Cousin Stimson shares his bike, and makes sure I'm safe.
a morning walk in Show Low, Arizona
Great Grandma Lue gives me Christmas presents made in Bangladesh
I couldn't get enough of Grandpa's lap at the cabin.
good coffee,
Mormor shares Most Exalted Grandfather's morning coffee with me before I even have my pajamas off
and exciting new experiences,
You have to talk to Gramps, but I think the story behind this involves a missionary in Ecuador, a taxidermist who does work for movie sets, and my Great-Grandpa Carlson.
Cousin Jesse introduced me to the joys of a garden hose.
I had a great summer.
It was, actually, pretty hard to say goodbye to everyone and everything that made up my summer 2011. But, I know Dad has a job that lets him love and train his students well, and Mom can focus more on me when we are in Dhaka, so I got on that plane on August 1 and spent 30 hours in jets and airports, and am settled in for another ten months in Bangladesh. I hope I have more interesting people and life lessons to share with you soon!
I'm going to tell you about one last Glacier-related highlight of the summer, and then I promise to move on from Montana for a bit. Now, whenever I can get to Montana, I have a place to stay just seven minutes from the West Glacier entrance station. Mormor and Most Exalted Grandfather have a home there, and I have a key. (OK, let's be honest. Mom has the key in her purse, but I know where that is!)
I loved getting to spend time there and to see some of the work they're putting into it. One of my favorites was the new post that Grandpa sanded. Isn't it cool looking? That's right in the middle of their living room. For a bit more of the story behind the cabin (which will have a name, but doesn't yet), check out this article.
Since I had already been in Glacier for almost ten days without even getting a backpacking permit, I made Dad and Grandpa head into the Apgar Backcountry office to check out the situation. Unfortunately, the epic snow of last winter was keeping many sites closed later in the season and making the sites that were open fill up really fast. So, we went out on a limb and decided to spend a night at Akokala Lake. This backpacking trip started out at Bowman Lake, which I didn't mind one bit. (Mom's started a photo album on the computer called "Bowman at Bowman Lake" with the picture of me there in 2010 and the one above from this year. How silly she is.)
Like last year, I got to take this backpacking trip with my Davidson grandparents, who were troopers hiking in the hot, hot weather that greeted us on our first day.
We were quite impressed by the actual campsites at the lake, and my parents took full advantage of the proximity of the tent site to the outlet of the lake to jump right in and cool down after the hike. That night, I took full advantage of the beautiful area by refusing to go to sleep and wandering all around the campground and along the lake. It's a good thing we were the only ones there since I didn't go to bed until after ten and then was up quite a bit in the night, not wanting to miss any cool stars or creepy animals. Thankfully, Mom and Dad did get a little sleep even though I was between them and both of their air mattresses leaked after a year without use. I just slept my way to the Polebridge Mercantile and yummy pastries the next day while they carried me.
Well, I feel about like that right now, so I'm going to wrap this up. For those of you just itching for more, check out this video that my mormor put together.
I just have to take this post to tell you how amazing both sets of my grandparents are. This past summer, Nana and Gramps (whose knee was injured) took me all the way up to Shangri-La in the Many Glacier Valley of Glacier National Park. The first picture is our picnic spot.
I'm probably the only one-year-old to have been to this beautiful spot with both sets of grandparents. Compare the picture of me flying there (above) with the one of me flying there last year when my Davidson grandparents went to the same incredible place with me. How lucky am I?
About a week after Shangri-La 2011, Most Exalted Grandfather, Mormor and our family went to Snow Moon Basin, also out of the Many Glacier area. What a crazy hike. Now, before you enjoy this last picture, please realize that both of these hikes were almost completely off-trail and involved either traversing around tree roots barely clinging to cliffs or scrambling and climbing up serious scree. I really am just so amazed by my grandparents! Aren't you?
Don't worry. I will post at least one more Glacier post before letting go of my wonderful summer, but I wanted you to know what Dhaka is like right now for a 16-month-old. We've been back for a little over three weeks now.
Now, based on any one of my recent summer posts, you know that I spent A LOT of time outside last July. Whether it was in the pool, Peavy Lake, throwing rocks, picking wild strawberries or hiking through snow, I made sure to enjoy the fresh air. (Sometimes I had to do a bit of whining at the door, but eventually someone opened it for me every time.)
