Fall Conference Weekend 2011

Now that we're three, I've been feeling the need to get more out of our family vacations. You know, all of that "creating memories" for your kids stuff that people talk about. And since conference weekend for us typically involves lots of TV time and not much else, I decided this was a good place to start. We spent the weekend in McCall and though we watched conference, we were sure to fill up our spare time with some quality family activities.

On Saturday afternoon we hiked up to Duck Lake. It's a short hike, only ~2 miles total which was perfect with baby. I had Millie in the Ergo carrier the entire way and I'm pretty sure this experience taught her patience. Our independent, wandering baby whined and arched her back for the first five minutes, but eventually relaxed and enjoyed her ride up and down the side of the mountain.

Here's Duck Lake. Other than a couple of hunters descending as we hiked up, we were the only people there. It was long sleeve weather and just beautiful. McCall is great, but an uncrowded McCall is even better.

Baby skinny jeans + fleece vest = baby hiking fashionista.

My parents were also in McCall and it was nice to spend a relaxing weekend with them. I really wanted to go to Burgdorf hot springs Saturday night, but figured it would prove to be too much time in the car for our little one. Maybe next time!

Here she is on a walk to the beach. She could care less about that pinecone, she was just humoring me. Her nose was quite leaky and the not-so-prepared me forgot to bring a kleenex, so I went all Pocahontas and used a leaf instead.

Payette lake with a receding water line.

I now understand that family vacations take careful planning when you've got a kid. I'm striving for a balance of relaxation and engaging activity, yummy foods that are easy to prepare and not overly calorie laden, and a structured plan that allows for flexibility. I think we did pretty good this time.