This summer we were lucky enough to hit up two national parks. I’ve wanted to go to Glacier National Park for a few years and when we realized we would be just 5 hours away from it this summer, we knew we had to make it happen! Guys, it didn’t disappoint! It was stunning. We only had a weekend but I could have stayed longer.
Bryan and I wanted to do as many hikes as possible. We ended up doing 3 that totaled 11 miles. The first one we did was Hidden Lake Overlook. It starts out in a field of wildflowers with beautiful open views. The kids loved seeing the mountain goats that frequented the trail. The view at the end was well worth the hike.
The next hike we did was to St. Mary and Virginia Falls. The kids were over this one quickly because it was the second hike of the day. They were pretty excited to wade around in the water once we got up there though. Bryan always jumps in whenever we are near water (no matter what time of year or how cold!).
Our final hike was to Avalanche Lake. It was our longest hike but once we got there I could have stayed all day taking in the views!
Hiking so much with 4 kids is not always easy but definitely worth it. We want them to learn to do hard things and I feel like it strengthens family bonds. We got A LOT of comments about the size of our family at Glacier and so many people were surprised we were hiking with these 4 little ones but it really was (mostly) great!
The views while we were driving around Glacier were amazing. We stopped a few times to take pictures and even saw a Grizzly bear (while still in our car, luckily!)
It was great to check Glacier off our bucket list but I really hope we get to come back one day!
About a month after visiting Glacier we were gearing up to go to my sister’s wedding in Eastern Idaho. When my husband figured out we would only be a couple of hours away from Yellowstone, he convinced me that we needed to make a detour to visit Yellowstone National Park for a few hours before heading to the wedding. We only got out with the kids once and the rest of the time the kids slept while we drove around. In the end, we made it to the wedding festivities on time and I was happy we had taken the opportunity to check out a bit of Yellowstone!
Bryan and I had both been to Yellowstone separately but this was our first time there together. I had forgotten how beautiful that park is, and again, hope to come back someday!
One of my favorite things about Bryan is that he always makes the most of any time he has off. Even if its only a weekend, he coordinates everything and figures out how we can make it work to go visit places we want to see that are nearby. I was hesitant to do both national parks with the time we had to do them, but we went and did what we could fit in and had a great time both times!
Bryan and I both had so much fun exploring these parks that we decided that visiting every National Park would be on our bucket list as a couple. I LOVE finding things that we enjoy doing as a couple and we are already planning our next trip!
