Summer is Here!!!

It's July and time for summer vacations! We were excited this year to have multiple visitors share a little of their summer vacay with us at Sigh-Bar. Our first visitors were Lee's nephew and wife, Steven and Nellie Christensen, from South Jordan, Utah. They were on a road trip through Glacier Park, and stopped on their way to meet up with some of their family in Idaho. Their visit was short and sweet, but it was so fun to sit on the porch and catch up on their family news.

The biggest news of the summer is that Nick has accepted a new assignment with ExxonMobil in Billings, MT! Going to be a big move for the Vernon family. They flew to Billings to do some house-hunting, so we drove over to meet them and bring Leo and June back with us. It was still a bit chilly but Leo and June were excited to be outside and get re-acquainted with the horses, swing on the tire swing, help Grandpa with chores, and zip around in Grizzlee. We had fun celebrating the 4th of July at the parade in Kalispell before Nick & Alee and baby Ruby arrived from Billings.


The next day Ben & Amy and Isabelle & Olivia arrived, and the summer fun doubled!! Every day was an adventure with the kids, beginning most mornings with toast and hot chocolate out on the porch in the chilly morning air; never-ending rides in Grizzlee, or on the horses, or on Artie, or in Mulee; working on "jobs" for Grandpa to earn $$ for the Farmer's Market; playing games and creating projects; water balloons; trips to Zip Trip for Icees and treats; volleyball and badminton; a shopping spree at Kalispell Mall; sitting around the fire pit; Tuesday dinners at the Farmer's Market; playgrounds at the parks in Whitefish and Kalispell; zapping bees and bugs; and simply running wild and free!


Charlie & Audra and Shari took a road trip over to California, then up the coast all the way to Vancouver, Canada, and stopped to visit at Sigh-Bar on their way back home. We had a great time visiting with them, and took them up to Big Mountain to ride the alpine slide. They spent a day in Glacier National Park, then met our gang at Depot Park for one of our very favorite summer activities, the Whitefish Farmer's Market.

A first for our gang this year was an adventure up near Sunday Lake. We hiked to Sunday Falls, and the kids had such fun learning to walk along fallen logs to cross the river, and exploring above and below the falls.

We spent a day at Whitefish Lake, paddle boarding and kayaking. The water was cold but the sun was shining, and we had a great time playing in the water and having a pizza picnic.


One of our favorite family activities is a trip to Sweet Peaks to check out the newest flavors, along with the always yummy huckleberry. One of our trips this year was compliments of Tara, who mailed each of us a Sweet Peaks gift card!

Another first this year was a shooting match! Ben hung targets on some trees beyond the deck and strategically placed some water balloons in the trees. We took turns with the pellet guns, and amazingly we each eventually hit a target or a balloon!


Nick & Alee made an offer on a new home under construction in Billings, and accepted an offer on their home in Texas, so after a couple of weeks of vacay it was time for them to get on with the huge job of moving. The next month will be crazy busy for them to leave their life in Texas and begin again in Montana.

Isabelle and Olivia had the unique and fun experience of spending some vacation time with BOTH sets of grandparents at the same time! Ben's parents, Van & Ruth Cosby from Flower Mound, Texas, and his youngest brother, Joseph, included a few days at Sigh-Bar in their national park vacation road trip. We spent an afternoon on Big Mountain, where Livi and Belle challenged Ben and Joe to the aerial obstacle course. We drove the Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass in Glacier National Park, and hiked to Hidden Lake. There was still a lot of snow on the trail (which proved to be a slippery adventure for me), but was well worth it when we saw a grizzly bear on our hike down! Before we left the park we had dinner at Eddie's, and got our feet wet in Lake McDonald. We spent another afternoon on the paddleboards and kayaks at Whitefish Lake, and just had a great few days with Van & Ruth and Joe.

One of our favorite families from Cypress, Ryan & Cameo Morris and their three girls, Vanessa, Sadie, and Cassidy, tacked on an extra day to their Glacier National Park vacation to stop in and spend a day at Sigh-Bar. Ryan insisted on rolling up his sleeves and chopping some wood for the fire pit, and we had a great time visiting, having dinner on the patio, and riding on Artie and Grizzlee.

Fortunately, Ben can set up his "office" in a bedroom upstairs and continue to work from here, so Amy and the girls can stay and play until time to get back for school to start. We joined in the fun of the hometown celebration in Columbia Falls at the parade and rodeo; we took Ben for his first-ever hike on the Lion Mountain Trail up to the Skyles Lake Overlook; we took Mulee all the way to Boot Jack Lake; and had dinner every Tuesday evening at the Farmer's Market. Belle tried an experiment to dye the tips of her hair with Kool-Aid, with awesome results! New friends, Kay & Carole Denning, invited us over for a fun evening of games and cooking dinner over the fire with "pie irons." Amy registered the girls for a week-long theater camp in Kalispell, and we loved their performance of "Giraffes Can't Dance."




The last thing on our agenda before the Cosbys could embark on the long drive back to Texas was to celebrate Amy's 39th birthday -- dinner at Mackenzie River Pizza Co., the new "Christopher Robin" movie at the Mountain Cinema, and delicious teeny-tiny cupcakes baked by Olivia and Isabelle.

We are so incredibly blessed to have shared our summer days jam-packed with memory-making experiences with our family and friends in a beautiful place that we love.