Vacation: Day 7- Priest Lake & RV Swimming

Monday the 1st of July, we drove up to Priest Lake, which was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from our cabin. Our intent was to find the natural rock water slide that's up there. We found out by a park worker that the water is too high and dangerous for little kids right now, plus you have to hike a couple of miles in to get to it. We were bummed but decided to stay at that beach front site, which also had some people camping. There were some clouds starting to roll in and we were worried it was going to rain on us but because we traveled so far to get here, we decided to stick it out as long as possible. Stillman brought a canopy he bought when we went to Costco and put it over a picnic table. We quickly made sandwiches and ate our lunch. Then we headed nearby to the beach. By the time we got over there, all of the other people there left their canopies on the beach and went back to their campsites. We braved the cooler weather and some people braved the cold water. We lasted maybe half an hour or 45 minutes before it started to rain and there was thunder and lightning. The rain started out light but then it turned to downpour. So, we didn't stay long but it was an adventure. 

I had fun taking pictures of the rocks in the moving water.

Jack sat on the dock thinking about jumping in.

Fun in the sand!

The clouds were pretty and it was cool to see a split in the light. It's like day and night.

Jack and Jayden finally jumped in together.

We packed up quickly and headed back south to Stillman's RV campsite. It was a little scary but fun driving in the pouring rain. But there were times we drove out of the storm and it was beautiful.

Rain on the window.

Some of the kids and the men did a little swimming at the pool at the RV campground. I'd never heard of an RV campground having a swimming pool before, so that was pretty cool. Michelle and I just watched.

After swimming, we decided to head back to our cabin so we could cook up a quick dinner of pesto tortellini. Then we watched some movies and I worked on my puzzle. We introduced the kids to "Far and Away". We watched another one after that, but I can't remember what we watched. When you're on vacation you stay up later than you normally would and do so many things that you can't remember it all.

Vacation: Days 5 & 6 - Coeur D'Alene, Sunday

Saturday morning we were able to sleep in and take our time getting out of the house. We were scheduled to take a 1 1/2 hour boat cruise at Lake Coeur D'Alene at 2:30pm. We met Stillman's family there. It was fun and very worth it. People are free to move around the boat while it's moving and we could go clear around to the back. My kids loved exploring and especially being at the front of the boat. We saw lots of houses of rich people and the same condos we stayed in a few years ago with my dad and Laverne the last time we went to Silverwood.

Jayden had the great idea of sticking his legs through the bars so he could look straight out at everything. That's where our group was sitting.

Later I joined in on sitting the same way Jayden did. It was nice and relaxing. I could look down at the girls and what they were doing.

They told us that some of these expensive houses have no roads to get to them. They have to get there by boat. They also had lifts installed next to the stairs to make it easier to go up and down.

There are the condos we stayed in a few years ago.

I think the person who built this house took the phrase "build your house on the rock" very literally. Ha ha

I would totally do a boat ride again. It was a fun experience. After the ride was done, we went to a restaurant called Meltz that has grilled cheese sandwiches, etc. We had two friends recommend this place. It was pretty good. Then since the weather was nice, we found a park to go disc golfing. It started out with most of us playing but then the kids went to play on the playground and Michelle sat in her truck to read her book. Part of this course was uphill, and she didn't want to climb a hill. Honestly, it did feel like a hike, which I enjoyed. Stillman, Curtis and I were the only ones that played the entire time. Later, Jack came back to play more. It was fun but it was a place you could lose your disc easily. I think we did lose two.

After the park, we decided we were done for the day and drove back to our cabin to watch some movies. I think that's when we watched both Crocodile Dundee movies. The boys enjoyed them.

The next morning was Sunday and we drove over to the nearest town called Plummer to attend Sacrament meeting at 10am. It was a very small church building compared to what we are used to. The chapel was way smaller and they had no benches, just all cushioned chairs. And there's only room for one row of chairs behind the podium. Surprisingly, Jack and Curtis both offered to help pass the sacrament. Curtis thought it would be fun. The ward there just barely became a ward. They were a branch before. We had a couple of people introduce themselves, so they were nice and welcoming. 

When we came back to the cabin after church, we finally saw the cows come out. I counted at least 9 of them. They were more scared of us than the horses. Some would just stare at us. 

Charlotte drew lots of pictures Sunday afternoon but these two were her favorite. She's really enjoying the How To Train Your Dragon movies lately.

