Taking a Break in Idaho

Before and After our trip to Oregon, we spent a few days in Idaho with my family.  I love taking my kids to the farm. They spend most of their days outside playing, they learn about animals and farming, and Grandma takes care of us with delicious food and fun!

No trip to Idaho would be complete without a visit to Uncle Mike's pool. He is so generous and allows us to swim whenever it is available. My boys love the pool and always talk about it afterward.

The boys also rode horses with Grandpa while we were there. They were scared at first, but the horse was so gentle that they gave it a try. They ended up having fun. I'm glad that they got over their fear.

When we came back from Oregon, Jonathon had to go back to work, so I stayed in Idaho by myself with the boys. I was hesitant to be by myself, but it wasn't bad at all. There were lots of people that volunteered to watch the boys if needed, and they were really well-behaved because they were always having fun.

The main reason we stayed in Idaho was so we could play with Joe and Kym and their kids who were visiting for the 4th of July. Any chance we get, we try to let the kids spend time with their cousins because I have learned how important cousins are from my childhood experiences. There is a bit of an age difference, but I was amazed at how well Christian and Andrew played with Jadyn and McKay. They had a really good time together. And, of course, the three little boy babies spent plenty of time grabbing each others faces and stealing toys. Carter especially liked Hyrum's pretty hair. They were all cute as can be.

One thing the big kids loved doing was jumping on the trampoline. They were out there for hours and hours. One day we put the sprinkler under the tramp and let them get wet. They thought that was pretty awesome (all except poor McKay). The other big hit was going on 4-wheeler rides. I took them all on individual rides one night and they had so much fun that Ben took them again the next day. He was more fun though because when Christian got back he said, "Mom, Ben knows how to drive a lot faster than you!"

My sister-in-law, Claire, flew in from Kansas to spend a few days with everyone too. She is so fun and is always up for a game. We played Settlers of Catan several times and a few other games. On Monday night, we all went to Matt and Katie's new house for a hotdog roast and s'mores. Katie built their fire pit by hand, and it was pretty awesome. It was also a celebration of Jadyn and Kym's birthdays. It was a fun Family Home Evening followed by a beautiful Idaho sunset.

One day for lunch, Mom took us to Boise Fry Company. The slogan is "Burgers on the Side" meaning that the french fries are the star of the show. They had 6-8 different types of potatoes (red, purple, sweet potatoes, etc.) that could be cut into various shapes (curly, homestyle, waffle...). They also had different seasonings and dipping sauces for the fries. It was such a fun new place to eat. My favorite was the sweet potato fries. The blueberry ketchup (I know... it sounds gross!) was actually pretty good with them.

 Different varieties of french fries:

Russett, Purple, Gold, Sweet

 Different dipping sauces starting top left going clockwise: 

fry sauce, ketchup, blueberry ketchup, and thai sauce

When it came time to drive home by myself, I was a little worried. Joe and Kym left a few minutes before us, so it was nice to know that if I had a problem, they would be close enough to call for help. The trip was actually pretty uneventful. Hyrum did well for the first 4 hours and then fussed for the last hour. All in all, it was not too bad. I was glad that I did it. Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun few days!