We started July with a trip to northern Idaho to join Puna and Papa on a camping trip. We loved our time at Camp Coeur d'Alene so much last year, we decided to travel there again.
Between the trip to Boise for Spencer's funeral and the drive to northern Idaho, we spent quite a few hours in the car in just a few days, the kids did pretty well. But that much car time and togetherness was causing some strain.
When we got to St. Regis Montana for dinner, we were so ready to be done driving! But we still had a way to go. A stop for some play time, french fries, and huckleberry shakes helped improve our mood long enough to get to our final destination.
Finally arriving at the campsite felt so good! We built a fire, played games, did crafts, told stories, and enjoyed the cool night air.
By the time the sun went down, Joey was wiped out and let us know. He threw a tantrum on the cooler and told us it was his bed. We managed to get him into his actual bed and he finally fell asleep. I love Lily's sad face in this picture. Joey had big tears streaming down his cheeks but was wigging so much I couldn't capture his face.
It was a cold night in the tent. Temps were down in the 40's. We kept waking up and covering the kids who had slipped out of their sleeping bags. The kids said they slept well and felt good all night. Thank goodness. The next morning we built a fire, made hot cocoa, explored camp, and snuggled in the hammock with Papa.
The girls got to make some crafts in Puna and Papa's cabin. They were cute little garden bugs made from painted rocks and stickers. It was a nice way to stay warm and get some time away from the boys too.
And then we started a never ending cycle of Pokemon Sorry. Any time we had down time in the camp, Tommy would convince someone to play with him. I think we played it over 20 times on this trip. Puna and Papa offered to let us take it home. We politely declined. We'll let that be a game we only play at the Wanner's house.
The weather was cool on our first day so we decided to make that our cycling day. Daddy had a certain spot in mind that someone from work told him about. It took nearly an hour to get there. I like to call the pictures below "this is where we're supposed to get on the trail, but the trail isn't here". After standing here dazed and confused for a few minutes, we started driving again hoping for another spot to access the trail. On the way back to the car Papa was stung by a bee on the back of his head. Not a good way to start the day.
After more driving, a couple of wrong turns, carsickness, and a fear we might run out of gas, we found a trail access point.
We were all smiles at the start. The breeze kept us cool and the bike path was smooth and flat. We set a goal to ride out to the old bridge (visible over Jeremy's shoulder in the picture above). We made it to the bridge and some of us even rode over the bridge. Mission accomplished!
The bridge was really cool (although it was covered in bird poop at the top). Joey was happy to get out of the bike trailer and run up and down both sides of the bridge. The wind was fun. Tommy was sure he would blow away. We all enjoyed the long downhill momentum on the return trip.
It was a long day of riding. Puna got a tow from Papa on the way back to the car. Lily was the only kid who did the whole ride on her own and she was worn out and a little discouraged near the end of the day. Daddy and Papa quickly rode back to the cars which left Lily feeling a little discouraged and grumpy. Mommy stayed behind with her to cheer her on. Annie was also trying to cheer Lily up, but since Annie was being towed on Mommy's bike, all of her encouraging words fell on Lily's deaf ears. Lily didn't want to hear it - and let us know it. We were lucky to spot some deer on the way back. That helped brighten Lily's mood and distract her from how far she needed to go. Lots of water stops and two deer sightings helped keep her spirits up for the rest of the ride.
It felt good to load the bikes back onto the car, warm up, and think about the dinner and campfire we would enjoy at the campground. We were so low on gas in the van that we had to make a stop in a little town for a fill up. However, the town was so small that they didn't have a gas station! We had less than 5 miles of gas in the tank and more than 20 miles to get back to the campground, no cell service on that side of the lake, and a car full of tired kids. We had no choice but to keep driving and hope to find a gas station or someone who could help us once we ran out. The winding roads were giving Joey a case of dry heaves and carsickness. As the miles on our fuel gauge counted down, Tommy would announce how many more miles we had left until 0. Mommy was facing backwards in the car holding a bag under Joey's face just in case he threw up. The warning bell was beeping because Mommy didn't have her seat belt on. We sounded like an ER on wheels with beeping, puking, yelling and crying all happening at once. It was not our favorite part of this trip! Finally at what should have been negative 4 miles left of gas, we found a gas station and filled up. I don't know what it is about us and Coeur d'Alene but we always have a near empty gas tank emergency when we come here.
