The Boise Biggie

As promised, the Boise post has finally arrived. And it's massive. I'm sure you've been waiting on pins and needles for this, so bear with me as I jot it down into the annuls of Cardon history. 

The kids and I (chaperoned by Auntie Whitney), all flew to SLC (no significance other than it was much cheaper!) on Sunday, July 14th. We left super early from Raleigh, and all went smoothly with our connections so that we arrived  in SLC at 10 a.m. and immediately loaded up in Whitney's brand new car and drove to Boise. My kids were absolute TROOPERS, after literally about 15 hours of traveling, a 2 hour time difference, and waking up at 4:30 a.m. They could not wait to get to Boise and finally see everyone and everything we'd been talking about for weeks!

Guess what was first on the list of "Things-To-Do" Monday morning? I sent this picture at 8:01 a.m. to Jonathan when Lucy was finally allowed in the pool to go swimming! She had waited all year for this moment. I'm not sure if she spent more time OUT or IN, after this...

 Monday night found us at our old favorite-- U-Swirl-- for FHE. Zach had no problem loading his fro-yo up with tons of candy. Oh yeah! We even claimed Grandpa Tom-Tom for the outing which was a rare treat-- between Bishoping and the mountains, he's pretty hard to pin down.

 We spent the next few days in the best ways possible-- lots of shopping, swimming, and spending time in each other's company. Oh yeah, and eating lunch at Cafe Rio, more than a few times. We bought some cupcakes from a local shop on our way home from one of these outings. Aren't they pretty? And even though I was diligent and headed to the gym every morning (thanks to my mom and Whitney for babysitting), I'm pretty sure I undid everything and then some by the amount of food I consumed! 

 Sunday evening we headed out to Meridian to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Charlie. It was Leah's first time meeting them, and although she was a little shy, she had fun playing with all the toys they have on stash.

 My poor Grandma has been through an ordeal with her back, and was not feeling very well, but she managed to visit with my kids for a little bit and at least see us while we were in town. I sure wish we were closer to see them more often! 

 We met my Dad the next afternoon for a picnic lunch at a local splash park that the kids had a blast playing at. I was amazed at how although the temperatures were up in the 90's, without the constant humidity of the South, it was actually quite nice outside!

 Lucy and Zach drying off after playing on the splash pad!

 Leah, enjoying an Oreo from the picnic. Nice photo-bomb, Whit!

 We spent many an afternoon "relaxing" (or not, as in the case of Whitney-- she was mostly just attacked) in the pool, and Zach got to be a pretty competent swimmer with water wings, of course. He finally got brave enough to try the water slide by himself, and after that you couldn't keep him off it!

 My parents took Lucy and Zach to our ward's picnic dinner on Pioneer Day, which was fun for them since it's a holiday that doesn't exist out here.  

 Lucy even got all dressed up for the occasion. I doubt the pioneers ate popsicles, but I bet this one tasted pretty good...

 We had our own pioneering outdoors excursion in the Idaho wilderness a few days later, when my parents talked me into camping overnight. 24 hours is about all I can take with the bugs, dirt, and babies always about the crawl into the fire pit, but Lone Wolf promised me some dutch oven cooking.

 While Leah was napping and out of fire danger, Whitney and I taught Lucy and Zach how to play UNO. They caught on really quickly and it's their new favorite game!

 Dinner time! We had dutch oven BBQ chicken, cheesy potatoes, whole wheat bread, and watermelon. It was a feast! And by the time it was ready, the bugs had finally calmed down a bit.

 Leah was loving all this yummy food! She had finally cut a tooth on the bottom, and she made good use of it on just about anything I offered.

 It doesn't get dark up there until after 10 p.m., so we had to roast our s'mores while it was still light outside. Didn't change the taste any! My kids could camp for weeks-- luckily they love it more than their mom so they can be their dad's camping buddies.

