Another Trip to Nampa

Garrett had an orthodontist appointment on Friday, the 12th, so that's why we went to Nampa with Monica and Seth. We stayed at my grandma's house again because it's just easier to do it that way. She has lots of extra space for us. 

Friday morning, Curtis got a ride to work with Nathan and I took Garrett to his appointment. He ended up having one broken bracket on the bottom, so they had to fix that. His teeth are looking good and it shouldn't be long before he gets them off. His next appointment is in August. While we were gone, Jack and Grandma got started on a puzzle. I would have jumped in to help too when I got back but I was busy with getting the girls ready to take to the Wallace's to swim and play, plus I know Jack said he likes to do puzzles with GRANDMA. I figured I would let him have it just be the two of them this time. They finished it in a few hours. BUT, I did watch the original Jumanji movie with the girls and Garrett before taking the girls over to swim. They loved that movie.

Curtis is good at photo bombing, ha ha. 

The girls having fun with their friend, Sydney.

Garrett watching a movie after his appointment.

I visited with my friend Ashlie for a bit but then left the girls to play and came back to Grandma's. Jack and Grandma had finished their puzzle, so I decided to get one out for me and Grandma to do. This puzzle was the one that Jack had spilled soda on last year and some of the pieces came apart when they cleaned it up. We would have finished this puzzle earlier, but it took me awhile to figure out which pieces needed to be glued back together and then glueing them. I used a Q-tip and dipped it in Elmer's glue and wiped it on there. Then pressed them down under books. Because of the drying process, we didn't finish the puzzle until the next morning. There was only one piece that didn't have all of the layers, so it was flatter than the rest, but I was glad I was able to fix all of the other ones.

Dad, Laverne, and Joyce came over and brought pizza in the late afternoon. The girls were still gone but Jack had brought Porter over. After pizza, the adults played Golf while the boys did video games. Dad, Mom and Joyce had to leave and I had to go pick up Curtis from work in Meridian. When we got back, we just watched a movie. I can't remember which one. This is why I shouldn't wait so long to do my blog. I forget things!

Anyway, Curtis made arrangements to go float the Boise river on Saturday with Porter's dad (Tracy) and Porter. The had to wait until Tracy got enough sleep from working late the night before, so they didn't leave until the late afternoon. Charlotte decided to go with them last minute. I wasn't feeling up to floating the river that time and neither was Garrett. Instead I started another puzzle with Grandma. I was just so tired I didn't feel like doing much and going to visit people that day.

After finishing two puzzles in two days, I was ready for a break from puzzles. Laverne called us to let us know that the former President Trump had just been shot at in an assassination attempt at a Trump rally. He was blessed to only get hit on the ear because he turned his head at the right moment. Unfortunately, one man was killed while protecting his family from the shots and two others were injured. It's so sad to see things like this happening today.  I'm still thankful to be an American and living in a free country, I just wish we could all get along better.

Curtis got some pictures of their little river adventure. He said they even saw a guy catch some fish while he was floating along. 

Floating the river took a lot longer than they thought. We were originally going to go over to see his parents that night but decided it was too late by then and both his parents and us were too tired anyway. We went to church in 4th ward again with Grandma, Dad, Laverne and Joyce on Sunday morning. This time there were about 12 kids in primary since there were other visitors as well. Their primary is so small. We packed up our suitcases after church and had a quick lunch of taco salad with my family and then we packed up the van and left. We hurried over to see my in-laws because we didn't get to see them last time we were in town, plus they had a late birthday present to give Charlotte and they had Nic's 3 boys with them.

We visited for about an hour before hitting the road back home. Since we have a dog sitter, we had to get back to pick him up. It was another good trip to Nampa and I'm glad that Curtis took Jack and Charlotte to float the river. Maybe next time I'll go too and take Alice as well. 

Monica & Seth Visit Us!

