Last week we went on a fun little trip to none other than Idaho for a family reunion! Per my brother-in-law's request, and out of laziness in finding someone to feed the little guy, we brought our little turtle along for the trip. Here we are at the beginning of the drive. Ryan, my little bro, got the pleasure of holding him in his lap for about half of the trip (in the box) and inhaling all of his lovely turtle smells (you're welcome, Ryan)
I don't care what people say about Idaho being ugly, look at that sky! I took about 500 pics of it, but you get the idea. Disregard the bug splatters on the windshield.
We had a blast on the drive there. Our playlist for the trip included some Red Hot Chili Peppers, Brand New, and a lovely little gem that my brother introduced us to. Listen to it, you won't be sorry. Crank Dat Soulja Boy- screamo. Hilarious!
I was extremely excited for this trip, because it's rare that I get to be with my whole family (all my sibs and their kids) at one time. The last time it happened is when we were getting married 1.5 years ago, but even then Ryan was on his mish so that doesn't count! The reunion happened to fall on my birthday weekend, which made it even better!
We started the day off with some homemade french toast Kneader's style, then we headed off to Sandy Point, which is about the most tropical place you can find in Boise.
We had a beautiful game of sand volleyball, which is one of my favorite things ever, with all the adults in the family.
Then the kiddos had a game of their own.
We also played in the water and in the fountain at the reservoir! I mostly laid out in the sun because even though it was 100 degrees outside, the water was FREEZING.
We took turns cooking during the vacation. My birthday night fell on my sister Allison and her hubby who made baby back ribs that were soooo good!
Had my traditional funfetti cake with strawberry icing and blew out the candles! 25 of them...
I opened presents and got this sweet card from my niece, Kate. Definitely one of my favorite cards of all time. She and I both have reddish hair, so she drew us together with red hair, riding on a unicorn! I put it on the fridge because I like it so much.
All the kids had party hats and were probably more excited about my birthday than I was (almost). It was so fun to be surrounded by so many of my family members! Last year it was just Richard and me for my birthday.
I took a lot of pics on my birthday but we did lots of other great stuff too!
Family home evening:
Dress up
Decorating the turtle's makeshift tank with turtle and carebear stickers
Swimming at our subdivision's pool
...and then getting shaved ice!
Since when do they hand out color-changing spoons?!
cute baby-time
Girl's day out, where the boys watched the kids and the girls went downtown for some lunch and shopping! Don't worry, the boys got a boy's day out too but none of them took any pics of it! Shame on them.
Pojo's, a little kids arcade place that can also be fun for adults..
Sibling trip to the Boise temple
we also hiked table rock (a good 3.5 mile hike with a pretty good elevation climb that we did with all of the children in tow). It was fun for those of us who did not have to carry a tired child up and down the entire mountain! I think someone took pics of the experience but it wasn't me. 2 of the kids miraculously walked all the way up and down the mountain which was pretty impressive.
We also spent a lot of time just chatting and playing games. My parents did a great job planning tons of fun activities for us to do so that we could experience Boise together. We had a blast!
A few days after we came home, we got to see my sister Allison and her family again because they are flying out of SLC. We went to Brick Oven with them and got to see their sweet kids again and play games with them later that night.
It was a fun week, but we miss everyone already!