When you live in Bangladesh, Mom says, going outside isn't always possible. Our building is a six-story apartment building with a parking garage on the ground floor and more apartment buildings for at least two blocks in any direction. There's about a foot and a half of concrete between each building. The street I live on is relatively calm, which means only about three cars come down it every minute, and six or so rickshaws. One building over, though, is the main road through our neighborhood with almost non-stop traffic. Mom doesn't like me doing a whole lot of running out there without holding her hand, and she's too slow for me.
Furthermore, my newest word is "rain" because at least every other day now that's what I see when I go to the window in the morning. In fact, I now say "rain" every time I go to the window, because that seems to be what Mom's telling me whenever I want to look outside.
Still, I do make sure that Mom takes me to the park a few blocks down at least once a day. I've convinced her that even if it is raining, she can just hose me off in the shower when we get home and I'll be just fine. So, check out this video to see what I do at least once a day during this rainy season in Bangladesh.
A few notes:
There is green grass at the park during monsoon season. Praise Jesus.
Mornings are the slow time at the park, which is why you don't see too many people. Do notice that there is still a full-fledged cricket game going. There is always a cricket game going there, usually on the basketball court.
The man staring at me in the background is normal. Usually he would have company. Later, he picked me up.
The men doing heavy labor (breaking up concrete with picks) in lungis (wrap-around skirts) are also normal. They also stopped to watch me when I ventured closer.
I guess I have to admit that I'm not ready for every hike in Glacier yet. Rather than sleep through some of the good stuff, I told Mom and Dad that they should do a few hikes without me and show me the pictures later. Really, I wanted Mormor and Most Exalted Grandfather to spoil me. After all, when I stayed with Nana and Gramps while my parents climbed a mountain, I got Oreos out of the deal!
One day, Grandpa and I dropped Mom and Dad off at the hikers' shuttle stop in Apgar and they headed up to a very cloudy trailhead at the Loop. They said it didn't clear up much at all by the time they reached Granite Park Chalet four miles later, and as they continued on to the Swiftcurrent Lookout through the clouds, hail started falling on them. Not wanting to waste their day with free babysitters, they did the whole hike, but only saw fleeting glimpses of the Many Glacier Valley and Fifty Mountain area. Check out the lookout tower below. That's Mom trying to stay warm in the bottom left.
As they finished the hike, the clouds did begin to lift, and they saw some great views of Heavens Peak and the surrounding areas.
A few days later, I ditched Mom and Dad once again. Together with Mormor and Grandpa we all started hiking from the Siyeh Bend trailhead, but soon Mom and Dad headed off one way to climb Siyeh while I stuck with the fun group. Later, Mom and Dad told me they were in really cold wind for most of their climb and that when they got to the top they had to turn right back around to stay warm and keep from being blown over the 4,000 foot drop off toward Cracker Lake. Mom was still pretty happy to finally make it to the top of her first 10,000 foot Glacier mountain, though!
Don't think they had all the fun, though. I loved my time with my Davidson grandparents
and Piegan Pass was a pretty great destination, too!
From Many Glacier we got to move on to Apgar Campground on the west side of Glacier National Park. While there aren't nearly as many hikes from there, Mom always has a little extra bounce in her step when we get to the west side. That's where she spent most of her two summers working in the Park, first at Lake McDonald and then in Apgar Village, and that's where she met my dad.
I was happy to get to the west side because it meant meeting up with cousin Stimson and his parents again. Poor Uncle Brad had to do some work, so we hadn't seen them for a little bit. It's so much more exciting chasing around a kid than those boring parents of mine.
We also met up with Mormor and Most Exalted Grandfather over on this side. How fun to do a hike with almost all of my family! Now, we weren't quite fast enough to keep up with Stimson's family, but we did get to see them for lunch. And we obviously missed Andy, Lisa, Cedar, Angie and Seth, but our time going up to Apgar lookout was still full of great conversation (right, Mormor and Nana?), a good nap for me, and anticipation of yummy picnic food. Have I told you yet how much I love all four of my grandparents?
From Apgar campground we also finally made it up to Logan Pass, which had barely opened (even though it was mid-July) due to all the snow last winter. Dad took advantage of his snazzy skis to walk up and ski down part of Clements, and then he let me try out his boots.
When we moved the pop-up and the rest of our camping gear from Two Medicine to Many Glacier, I started to learn how to really enjoy camping. It seems the key is to work hard at making fires, grilling good food, hiking and fishing and then to really feel you've earned those campchair moments and mid-day naps. Those Carlsons sure do tire me out! I had fun borrowing Gramps's chair and took opportunities to fall asleep while hiking with Gramps and Nana.