 This little stinker went to bed laaaaate, and then woke up at the crack of dawn ready to play. At least we were sequestered in the car, and everyone else in the tent was able to sleep in. Reason #52 why I don't like camping with kids!

 A well rested Zachary enjoying his scrambled eggs and hot chocolate for breakfast. 

 While I stuck Leah down for a nap in the tent, everyone else went hiking to explore a nearby hot springs.  

 "We're following the leader, the leader, the leader! We're following the leader wherever he may go!"

 Can't beat the Idaho wilderness! What a sight, what a sight!

 My little bathing beauty Lucy enjoying a dip in the little pool right below our campsite. It got HOT up there and the river felt just right!

 Cooling off in the river just before lunch. Luckily none of the trout nibbled on their toes, shudder.

We enjoyed a nice picnic lunch before packing up and shipping out. Overall it was a successful camping trip (there was no barf at least)-- and most importantly, the kids had fun. 

The reward for being such a team player? Dinner at my all-time favorite Boise gem, Goodwood Barbeque. I love this place! Their food is amazing and quite possibly worth the horrible night's sleep I got sharing a sleeping bag with the world's wiggliest baby.

My parents flew to the Dominican Republic to pick up my brother Taylor from his mission later the next week, so meanwhile we visited Jonathan's family in Washington (see previous blog). They all got home the following Sunday afternoon, and we drove back from Washington the following Tuesday morning. Taylor did a lot of maturing on his mission, but luckily he was as weird as ever!

Of course the first thing Lucy wanted to do back at Grandma's house was jump in the pool with her cousins Eva and Sophie! We spent a LOT of time outside swimming!

That night Taylor made us food he'd learned to cook while in the DR. I was scared, I admit it, but it was all pretty tasty. This was a mango smoothie he was mix-mastering in the blender.

The cousins enjoying Taylor's DR food.

He made fried chicken, fried plantains, a sweet potato and black bean dessert, and Whitney made the tomato and cucumber salad with yogurt dressing.

The next day we decided to throw a tea party for just the girls, and use my Grandma Gabe's china and tea sets. Whitney made some pinkalicious cupcakes.

Here it is! The table all dressed up with good things to eat!

Lucy loved getting all dressed up and ready for tea. This was definitely right up her alley!

Sweet little Leah joined the cousin party too!

Taylor had never met Leah, obviously, so Leah wasn't really sure what to think when Taylor held her. She warmed up to him towards the end. Zach however would have wrestled Taylor all day long.

One of the guys' favorite pastimes in the pool was finding as many crazy ways to throw the football as possible and catching it while jumping in. They'll be the next YouTube phenomenon.

Wednesday night we hired a babysitter for the kiddos and the adults all got to go out to dinner for Thai food at Sa-wad-dee, a really yummy place out in Eagle.

When we got home we decided to treat the kids to a little firework show, compliments of the illegal fireworks my dad picked up this summer in Montana. We figured we'd better head to the baseball fields behind our house so we didn't accidentally blow the neighborhood up.

The cousins had a blast watching Grandpa and Taylor light 'em up. They are such good buddies. I love this picture!

Friday afternoon my parents bought Taylor, Hodgeman (dont' ask), Whitney, and Jon a white water rafting trip on the Payette river. It was Jon's first time and while it was a little more tame than other stretches we've done, I think Jon really enjoyed it.

Those left at home to babysit kids took a little outing to get Delsa's ice cream, which is about a 10 minute walk from my parent's house-- and a summer tradition.

Lucy with her blue bubblegum ice cream!

 Mmmmm! Leah absolutely loves ice cream in any form.

Saturday was cause for another family pool party, as my Aunt Kay and Uncle Ken drove up from St. George for Taylor's homecoming the next day. 

As each person jumped in the pool Lucy got more and more excited and yelled, "This is my favorite day ever!" She loved having people to swim with.

She has become quite the swimmer this summer!

Zach-O hiding under the hot tub cover. He had a blast going down the slide with the other kids.

