Boise fun

I hit the road with the boys shortly after Rowan finished school.  I went home to Idaho and stayed a whole month!  My brother came to town with his family mid month, and my dad retired at the end, so it just made sense to stick around for all of it.  The boys and had a home base at my dad's house, but we stayed here and there all month long.  Just depended on what was on the schedule.

Shortly after getting to town my sister had to hit up the farm store for rabbits.  Isabel was supposedly going to get a bunny from some lady they knew, so the other kids wanted one too.  Traci bought two, and expected to get another from this lady.  That never happened so she ended up buying another while we were there.  I couldn't believe how big they got in the few weeks we were there.  And, as you can see from the photo, Rowan even held one, which I was surprised by. 

One day my sister and I went out to get a tour of the new Boise tower before dad retired.  Back in the day, at the old tower, we would get to spend the night there when our dad had the midnight shift.  We would sleep in the tracon room and get pop which was still served in glass bottles.  Obviously times have changed, as have the containers dispensed from machines, and I am pretty sure it's a big no-no to bring your kids for sleepovers in the tower.  Glad I grew up when I did.

Traci is a charge nurse at the ER, and from time to time has to head up activities.  So one Saturday mom and I loaded up the boys at met Traci and her coworkers for the heart walk.  We were suppose to just do the 1 mile walk, but when we got there Traci said, "This way!  We're doing the 5K."  Way to stick it out mom.  That bum knee of yours will get fixed soon enough!  Oh, and it was the perfect chance to test out my new double stroller!  Jon ordered it for me just before I left town and had it mailed to my dad's house.  Rowan is quite the lazy walker, and I was getting tired of not being able to go on a descent walk because after 5 minutes Rowan would complain and want to boot his brother out of his seat.  I convinced Jon it was time we just invested in a two seater- well, we got a sit and stand- so we didn't have to borrow a friend's stroller every time we wanted to go on a family walk.  Anyways, it sure came in handy and I used it a ton while I was there.

Traci was with her coworkers most of the time, so we walked with Sophie and Andrew.  Nice little walk along the Boise river.  And afterwards we treated ourselves to Chick-fil-A. 

Another day I met up with my sister-in-law who was in town with her kids at the splash pad.  It was rather tricky watching two kids when one wanted to play in the water and one wanted to play at the playground. 

After we left the splash pad we were close to my old house so I decided to drive by and see what the place was looking like.  I seriously thought I had turned down the wrong cul-de-sac because the house had been painted pistachio green with green trim.  Not my cup of tea, and certainly not the color it was when I lived there.  The trees have grown so much.  It was fun to drive around the old stomping grounds and to see what had changed and what was still the same. 

My sister's birthday was in May, but it didn't sound like she had really celebrated properly so I planned a little night out as a late birthday celebration.  Rowan picked out some flowers and balloon- and don't forget the Diet Coke.  Then we left the kids with Caden and headed to dinner.

Mom and Jill (and Bel) came as well.  I had planned on covering Traci's tab for the night, but she had a giftcard to a restaurant and said we should use it.  So she ended up paying for all of us! 

Then we all went over to the new fancy shopping center and walked around a bit.  Traci, Bel, and I were going to see Maleficent, which I also didn't have to pay for because Traci had free movie passes as well!  So it ended up being a pretty cheap night for me.  To make up for it I did buy her some new knives before I left.  After cooking at her house, and using her knives, it was something I couldn't leave without doing.  How she's been cooking all this time with her "knives," I don't know, but it had to remedied. 

And being the nice sister I am, I made her wear this pin all night long.

Then we hit up the waterpark a few times.  Basically she spoiled us. 

My little bathing beauties.

Tony was away working in Oregon one of the weeks I was there, so we hung out with grandma quite a bit.  One night after work we took the boys for a walk.  I have never seen ducks like this.  This picture doesn't show it, but they were following us.  For reals, we had a heard of duck trailing behind us.  Apparently the ducks in Idaho aren't fed as well as the ones in Utah, cause most the time when we feed ducks here they could care less. 

SO this was a fun picture to capture.  Not really.  Since we were gone for Father's Day I made Jon's gift and sent it in the mail.  I got the idea online.  There were shirts you could buy, but why do that when it's a simple diy, and I already have most of the stuff?!  Jon got a shirt that said, "BEST. DAD. EVER."  Then the boys had shirts that said, "BEST.KID. EVER."  And yes, this is the best picture I got of the two in their shirts to mail with dad's package.  I tried.  Really.  I did.

Cheap toys to entertain the boys.  Course they were so cheap that they broke right away and caused more drama than they were worth. 

I was in Boise for my birthday too.  Fun since that never happens.  Traci and mom took me out for dinner, where, once again, I was forced to try sushi yet again.  People.  I don't like the stuff.  I don't think it matters what kind of roll I get, I am going to think it's all nasty.  SO please, I have tried it 3 times now and always came away with the same conclusion, GROSS.  I don't want anymore. 

After dinner mom took Sawyer to her house, and Traci and I took the boys to see How to Train Your Dragon 2.  It came out while we were in Boise and I had just had to take Rowan to see it. 

And apparently that is all the photos I took with my normal camera.  Not seen are dad's retirement party, Father's day dinner, and dinner with my brother and his family.  But if you are in Instagram I think you saw snippets of those festivities there.  It was great to be able to spend so much time with my family.  I would just love to have my mom and sister close by so we could play and craft on a more regular basis.  Ah well.  Absence indeed makes the heart grow fonder.