Incredible Water

Wow! June really flew by! It hasn't gotten very hot yet, but the weather has been up and down with thunderstorms unusually commonplace in the afternoons. So, as usual, we try to soak up good weather days outside as much as we can! The kids and I made it down to the Riverwalk one morning for a biking/scooting/running loop. Never mind that we were late for boot camp; that allowed us to do our own thing and stop at a beach and playground for a while.

A few days it did get warm enough to fill up the pool in the backyard. The kids stayed out there most of the afternoon having a ball of a time.

 They do seem to like each other and get along 85% of the time! I'm thankful for that.

Nothing like homemade smoothies enjoyed under a homemade shade shelter!

June wrapped up with a week of swim lessons. Owen was in the Dolphin level class, and it was all business. Back and forth across the pool with only short breaks, side breathing, new stroke and kick techniques, treading water, and diving from a kneeling position. Welcome to being a "big kid!" Hadley was rocking it in the Eel class, learning to take breaths on her way across the pool while doing freestyle and backstrokes.

And while it might not look like much, to us this was a big deal: a family movie! Owen is not a fan of movies, because he gets really wrapped up in the emotions and suspense. But he liked Incredibles enough that he was willing to go to the theater to give Incredibles 2 a shot. It was pretty amazing to hear an 8 year old walk into a movie theater lobby and go, "Wow! This place is cool!" because he'd never been there before. Apparently, we now have a list of movies to see based on the trailers we saw...

Muddy Bums and Mudbugs

Yesterday, I was itching for a hike, but the kids didn't want to be in the car for long, so we ended up at Cress Creek again. This time we had all day, so we took our time, explored some areas that we hadn't seen before, and even brought water shoes and a net to play in the creek. Our first stop was across the canal to find a geocache. We didn't find it, but we did get really close to the Snake River, which was moving high and quick!

Back on the trail, there is a nice wide spot of the creek. Hadley had made a request on our last trip to bring water shoes for this area when we came back. So we did. And a net. Let's just say that Hadley was not impressed as soon as she stepped in and sank to her knees, soaking her capri pants unexpectedly. As I was helping her dry out on the bank, I looked up at Owen and saw him swinging a leg around sans shoe where the creek narrows up stream. Five minutes later, he was still missing a shoe, so I went to help him locate it. Turns out he'd found the muddiest little pool to step in, and he couldn't even figure out what had happened to his left shoe. We splashed and squished around that little mudpool for a good 10 minutes, which was funny because it was probably only a foot across. I was about to donate that shoe to the moose when, elbow-deep, he shouted that he could feel his shoe! I reached for his hand in the muck and grabbed hold of what felt like a shoe. Both of us pulled really, really hard and the shoe eventually slurped out of the muck and Owen sat down in it with the effort! Whew! Before and after. A little creek rinse, and everything was fine again.

Thankfully, we had brought the water shoes as spares, so we left them to dry while we finished the hike. We took our time and enjoyed the views.

At another creek crossing, near the end of the loop, the kids were inspired to do some more exploring. So we retrieved our water shoes and went back the short distance where they played for another hour or so.

And what a find! Who knew that there were crawfish in the intermountain creeks? I had heard legend, but the kids actually found a couple as evidence! So cool. And yes, we put it back in fine condition. 

I was really stretching my mom comfort zone, letting them explore and venture up and down the creek and trail a bit. On the way back to the car, they zoomed ahead (how did they still have so much energy?!) down the trail. At one point, I was looking ahead for them and nearly stepped on a huge snake slithering across the trail! It about gave me a heart attack, and then I imagined it must have been just on the other side when they went by. Yikes!! Sometimes obliviousness is a blessing.

Buttermilk and Berries

Doesn't that sound delicious? No, we didn't make buttermilk; this past weekend was a family camping trip to Buttermilk Campground in Island Park, Idaho! Several families went and we had a reservation at the group campground, which had a central campfire/picnic area surrounded by campsites. We had a much needed snack after our tent was up and we were settled in! We felt a little pressure to get the tent up ASAP because there was a lot of rain in the forecast.

It worked out well to have the families all together. The kids had lots of playmates and formed a sort of herd exploring the wilderness of their imaginations together. This picture is less than half the kids that were there!

The communal area also had a large open spot, which was perfect for yard games.

