Pizzey Vacation at Ashley Lake

Two weeks in Montana. We spend one week with my family at Ashley lake and then headed 50 minutes through Kalispell and out the other side to Echo to spend a week with whoever could come to Echo at that week. Both weeks were great. We had a lot of fun... we were tired after the two weeks. Vacationing with kids is fun but tiring.

Ashley Lake:  (warning lots of photos to come!)

So every two years my family does vacation. Well it had been put off for 3 years because Blake was getting back the following year so we waited for him. Anyways, so this year we rented a cabin at Ashley Lake in Montana. I had never heard of Ashley Lake because basically most members go to Echo when they go to Montana. Wasn't sure before we went but when we got there I was blown away!!! The cabin was AWESOME with a room for everyone. I swear that when you have your own space to sleep, to keep organized with your stuff, and to let your kids nap, vacations are WAY less stressful. I'll talk more about the cabin as we go through the pictures.

So the cabin was unbelievable, the lake was gorgeous. It is a bigger lake than Echo, but it was quieter. From what I hear is it's a private lake. So beach or public access. There's definitely pros and cons to both lakes and I'm not sure what lake I would choose if we were choosing. The lake was super clear, no weeds, just rocks and mud/ sand, and was quiet.

Here's some photos and some explanations underneath:

This first few photos are of the cabin. I wish I would have got photos of the basement. The main floor has the kitchen, massive table, common area, laundry, full bathroom, master bedroom (which was locked- they have 7 rooms by 6 are available for use), and massive 1/2 wrap around porch). The upstairs has a little reading area and piano, 2 bedrooms, full bathroom and a secret play room. The basement has a movie room with projector, fridge, sink, storage room, full bathroom, and 4 big bedrooms. Most bedrooms had a bunk bed, pack n play, and queen bed with lots of room to spare. Could easily put another bunk bed in the rooms.

 (what you see when you walk in)

Such a great idea to have a little playground set. The kids loved it. Jace was even able to get up on the slide on his own.

Secret Play Room:

These two play really well. I think one minor tiff the whole week that they were able to sort out. They loved playing dress up, outside on the play set, and just being with each other.

60 foot slide they had. Talia actually like going down with Jason. Shocking because she's not a huge fan of swimming just yet. We also made Jace go down. Not sure if he loved it.

 

 We had awesome weather. Most days were spent on the dock swimming and just relaxing. We did rent a boat for a couple days. It was good. Not a great boat for skiiers because it didn't have much pop but it was fun for the two days.

Breanne and Jordan's youngest. This girl cracks me up. Love miss Marli!

 Breanne, Marli, and Jordan hanging out on the little kids area Jordan put together. This helped my kids warm up to the idea of water than isn't bath temperature.

Talia was in a mood I guess! Ha! In this photo Talia looks almost identical to Jason at that age.

Breanne and her girls

 Initially Me, Blake, and Paige wrestling. As you can see Paige left. I probably wasn't going to be the one left on the tramp but there's no way I was going off without Blake. We both ended up off the tramp at the same time. :)

 Davey boy- Taren's husband.

Can't resist a bum picture!

 Food worked out great. We all took a day of meals- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every ones meals were great and everyone pitched in with clean up. Also with snacks and stuff my parents were great and brought a bunch but we all brought random stuff as well. Easy. Again I think with having a good space and everyone being easy going with how people get things done or do stuff, the week went really good!

 Eating lunch outside

 Taren and Princess Talia. Talia's obsessed with dress up lately and luckily this playroom had TONS of dress up stuff.

Sisters

 Jordan's always doing something and he entertained the girls with setting a trap. They caught this little guy. He was sure panicked but he was let free after we got a couple pictures.

Cabin from the lake.

 Our kids loved going kayaking. Thought it was pretty fun.

 Playing games. My favorite from this vacation was tile rummy, and things in a box.

 Early mornings with Marli and Jace. Mostly Jace. Jason and I switched mornings that we got up with him.

 Anyone who really knows Jace knows he's a tease, happy, loves to dance, and when he really doesn't want something or is set on something he can throw some major tantrums. This is how we solved one. went in the water together. Seemed to work. Ha!

I love this kid! Looks like a hick in this outfit I love it!

This picture makes me laugh. Talia would always come down in the new outfit. This time she said she was a doctor... Doesn't look like a doctor to me, maybe a pioneer.

 Massive rainbow after a storm.

 So nice having a hot tub.

Fires. Fun!

It was a great vacation