Family Reunion 2022: Stanley, Idaho

Now that both kids are married, we decided to do a family reunion every other year. Bailey and I had a girl's trip to the Sawtooths last fall, and we thought it would be the perfect spot for our first one. So gorgeous, and so much to do! Plus, it's Mark's old summer stomping grounds from his childhood vacations, so we thought it would be fun for him to reminisce. We rented the cutest cabin, and everyone met there on a Thursday night. 

Goat Lake:

We couldn't check into our cabin until 4:00, so Mark and I decided to go early and hike to Goat Lake. It's one of my favorite lakes of all time! When Bailey and I were there in the fall, it was too cold to go in, but it was close to 90* this time, so a swim in the lake was perfect! 

Our first creek crossing went to my upper thighs, and it was very welcomed at that point in the hike.

The boulder field right before the lake.

Lots of little waterfalls, and one giant waterfall.

I love the sound of the water.

Goat Lake!

The water is so clear, you can see to the bottom even in the really deep spots.

😍😍😍

So fun for him to be back here. We hiked to this lake together in high school.

The water was perfect! Plus it refreshed us for the hike back down.

😂😂😂

I went in a couple of times.

We love the jagged sawtooth mountains.

This waterfall flows all the way down the mountain. You can't see the whole thing at one time.

I love all the clear creeks in the area.

Goat Lake was the perfect 9 miler to kick off our weekend in Stanley.

Sunbeam Hot Springs:

Mason had to work on Thursday, so they weren't going to get there until late that night. Once Sawyer and Amanda got there, we got settled into the cabin, had dinner, and then went to the Sunbeam Hot Springs. Bailey and I loved doing this at night when we were there in the fall. It wasn't as good in the summer, because the river was running a lot higher, so the cold water was pouring into a lot of the outer pools. That meant there weren't as many good spots to soak. We had to wait for a big group of kids to leave before we could get a good spot. There is still something so cool about sitting in warm water at the edge of a river, as everything gets dark around you.

Sawyer and Amanda

Sawyer never sat down. 😂

So cool to do this at night.

Don't mind my crazy hair; I had jumped in a lake earlier that day.

I've climbed a lot of mountains lately, so this felt great on my tired legs.

Fishhook Creek Hike:

Friday morning was hike day. We hiked Fishhook Creek. It was a pretty, 4.5 miles that followed a creek to a cute little lake with a great mountain view.

I got up early and watched the sunrise from our bedroom balcony.

Amanda-Sawyer-Nora-Bailey-Mason-Tricia-Mark

The creek

I love Nora's big, bright eyes! 

Cutest little hiking family!

She was so cute just hugging her mama along the way. 💞

Sawyer and Amanda 

Pretty mountain views!

Mark and Tricia at the lake.

Sawyer and Amanda at the lake.

Mason, Bailey, and Nora by the lake.

Nora is the most chill baby! She was dreamy the whole weekend, and is especially great on the hikes. She nursed on the trail, had her diaper changed in the woods, and had smiles for whoever she made eye contact with. 

Cutest little hiking buddies!

While we waited for Nora to eat, Sawyer was doing this to keep the mosquitos away. 😂

Floating the River:

After the hike, we had lunch, and then we took turns floating the river. We just went a couple miles from lower Stanley to just past our cabin. Mark and I went first, and then when we got done, Mason and Bailey went. 

Sweet Nora Rae took a nap while we floated the river.

The float took us about 40 minutes. Mason dropped us off at the start, and then fished at the end while he waited for us to finish.

We could see the clouds rolling in during our float.

There was an eagle in the tree at the take out spot.

Mason and Bailey floated right after us. Mark dropped them off, then pulled over to take pictures of them along the way. I could hear the thunder in the distance while they were floating.

Right when we were done floating, the storm rolled in, and we had a nice afternoon thunder shower.

Fish Hatchery:

Mark wanted to take the kids to the Fish Hatchery, because he remembered going as a kid. We watched the big fish swim around, and occasionally jump out of the water for the bugs. Mark and Mason went to the back of the hatchery to the pond, and saw a badger! They came back to tell us, and we looked across the fish area and saw it too. They are rare to see in the wild, and we definitely kept our distance.

Watching the fish.

Sawyer's shirt is rad!

So many big fish.

The badger!

Friday night we played games in the cabin. Cover Your Assets was my favorite.

Redfish Lake Day:

Saturday we spent the day at Redfish Lake. We got there early because we knew it would be super crowded. We got a great spot and got the canopy all set up. Bailey needed to do her long run while we were there, so we had a trail all planned out. She needed to feed Nora before we left to run, so Mark and I took the kayaks out while we waited for her.

Our lake day crew!

This is the best lake to kayak on!

We kayaked along the shoreline to the outlet of the lake.

The lake outlet.

I could do this all day!

Bailey is training for a half marathon in September, so she needed an 8 miler. That would be her longest post baby run. We ended up going farther, because we wanted to make it to the first of the Bench Lakes to show Mark. We had hiked there in the fall on our girl's trip, and really liked the lakes. It was up hill the whole way out, and Bailey did amazing! She felt so light without having to push the baby jogger. It was a good hill workout for me and Mark trying to keep up with her on the uphills.

Cruising the hills.

The first Bench Lake.

I was glad Mark got to see this one. We need to go back and hike to all of them.

😍

The trail follows the bench above Redfish Lake, so we had views of the lake most of the way up and back.

Redfish Lake

While we ran, the rest of the crew hung out at the lake with baby Nora. She had a nice nap!

She is the cutest!

Napping in the shade at the edge of a beautiful lake. That's the life.

Hanging with Uncle Squiggy and Aunt NooNoo.

She's way to cool for us!

Sawyer and Amanda cooling off.

Mason going to fish from the kayak.

Cutest little pineapple swimsuit.

The bow on the bum! 😍

Chillin' with Pops.

Wondering if she did enough to be bikini ready. 😂

Owning it!

I could just die at the cuteness! 😁

Nora Rae turned three months old on the trip!

Twinning pineapple swimsuits with dad!

She liked the water!

She seriously is the most easy going baby!

So cute!

Swimming with mom!

Vacations are so fun with a baby!

😆😆😆

Mason caught a fish from the dock.

A perfect lake day. Cooling off one final time before we left.

Ice cream!

Perfect way to end our lake day.

We went back to the cabin and had dinner, then we ended the night by watching the UFC fights.

The Meadow:

We had breakfast Sunday morning and then packed up to leave. Mason, Bailey, and Nora walked up to the meadow with Mark and I to see if we could find Dan's memorial stone in the creek. We didn't find it this time. I think it was buried a little too deep under the sand. The meadow was so green and pretty though! They flew Mason's drone around, and I'm excited to see the video from it.

Chillin' with my little buddy before we had to leave the cabin.

Bailey's shoulders were sunburned, so Mason hiked with her this time.

Bailey's great at nursing on the trail, but now she can nurse and just keep hiking! Pro status!

The beautiful meadow!

Flying the drone. It is so cool!

Trying to find Dan's memorial rock.

And that's a wrap! It was a fun first family reunion. It'll be interesting to see what we come up with to do next. It's hard trying to plan around everyone's work and school schedules, so we kept this one short, and fairly close to home, but I thought it ended up great.