After the pool party we had a BBQ with turkey burgers, yummy salads, and grilled corn on the cob with cillantro and queso fresco. Idaho has the best sweet corn!

Sunday we went to Sacrament meeting where Taylor gave a GREAT talk and told some awesome stories about life in the DR. We had a Mexican themed luncheon afterwards for all the family and friends who'd come to hear Taylor.

 
That night we had my cousin Missy take a family picture of all of us, since we were reunited for the first time in 2 years! I love these guys!

 Monday we got lunch at Smash Burger, which Jonathan was dying for (we got addicted to the Spicy Baja burger while we lived in Vegas). I think Taylor missed hamburgers in the DR, but I'm not really sure why he has that cooky expression?

That night we drove over to Fairmont to watch the guys play soccer. They had just mowed the grass so there were clippings everywhere, so we managed to fit all 5 cousins on top of Taylor's car so they could watch.

Well, all good things must come to an end, and that's just what happened. We flew out of Boise back to Raleigh on Tuesday afternoon, but not before we gorged on Cafe Rio one last time. We had such a fantastic month bouncing back and forth between Boise and Selah, and getting to spend so much quality time with our extended family. And most fun of all? Seeing Elder Morris return home triumphantly and safe and sound from the DR. I feel like it was just yesterday that we were dropping him off at the MTC and then on our way to North Carolina to begin our adventure here. Where does the time go??

Super Heroes!

 If you have or have had, a little boy living at your house you probably fully appreciate how important and exciting the world of super heroes is. Zachary-- our resident expert on these things-- is totally into all things Avengers and Justice League, so when I saw this project on Pinterest I immediately enlisted the help of my mom, and we whipped up these cute little felt masks in no time while she was here over Labor Day week!  

 I got the templates online, and they are basically just two pieces of felt sewn together with some elastic in between, and then a little bit of felt decoration glued on. Thankfully my mom did all of the sewing, because while I certainly love to get my craft on, sewing is just not my forte!

Wolverine, Batman, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Wonder Woman (for Lucy), Spiderman, and Captain America.

 Lucy was feeling left out, so I quickly made up a Wonder Woman one so she could wrestle Zach.

 I thought it was appropriate Leah ended up with the Incredible Hulk's mask-- since she's our feistiest baby ever!

I love that when little kids put on a mask they suddenly believe they are the real deal-- Zach's face when they were all finished was priceless. I love our little super heroes! 

The Dog Days Are Over

After getting home from our vacation back West, we hit the ground running here in North Carolina. Zachary's preschool started literally the morning we got home (we got home Wednesday at 1:30 a.m.) and he was supposed to be there by 8:30 a.m. Yeah, didn't happen! 

 Thursday morning however, his backpack was loaded and he had his new Iron Man shirt on. He was ready for round 2 of preschool! After last year's disaster, luckily this preschool was at a new location, a different teacher, and his good buddy Hudson is in his class-- so it was all around a fresh start. So far things have gone MUCH more smoothly, and he loves it! (Especially recess and snack time.)

 This little lady started school the following Monday, and was very excited to be a first grader! She had a lot of anxiety the night before school-- she was nervous about having a new teacher, and meeting new friends. I promised her I'd drop her off in the morning and walk her into her classroom. Unfortunately she had kind of a traumatic introduction! The boy sitting right next to her was seriously FREAKING out and crying and screaming for his "mommy" uncontrollably, so I was really trying to help Lucy ignore him and feel confident about me leaving her for the day. After the morning announcements came on, and the teacher was asking the kids to line up, the boy next to her really started wailing, shot up out of his seat, rammed into the teacher, and bolted out the back door! All 25 little first graders had eyes as big as saucers. I had to leave Lucy at that point to get Zach to school, (thus in all the melee I forgot to get a picture) but come to find out they had to have the principal and school police officer go track him down (and incidentally he took off TWO more times during the day!), and they eventually had to send him back home with his mom. Lucy ending up having (in her words), "Not just a great day, an AWESOME day!" She was born for school. 

