We Climbed a Mountain!

For our third day in Boise, the weather was amazing!  Low 80s with no humidity is practically perfect!  

We began our morning at Danik Gymnastics, a place in Meridian for an open gym. Even though the kids can do gymnastics at home, we knew they'd enjoy the trampolines and equipment for a few hours on vacation, too!  It was really fun watching the kids play and also watching some of their elite gymnasts practice. 

After everyone had at least one owie, we headed over to Camel's Back Park in Boise. I'd read about this place online before we arrived and knew there was a small mountain (maybe a foothill) there to climb. Gracie was beyond excited to climb a mountain!  The park was a great place for an afternoon of fun!  We started in the 'sandbox' (volleyball court), then made our way to the equipment, enjoyed a picnic lunch in the shade, completed the exercise circuit, and finally climbed the mountain. The most challenging part of the climb was not losing your footing on the steep incline. Think of hard, compact dirt covered in a thin layer of sand. It was slippery. Steph forgot to bring tennis shoes and Natalie, quite frankly, wasn't strong enough for the  trek. Those two made it as far as they could. Ryan and Gracie went at their own pace while John, Kyle, and Kia took the lead spot. I carried a couple of drinks up the trail and just went at my slow, pregnant-Momma speed.  It was no joke near the top. I'm not of the angle, but id say at least a 60 degree incline. But I got Little Sister up the mountain and had a cold drink for everyone!  Kia was scared of the height and Kyle was scared of some bees at the top, but other than that it was super satisfying to accomplish that feat for the kids. Gracie declared she should be called Black Widow if she made it to the top. Kyle was to be named Hulk if he succeeded. And Kianna became Wonder Woman!  All three

Superheroes were proud of themselves non the way down, Gracie was singing, "She'll be Coming 'Round the Mountain" all the way down the trail. It was cute!

Daddy teaching Gracie how to climb a tree. 

After a bit of rest, we finished the evening with dinner, frozen yogurt, and family time. Uncle Lee brought his dogs over to play and the kids enjoyed some down time watching movies. The adults (plus Kyle) got a kick out of a comedian named Brian Regan, which Aunt Diane and Uncle Emilio introduced to us!  Hilarious!  

We ended our night with a jumping on the bed contest (I know, we shouldn't do that) and opting to skip baths because we were too tired!  Another fantastic day! 

Boise Day 2

After getting some sleep, we woke up on the second day of our Boise trip to another fun and busy day!  We began with our hotel's yummy continental breakfast and then got changed to check out the indoor pool!  The kids had been begging to get their feet in that water since before we got here!  While we swam, Grammy and the Great Grandparents watched and laughed!  Even Natalie was jumping in and going under. She got a big kick out of all of us clapping for her when she came up!  

After swimming for a few hours, we were all starving, so we decided to try out someplace we'd never been.  

After short naps, we headed over to Aunt Diane and Uncle Emilio's house where the family was already gathered. Aunt Diane showed the kids her family of baby robins, which she's named, and they were pretty sweet!  The kids played ball, bubbles, and just enjoyed being outside. The Boose weather has been warm, although with much less humidity, it feels pretty good to us!  Ryan grilled pork steak and veggies for dinner and everyone ate till their hearts were content.  It was nice to have time to sit around and visit with one another. The kids also got the opportunity to get to know their extended family a little better. 

Here's a shot of some of the pretty girls!

Trying to blow bubbles onto Grandpa!  

And Grandma D's!

Kia joining in on the fun!

After leaving Aunt Diane's, Gracie and Kia had decided they wanted to have a sleepover in Gracie's bed... making 'the best night ever' become 'the best, BEST night ever'!  Baths and silliness and sleep was about all they got to enjoy. In fact, after the bedtime story, Gracie asked Kia if she wanted to talk for awhile before sleeping and Kia was already out!  I'd say it was another successful day in Idaho!

Admiring themselves in the mirror!  

First Airplane Ride

Gracie's first airplane trip was a success! She was very content the entire time!  Actually the whole day exceeded my expectations by a mile.  

I woke up at 4:30 am (ugh) and finished packing a few last minute things. I downloaded some ebooks for Gracie and a few new apps. When I woke up Gracie at 5:50, she popped out of bed with no problem!  She was super-duper excited to travel on an airplane. We got out of the house a little later than expected, but still made our flight okay. Actually, my mom broke her foot the day before we left, so she required wheelchair service the entire trip here... which means her whole party got to load first and skip to the front of every line. Kind of nice!  By the way, my mom is doing well, but walking isn't the easiest just yet. 

