Epic Summer Road Trip: Idaho

 We had already planned a friend reunion in California for the first week of July, and since I haven't seen my grandparents at all during COVID, I knew we really needed to go visit them while we were in California. Then Hannah decided to bless her baby on the 4th of July, and we just couldn't miss out on that. Long story short, we decided to hit all of the places as part of one epic, 2 week long, road trip. Jonathon was nervous about missing that much work, but in the end, this was the most time and cost effective model. 

Our first stop was at the farm in Idaho. Oh, how I love visiting the farm! I love my family so much, and we always have the best time when we are together. This trip was unfortunately fraught with some of the family drama that is normally not an issue. Although it was uncomfortable and sad, it helped me realize how blessed we are to not normally have these kind of problems. Feelings got hurt, and it was a stressful few days for many people. I only write this little bit here to remind me that family relationships are fragile and need constant nourishment. We cannot take them for granted, and I am determined to do better in the future to make all feel included and loved. 

Despite the problems, we still managed to have a wonderful and memorable few days. Saturday was the 3rd of July, but everywhere was celebrating the holiday since it fell on Sunday this year. A bunch of the family decided to head to the parade in Melba like usual, but a couple of us decided we would rather do something different this year. It was supposed to be incredibly hot (105 degrees), and the parade has gone downhill a bit in recent years. Kym really wanted to float Indian Creek, so a bunch of us joined them. Mom and Dad found tubes for everyone, and we headed out. Despite growing up in Kuna, I have never floated Indian Creek, so it was a grand adventure. 

I was expecting a nice, gentle float, but right out of the chute, we went over a little waterfall and some rapids. Several kids got knocked off their tubes, and Christian got scraped up pretty badly. He and Jonathon had to get out and return to the pickup. The rest of us were farther ahead and couldn't really help. We just tried to stick together as best as possible. I grabbed on to Hyrum's tube and didn't let go the entire trip. He was very nervous at first, but I made sure that he was safe and happy. Since we didn't know exactly what we were doing, I was a little bit stressed the whole time. If I did it again, I'm sure it would have been much more relaxing. 

When we reached the end, we all got out and felt pretty proud of ourselves. Christian and Jonathon met us. Kym had given her tube to Bridger who fell out of his kayak, so she had floated the whole way with nothing. He poor legs and bum had hit rocks all the way down the river, and she was pretty battered and bruised. Despite that, she wanted to experience it the real way, so a group of them, including Jonathon, went back to the start and went again. I'm glad he had the opportunity to do it.

 

When we got back from floating the river, we all took naps and then prepared for our big 4th of July carnival. We started it last year during COVID and had so much fun that we decided to do it again. Each of the families chose an activity to plan and prepare for the kids. We had tie dye, bean bag toss, ring toss, siphon tube setting, nerf paint guns, paper airplanes, face painting, and lots of prizes. The kids had a great time! 

  

For dinner, we had a full smorgasbord of carnival food, topped off with Jonathon's famous smoked turkey legs. After dinner we had a cornhole tournament (won by Dan and Claire) and then played volleyball with Uncle Roger and Aunt Julie's kids. I haven't played volletyball in a year, but I had the best time. It was so fun! When it got too dark to see, we had a little fireworks show in the front yard. Everyone helped so much and made it a wonderful day with an out of this world sunset to finish it off

Sunday was baby Alan's blessing at church. They had so much support from our family and Jake's. That evening we had a big dinner to celebrate. Jonathon made brisket that he smoked overnight. It was divine! Claire made her special rolls, there was salad and jello, and every delicious thing you could think of. 

On Monday it was supposed to be another scorching hot day, so we decided to hit the lake for some water time. It was a last minute decision, so we hadn't really planned lunch or anything. We just grabbed some snacks and headed out. Claire brought her giant floating pad, which was a huge hit. The kids played on it for hours, and the adults even got a short turn. We also had a row boat and some little kayaks that were fun. We stayed for a few hours and then headed home for lunch.

Later that night, we went to Uncle Mike's pool for one last hurrah before leaving. We had hamburgers and homemade french fries with all the fixings. It was delicious as always, and the kids swam to their heart's content. When we got home, we did some laundry and started to pack up for the next leg of our trip. Before we left the next morning, Hyrum insisted that I go for a Mule ride with him. Grandpa had been teaching him how to drive it, and he was so proud to show me. He was pretty good for an 8 year old. My favorite thing was how he stuck out his tongue while he was concentrating. That is Hyrum to a "T." Love that cute boy! Then we headed out for California.