 And this guy has done it again. The week after we got home the Air Force base held a big "Sports Day" where they had several athletic competitions for all of the squadrons to compete against each other. So although Jon belongs to the dental squadron, he competed against men from the Special Forces squadrons who's job it is, is to be in peak physical condition-- they basically work out all day. First he ran in the mile race, and got 4th with a time of 5:16. The first place runner did it in just over 4 minutes. Next he signed up for a Cross Fit challenge on a whim (since he's never actually done Cross Fit)-- which included being timed while you complete a really strenuous obstacle course, and the top time was like 14 minutes. He blew that time out of the water and shaved like 2 minutes off that time. Nobody even came close (thus el CHAMP shirt)! I have no idea where he gets this super human strength from.

Wild, Wild, West-- Washington First!

We just got home from a MONSTER trip back West where we visited family and friends and basically got our year's worth of love and support before coming back to the lonely ol' South. Although we started in Idaho, we'll start the blogging marathon in Washington, since I got lazy and didn't take any pictures while home and have to wait to steal them off my mom's blog.  Jonathan flew into Boise to meet me and the kids on Sunday, July 28th, and our adventure begins there!  

 We got to Washington where we were met by Jon's brother Jeremy and his wife Kylene, and their two children Sophie (2 1/2) and Isaac (6 mos.) who flew in from New Mexico, and whom we hadn't seen in TWO years!! It was about time we rendevous-ed with them, plus we got to see Grandma and Grandpa Cardon who had a week's worth of fun activities planned for us!

 First up, a trip to Leavenworth, WA where we enjoyed the beautiful weather, even more beautiful scenery, and scarfed down delicious brats with sauerkraut. Jon had a blast catching up with his brother and talking shop, while the kids were in cousin heaven!

 After lunch we strolled through the different shops and relaxed in the shade while Zachary entertained us with his crazy antics. It was a great first day to our vacation!

 Willkommen to Leavenworth! If you ever get a chance to visit, it comes highly recommended.

 The whole Cardon gang all together for the first time since we spent the 4th of July in Cedar City in 2011, I believe. It has been waaay too long! We are just itching to move closer to these guys in a few years. We stopped at El Caporal for dinner on the way home, which is by far one of our favorite authentic Mexican restaurants we visit every time we're back West.   

 That night before bed all five cousins got in the tub for a little "relaxing" soak. I think it was more wild than relaxing though. Can you believe how much hair little Isaac has?!? Zach was absolutely enamored with him-- he is just thrilled to finally have a boy cousin with a "noodle" (his nickname for his manly parts) like him.:) He even admitted he'd happily trade Lucy or Leah for Isaac.

 Tuesday morning we headed off bright and early to Mt. Ranier National Park to visit the Grove of the Patriarchs and have a picnic. The forest was BEAUTIFUL, and featured some of the oldest and largest trees in the Washington Cascades.  

 The kids had a blast on the easy hiking trail, and we got to cross the Ohanapecosh river (I love all the crazy names in Washington!) on a little suspension bridge which was a lot of fun. Many of the trees have fallen over, and you can really see how enormous the trunks are. I think some of them even date back to the time of Christ. 

 It was especially fun for Jonathan because he was revisiting his old stomping grounds when he worked summers for the Forest Service in these mountains to help pay for college. The drive up from the Naches valley was incredible! No wonder mountain-manning is in his blood. Leah liked it too!

 That is one monster tree!! It's even beginning to outgrow the boardwalk they've built around it.  

 It took all eleven of us touching hands to surround the trunk. Zach called them the "dinosaur trees."

 After a delicious picnic lunch, we headed further up the mountain to see the volcano, which Zach and Lucy were very concerned might "kaplode" (explode) at any moment. This is a view of the Devil's Horns (I think) from the visitor's center.