The plane rides were full of DVDs, sticker puzzles, snacks, drinks, and the iPad. I brought along balloons for our layover in Denver. We let the kids play to burn off some energy, then popped them before boarding the second flight. 

My sister's kids traveled well, too!  So the flying wasn't so bad. When we got to Boise, we were all pretty tired. Steph's girls required naps, but the rest of us pushed through. Gracie met her Great Grandparents and Great Aunt and Uncle. She asked for everyone's middle name, a question she's been wondering for awhile, and helped Grandma D make sun tea right away. It's pretty accurate to say that Gracie isn't shy, at all. She wants to tell her family about everything.  Everything!  

We ate a yummy ham dinner at my grandparents' house and did our best to keep the kids contained. Gracie ate 3 pieces of Grandma D's banana bread and spent time chatting with Aunt Diane and snuggling with Uncle Lee. She's excited to meet Uncle Emilio soon!  

We stopped by Walmart on the way back to our hotel and ended up getting to bed around 10:00. It was a 16 hour day for Gracie and even longer for her Momma and Daddy!  Suffice it to say that we were  all zonked. Gracie struggled to settle in with us being in the bed next to hers, but after 10 minutes, we were all snoring!  I'm seriously considering buying a small fan to provide some white noise. We're all used to that at home. 

With very few tantrums or tears, I'd say our first day on vacation has been lovely! We're looking forward to swimming and more family time ahead!  Below are a few pictures of our travels. 

She always wants curly hair for special occasions. So this morning, even though we were running late, I put a few curls in her long goldy-locks. She also wanted a picture of them before the trip!

With her DVD player and neck pillow... so grown up. 

The Weaver family. Momma with her 28 week belly!  Each flight was just about all I could handle, but Little Sister was moving so much up in the sky!  Gracie wasn't looking too enthused... we were almost to Boise and she was ready to be there!

Natalie felt the same way!

When the plane was landing, Natalie made her entire row put their hands up. "Mimi, up!  Up!"  The entire decent!  Hilarious!

Three silly kids ready to blow off some energy. 

Camping Fun!

We spent four days last week at Pomme de Terre, and even though our trip was full of mishaps, we ended up having a really good time. Gracie has become quite a lake rat, spending lots of time swimming and boating. This time, Daddy even let her drive the boat without help. She felt so big!  

We had plenty of rain to keep us on our toes. Down at Pomme, the storms blow up in like 3 minutes. One minute it'll be sunny and hot and literally a few minutes later, the sky is so dark and the wind is so high that you think you might blow away!  It's crazy!  A few times we enjoyed the lighter rain storms from under our canopy. We've become quite fond of Old Maid, Crazy Eights, and the board game Trouble. Someday, hopefully, Gracie will get better at realizing you can't always win. Sheesh!  For any of you who know her father well, this competitive-side is no surprise. I just hope she gets a grip on it sooner than he did (or has he yet?!).  Tysie quite liked all the rain, she'd stop napping in her lawn chair long enough to drink from the magical stream for a few minutes, after all, she is my first lake rat baby!

It seems like we may be done camping until Baby Sister arrives. I'm so bummed that this camping season was short, but I know we'll be back down in October for some fall camping fun as a family of four! Here are a few more shots of our fun last weekend. 

Happy Birthday, Gracie!

After three days of celebrating, our Snuggle- Girl is officially four years old!  All day she asked questions about her own arrival into this world. She's really trying to put two and two together that the day of your birth is your birthday!  Today, her actual birthday was jam-packed with activities. Swimming lessons, a Panera picnic lunch and playing at the park, craft time with Momma, gifts from Dada and Momma, dinner at Cheddars, and building a sand castle (inside her new sandbox) by the light of the moon!  It was a super-fun day for our super-big girl.

Grace Mackenzie, 

We love you so, so much!  Your birthday will always be a very special day for us because it's the day we became parents!  That day our lives changed in so many ways, but the best part of it all was getting the chance to call you ours!  We are so grateful that God trusted us to take of you and to point you in His direction. We look forward to so much joy in our future as your parents!


Love,
Momma and Daddy

Here are a few pictures of our fun today!