Chatter Boxes

We all headed up to McCall for the weekend.  We spent Saturday at Payette Lake.

Does this look like a kid having a good time or what?

Sand Sculpting with Aunt Kelly

Wave-Running with Daddy

We gave the boys a disposable camera to take their own pictures during our trip.  Colin was the photographer on this one and he had very specific instructions about where and how we were supposed to stand.  It turned out to be a great picture.  Too bad it looks like a vacation we took in 1984.

Ice Cream Alley in McCall.  This is another highlight for the boys.  Having ice cream right before dinner was one of their favorite things about the trip.

Another picture from the disposable camera.  Seth directed this shot.

Next up...the Grand Finale!

We've returned home now after three weeks in Idaho to visit my parents.  We logged a total of 44 hours on the road and I'm happy to report we all survived the road trip and perhaps even enjoyed ourselves along the way.

You've seen bits of our trip already since I blogged while we were away.  I'll post pictures of the rest of our trip in the next few days.

First, here's the calendar Grandpa and Grandma made so we could keep track of all the fun.


Now, we'll take up where we left off.  We met up with my college roommate Christi and her kids for a morning of playing.  Well...they played...we talked.




That night, all the boys headed up to the mountains to go camping and hiking along the Weiser River.

Bundled Up Breakfast

It was chilly in the morning mountain air.

Home Sweet Campsite

The boys woke up and hiked to Goose Creek Falls, a 6 miles hike.  Apparently, they complained the whole time about being tired but if you ask them now what their favorite part of the trip was, one of them mentions hiking to the waterfall.

While the boys camped, the girls prepped for a weekend at the lake and slept in beds with pillows and blankets and a little peace and quiet.

Next up...a day at the lake.

Grandma and Colin caught a Caterpillar.  They've been feeding it flowers every day but captivity proved too great for Franchello (that's what Colin named him/her/it) and he/she/it passed over to the flowerbed in the sky.  Colin took it a little hard and found comfort in planning a proper caterpillar funeral service.

Franchello alive and well.

Franchello's service.  I love Colin's hand on my shoulder.

We ventured out for dinner while visiting my parents to a diner in a small town near by.  They serve a platter called the Hemi-Burger.  It's a 2 pound fully-loaded cheeseburger with 2 pounds of fries/tots and a milkshake.  Needless to say we split it and all left stuffed! 

I know...it's lame not to just pick it up but I could get my mouth around it.

Kelly's cooler than I am.

Seth getting his portion of the milkshake.

It's like feeding baby birds.

The pool close to my parent's house was built just for kids.  Lots of water guns, fountains, and slides.  Colin loved it.

After swimming for a bit, Seth decided he'd rather do something else.  He's not in trouble...

...he's watching a baseball game across the park.

Meanwhile Colin did this some more...

...and more

Grandpa got a new grill for his birthday so we tried it out.

Aren't they cool?  Grandpa took us all to the Boise Hawks baseball game for his birthday.  The sun was setting just to our left.  John and Kelly made do.

The kids took the field to sing during the 7th inning stretch.  Seth and Colin are down there somewhere.

Dancing with Miss Idaho on top of the dugout.  Gotta love minor league baseball!

We were in Idaho for the 4th of July this year.

The Spread

Waiting for the fireworks.  Notice the amber waves of grain?

It got a little chilly.  Watching 4th of July fireworks under blankets is not normal.

On our way to visit my parents we stopped for a night in Wyoming.  We found some fun easy hiking trails and set out to burn off some energy.  This section of Medicine Bow National Forest was called "Happy Jack".  And happy it was.

That's a video camera strapped to John's shoulder, not a child leash.  We have video footage of our entire hike but it's mostly just us saying things like "stay on the trail", "Colin don't lick your brother", and "Seth please stop screaming."

The Big Finish!

Just a few pictures from a recent trip to the Omaha Zoo.  The weather was amazing for summer in the Midwest.  Low 80's with no humidity.

Colin with his favorite animal...the zebras!  We stood here for a long time while Colin shared several interesting facts about Zebras.  The zoo should hire him to write the display descriptions.  His narrative was much more interesting than what was provided.  I had to gently remind him to lower his voice when he starting talking about the food chain of the African Savanna.  I'm not sure the group of toddlers next to us was quite ready for that life lesson.

Seth took this picture!

This exhibit delighted me greatly.  I think this was a warming light at the end of a fake log.  It shined like a spotlight and this little guy sat staring into it for a long time.  Just the way he was sitting and staring made me laugh.  Like a teenage lemur parked in front of his laptop.  Or an astronaut lemur headed into space.  Or perhaps he was receiving a message from on high.