Westward Ho, to I-D-A-H-O!

Howdy folks! We just returned from a monster vacation home to Idaho and Washington, and it's finally time to make it official by recording it on the blog. We were gone for almost three weeks, and it's amazing now that we're home to stop and wonder, where has the summer gone?? It was so wonderful to be back home, in the West, with the people we love and care about most. I think it helps us gain some much needed perspective by reminding us where "home" is; where our roots are, and that we won't always feel like strangers without a country to call our own. It was refreshing to get away, re-motivating to grasp that we WILL be able to push through these last 9 months, and frankly, we had a LOT of fun. So, let's begin with our time in Idaho!  

Our journey westward ho started by dawn's early light as we woke up at 4 a.m. to make it to the Raleigh airport in time to board a 5:45 a.m. flight. We stopped over in Denver, CO, then flew to SLC where my sister Whitney (who had quite a journey of her own!) picked us by rental car. We then had to drive 5 hours to Island Park, ID to meet everyone at our family cabin. With a 2 hour time difference, 6 + hours of flying, and a looooong drive, the kids were totally wiped out!  

 As soon as we hit the road, all three fell asleep and stayed asleep for a good chunk of the drive. They are troopers! It certainly helped that they were all SO excited to be making this trip to see family and had been anticipating it for months! I thought I would end up strangling Zach if he asked me one more time when were leaving!

 As soon as we made it to the cabin, we hit the ground running. It was a cousin-fest with Eva and Sophie there to play with, beautiful weather, a riverside balcony with an incredible view, and perler beads galore.

 Leah was just happy to be snuggled by anyone and everyone! When Whitney picked us up at the SLC airport, Leah took one look at Whitney, remembered her from the week before, and went right to her with a big hug. As long as you tell her how pretty she is, are willing to change her "dipey," and sneak her treats, she will be your best friend forever!

 The kids had a blast riding in the canoe with Uncle Devin and Grandpa Tom Tom, and thankfully nobody went overboard!

 Leah had to be satisfied with dipping her feet ONLY, although she almost made it in head first a number of times!

 All set for a little ride on the river! Zachary could have stayed in the canoe all day.

 Later that evening we had s'mores amidst the glow of a double rainbow, now how lucky is that?!?

 Now that's one happy Zachy face-- a look of pure joy!

 Tom Tom (aka Hodgeman) all set to attack the unsuspecting fish in the river. Nothing better than fly fishing by twilight! And since it stays light until 10 p.m., we had plenty of time to kill before those wild little kids settled down to bed.

 The next morning we headed to church in Island Park, and then went for a scenic drive at Harriman State Park. It was a beautiful day full of blue skies and sunshine!

 Zach-O and Grandpa Tom Tom being silly.

 Everyone minus Lucy (she rode home with Devin and Sarah) standing in the "rush" (as Zach called the sagebrush). After a delicious Sunday dinner, the menfolk drove back home to Boise while the womenfolk (plus Zach) held down the fort for another day so we could head to Yellowstone.

Unfortunately, after the glorious day we'd had before, we woke up to yucky gray skies with a temperature of 52 degrees and freezing cold rain and wind. I didn't pack any jackets, so Brrrrr!! We hopped out of the car to snap this picture of some elk nearby and hopped right back in. 

My kids absolutely LOVE Yellowstone. They are completely fascinated by the hotpots, mudholes, geysers, and buffalo. We got into some very heated conversations about volcanoes, earthquakes, dinosaurs, and whether or not Zach could grow up to be a hunter like Grandpa Charlie. Good times!

This little guy cracks me up! He loves the little warning pictures on the park brochures of people getting gored by buffalo, or of the little boy falling into the hotpot. He kept telling me that maybe this was just an obstacle course the Indians found one day.

Brrrr! That rain was SO cold!

I guess it wasn't so cold that they didn't want ice cream though, ha, ha. After a sad little picnic in the car while we watched Old Faithful erupt, we ran into the Lodge for a sweet treat before heading back out into the rain.

 Eventually the sun did come out, and it warmed up a little just in time for us to head over to West Yellowstone to get in line for the Playmill to see "Beauty and the Beast." Sarah P. and I decided to get day-of tickets for the two littlest ones (Leah and Sophie) so we sat on the opposite side of the theater.

My mom knew one of the actresses from her ward in Boise so the kids got to meet her afterwards, which was totally exciting. I had no idea what to expect from Leah, since sitting still isn't really her thing, but she absolutely LOVED the musical! She sat still for the entire 120 minute show-- and didn't make a peep. She loved Belle, the singing and dancing, and of course we bought popcorn and ice cream during intermission. She was as good as gold (though a little weary of the Beast)!

 Tuesday morning rolled around and we bid farewell to our beloved cabin. Grandpa Charlie built this little house way back in the 1960's, and it's certainly stood the test of time by providing good times and good memories for all who enter in. We drove the 5 hours back to Boise and made it to "Grandma Joanie's house" once and for all!

