May Memories

We made it back from Idaho Falls just in time to see our butterflies emerge from their chrysalis.  James took the kids to cohort while I unpacked.  Then I drove to Everett to preschool.  Gwenevere came home from cohort with treasures.  she had won the classroom raffle for the easel and a newton's cradle.  The girl's spent the afternoon painting and enjoying the outdoors.  

Wednesday I had an ortho appointment in Tacoma.  booooooo.  James tooked the kids to walmart and purchased some kid kayaks.  they spent the day playing at the lake.  

When I got home from Tacoma James mentioned that Will would be in the area hiking South Sisters.  I asked James if he wanted to join Will in the hike and without hesitation James said YES.  So Thursday morning Will and James took off to Sisters.   

They had a fun adventure that ended up with a few hiccups but was still a fun adventure.  The road to the trail head was closed so they started their hike 5 miles back.  by 8 pm they still hadn't summited.  James knew Will could go a lot fastest so James turned back while Will continued.  Around 10pm James found a guy wondering the road totally high and had just been in a car crash.  Will met up with them shortly and ran ahead to see the crash and call 911.  It's a miracle the guy lived from the crash and even more amazing that he wasn't hurt.  

The guys arrived home around 4 am exhausted.  James was suppose to work the weekend starting friday but he called in sick for friday so we got some extra papa time.  YAY.

Papa helping with school

 Saturday we saved Hank, cleaned the house and putted around.  Saturday night we went to the lake to kayak some more.  A new favorite family outing.

Sunday was Mother's day,  Everett and I finished reading Indian in the cupboard.  

Church was a mess.  Everett was all over the place but we managed.  

When James got home I picked up a play out for the backyard. 

My Mother's day was like every other day and that's okay by me.  I love my life just as it is. 

Monday we released our butterflies.  I babysat a friend's kids and James played the base to keep the babies happy.

The rest of the week I was packing and cleaning to go off on our next adventure.  Max and Rebecca celebrated their 10 year anniversary in Costa Rica while I got to watch their boys.  That will be a post of it's own.  

we returned Friday just in time for cohort parent teacher conferences and a music concert.  

We enjoyed a blusty picnic at the lake in between conferences and the concert.  

I loved listening to Gwenevere perform.  

it's been a good month.

visiting Grandma and Grandpa Thomas

The kids had been asking to visit Grandma and Grandpa Thomas for a few months and I was feeling the need for a visit but finding the perfect time to visit was daunting.  Grandma and Grandpa where in the middle of moving, finishing up work and other projects.  But then we decided now or never.  So we loaded up the van and took off after cohort.  We only made it halfway when we decided we needed to spend the night at a hotel.  James found us a hotel in caldwell ID.  The next morning we went swimming before continuing on to Idaho Falls.

here we go

midnight pizza run before bed

in the middle of nowhere nursing a baby and exploring before the rain clouds come in.

We arrived at Grandma's house about the same time she got off work.  The kids had fun playing with Grandma the rest of the day. 

Thursday morning we decided to visit the Idaho Falls library for storytime.  Oh, have i missed good quality story time.  My kids loved it just as much as I did.  We met Amanda and her girls at the library and spent another hour reading books in the kids section.  Then we meander over to our favorite idaho falls toy store, Weebe Toys. 

After the toy store we met back up with Amanda and had lunch at Grandma's house and played.  

When Grandma got home we went to Reed's Dairy for ice cream.  because that of course is tradition.  

Alisha and Everett got the same kind of ice cream.

 Friday we visited the Idaho Falls zoo.  It's not the same as the great Point Defiance zoo and I must admit I was a bit sad for all the animals.  But the kids had fun stretching monkey's, feeding ducks and explore the african safari exhibition.  

After a fun morning at the Zoo we walked over to Tautphaus park (may favorite place) for a picnic lunch and some more fun with Amanda and her girls. 

 When we got back to Grandma's house we found Grandma working hard to pack up the storage room.  We jumped in and helped her pack up all her boxes.  it was enough boxes to fill both cars.  So I suggested we drive down to Payson and take a load with us.  it was an impromptu decision but we'd talked about how we wanted to see their new house and Grandpa so this was the perfect excuse to do so. 

We arrived late Friday night but saturday morning we unloaded the boxes and helped Grandma unpack.  Then family came.  Grace showed up and helped me make tacos for everyone.  Kristi and her kids came after football games and Daniel and Dalynn stopped by on their way home from southern utah.  

Marley and Gwenevere wrote a rap for Edgar

We stayed up past midnight visiting with family.  That's my favorite part about these trips.  

Sunday morning we started our drive back to Idaho Falls.  On our way we stopped by family gravesites to decorate the site and to share stories.  

but before we could go home we had to play Settlers of Catan with Auntie Alisha. 

Monday morning we loaded up the car and began the journey back home.  We stopped in Mt. Home for Breakfast, Ontario OR for gas and slurpees, Bend or for lunch and some playtime, and Sisters OR for ice cream to make it the last leg of our trip.  We arrived home to smother Papa in hugs and to get to sleep before cohort the next day.