This was the week the girls have been looking forward to since the beginning of May. They love coming to the Boise area - especially to see Grammy and Grampy. And due to our baby who is soon to arrive, we won't be doing much more traveling the rest of the summer. Mommy prefers to stay close to home. My anxiety level goes way up when I travel; and when I attempt it in my third trimester of pregnancy - it sends me into a tailspin. This was a tough trip for me. I had a hard time managing my depression and anxiety while keeping up with the kids. I just wasn't feeling like myself this entire trip. It took all I had in me to try and keep a smile on my face and do things with the kids each day. I will be so glad when this pregnancy is over!
Plus it was so hot. We're used to highs of 70 degrees, and most of the week was around 85-95 degrees. The heat really zapped our energy. Jeremy was gone more than we had anticipated because our rental needed a lot of yard work and we're in the process of evicting the current tenant. That added to our stress quite a bit and forced us to cancel plans for some fun things we had planned to do as a family.
But the most important thing is....the kids had a wonderful time visiting Meridian and their grandparents.
We're all glad we could go. And we appreciate Grammy and Grampy being such great hosts.
We spent hours each day at the park near Grammy and Grampy's. One day temperatures were near 100. We were so hot - not even the water could cool us down.
After the really hot day, the kids didn't want to do the park again. So we went to a local library for singing and dancing time. I thought Tommy would love it, but he was more interested in exploring the new library. Annie really enjoyed it. Lily was a good sport for Annie's sake. By that evening, the kids were ready to do the park and we got to bring Daddy with us too.
We did lots of early morning and early evening bike rides to avoid getting too hot. Tommy is loving his little bike without pedals. Annie is struggling to use the bike with training wheels. It is a totally different feeling for her and she is afraid of tipping over. She needs more practice but she doesn't like to ride with the pressure of keeping up with Lily. Lily is fearless on her new bigger bike and loved exploring the neighborhood.
Tommy loved the playground and water park. It was hard to keep track of him. He can run and climb so fast. He was off like a shot the second we took our eyes off of him to watch the girls. Grammy bought water guns for the kids. Tommy got a kick out of shooting everyone - and being shot - with water. He really loved the guns!
The water park was so fun. It is nice to let the kids play in water without worrying about anyone drowning. Tommy is fearless in the water so trying to swim alone with the three kids is a real challenge. It was nice to be able to sit in the shade or a puddle in the middle of the water park and have fun.
I love when the girls snuggle down with Tommy and play games with him. One morning they were all sitting on my bed helping him learn his letters and sounds in one of his favorite games on the Kindle.
A local movie theater had a 50 cent admission day. We tried to beat the heat by resting in an air conditioned theater to watch a new documentary made by Disney. It was all about a troop of macaque monkeys living in Asia. Admission to the movie plus treats only cost us $6 for all four of us. What a deal! Tommy loved the monkeys. He was captivated. Annie giggled through the silly monkey mayhem and closed her eyes anytime the monkeys were near trouble or about to fight. It was the best movie going experience we've had since Tommy was born. No spills, tantrums, potty accidents, or problems. I still can't believe Tommy made it through the whole movie. Lily was happy to get her own candy and popcorn. And we all learned a lot too.
Can you tell they played hard this week? I love how exhausted they are in the picture!
Grammy gave us a wooden train set after hearing how much Tommy loves "choo choos". I think the living room was constantly littered with trains and train tracks during out visit. The kids loved creating tracks and making up train adventures.
Lily is missing school. She talks about her Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Cotrina all the time. Every day the kids would have school time and Lily would teach them letters, songs, or do a story time. It was really cute.
Tommy's other favorite toy was the foam blocks. He likes to knock them down more than build things - much to the dismay of his sisters. Thank goodness Daddy is a good sport and will build things for Bubba to knock down.
Annie found a glow necklace on the road. It had lost all of its glow juice but she loved that necklace and wore it most of the week.
Lily said her favorite part of the trip was playing school with Grammy. Grammy read them stories, did crafts, took them out to observe nature, had art time........you can tell Grammy really knows what she's doing. Lily thought it was awesome.
Annie has been asking me for months to buy crayon popsicles. They are just regular popsicles but they are shaped like a crayon and have layers of colors and flavors. I finally gave in because I knew we'd need something cool a few times a day. The kids loved their treats. Tommy is even getting better at saying popsicle - it sounds like "pop-cole". Notice the glow necklace on Annie? Told you she wore it a lot.
More cuteness from the park. A great way to spend the summer.
Annie gave us a dance recital one afternoon. She was moving so fast, my camera couldn't focus.
Grammy made these adorable water noodle horses with the kids. Tommy prefers to use his as a weapon. But the girls really liked them. I love the fuzzy brown manes and googly eyes.
Jeremy's training went well. He is excited to begin using what he learned to help him in his job. He and Grampy also got most of the yard work done that needed to be done. They spent hours there almost every night weeding, mowing, and cleaning up the property. We couldn't do anything on the inside of the house so we'll have to hire those jobs out once the eviction process is complete. We need to replace carpet, fix and paint some walls, and fix some blinds, plus it needs a good cleaning. Hopefully it will all get done and we can have renters in there again by August or September.
By Saturday morning, we were ready to go back home.
Our favorite part of the trip was an unexpected stop at Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls. While driving home we decided we should stop and see it. We are so glad we did! The falls were running low that day, but they were still impressive. The park was beautiful. We grabbed lunch and had a picnic and explored the park for an hour and a half. The weather was perfect. Everyone enjoyed this detour. We want to go again when the water is even higher. Some locals told us that usually most of the rocks are covered by water and the view rivals Niagara Falls.
Notice Tommy's head hanging down in the group picture above? He was not happy that we interrupted his exploring time to try and get a picture. A hanging head and shoulders is his usual display of dismay.
There were so many little trails and hills to run on. The spray from the falls was refreshing. All the running and playing and exploring totally wore out the kids - and the Mommy! We slept most of the remaining drive home. Poor Daddy had to stay awake all on his own with nothing but a book on tape and sunflower seeds to keep him alert. The kids were totally great on the drive to Boise and back. Someone must have been saying prayers for us. We enjoyed safety and peace in the car both ways. It was a true blessing for me especially. All the demands from the kids in the car causes a lot of stress for me. I was thankful for the quiet and rest that we all needed on the drive home.
I think this might be my favorite photo of the whole trip. We let Daddy choose a stopping place for one of our meals. He picked his favorite fast food place - Arby's. Annie got this headband in her kid's meal and she loved wearing it in the car. We love our silly, dramatic girl. We love our crazy little family!
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