I haven't seen one of my best friends, Monica, in at least a couple of years. I was so excited that their family decided to come visit us this summer. They came Monday night on the 8th and stayed until the 11th. We did some swimming the first night. All except Garrett that is. Tuesday morning I took their family and our kids to see the Reach Museum. It happened to be a free entry day. The museum has a lot of stuff about atomic bombs that were created during the war here at the Hanford site in Richland. They also have a section of the museum about wildlife and other things around this area. We were there for about 2 hours I think.

Garrett thought this old typewriter was cool. He wants one.

By the time we got back, the kids and Seth were ready to get in the pool and swim!

That same evening, the adults scheduled to go to the temple right after Curtis got off of work. We went out to eat first at Red Robin. We have decided that it's not a good idea to go to this restaurant before going to the temple. The last two times we've gone with friends, they took a lot longer than we thought and we nearly missed our temple appointment. Fortunately, we made it just in time though (both times)! We even went out for ice cream afterwards at Baskin Robbins.

Monica and I decided that we could try to take the older kids to do baptisms Wednesday morning at the temple. They had enough openings available. Garrett didn't want to go though, so he stayed and watched the younger kids. We were able to get 29 names done that my dad had given me. Seth and Hayden were the ones to do the baptizing. I was dunked by Hayden. It was great to be there with them. Afterwards, we went to Wal-Mart so they could pick out a treat. We wanted to treat them for making the decision to go to the temple with us.

Jack, Caleb, Hayden, Monica, Seth

Curtis had to work, so it was just me and Jack from our family.

It was time again for swimming in the pool! This time I think all of us got in at some point, except for Garrett. I don't know why he doesn't want to swim this year. Even before Milo started swimming in the pool, he hasn't wanted to swim. I don't know why.

That evening, I watched "Wonka" with Monica, Seth and Curtis since Monica hadn't seen it yet. The 4 older boys went to mutual, which was a service project at a cannery in Pasco. They helped sort cans into boxes. All of them enjoyed doing that. 

The next morning was busy getting laundry done and packing up. Monica's and our family were both traveling to Nampa that night. I also had to take Milo to a new dog sitter that I found on rover.com because our usual sitter wasn't available, and neither were other families in our ward that we have used before. With all that going on, Monica and I decided to see how fast we could put together a puzzle. She picked out our winter puzzle. Good to do on a hot day, lol. I wasn't sure we'd be able to do it, but with Seth's help also, we were able to get it done in about 1 hour! It was 300 pieces.

We packed up as soon as Curtis got home, which was a little stressful with all the people we had but it was fun being able to caravan with their family. Both Garrett and Jack took turns driving our van.

Rachel and Alice "hanging" out at the gas station where we gassed up. It was the last time they got to see each other.

We stayed together as best we could until we got off on our exit to go to Grandma's house. They continued a little further to get to her parent's house. Their family lives in Bountiful now and headed home the next day. It was great having them come visit us all the way up in Washington!

4th of July

 Our 4th of July looked similar to last year's. We tried to invite some friends over to swim, but people already had plans. That's what happens when we ask last minute. I was so focused on our trip that I didn't think much about what to do for the 4th. We slept in late and then the girls and Curtis and I did some swimming in the afternoon/evening. The boys just played a lot of video games. I don't know why it's so hard to get the boys to swim this year. I don't let Milo swim every day because of the hair but I decided he could this time. He loves the water a little too much. There was once he jumped in when no one was outside. Silly puppy.

We almost didn't buy fireworks this year, but last minute, Curtis went to the firework stand and bought some. Like last year, we got invited to the Gale's back porch to watch the fireworks all across the Tri-Cities. Then we did our own fireworks after we got back home.

Milo got to swim too.

We saw a fire that started. Later we found out it was some dry bushes that caught fire from fireworks.

Back at home and doing our own. All fountains. We bought the kids Pop-Its but they don't seem interested in those. It's been 20 days and they still haven't used them. We're not buying those again next year.

Alice let me wear her fun headband while she wore her noise earmuffs.

These two were in charge of firework lighting this year. The boys were party poopers this year and didn't even come outside. Jack did go to a friend's house in the evening though, so I can't remember if he was even home when we lit fireworks.