Later, Stillman and Michelle came to the cabin where we had brats and hotdogs cooked on the BBQ and some other sides. Then we played games or watched movies. Stillman and Michelle brought their bird game again and this time I played on my own (instead of being teamed up with Curtis) and I actually enjoyed playing because I was not tired and I could understand it better.

I think they were watching Babe the pig.

You can see my puzzle on the couch cushion that I was working on earlier.

I worked on the puzzle after our bird game and Michelle did some reading while the kids watched another movie and the men played a new game with Jayden and Jack. It was a fun evening just hanging out with both our families.

Vacation: Days 3 & 4 - Post Falls, Silverwood

We were originally going to do Silverwood on Thursday but there was a chance of rain and possible lightning storms expected, so we switched days. Our new plan was to drive to Post Falls and eat at a highly rated sandwich shop called The Big Bear Deli and then go check out a waterfall park and go disc golfing. We met Stillman's family over there. The food was pretty good, and I just had to get a picture of Garrett's sandwich because it was huge! I think it was called the Oinker.

By the time we finished eating and piled into our trucks, the rain started to fall. And it just got worse. While driving, we decided that we better cancel our park and disc golf plans and do something indoors. I suggested we go to a movie and most everyone wanted to see "Inside Out 2" that was recently released in theaters. I was a little nervous to watch a new Disney movie because of the things they have been putting in them lately, but there wasn't any of that in this movie and I loved the movie! Curtis said it was good but didn't like it as much as the rest of us. He would have preferred to see the new Garfield movie. We had actually drove to Coeur D'Alene to the theater there, but they didn't have any good seats left for the time we wanted. I had found a discount theater to go to in nearby Hayden and we had to race over there before the show started. We made it in time and with plenty of seating available. It was a blessing because it saved us a lot of money by going there.

After the movie, we stopped at Costco to do some food shopping and then all of us went back to the cabin to play games or watch a movie. The little kids watched "Air Bud" on VHS. Michelle read her book and I played The Oregon Trail card game with Curtis, Jack, Garrett, Jayden and Stillman. We had a lot of fun. Garrett was really getting into it because he has recently decided that he wants to be a voice actor, so he was talking funny and his character name in the first game was Sloppy Joe. Each person came up with their own names. It is a co-op game where everyone is working together to get to Oregon, but it's harder to beat than you would think. All of us died in the first round. And only two made it in the 2nd round. The card game had pictures from the original computer game that they had when I was a kid, so it was a little nostalgic. We all laughed a lot and enjoyed it.

The tombstones from our 2nd game of The Oregon Trail. I was Bessie in this game and a pie maker....and the first to die, from dysentery. 

The tombstones from our 1st game. My name was Laura and I had measles at the time I died, hence what is written on my tombstone. Ha ha

Here's the first puzzle that I started on the first night we arrived and then I finished it Friday morning. I did cheat a little though because there were a couple of chunks of the puzzle that were already put together inside the box. I decided to just finish where they left off instead of taking it apart and starting from the beginning. I wanted to make sure I had time to finish this puzzle and maybe even do another. There was a missing piece, but I found it in one of the other puzzle boxes. That was lucky!

That same morning, we packed up and headed out again for our 2nd and final day at Silverwood. This was a regular ride day for our family. Stillman's family did do Boulder Beach again in the late afternoon and our girls joined them. Our first ride was the train, and we all did that together. It's fun because they put on a show while you ride, and the scenery is beautiful also. The ride lasts about 30 minutes.

I hate taking selfies, especially when I have my first ever cold sore. (Thank you, Curtis...NOT) I didn't take many pictures with me in it because of that. (We both had cold sores that week.)

The train robber.

They caught a sasquatch!

The sheriff locking up the robbers.

After the train ride, we went to the front entrance for a family picture at the picture booth. The crazy thing is that there was someone we knew from our ward there getting pictures too! It was Nancy Otte and her two kids, Carter and London. London is one of the oldest girls in activity days. It was so fun to see them there on the same day as us! We didn't even know ahead of time. Then the big boys split off to go on big rides while Michelle and I took the younger kids on the carousel and other kid rides.

While the kids waited in line for bumper cars, Michelle and I took turns ordering a funnel cake. They were right next door and only $5 if you ordered before 5pm. That's about half the price! I got the huckleberry flavor. Yum!

Riding the bumper cars.

In line for the Butterflier ride.

On the Butterflier ride.

