Ellie Graduates

I know I posted last year about Ellie graduating from pre-school. Actually she was just moving to a new pre-school/day care. So this time she really did graduate and she's moving on to kindergarten this fall. Here are some pics.



This was our favorite teacher, Dan.

Trip to Idaho (Warning: Long Post)

So this trip marks the first vacation we've taken in three years (thank you nursing school). The trip started off with a 24 hour drive straight through the night and next day to Idaho from Illinois. I'd worked night shift the night before, so after sleeping all day we loaded the kids in the car around 7pm and off we went. I thought for sure they would all sleep with a bed made up in the back. Oh no! Not my kids! "She's got her feet on me." "He won't share the blanket." Etc, etc. Brent, who doesn't sleep well in the car anyway, gave it up around 2am and played video games for a couple of hours. I put on my headphones and rocked out for 12 hours.

Leaving Illinois the temp was in the 90s. Arriving in Idaho we found we had packed the wrong clothes. The temp was often in the 60s and occasionally hit 70s. It rained for the first three days we were there, then we made up for lost time.

We went to the Zoo in town.






We went to a hot springs followed by a riverside picnic.


Another day we saw some waterfalls and had another picnic. Logan really liked the falls.



On our way to the first set of falls we passed a sign directing to a hidden falls. Pam and Brent said they'd never been, so we went to find them on our way home. They were far off the beaten path. We saw a bear on the road ahead of us, but by the time we caught up, the bear was nowhere to be found. The kids had a great time hiking the trail and touching the water along the raging river.



I made them pose for pictures on some rocks.





Logan found that he could milk money out of Gramma and Grampa by doing some chores. So he did the dishes and learned to mow the lawn.


Cousins came to visit and we hit some more sites. Craters of the Moon was our first stop- an expansive lava bed full of craters and caves. It was REALLY windy out there.






We hiked a butte.




Our favorite activity was going to an amusement park. Brent and Logan went on every rollercoaster they could. Avery barely made the height requirement, but she wasn't as psyched as Logan. Ellie was still too small, but she and I had some fun together. I got lots of video, which I'm not posting. Apparently I only got pics of the carousel.



And that was our vacation! Whew, I'm tired, I need a vacation at home.