On our hike in Glacier, we encountered lots of neat wildlife. Kara's favorite were the wildflowers which are so hard to catch on film. We also saw 2 marmots, many ground squirrels, and at least 6 mountain goats. Simon and Kara were super hikers, and Keith and Jacob showed us some of their skills they learned from their backpacking trip with camp this summer. Ever "boot or shoe skii"?? You'll have to come for them to give you a lesson. The bigger kids ran ahead a bit and met us at the bottom of the trail. Notice the "wild/exhausted" one we found at the Information Center :)!!

On our hike in Glacier, we encountered lots of neat wildlife. Kara's favorite were the wildflowers which are so hard to catch on film. We also saw 2 marmots, many ground squirrels, and at least 6 mountain goats. Simon and Kara were super hikers, and Keith and Jacob showed us some of their skills they learned from their backpacking trip with camp this summer. Ever "boot or shoe skii"?? You'll have to come for them to give you a lesson. The bigger kids ran ahead a bit and met us at the bottom of the trail. Notice the "wild/exhausted" one we found at the Information Center :)!!

There was only a week and a half between the end of camp and the start of school this year, so we tried to make sure we crammed in some family fun! After lunch and milkshakes at Norm's News, we journeyed to Glacier. We drove up Logan's Pass and hiked to the Hidden Lake overlook. SO FUN! We even hiked on top of lots of snow!!! The kids had to reach down and feel the frigid water pouring down the mountain. We live in such a beautiful place! Ian slept most of the hike but woke up a few times to tough out the wind :)!

After our fun busy-ness of camp, we had a big "Way to go Ortlings!" party at the Lighthouse Christian Home. They each invited a few friends to enjoy the fun package of goodies we won at the Camp and Lighthouse silent auctions. We were able to use Lighthouses' amazing yard and kitchen, enjoy the visiting carriage horses, bounce til we couldn't bounce anymore (I didn't even get a picture of Jacob who spent most of his day in the big kid bounce castle which kept falling in on itself - which actually made it quite fun :), hang out and play bean bag toss with the Lighthouse residents, and fill ourselves up with yummy summertime food!

With scary faces & colorful attire, "Pinky" and his minnians (sp?) prepare to chase campers in a thrill inducing game! Keith and Jacob are now too big to be allowed to "catch" campers (they use to be allowed to tap a camper with a pool noodle but are now as fast or faster than most campers). You'll just have to come to camp and see just how fun this game can be :)!

Just one of the gazillion beautiful views we got to enjoy this summer at camp. This shot was taken at sunset in the side yard outside our cabin.

This summer was grand with Gran around! The day she left we stopped by the camp sign for some pictures with everyone in their new Camp Promise shirts from Mrs. Wendy.

On July 28th, our little man, Simon, turned 4! WOW! He woke up being VERY proud of how big this meant he was. He informed us that he could now buckle himself in the car, play soccer and baseball by himself, and various other big boy things he was now able to do "by himself"! He helped decorate his cake with all his How to Train Your Dragon figurines. There was quite a battle going on at the table.