After taking the kids on multiple rides, Stillman found us. He and I went to get the little kids some food while they waited in line for a small roller coaster ride. After they finished, we headed over to the BBQ place where the rest of us had BBQ, but we all ate our food together. The BBQ place is a bit spendy and we didn't want to waste money on food the kids won't eat. They got chicken strips or hot dogs with fries. I honestly wasn't that hungry when we had our late lunch/dinner because of the funnel cake I ate but I ate as much as I could.

After we ate, that's when Stillman's family went back to Boulder Beach along with Curtis and the girls. Curtis didn't bring his swimsuit, so he just rested in the shade while they played in the water. I went on a few rides with the boys and Jayden. The first roller coaster I rode with the boys was Tremors. Stillman was telling me about the sign they have posted in line for this ride, and I can't believe I didn't notice it before.

Maybe I saw this sign before, but I never noticed the guy losing his head until now. A little gruesome, but for a good reason, lol. 

Jayden only rode Tremors with us before deciding to go to Boulder Beach with his family. Then Garrett, Jack and I rode Stunt Pilot. After that, Jack took off to do his own thing and to find Curtis, so Garrett and I rode on The Cork Screw. His orthodontist had told us that this ride was originally in California at Knott's Berry Farm and told us to get a picture of it for him. He's from California and I guess his wife actually worked there and operated that ride. The coaster was brought to Silverwood in 1990. Garrett and I rode the ride and got pictures, but I did not like it because it was too jerky for my head, and it was a very short ride. That's the last time I ride that one.

After that ride, Garrett and I went to Boulder Beach to find Curtis and the girls. The girls were off with Stillman and Michelle, so we sat for a bit to rest. Then Curtis and Garrett went to do some souvenir shopping. I laid down on a towel and rested. It felt good to rest my tired feet. 

At this point, Garrett said he was done with rides. He just wanted to do some shopping and then leave. Of course, he had to wait for us to be finished and that wasn't until closing at 10 pm.

When we were eating our meal, I had gotten a message from Nancy Otte about wondering if any of our family wanted to ride the log ride with her daughter. Nancy gets sick REALLY easily and so she can't really ride anything with her kids, and her son Carter didn't want to ride the log ride. My girls were happy to do it with her! We met up with them after Boulder Beach closed.

Keaton rode with them too.

Jack was waiting to spray them at the end with a machine that you pay 25 cents for each spray. 

They went down a 2nd time.

Most of our family and Stillman's family decided to do the big raft ride again, but I opted out. I was going to stay dry that day. I was surprised that even Garrett went on it, just because he was bored and tired of waiting around. (He regretted it later because of how wet he got.) I think Jack and Jayden split off to do other rides. London rode with Curtis and our kids. The group was too big for all to fit on one raft, so Stillman, Michelle and two boys went on the next ride with a few strangers.

Stillman's group got sprayed!

When that ride was finished, the girls got dressed and then we met London at the Cork Screw so the girls could all ride it together. I did NOT want to ride again and neither did London's brother, so the three of them went on it by themselves! I was a little nervous, especially for Alice, but they loved it. Alice was finally tall enough to do most rides by herself. She's about 49 inches. Most rides you need to be 48 inches.

At that time, London was done with rides and so their family took off. We met up with Curtis and Garrett to ride Tremors with the girls, but it was getting close to closing time and we still needed to do some souvenir shopping, so we got out of line and walked back to the shops. On the way back, we saw Jack on a ride by himself. The girls and I went to the toy store while the boys went to a different shop. The girls took a while trying to decide what to spend their money on. I couldn't look for anything for myself until they were done because I didn't want any toys. I did have to make some quick decisions when we got to a shop I was interested in. I went with a Silverwood magnet and a bear figurine that had two bears rowing a canoe and it said Silverwood on it. It was about 10:30 by the time we left Silverwood. The kids were tuckered out. Curtis and I felt pretty good since we had the opportunity to rest at Boulder Beach for a while. Jack even drove us back to the cabin. He drove multiple times on this trip (gave us a few scares, but mostly he did really well.).

Jack riding without any of us. He was doing his own thing at the end of the day.

Garrett got himself a sweatshirt.

The girls were lucky that we had our wagon. Curtis pulled them at the end of the day when they were too tired to walk anymore.

I didn't ride as many rides as I used to, but I guess that's what happens when you get older. You don't care as much about getting to ride. You just want to watch your kids have a good time, even if you're not riding with them. It was a fun day!