That time we went to Boise...

Since John was going to be cooped up in a building for two full days taking his test, the kids and I figured we had to cover the slack and have double fun...so we tagged along with him to Boise. Oh, I miss that city! 

We stayed with my Aunt Janae and her family. 

While John took his test we:

Visited the McFarlene's, and met their newest dog and caught up and beheld how tall all the kids are getting, while pretended we still lived across the street.

Went to the Boise zoo.

Ate and Played at Chick-Fil-A.

Went swimming at Ivy Wild.

Went to Pastry Perfection for sweets.

Drove past Caity's old school and all our favorite spots.

Visited Whitney and her kids and played in her backyard and in her massive toy room.

Visited Miss Susan and showed her how big we have gotten while we played with puzzles.

Visited the Jensens and jumped on the trampoline while the sprinkler was going, then we stared and baby Lincoln a good long while.
Went back to the McFarlene's house to bid a final farewell until next time.

Spent a LOT of time hanging out with the Larsen cousins because hello- they are awesome.

When John was finally done and on cloud nine, we headed out to Marc's ranch past Payette and met some donkeys and overly friendly mosquitos. Meanwhile John and Marc schemed some plans to climb the Teton this September.
We drove home to the Larsen's that night in such happy moods, John was once again ours and that dumb test can go to....the trash can because we want to keep this blog family friendly.
We stayed up late chatting and took off the next morning so John could get to work.  If we weren't running late it would have been fun to stop by the Christiansens, but alas time wasn't on our side...next time.
We pulled in to town and John said "See you at five" because that is what time you get off work when you don't have study for an extra five hours. It was good.


At the Boise zoo. I LOVE this zoo.  We had season passes the year we lived here, so I have so many memories waddling around the zoo with the three kiddos above while I was pregnant with Matthew.

But now HE gets to enjoy the zoo too!

Nick and Katie Larsen!

I made her do this...and it is basically the best thing ever. I mean, am I right?

Here are some pictures from the Ranch. Marc's ranch is some of the prettiest country- I love going to visit.

Danielle, John and Marc.

The kids with Cynthia, we love her.

Trampoline fun at the Jensens!

Well, as always, Boise- you were good to us. We'll miss you until next time!

Skinny Dipper Hot Springs

A few days ago, we packed up our kiddos and headed to Skinny Dipper Hot Springs. John has been wanting to take our family for quite some time, and I figured with a name like that it had to be pretty family friendly am I right or have I seen too many naked little bums escape from the bath tub?  The person who told John about it assured us that most people wear swimsuits, for the record- which, if that is the case, why not call it Wear Your Swimsuit Hot Springs? That's what I want to know.  Anyway, John had driven past the hike entrance before and assured me it was only a slight incline...

Turned out, it was A LOT of incline... that John of mine is always optimistic with these sort of things.

Since Matthew was only two weeks old, I was  a little hesitant, but chants from the the people in the back motivated me to make the climb.

We may of had to stop a couple times. It was HOT!

The pictures make everything look dead and brown, but really- it was a breathtaking little hike.

Unfortunately, this was the only picture I got of Skinny Dipper Hot Springs. There were three pools with a waterfall connecting them.  The view from the actual pool was really spectacular, it was kind of like an infinity pool that looked out over mountains of trees.  Although you can control the heat, we didn't know how, luckily a man showed up who considered himself one of "The Guardians" of the hot springs and he told us how to do it. We were too impatient to sit in the heat and wait for the water to cool down, not to mention we were a little nervous to be swimming among one of Skinny Dipper's namesakes, The water was pretty hot and we were hot, so we just chalked it up as another ill fated adventure in our books and descended back down the mountain, still grateful for the experience we did have together.

On the way home we stopped by a little corner store for some huckleberry ice-cream, I love Idaho summers!

Table Rock

On Saturday, we ventured out to get some fresh air.  We decided to go explore Table Rock, as we had hear a lot about it since moving to Boise.  It was a fun little outing and the kids really had a blast exploring with their dad, while I kept freaking out, thinking they would tumble off a cliff at any given moment. :) 

Glad we went- it was a good time!

Hunting for Halloween Pumpkins

Today we headed to Linder Farms to scour some pumpkin patches for our destined Jack-O-Lanterns.  It was a beautiful day and we had such a good time!  I remember going to pumpkin patches when I was little, so it was fun reliving my childhood through my own kids.

There were a lot of fun activities at the farm.

We turned around for one second and BAM! Johnny was gone. After a few panicked seconds, I realized he had already started up the hay pyramid. My boy with no reservations, whatsoever. 

Caity was a little more cautious about the concept.

I could hear them giggling as they flew down this makeshift slide.

And it made me smile.

Then, everyone wanted their turn on the old tractor.

This is one of my favorite pictures of William.

There was a large tire mountain, Caity thought it was hilarious that she could lay down in one and completely disappear.

Johnny was determined to find his way to the top.

Meanwhile, William just ah rum pum pum pummed Dad's head.

They made it to the top! Yay!

Then it was off to the straw maze.  William didn't quite know what to make of it all.

Caity faithfully tried every route possible. Johnny got a little impatient and just kind of climbed over the walls, to Caity's frustration. Well, that's one way to get it done! :)

 Then we took a hay ride to the pumpkin patches!

The kids insisted we marched.

(OK, maybe I did.)

Caity found hers pretty promptly.

Johnny took his merry little time. He covered every inch of that field marching like the lost boys in Peter Pan the entire way. When we got home, he said that was his favorite part.

Aww, our family! :) I like this picture.

Everyone with their pumpkins.  Did I mention out the hundred pumpkins that Johnny examined, he chose the one with mold?? Crazy boy.  He was passionately imprinted on that pumpkin too. We couldn't convince him any other way.  That will be pleasant to carve.

William just walked through the pumpkin patch, tripping on vines and as happy could be.

John and Johnny chased each other and played monster, William tailed behind.

Meanwhile, us girls talked about important stuff like how cool it would be if one of our pumpkins turned into a carriage and how we be like,  "Oh yeah! Oh yeah! We have a carriage!" 

Johnny got tired.

Caity and her pumpkin

After paying WAY too much for our pumpkins, we went and got ice cream cones.  We came home and finished them on the front lawn and enjoyed a warm Autumn afternoon.  The kids went in the back and played in the sandbox while John and I worked on our separate projects.  

Later we went on a bike ride, spotting all the turning leaves and telling Johnny to get out of the road a million times.  We made it home just in time to miss a spontaneous downpour.  We were in our garage watching it pelt down.  William was fascinated, when a rain drop hit him he jumped up with a start and giggled. Caity ran and got her umbrella and basically felt like a super hero.

What a great time of year. I love this season.