 The next day we met some friends for a picnic lunch at BoDo (Boise Downtown) at the Center on the Grove where there are fountains to splash and play in. Downtown Boise has grown SO much since I was in high school-- they have all kinds of awesome shopping and retail stores, nice restaurants, a Trader Joe's, and a big movie theater all within a couple blocks.

 Uncle Taylor joined us for the day from his post up in Stanley, ID where he's been working at Redfish Lake Lodge all summer. The kids (especially Zach) were super excited to see him and play with him in the pool even though one day was not long enough! 

 No trip to Grandma's house would be complete without many, Many, MANY dips in the swimming pool! With Leah strapped into her puddle jumper, and Lucy and Zach now adept swimmers of the deep end, I had my work cut out for me maxin' and relaxin' by the pool! It was wonderful!

 We did find some time every now and then out of the pool to do other stuff, like visiting the Boise Zoo-- which is totally awesome! It is small, and so much more manageable than the one here in NC, and it has some really fun interactive displays. And I even got in free with our Zoo pass. The kids loved it.

 In Wallaby Way, you actually get to go into the wallaby cage and walk with the wallabies. You can't pet or touch, but they hop up right to you and say hello!

 They also have a butterfly exhibit you get to walk amidst, and Zach was so cute trying to hold still hoping to have a butterfly land on him! He got a couple, but they seemed to like my bright yellow bag a lot better. Leah kept trying to swat at them so we didn't last too long in there!

Devin and Sarah recently relocated to Boise and bought a house in Hidden Springs. Friday night they invited us over for dinner and some water fun so we could check out their new digs! I LOVE their new house. I'm totally jealous of their neighborhood and set-up, and know they will be very happy with the big move from East to West, even though we miss them here! They set up a slip n' slide on the hill in their backyard which the kids totally loved. 

 Well, no recap would be complete without mentioning the pestilence that Lucy brought with us from North Carolina. She actually got it from Jonathan right before we left, so he is actually Patient Zero, but she successfully passed it to just about everybody before we left. I got it about the second day at the cabin, Whitney then picked it up, as well as my mom, Zach, and Leah, but by Saturday my mom was really sick with a terrible cold! 

 We'd scheduled a Girls' Tea Party (kind of a tradition now) for that morning, and despite the dastardly cold settling into her lungs, she decided the show must go on and we partied on anyway. The little girls love getting all dressed up and eating from fancy china!

We invited my Grandma Charlie (the kids' Great Grandma) and we dined on cucumber sandwiches, veggies and dip, cheese cubes and fruit, lemonade, Russian herbal tea, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and raspberry mousse. Yum!

Naturally Zachary headed for the hills with the boys for a "Man's Date" to get pancakes at McDonald's, then to the Boise Warhawk Museum to check out the fighter planes with Grandpa Tom Tom and Great Grandpa Charlie.

 After a whole afternoon of swimming, we got dinner at my personal favorite-- Goodwood Barbeque while SP stayed at home to babysit the kids. Not really sure how she always gets stuck with the short end of the stick, but she is certainly my hero for letting me dine kid-free for a change. My dear Whitney left us the next morning to continue her trip around the world in LA, so that was a devastating blow to me since I no longer had her to boss around!

 Our time at Grandma and Grandpa's house just seemed to get funner and funner as the time dwindled down shorter and shorter! Although hesitant at first, Leah even warmed up to Grandpa Tom Tom thanks to his super cool rocket launcher and pyrotechnics show one evening. 

 We went to the dollar movie to see Rio 2!

 We devoured snow cones up at Hidden Springs!

 We visited Grandma and Grandpa Charlie out in Meridian and played with all of their fun toys! And we shopped, and shopped, and shopped, until I could no longer hide the result of all this binge shopping on my credit cards without Jon noticing. Oops!

 On our last night in Boise we headed to Delsa's per tradition for a hand dipped ice cream cone.

 Lucy specifically requested this excursion, so you might say we saved the best for last.

That night "Dayee" (as Leah pronounces it) flew into Boise from Raleigh to meet us and drive over to Selah the next morning. The kids were SO excited to see their Dad! They'd certainly missed him and were ready to go spend some time with his side of the family!

But not before one last pit stop at Cafe Rio, which as most of you probably know, is my all-time favorite place to eat and nothing (not time, not mileage, not nobody) will stop me from getting a pork salad fix if there's even a remote chance of doing so. Cafe Rio Count While In Boise: 4 times in 10 days. Oh yeah!! Now that's what I call success! We had such a fantastic trip visiting the Morris side of the fam, we can't thank them enough for hosting us Trashers and showing us a good time. I'd say "Until Next Year," but hopefully this was the last summer trip from North Carolina we will ever have to make! Phew! (And if you read this whole thing, you deserve a medal.) Next Up: Walkin' in Washington...