If felt so good to arrive at "home" that evening. We played multiple rounds of Pokemon Sorry and Sleeping Queens.
Joey did some coloring since he is too little for the games.
The kids climbed all over our campsite rock. Joey called it his mountain. Puna named it Hall Rock.
Papa scared the girls with a few campfire stories and we taught the kids some camp songs too. Everyone was more than ready for sleep that night and thankfully the weather was a bit warmer too. Tommy still remembers the Bloody Fingers story months later. I think all the kids got a little too much campfire ghost story experience that night. But they loved it.
The next day was Daddy's birthday and the Fourth of July. We left out presents for Daddy at home, but Puna and Papa brought one for Daddy to open. It was an inflatable paddle board! We can't wait to make some memories with it. Just a few weeks later it got a ton of use at Flaming Gorge Reservoir.
We weren't at home for our annual trip to Rexburg Rapids on the 4th, so we tried an indoor water park in Hayden, Idaho called Raptor Reef. It was a fun little park - but way overpriced. And since Joey was not 3 years old, he wasn't allowed outside of the kiddie pool area. Tommy wasn't tall enough to ride any of the slides - so we were glad to have 4 adults. There was always someone to watch Joey, someone to swim with Tommy, and someone to ride the big slides with the girls.
Tommy was content to swim and float as long as someone was willing to play with him.
The girls wore themselves out on the water slides. They had to climb a few flights of stairs to get up to the top of the slides. The just kept going and going and going.
Finally Lily convinced Puna to ride a few slides. Puna had not been on a slide in over 20 years, she was a little nervous.
But she survived and rode a few more times.
Papa had fun trying to get pictures of us coming out of the fast slides. And he got to enjoy a few rides too.
Joey was not happy about being confined to the kiddie pool. He felt left out and was a stinker for the first hour we were there. He kept trying to sneak into the wave pool and follow the girls to the big slides. After lunch he discovered a pump activated water gun and was entertained by that the rest of the day.
Joey finally started having a grand old time - and we discovered he had poop in his swim diaper. Yikes! It was so bad we decided to just shower him off and call it a day for everyone.
We returned to camp to start making Daddy's special birthday dinner - steak, salad, corn on the cob and dutch oven brownies with strawberries and ice cream. Joey wanted to go any where Papa went. He even carried a little piece of firewood all the way up the hill to camp, but by the time we got out the camera, he had passed it off to Papa.
While the adults worked on dinner, Puna kept the kids occupied with modeling dough. It was hard to convince Joey to stop following Papa around. Joey's favorite thing to do on this trip was follow Papa.
But once Joey saw the cool green and purple dinosaur Puna was making, he wanted to play with the modeling dough.
Dinner was yummy and we loved celebrating together. Then Joey found a pile of hot coals and thought they were rocks. He picked up a coal and burned his right hand. The blisters were almost instant and so big. We tried to cool off the burn and cover the blisters with bandages to keep them from rupturing. Puna drove into town to get some children's pain medicine to that Joey could sleep better that night.
Apparently we didn't need to worry too much. After a good long cry and some Puna and Mommy snuggles, Joey was ready to play games and make some ice cream.
Puna snuggles and Mommy's kisses worked their magic and JoJo was ready to make and eat some ice cream in less than an hour.
Happy birthday Daddy. We loved celebrating in the mountains with you. Tommy loved that your birthday party had vanilla ice cream - his favorite!
The next morning we slept in and had a big yummy breakfast cooked by Papa. The kids hiked on the trail behind our campsite and got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Lily was especially covered in bites. Poor girl.
We learned from some friends that a silver mine in Wallace offered guided tours. Their kids thought it was so cool. We decided to do the mine tour and see if our kids loved it too.
Anything that involves a bus or train ride is Joey's idea of fun. When the cute trolley car arrived, Joey was the first to climb on.
Lily and Annie were scared to ride in an open trolley without any seat belts or restraints, but we survived just fine.
At the mouth of the mine we could feel cool air rushing out. This was our first warm day of the trip and that blast of cold felt so good. We were really glad we brought jackets to wear. After getting our head gear and playing with some tools, we were ready to go.
The mine is not active now. As part of a high school vocational training program, students got to dig out and build this mine specifically for tours. They did an amazing job. No one in our family knew anything about mining and we learned to much on this tour.
