Whitefish, MT

So, I absolutely love Whitefish. If I could, I would move there in a heartbeat. Here's what we did: Saturday we took the train ride from Whitefish to East Glacier. It was phenomenal and miserable all at the same time. Why? Well, imagine driving four kids from Florida to Montana (with a few days of break here and there) and then giving them one day to play and then driving them seven hours up to Whitefish and then the very next day taking a 6 hour train ride with a bunch of senior citizens. I know, we are either incredibly insane or incredibly stupid. The scenery was breathtaking and the train itself was fun. It just happened to be about 4 and a half hours too long. The last hour and a half was basically misery trying to keep Matthew from offending each and every senior on the train. He just wanted to run up and down the corridor. It took doing a puzzle and eating ice cream to recover that evening. And just for the record, I don't tend to be an emotional eater either. On Sunday we went to church, where the governor of Utah sat behind us. After that, we had sandwiches at the park and playground time.
Next we went to the Conrad Mansion. It was insanely cool. As most of you know, I love old things. This was a huge treat. The house was built about 1898 and is still in the same condition as it was when the family lived in it. The decor, paint, knick-knacks- everything! They even had the family's clothing in the closets and on display. Oh to have seen it in it's heyday! Now, as cool as this was, this was also phenomenal yet miserable at the same time! The tour of the house was about an hour and 20 minutes and we were on it with about 12 little old ladies. Some of them seemed like really sweet Grandmas and were offering help whenever they saw opportunity. A few, not so much. Imagine a tour where the guide wore gloves so that she could touch things and then throw Matthew into the mix, my little toucheroo! I ended up carrying him and Lexi pretty much the whole time. I was wishing that I had brought my Ergo baby in so bad! By the end of the tour, my arms were shaking. Let's just say, it took another little cup of ice cream that night. I think I need to do yoga or something instead or this ice cream habit could become a problem for my waistline!
On Monday, Jess had conference (Western Governors Association) meetings in the morning, so I did laundry in a teeny, tiny, stackable washer and dryer. Two normal loads were four in that little guy. I was glad to be able to wash though. Lexi also got a good nap in. When Jess returned, we went over to the ski area. We rode the chair lift up to the top of the mountain (Big mountain, it's called) and saw some incredible views of Flathead lake, the valley and the surrounding mountains. The children also got to play in snow!!! That was one of the highlights for sure. We have some fun videos of the kids sliding down the little hill on their bums and throwing snowballs. It was great. We also hiked a tiny bit and rode the Alpine slide. That was a kid favorite, so much so that we rode it several times. Once we exhausted our tickets, we dropped Dad and Lexi off at the room so he could work and she could nap. The older three kids and I headed to the public beach at Flathead lake. They have a great swimming area! I wish I had brought the kids bathing suits, but figured that it was a bit too glacier like to swim. Oh not so. They got soaked in their clothes and had a blast throwing rocks in the lake. Numbness shmumbness!
Tuesday we checked out of our room and drove home via Glacier National park. Oh the majesty and beauty of that place. We took a nature walk on the cedar trail, played in more snow, and took in all of the scenery. To finish the day-a bowl of bison & elk chili, salad and the lazy hiker burger! Yum! Then, of course that 7 hour drive home. The drive has been pretty and did I mention that I haven't had to drive at all? Awesome.
We are gearing up to have a little Melin family reunion over the 4th of July weekend (Happy birthday weekend, Suzi!) Jess and all of his siblings are in town. We have hiking, camping, the parade, craft show, fireworks and who knows what else on the agenda. I absolutely love Livingston over the fourth! I hope that yours is fab, too.