What's Up With Those Yerger's ?????: August 2011

One day of vacation we made the trek from the folks house, left the dock and drinks to take on hiking and wildlife. It was a fantastic day and so worth braving the winding mountain roads with a car filled to the brim with wild children and the adults who were dying to get out of the enclosed space containing said children. We started off with a much needed caffeine break in the town of Apgar and let the kids visit the Wildlife Discovery Center. Here they got to see pelts, hold animal skulls and guess weights on animals and skulls alike. After that we were ready for an early lunch at the Lake McDonald Lodge. The lobby is huge and they have these wonderful red buses that transport guests throughout the park. After lunch we let the kids run by the lake and taught them how to skip stones. This is a lifeskill that every child should at least learn how to do just so that their Dad can show them up at every occasion. Yes, Jaesen, I'm talking about you! After that we braved those winding mountain roads to get to the top of Logan Pass where we went on a hike through the snow, and yes there was a lot of it. You wouldn't think that kids who have winter every year would be so excited, but snow is a novelty in August, and many a snowball was thrown. Mom and Bruce hiked a bit with us and then let the Yerger 5 head further on. I can't even describe the surprise on the kids faces (and ours) when as we were walking, or tromping, through the snow and a mountain goat walked across our path. The kids were literally shouting with excitement. Poor Savannah had trouble with the snow and kept falling down so Jaesen scooped her up and put her on his back, our own version of a pack mule. It was a 3 mile round trip hike, and fairly difficult with the snow, we all fell at one point or another, and we finally made it to the lookout for Hidden Lake which still had ice in it. As we were standing there taking in the majestic views and sheer beauty of this place, two mountain goats took it upon themselves to wander down the sightseeing path. We were rooted to the spot, not sure what to do. Would the goats attack, charge, eat one of the kids, chew off our shoelaces, making it that much more difficult to make the hike back? No, they could have cared less about us, they just wanted to climb rocks and meander on through. We finally decided, due to the huge storm clouds moving rapidly our way, that it was time to make our departure. We took many pictures on the way back down and even saw a baby mountain goat, and Jack's favorite, the chipmunk or ground squirrel. I don't know how many pictures I have of those creatures, he wanted to remember them all I guess. In the parking lot, after everyone used the bathroom, we were startled by the appearance of a bighorn sheep which started meandering through the rows of cars. With his big horns I was more worried about him charging a car and doing some damage, but in the end Jaesen got great pics of him and we chalked up another wild animal sighting. We started our drive back down and although we were pressed for time it was decided (okay by me, which later I might have regretted) to do the Cedar Walk. It is a fairly quick hike through a cedar forest on an elevated boardwalk. At the time we finished it was just after 6 p.m. and we had about a 1.5 hour drive to get to dinner on the way home. For those of you who have kids with ADHD and must remain on a schedule, you know that tweaking dinner to two hours late can be a hideous prospect. And so it was. Jaesen had a migraine which was causing horrible nausea. Translation-not in a good mood. Seven people in a car. Translation-way too crowded. Jack with no food and medicine worn off. Translation-one and a half hours of nonstop us telling him to stop whatever it was he was doing repetitively. By the time we got to dinner, after listening to the all the kids ask for the hundredth time, when are we getting there, I'm starving, I was ready to strangle them all, or myself, I wasn't sure which would be better. Fortunately, I got wine which put me at ease, Jack got two loaves of bread and a salad while waiting for dinner, which did him wonders, and Jaesen's headache finally started to go away, although he couldn't eat anything. All in all it was a great day of hiking and sightseeing in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Lake McDonald Lodge buses.

Jaesen skipping rocks

Boys walking through the snow

Jack and a mountain goat

boys at another hidden lake

the bighorn sheep

The cedar forest

And with the rush of school, new pencils, crayons and notebooks, we note the passing of summer into fall. This is a difficult concept when it's still beautiful outside and feels like summer. This year Tristan makes the passage into middle school which means a much earlier wake up call, 6:15. He has to leave between 7 and 7:15 to get to school on time so we are all having to adjust to life with an alarm clock blaring each morning. Meanwhile Jack doesn't even have to get up until 7:45 if he chooses since school starts at 9, but Savannah needs to be to her class by 8:45 so she can have circle time to get her day going. The scheduling is a bit of a nightmare, but next year she will be going with Jack, off to kindergarten and out of daycare! I'm am looking forward to that extra bit of money each month. So summer flew by, with visits to the zoo, Children's Museum, a lot of pool time, fishing with Dad, the library and our trip to Montana. We packed a lot in to a short time which is why the season just passed by so quickly. A quick recap of some our activities
Jack's birthday at the Stormchasers game: Getting to throw out the first pitch!