 The greenery and wild flowers combined with that massive volcano in the background was just breathtaking! In all the times I'd visited Washington I'd never been so I was really glad to see it.

 Pretty impressive! And thankfully, it never did "kaplode."

 That night for dinner we met at Miner's, which is probably Jon's all-time favorite hamburger joint. It's a mean burger, but I'm partial to the onion rings which feature local sweet onions from Walla-Walla. YUM!

 The next couple of days we spent hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house, playing with toys, watching movies, going shopping, and playing outside in the backyard on the new swing Grandpa built.

 Wednesday night we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores and homemade ice cream for dessert, while enjoying the beautiful view of Selah in the background.

 Each morning the kids were spoiled with a huge breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and sausage outside on the patio. Grandma makes really yummy whole wheat pancakes with fresh blueberries! I think Zach's record was four at one sitting.

 Jon, Jeremy, Grandpa, and Zach had a guy's outing Thursday morning when they went to the shooting range to test out Grandpa's guns.

 Even Zach got in on the action and fired a few rounds, and was a crack shot according to Jon. I'm not sure who had more fun that morning-- Jon or Zach!

 That afternoon we went on a family date with Jeremy and Kylene to the Family Fun Center in Yakima and had a blast riding the Go-Karts and playing arcade games. Lucy hitched a ride with Jon, while Zach got stuck with yours truly.

 She did get to drive her own Bumper Boat though, which was kind of scary and exhilarating at the same time. I had to keep reminding her, "You know how to swim Lucy!" because she was scared she might fall in. 

 They were SOAKED by the end of their turn (thanks to Auntie Kylene's very accurate trigger finger), and as you can see Lucy wasn't too thrilled about it. Poor Luce.

 At least she had time to dry out while playing a round of miniature golf. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Jeremy and Kylene, and the cousins had a blast earning prizes at the arcade!

Friday morning things just got better and better, and was hand's down the kids' favorite day when they got to ride on Grandpa's boat. We headed to Wanapum Dam despite some nearby forest fires and iffy weather-- and managed to have a fantastic day. Grandpa hooked the inner tube onto the boat and towed Lucy and Zach for many, many moons until they'd had enough-- or so we thought, because even on the ride home they still fought over who got to go first next time!

 Lucky Mr. Jon was the designated rider and was a good sport while Lucy and Zach had their fill, and kept them all from swamping and taking a dive into the cold water. We had the lake to ourselves and got some prime beach real estate to picnic at.

Despite the many bees who tried to crash the party, we still managed to have a yummy picnic lunch, after which the babies ate more sand, the little ones splashed in the water, and Jon showed off his pretty awesome muscles, er, I mean wake boarding skills. His Quote of the Day: "The old man's still got it." Leah even got to ride on the boat, and refused to sit on my lap for it, but wanted to stand with her face to the wind just like the little puppy she is.

 All too soon Jeremy and Kylene had to fly back home on Saturday afternoon, so before we wished them goodbye, we got a picture of the two newest little ones born just four months apart, both named after Jon's dad Phillip Gene Cardon--  baby Isaac Phillip, and baby Leah Gene. They couldn't be named after a better role model!

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying each other's company and eating all of Grandma's yummy food-- and mom and dad even squeezed in a date or two! The kids especially soaked up the extra love and attention. I can't even tell you how nice it is to visit! I feel like whenever my kids are around their grandparents they just blossom-- especially my little Zach who is kind of shy and awkward (like me). He loves his grandparents so much and just worried every day that it would be time to go back home. Whenever we'd get in the car to go somewhere he'd ask me, "Are we going back to North Carolina now?" And when I'd reassure him "No, we are still staying at Grandma's house," he'd let out this huge sigh of relief. I'm so thankful Jon's parents are so patient and loving with our kids-- they really have such a special bond with them, and it just makes visiting them that much more memorable. Lucy, and now Zach, literally look forward to it all year! We can't wait to go back...