Vacation...& Grandpas

Last Wednesday we left for our vacation. We pulled up to Ty's parents' house and Cash yelled, "Gampa". He was so excited to be at Grandma and Grandpas. We went down to see the cows/calves of couse and also went on four wheeler rides. We stayed there that night and then left for Yellowstone the next morning.

On our way up to Yellowstone, Thursday, we stopped at Mesa Falls...

Once we got to Yellowstone we went to the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center which was great. Cash loved seeing the bears and wolves. Vanna just loved being out of the car.

Then we went to dinner and roamed the streets of town. What a chore it was to keep the kids' "sticky" fingers off all the merchandise. Then we checked into our hotel and went swimming. There was an intertube slide down to the pool and Ty and Cash loved that. I love watching Ty go down slides (and the like) because it brings out the darling little boy that's still trapped in that 30 year old, handsome body. And he makes for such a fun playmate to Cash.

Friday morning we had breakfast and while we were there, the kids were acting up and Ty had to take Cash out to the car for a while. When they returned to the table we tried to explain to Cash that it's important to eat our food, use our manners, and behave. We showed him the other kids in the restaurant (who seemed to be behaving well) as his example. When we were finishing up it was commical to see a father and his kids walk by as he pointed to Cash and say to his two young sons, "See that little boy, you need to be quite and behave at the table the way he is." We had to laugh! We spent the whole rest of the day at the Park. We saw...

...elk...

...buffalo...

...Old Faithful...

...other geysers and paint pots...

...the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone...

...and a grizzly (but he was laying down and we couldn't get a good pix).

We got to my parents' home late that night. Again, when we arrived, Cash exclaimed, "Gampa house". We were tuckered out and pretty much went straight to bed. We stayed Fri., Sat., and Sun., night with my parents. While we there we went to visit some relatives graves, went to church, visited with my Grandma Marie, went on more four wheeler rides, and visited with my younger brother who brought out his girlfriend for us to meet and to announce that he's getting married...probably in August. Sunday we also got to see my dad and his wife. We hadn't seen them for a year and I'm sure when we informed the kids that we were going to see another Grandpa that Cash was thinking "everyone must be my Grandpa".

The kids playing in my dad's wheel chair.

It was good to see all the grandparents (even all the great-grandparents) and to have our own little vacation. But as always...it's good to be home.

Playtime

We did a lot of playing this past week and had such a good time together as a family. On Wednesday we went to the Boise Zoo (our first time to Boise and Vanna's first zoo trip ever) with some of our good friends from Fruitland. They have two kids ages 4 and 2 (Jace and Jenna) who Cash had such a blast with. They would all get so excited as we went to each new exhibit - Cash is so dramatic and was a hoot to watch when he saw the animals. We were lucky to have most of the animals so up close to look at.

We finished off with luch at the Zoo and headed home for some much needed naps. What a good time though.

Payette used to be known for all their apple orchards I guess and although there are still a lot of orchards around, apparently there aren't as many. But every year Payette has a week full of events planned for the Apple Blossom Festival including live music and food at Central Park every day, car shows, a parade, a carnival, fireworks, pie eating contests, etc. - the whole shabang. So Thursday we took the kids to the carnival for a few rides. Cash loved going on the roller coaster with Daddy but his favorite ride was the motorcycles.

Then on Saturday we did more playing when I took the kids to the Hot Rod Car Show and to the parade. Cash was especially entertained by the marching bands that went by and Mickey Mouse (whom he ran out to and gave a high five to). Later that night, when Ty got off work, we went to Central Park for the music and to let the kids play while we waited for dusk to arrive so we could watch the fireworks. They fireworks show was actually even better than last year's 4th of July fireworks we say in Weiser. They definitely surpassed my expectations. I love fireworks - nothing better!

And more playing is soon to come. This week we're going on vacation to see family and to go to West Yellowstone. We're really getting spoiled. I'm so grateful we have so much time to spend with one another.

Last Week (in a nutshell)

Last week was a rather busy one for me. Besides the regular laundry, ironing, cooking, cleaning, diaper changes, etc. - aka housewife "duties" - some of the following also occured:

1. Hail storm - Last Sunday we had the worst hail storm I have ever seen. Hail the size of large gumballs pelted the house and woke everyone up from their peaceful naps. Eventually the hail turned to a size I'm more used to, however, it persisted until we had piles of hail at every fencepost in our backyard and until all my newly planted flowers were destroyed. Apparently the local news showed a clip of a tornado tunnel in Payette that just didn't quite touch the ground - it really was quite the sight to see and experience.

2. Birthday - I turned 25 years old on Wednesday - ahhh. From this year forward I will no longer truthfully answer to a question about my age. Ha Ha Ha. Ty bought me some new brown sandles for the summer and the movie Twilight. We also ate at the Olive Garden to celebrate. He's so good to me! I also enjoyed a surprise visit from my friends, cards and phone calls I received that day - Thanks!

3. Cash's 1st trip to the Dentist (also on Wednesday) - He did so good! I could tell he was a little nervous but he quickly became comfortable because the place is so catered to children (it was actually a Pediadentist's office). He was quite the little charmer, in fact, and all the staff fell in love with the little guy. He was giving high fives on the way out and telling everyone about his new "gween" toothbrush he got to pick out. Unfortunately we have to go back in a couple months to get a small cavity filled. Should be fun - not.

I had Cash take his "wankee" in case he needed it for comfort but he blew past my expectations and just sat there so willing for the assistant to clean and floss his teeth.

Each chair there had a flatscreen above it with headphones to listen to whatever kids' movie they wanted. Cash didn't stay laying down long but he was surprised to see "The Bee Movie" playing and thought it was pretty cool.

4. Finished another Marcia Mcclure book. If anyone out there enjoys a good ol' fashioned romance I definitely recommend her books. I've read like 10 books of hers within the last month or so - and I usually can't find time to read!

5. Cash's room - For Mother's Day Ty gifted me his handsome self and his labor to put up a chair rail in Cash's room. We got it all done this weekend and are hoping to get both kids' rooms painted and finally finished this week. When it's all complete I'll post pictures.

6. Mother's Day - I had such a nice Mother's Day. The program at Church was great and Primary (although very busy) ran really smooth. Then we got the kids home, fed, and down for naps and Ty and I even got to enjoy a bit of a nap. We also had a nice walk and picnic (it was a beautiful day). It was just a relaxing and fulfulling day. I have to add in here that I also got to talk with my mom who is, really, the best mom out there. I admire her, look up to her, respect her, adore her, want to be like her. Love you Mom!

Throw a couple baby showers, feeding the missionaries, and a couple Enrichment activities in the week and...like I said...it was kind of busy. Wouldn't have it any other way though!