I didn't sleep through all the fun, though. I enjoyed throwing rocks in Red Rock Lake, picnicking between the pond in the next picture and still-frozen Iceberg Lake, and the other epic hike I'll have to tell you about in the next post. For now, please notice a few aspects of the picture below. First, look behind Dad and me to the left. Do you see that snowy, tree-dotted area just behind the pond?
Well, that's where we saw this mama bear and her three cubs halfway through our lunch! You'll have to look closely in the next picture, but they are there, and they looked a lot bigger when I was watching them from just across the pond. Just pretend it's like a Where's Waldo game, only the target is potentially more dangerous.
Now, go back and look at the picture of Dad and me. The mountain on the far right is Mount Henkel. The day after our Iceberg Lake hike with Nana and Gramps, Mom and Dad ditched the rest of us and climbed that mountain. (Don't worry, Nana and Gramps still took me to see a pretty cool waterfall, and I think eating Oreos with them is quite a treat.) It was a cloudy day, but that makes the pictures they did get as the wind blew clouds around the peak even cooler. There's just so much to do and see in that Many Glacier valley.
Well, if you've read my blogs for long now, you know that I love Glacier National Park, Montana. I'm super thankful for the almost three weeks I got to spend there this last summer.
Nana, Gramps, Dad, Mom and I drove the spacious van from Grove City, Minnesota to Two Medicine, Glacier, Montana in two and a half days. They took longer than usual because I kept making them stop for picnics and Gramps wanted to stop and pick daisies in North Dakota. Oh, boy, was I happy to get to the Two Medicine campground, even though it was so windy Mom had to put most of my layers on right away. I immediately started excavating the stones in the tent camping site while the men set up camp and Nana made friends with the neighbors. Soon, Uncle Brad, Aunt Katy and Cousin Stimson joined us, and then things got even more fun. Stimson even built a city with a swimming pool where I had started digging!
The next day, we started our hiking for the summer with a trip to Rockwell Falls and Two Medicine Pass. The day was gorgeous and it was really fun to be hiking with my Carlson Grandparents
and Davidson Grandpa. Mormor couldn't hike with us because she was still working, but we included her in a picture because we wished she was there.
Let me tell you, that hike was pretty snowy for a few miles, but that made the views even more rewarding and the chance I got to hike down the trail out of my carrier for once even more fun. I can't wait to get back there in ten months or so!
After Seattle, my summer of fun continued in Minnesota. After a rough flight with Nana, Gramps, Mom and Dad, we arrived in the Twin Cities and then had a couple of days in Grove City. I learned to really like dogs, or "guys" as I call them, with Bruin and the neighbor dogs, and I've carried that love of dogs with me even back to Dhaka, where Mom won't let me touch a single one. She says something about rabies and strays and no collars whenever I run after them.
Anyway, there was lots to explore in Grove City, including Carlson Meats, my Gramps's shop that is almost 100 years old. But, soon we got in the car again for the drive to Peavy Lake and the cabin where Dad spent his summers when he was younger. They put me right to work there! Dad says he was raised knowing that if you wanted to play at the lake, you had to put your time in to keep the property nice. I think that's one reason he has such a good work ethic, and is so intent on passing that message along to me. At least he let me use the riding lawn mower!
After working on the lawn, most of my work was done on the dock. I helped Gramps organize rocks and dirt.
I helped catch dinner.
I helped Nana practice her strokes.
And I even helped keep the pontoon on course!
Thanks for sharing your lake, Nana and Gramps! I had a wonderful time.
After meeting all of those Johnson relatives, I was really excited to meet even more family in Seattle, Washington, where we flew next.How great is it that I have two loving, creative, smart, adventurous and Godly families to spend time with?
and had a new cousin to introduce me to. I'm really proud of all their work, but I was personally most excited about the new cousin part.Cedar is just adorable!
I also got to catch up a little with Cousin Stimson, Uncle Brad, Aunt Katy, Nana, Gramps, Great Nana and even more of Nana's relatives while we were there.We barbecued, cheered Mom, Dad and Uncle Brad on in the Seattle Rock-N-Roll Half and Full Marathons, checked out the Pike's Place Market and enjoyed a beach with great mountain views.
Thanks for being such a great Seattle hostess, cousin Cedar!
