I was DYING to get out of town and our planned McCall vacation had me counting down for weeks! How blessed are we to be able to be able to travel, surround ourselves with good company, ice skate, go tubing, shopping, games, dinners, and so much more.

Thursday we picked Tay up from school and headed out of town! We were all overly excited because our best friends were also headed up. We decided to all meet up for dinner in McCall before heading to the cabin. After dinner we headed to “The Cove” which is a Simplot owned cabin that we called home for the next four days.  It was AMAZING!! We had four adults and four kids but the cabin had 17 beds and 8 bedrooms with 4 bathrooms. It was unreal. A wrap around deck and surrounded by three sides of the lake had me drooling. I was in awe over the beauty of this cabin and our view. Do we ever have to leave?!

Friday the activity of the day was ice skating! We headed out around 11am to get breakfast at the Pancake house and get the morning started. Benson was exhausted and not sleeping whatsoever in a new place so breakfast was pretty stressful. Tantrums galore. Taytum was pretty well behaved. It’s so different with her because she keeps herself entertained with Zo the entire time. It frees up my mind and hands to deal with Benson.

So we head to the ice rink and find out we are not allowed to put Benson in the ergo baby and skate with him (I guess it’s not safe) so we attempt to let our 16 month old ice skate with a parent hunched over holding onto them. Not it! Anthony took him out on the ice, while I stayed behind and shot some photos of it all. I must say…the baby helmet and size 6 ice skates are too cute… Buuuuut Benson lasted five whole minutes. He hated it all, and he was exhausted. So momma bear hung out on the bleachers while Tay skated around, or attempted too with Zoey. I’m not sure if the girls forgot how to skate but they spent a lot of time falling (I think it’s the goofy thing to do) And eventually Benson fell asleep in the ergo baby. The ONLY thing on my mind was DO NOT WAKE HIM. I will walk with him, eat with him, shop with him, do whatever with him on my chest, Until I literally thought he wasn’t breathing. I may or may not have overdone it with the bundling up of him. (In my defense, it was super cold, windy, and snow was falling) we spent some time in the afternoon shopping. My happy place! I LOVE the chocolate store and the McCall store!

McCall is so magical during the holidays. Every one and store is in the Christmas spirit, and what would you know, SNOW! So much snow fell the first full day we were there! Taytum and Zoey had so much fun playing outside. The red noses and ears were just a sign that they were in a winter wonderland. Each of them made 104 snowballs one evening and then had a snowball fight with each other! (Heck no I was not going to be their target!)

Saturday our activity for the day was tubing at the activity barn. Again we started our morning at the Pancake house before getting our day going. Benson slept much better night two, so he was pretty pleasant during breakfast. The pancake house also had Santa there so both the kids got to see him. Benson strangely didn’t freak out as badly as I thought he might sitting on a strange man with a white beard. After breakfast we went back to the cabin to get all our snow gear on. The girls were itching to get on the hills and so were we.

As soon as we got to the activity barn Tay was running for tubes. The girls just don’t stop! They go round and round and round. It amazes me how quickly they’ve grown up. They don’t need our help grabbing tubes, they don’t need us reassuring them it’s safe or fun, they know what to do and follow directions without our guidance. Eight is great!

Benson enjoyed the tubes as well with momma and dadda pulling him around on flat ground. He was too young to ride down the big hills (safety reasons again) so I was able to preoccupy him most of the time we were there by just pulling him around. Anthony and I took turns with him so the other could go down with our friends or kids. So much fun. I caught air. It’s amazing that Tay is never afraid and I am so fearful!

Sunday we said goodbye to this winter wonderland and all of its beauty. I probably over did it with a million photos of snow on trees and endless photos of the lake surrounded by mountains but I am slightly obsessed with the town! We had such a fun time with the best of friends and watching our kids grow up together, adventuring together is a blast. It goes by so quickly. The last time we came up to McCall for vacation together Heidi and I were complaining that we weren’t pregnant and everyone around us was. Little did we know I in fact was pregnant while we were there. This time we are toting around a toddler for me, and baby Arrow (3months) for her. Our family has grown and I can’t wait for a return trip to the cabin!

We are so thankful for good company, family tine, and scenic drives.