Vacationings....

Three weeks is a long time to be away from home. And we did a lot this trip. So much that for journaling purposes it's going to have to be posted in installments. Too much fun not to document each activity, and too many for one ginormous post. Our drive out was uneventful. Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kate were anxiously awaiting our arrival. Just in time for dinner. Lovely. My mom had lots planned to keep the kids entertained. Not too much that we were over-booked. Just enough to have an enjoyable first week.
One day we headed over to the green belt for a picnic and to feed the geese. The geese ate more of the kids lunch than they did. Perfect place for a picnic.

The kids fed these same geese a few times that first week. They really loved it.

One day we headed out to Rigby Lake. It's actually a lake that sits still all summer. Apparently if you swim late July and into August you run the risk of rotovirus. Lovely. Early July was fine. And we had a great time. The kids were moving so much and so fast that I was only afforded a few pictures.

My parents really wanted to take us camping. The kids anyway. Until Kennedy complained that the floor in the house was too hard to sleep on. And they noticed that Jack loved to stay awake in his bed until close to midnight. We opted to take a late afternoon hike at Heise. It was paved most of the way so it afforded me the luxury of the stroller. When we hit gravel me and the two non-hikers turned back and played in the back of the car while the others finished up.

What is a faux camping experience without roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire?Only Landon was too impatient and just liked to shove everything in his mouth.
We only suffered one tragedy. Just as I was telling the kids not to touch the hot metal spears they were holding, I saw Jack casually put his hand in his pocket. Too late. But he was too embarrassed to say anything. I noticed and got him a bag of ice. Almost as much fun as roasting marshmallows.

It happened to be blazing hot in Idaho the week we arrived. We apparently missed the recent cool spell. Nothing a little backyard kiddie pool and a few squirt guns can't fix.

Sometimes it was too hot to take time to change into swimsuits.

At the end of our first week in town I got in touch with the Thompson family. They started Medical School the same year we did, and Justin finished his residency a year before Shawn. He's now an ER doc in Idaho Falls. It was fun to catch up with some great friends who understand what my life is really like without any kind of explanation.

That evening we headed to the zoo. It really is a great zoo.

The highlight of the zoo experience was when we entered the area that was blocked by a small gate. Upon entering we realized the gate was there to keep in the Wallabies. That hop around free as ever. It was all over the place until Landon decided to pet it. Then it hopped back to it's forest-y area and hid. Presley is known to do the same thing upon encountering Landon.

That was the culmination of week one. Yep. Only the first week. See. Jam packed full of fun. Aren't grandparents awesome? I do feel that the behind-the-scenes-entertainment-committee didn't make it in most of these pictures. I'd like to add a HUGE thanks and love you's to Grandpa Eric, Grandma Deb, and Aunt Kate. The real reason our first week was so full of fun.