Seeing (and hearing) some of the machines in action was exciting (and scary). It was interesting to think about the men who choose this line of work and how taxing it is on their bodies. It was also amazing to hear that mining machinery and technology has not changed much over the decades. Surely by now with computers and sensors, there could be a better way to do this work.
Joey was scared of the drill. It wasn't even turned on - he was so afraid it might start up again.
Tommy stayed a safe distance away.
Annie wasn't afraid to get in there and touch it.
The white veins in the rock show where deposits of silver might be - so that's how miners used to know where to try and find precious metals.
We learned about a tragic mine fire in 1972 that took the lives of 91 miners in nearby Kellogg. The Sunshine Mine disaster changed mining laws and regulations in the state of Idaho and the nation. We had no idea mines could get hot - we thought all mines were cold. But some mines are near moving plates in the earth and that can make temperatures get very hot. The Sunshine Mine fire started possibly from spontaneous combustion. And it was carbon monoxide fumes that killed all the miners. After seeing what a difficult job mining is, and hearing about how dangerous it is, we were happy to leave the mine and see the sun again.
It is a fascinating industry and it is still a big source of employment for people in the area. Our tour guide was very proud of his work and his town. He had so much to share with us. The mine tours began as a way to preserve the history of the Silver Valley and increase tourism. We are so glad we did the tour.
We finished with a few minutes to play on the rail cars before catching our return trolley.
On the return ride, our driver told us about the history of Wallace and drove us through town. Back at the tour tickets office there was a souvenir and ice cream shop. Daddy and Papa passed on the ice cream so they could bike the 25 miles from Wallace to Cataldo....in 92 degree weather.
Mommy, Puna and the kids were more than happy to eat ice cream (huckleberry flavor was the best) and shop for some fun souvenirs. Tommy chose some polished rocks and gems, the girls both chose a geode - Lily's was amethyst. Joey saw a rack of little leather coin purses and fell in love with a cow purse. He couldn't live without it. I don't know what a 2 year old boy is going to do with a cow purse - for now he carries it everywhere and keeps Hot Wheels cars in it.
On the way out of town we saw this little space ship in front of a restaurant. Annie was slow getting out of the car and missed the photo op. Since she didn't get out while all the other kids were playing in the space ship, we figured she didn't want to explore it. When I announced it was time to leave,she got so emotional about it. So we had to all get in again and let her get a picture too. She was howling and wailing as she climbed into the ship.
But miraculously once the camera came out, she put on a smile. And as soon as we got the picture, the tears and wailing started again.
It was not my finest parenting moment. She was carrying on so loudly that I told her I would make her get out of the van and walk if she didn't cut it out. She believed me and quieted down. We started the drive back to camp and left a car for the big boys at Cataldo. Then we got a little bit of afternoon rest. While we were relaxing, Papa and Daddy were sweating on the bike trail. Daddy was glad they did the ride, but he was tired. Next time we will try it together in cooler weather.
Once the big boys returned to camp we packed up for an outing on the boat. With limited cell service and no clear idea of where we would beach and dock, it took us quite a while to find each other and get started. Puna and Papa finally found us and the kids got some turns on the tube.
Everything was going great - until the motor decided to fall off into the lake. Yikes! Thank goodness Papa was holding on to the handle and could save it. But due to the fall, it was difficult to restart and they were floating for a while before everything was running again.
The kids decided that was enough boating and asked to come to shore.
Some snacks and sunny beach time were fun. Tommy and Annie kept saying "cheers" and would clink their soda cans together.
It was a tiny beach, but the kids loved it. We were all worn out by the end of the day. The kids had one more thing on their list for the day - a canoe and paddle boat ride. As soon as we got on the water, Joey was crying. Daddy and Lily took off in the canoe and left Mommy with a screaming 2 year old. It was a long day - two screaming kids about did Mommy in.
Joey pouted and wiggled and made the ride sound like torture the whole way around the channel. People on shore were looking at us like "what are you doing to that poor child?". Mommy gave up and decided to return to shore.
Just before we arrived on shore, Joey started smiling. That stinker!
We packed too much into that day. But in the end, the kids all said they had fun. If only vacations could last a little longer so there was more time to slowly enjoy everything you want to do.
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