camping with them, but it was pouring rain that day, so we canceled the campout and just held our pack meeting at the pavilion at the campground location. It was pouring rain at our house as we left, but 20 minutes up the road it was dry and sunny. Some things are just not meant to happen: that was the third attempt this summer to hold that campout.

Because it was actually quite a nice evening, we went for a short hike on the trails that surround the campground before heading home. I'd left the Boba carrier in the car, so I let Ocean walk most of the hike. He did really well, other than being quite slow. I carried him on a few occasions to speed things up a bit, but he enjoyed being able to walk so much of the hike.

I forgot my Garmin for both hikes this week, so we'll have to repeat these hikes so I can get an accurate measure of the distance we traveled.

Weekly Mileage

Monday: walked 3.61 miles on the treadmill

Wednesday: ran and walked 4.5 miles on the treadmill

Thursday: hiked about 1.5 miles with the kiddos

Friday: ran and walked 4.65 miles on the treadmill

Friday: hiked about a mile with the Cub Scouts

        total mileage: 15.26ish miles

hikes #31 and 32 towards my #52hikechallenge

390.29ish miles towards my #365milechallenge

Sunday Funny

A couple weeks ago Ocean was feeling a little under the weather and fell asleep at the table while finishing his lunch. If you look closely, you can see a piece of bread in his right hand.

Ocean has never fallen asleep at the table, and it reminded us of the time we were on a road trip years ago with Sunshine. She was about his age or a little younger, and falling asleep in her car seat while trying to eat a potato chip. We glanced back just in time to catch her trying to eat her potato chip as her head dropped to the side. This was in pre-smartphone days and my camera wasn't easily accessible, so unfortunately we don't have video evidence, but if we did, it totally would have won us a bunch of money on America's Funniest Home Videos.

Climbing Trees

When we dropped Sunshine off at nature camp, River really wanted to climb this tree that had a fork in it that was just crying out to be climbed. It was too high off the ground for him to reach, so I boosted him up, and he was happy as a clam.

River wanted to climb up the tree as well, but there wasn't room for both of them at the same time. Doesn't he look a little dejected in the picture above? :)

Our property has lots of trees, but they're either tiny or huge and not suitable for climbing. It was fun for River to finally have a chance to climb a tree and I know next year I won't be able to keep Ocean out of the tree again.

Glacier National Park: Apgar

We drove around the southern end of the park to Apgar our first full day in the park so Sunshine could go to a Ranger presentation for her Jr Ranger packet. River had the non-readers version, which is much easier and has a lot less requirements. We were a bit early for the full tourist season, so the ranger presentation schedule was more limited than it would have been if we'd visited even a week or so later.

After the presentation we checked out the nature cabin, where we were able to touch the fur pelts from a variety of animals, as well as bones and rocks. We explored one of the gift shops (there were several), then we walked down to the lake where Mr M showed Sunshine and River how to skip rocks. We practiced skipping rocks for awhile, though Sunshine had a lot more success than River did, then began the long drive back.

Sunshine's technique wasn't too bad

River's was much more straightforward :)

Apgar is at the southern end of Lake McDonald, which is one of several glacier-fed lakes in the park. Before we left the Apgar area we stopped for pictures of the lake, which is the coolest blue because of the melted glaciers that fill it.

As we drove to Apgar, we passed a waterfall on the side of the road, but it was on the opposite side of the road, so we took note of the nearest mile marker (188) and decided to stop on our way back.

We actually remembered (which doesn’t always happen) and stopped to see the waterfall. It’s a cool little waterfall over rocks that were more squared off than we usually see in a waterfall. We also couldn’t find a sign with a name, so we’re thinking that perhaps it’s just a seasonal waterfall? Regardless, it was fun to find such an unexpected sight.

Family Playdate

magnetic fishies and poles

Last week we had the opportunity to go to a playscape as a family. Sunshine and I have been to a similar playscape years ago, but this one is closer to home. This one opened just a month or so ago, so they're still finishing some things, but what we played on was well-built, creative, and a lot of fun for the kiddos. 

River is all in when it comes to fishing :)

They worked with the contours of the land to put these tunnels in.

River was pretending to be a ferocious bear :)

Naturally, the kids loved the little hobbit house, and they all had to try out the little rocking chair. We had a chair just like this when I was little.

Sunshine and River had fun playing on this giant lizard (it's a lot bigger than it looks), but they moved on to the next activity before Ocean and I caught up, so I missed a picture of them on it.

The kids can be forgiven for moving on quickly though, because they found the stream! By far, this was the main attraction for the kids that were there. Sunshine played in the water for a while before moving on to an outdoor kitchen, but the boys did not want to leave. They love playing in the water- any type of water, and if they can get completely wet, even better.

he started out dry....

After playing in the sand, Ocean started bending over, putting the top of his head in the water, which he thought was great. Then he lost his balance and sat in the water, which caught him off guard for a second, and then he smiled. He may have lost his balance a few more times after that, and in just a few minutes he was soaking wet and smiling. Such a funny kiddo.

The boys had lots of fun in the sand box, though I did have to convince them to leave the sand in the sand box and to keep the rocks in the rock area.

We were there with several other families, and in the evening we hiked a short way to a small meadow in the trees and played a few games and did some exploring. Ocean liked the parachute, but River kept running off with the ball we were trying to keep on the parachute.

Ocean found some tall weeds and was crouching down in them, like he was trying to hide. He did rather blend in with his green clothes :) Such a cutie!

It was getting dark as we walked this little nature trail, but the boys didn't let that stop them or slow them down.

We'd planned on spending the night and watching the Perseid meteor shower, but the lightning, thunder, and rain chased us home. Yep, we totally wussed out. But we slept a lot better that night than we would have if we'd stayed :)

We had a lot of fun just relaxing and playing, and we'll definitely go back. There were several attractions/items/not sure what exactly to call them that the kiddos didn't get a chance to explore, so there's still more to do. Though I don't think they'll have a problem revisiting the things they did on their first visit, especially the stream. If you're local to me and want to know the name so you can visit- just let me know!