The first night had continuous rain all night! I was a little nervous about water leakage, but we were all dry come morning. Because we were the only family in a tent and awoke with the sunrise after all that rain, we were the first to be at the communal area in the morning. We had already had breakfast, played cards, and gone for a hike by 9 am when we came back to camp and started to see others emerging. We found a nice trail by the lake, but it made our shoes and socks pretty wet.

John was able to clear the camp fire of damp wood and ash and start a new fire when we got back. It felt good to sit around the warmth and have a hot drink. (It had gotten down to the 40s at night with the rain.) Notice the line of shoes and socks drying by the fire too! Lots of layers and footwear changes on this trip.

And when it warmed up, we had a couple of friends that brought boats along! We even towed one up there for them. And we discovered that this little girl LOVES boat rides! She eagerly went on at least three different rides over the weekend and declared the one with two rides the BEST DAY of her life.

The campground had a boat ramp for the Island Park Reservoir, which joins up with Henry's Fork River. It was very pretty: some areas had lots of trees, some were bare, some older houses with community boat docks, some newer mansion-cabins with elaborate decks and yards, all within the caldera (volcanic crater) providing "mountains" all around.

It apparently warmed up enough for some brave souls to get in the water to ski! To each his own, I guess. I did take off my jacket, but I wasn't about to get in the water!

We took a sunset cruise the second night, but there weren't really enough clouds to make a spectacular sunset. The main thing was that Owen finally decided to ride in a boat! And riding up front in shorts was chilly enough to warrant him putting pants on afterwards. 

Nothing a few smores can't fix first... His favorite spot of the weekend was tending to and staring at the fire. A little firebug, just like his Grandad!

This is the trail leading from the boat ramp to our campsite. Can you tell my subject was distracted? Let's just say there was a lot of al fresco bathroom-ing done while camping! 

It poured again the second night. We had a break in the rain just long enough to have breakfast in our tent and pack up everything before it started up again. Good news is that this might become an annual thing; fingers are crossed for a camper next time. See ya next year!

Lastly, June means strawberries! Ours are just starting to turn red. I've had a couple of diligent helpers picking weeds and scaring off hungry robins. They actually found the first two red berries, so they were rewarded with their sweet finds. As Owen said, they are so much better than store bought!

Let Summer Finally Begin!

Not to be outdone, Owen had a great year of school too. He had flawless report cards all year, perfect attendance (only one in his class to do so!), and was given the Great Behavior award from his teacher. He has a bunch of friends and loves to laugh. He really enjoyed the last week (parties!) of school, including crazy hair day.

Here he is on his first and last day of 2nd grade. We sure do love him and can't wait to see what he'll become. (Right now, he hopes to play pro football!)

Signs of Summer

It's so close, we can almost smell it! Summer is nearly here! While Owen has been stuck in his school grind, Hadley has enjoyed her free time, as well as a swim camp. She seems to be improving by leaps and bounds and was pretty excited to go every day!

Speaking of free time... For both our sanity's sakes, I decided to use a daily checklist this summer to keep the kids being productive and entertained, while training them to self-form their days without mom's intervention. It has really been a life saver these two weeks, while Hadley was missing her brother. She LOVES being responsible and checking things off herself, and it's laminated, so we can use it over and over again. (Owen's list is pretty much the same, but in limbo until he's off from school.)

It does seem like summer is finally here, despite being half-in, half-out with kids in school. The sun is shining, the garden is growing, and flowers are blooming, even in our own yard! We love it!

We did have another freak hail storm, which pulverized the garden and some of the flowers, but it seems like they'll survive!

Other signs of summer? Kids lounging poolside. Oh yeah!

And 5ks. Owen and I ran one with friends. It's called the Great Inflatable Race, and the 5k course had inflatable obstacles (think bouncy houses with logs/boulders/walls to get over/around, steep walls to climb, and slides on the other side) interspersed throughout it. We were expecting the boys to run part of it and walk mostly, but they ran the whole thing, incredibly! Mom was the tail of this group, for sure!

We had a lovely brunch downtown after church last weekend and strolled around the River Walk to enjoy the beautiful day. We love shorts season!

Owen spied this duck hiding in a downtown planter box. I guess she was on a nest, and she was being so still that the rest of us had walked right past without even noticing her! It must be summer time indeed!