Big Sky

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There is nothing better than a road trip. Sure, with 6 kids in the back seat, there are plenty of boundary disputes, rogue elbows in siblings' personal space and whining. But there's also the excitement of the whole family zipping along through space together, separate from the world, taking in the beauty of the
American West. My favorite freedom is that I can get in my car and go as far as I want in any direction. This time, it was a trip to Cooke City, Montana, that had us on the road at 6 AM Thursday morning. By ten we were in Yellowstone, marveling at the landscape and stopping to take pictures of all kinds of wildlife. Well, some of us were marveling...

One drawback to the aforementioned road trip excitement is that you have to pay for peace with electronic devices. I've never seen a carload of kids so reluctant to look out the window. At one point in Yellowstone, we were literally stopped on the road by a herd of buffalo. One stood right in front of our car and repeatedly stuck his tongue out at us, growling. That's cool, right? One giant beast sauntered over to our car and looked in the window at Freestone. I turned to look at Freestone's reaction and he was completely oblivious to the buffalo, staring at his PSP. Golda was similarly zoned out with her headphones on. Scott and I scared several of the buffalo away when we started frantically screaming at the kids to turn off their electronics.

Once we arrived in Cooke City, the kids were set free from the car to roam the meadows and woods surrounding the cabin. My aunt and uncle built this beautiful place, and we're lucky enough to be invited up every year. This time, five of my cousins and their families were there. That's 12 adults and 26 kids. The kids had us completely outnumbered, and they were a lot louder than the adults, too! But, let me tell you, they were not hard to entertain! They were busy from morning until late into the night with canoeing, fishing, exploring, doing crafts, tie-dying, pinatas, playing games, catching wood chucks, hiking and playing in the stream. As my uncle Paul says about the cabin, "There's nothing to do and not enough time to do it." So true! Nobody even missed not having a TV. The adults had plenty of time to talk and strengthen our friendships. I'm so grateful for all my cousins, and so glad we got these few days together, since we see each other much too seldom.

Scott's favorite drive in Montana is to Top of the World. There are glaciers, mountain goats and beautiful lakes, with far-reaching views of the Beartooth mountains and the ranches nestled in the valleys between them. We drove up there and took a picnic, which we ate in the car because it's always cold and windy at the top of the world.

On one of the trips to the Broadwater to canoe, Freestone was taunting my cousins and me, saying, "You're the worst! You're all the worst! I'm last the best," as he brought up the rear of the line. My cousin David said, "OK, but the last person is the one the bears eat." Free bolted past everyone else, shouting, "I want to be first! I want to be first the worst!" Fortunately, nobody got eaten by anything, although the mosquitos were big enough to try, and we did see a black bear cross the street in Cooke City.

Too soon, our trip was over. On Sunday, we went to church in a log cabin in Cooke City. Primary takes place in the hayloft, and it's a highlight for the kids. As soon as it ended, we drove back the way we came, through Yellowstone, still taking pictures of wildlife and still having fun. Close to the end of the drive, dusk settled over the landscape and the kids in the back were quiet. I had time to reflect on each one of them and what their needs will be this coming school year. It's going to be busy and full and fun, and each child will need more than I can give them at times. For this weekend, though, we gave the kids all we had, showed them all that nature has to offer, and added a few more ties between our hearts. My cousin Emily said, in the log cabin church, that her mom's best advice to her was to create as many ties to her childrens' hearts as possible so those ties would never break. I love that advice, and I will carry it into the school year, along with all of our Cooke City memories, for days when there's no time for watching buffalo.