This was Milo's first 4th of July and we were worried how he would handle all of the noise, so we bought him some calming treats for dogs. He can be a scaredy cat sometimes even when we're going on walks. He actually did really well, but we did not let him come outside while we were doing fireworks. We also watched "Independence Day" after we did fireworks, but it was getting so late that we had to turn it off and finish the next day. Half of us were falling asleep.

That same weekend, I saw a post on our ward Facebook page of someone offering a free dresser. It still looked in great condition, so I jumped on it. I mostly liked that it had some storage space on the top section. I was hopeful that it would fit mine and Charlotte's sewing machines. It not only fit both of them easily but also my sewing (tackle) box and Charlotte's little box. It turns out, that's what the previous owner used it for as well, her sewing machine! 

I finally have a nice place to hide my sewing materials. I put fabric and other things in the drawers.

I could use the door as a sewing table. That's what the previous owner did. I love it!

The very same day that we got the dresser (it was on a Sunday, but it was free), our A/C quit working. Fortunately, a guy from our ward was able to come look at it and help us figure out the part we needed to get. Unfortunately, because it was the weekend, we couldn't get into the right store that would have the part, a capacitor, until Monday morning. It did not help at all that we are having 100+ weather the last few weeks. We pulled out all of our box fans, which was 5 and opened our windows that night. Curtis drove to one place first but they didn't have any. He had to wait for another place to open a little later to be able to check there, but thankfully he was able to buy the last available capacitor and get it installed Monday morning. By evening, the house was feeling cool again. The timing was perfect because our friends, Monica and Seth (along with 5 kids), were coming to visit for a few days and coming that same night.

It got uncomfortably warm in our house without the A/C.

When I had gone to choir practice that Sunday afternoon, I had told my friend ShaRae about our A/C problem and she offered that we could come cool off at their place if we needed to. We ended up taking her up on her offer, except Garrett stayed home. The rest of us went over and played games with their family. It was a lot of fun! Like I said, they are one of our favorite families! One member in our bishopric even offered his house to us if we needed it because they had just left to go out of town for the week. We did not take him up on that offer, but I thought that was super nice of them. We love our ward!

Vacation: Day 8 & 9: Spokane, Triple Play, Heading Home

We didn't really know what we were going to do on our last full day of our vacation until the morning of. I got up early and finished my cat puzzle. Sadly, it was missing a piece, and I was not able to find it. I left a message on a piece of paper and placed it in the box letting the next person know.

After some thought, our family decided to go to Spokane and check out the big red wagon and The Campbell House Museum. It didn't cost anything for us to get in and it was a pretty cool house built in 1898. They didn't have anything to do with the Campbell soup company. They were a small wealthy family and the daughter donated the house to the historical society to become a museum way back in the 1930s. I was surprised at how early it became a museum. The family built it and lived in it for 26 years. Both parents had passed away, so the daughter inherited the house, but she was married and living elsewhere and didn't need the house. We did a self-guided tour because we didn't want to wait for the scheduled tour. I think I remember them saying though that it is 13,000 sq feet!

In the kitchen

Downstairs in the game room. 

Laundry room in the basement.

Toilet in the basement.

They had several different stairways.

This looked like a study maybe. It was close to the front door.

Charlotte liked the stairs.

Alice standing under the painting of the Campbell daughter, Helen.

Charlotte posing again by the stairs. The three paintings are of the father, mother, and daughter (the only child).

One of the bedrooms. I'm guessing it was Helen's room but not sure.

Look at that old toilet.

Another bathroom.

Found another stairway.

A call system for the servants.

The ice box in the kitchen, AKA refrigerator.

Standing in front of the dining room. They went all out for this room since it's the first room you see when you come inside the house.

Standing outside the front door.

It was a neat house and I'm glad we got to visit.

We went to a park where they had this giant red wagon slide.

After the park, we went to Costco to get a cheap dinner and then drove over to Hayden, ID and met Stillman's family at the Triple Play Fun Park. It's basically just like Wahooz in Meridian (or Boondocks) but with some differences. One big difference was the crowds. This place was a lot less crowded than Wahooz. We were able to do a lot more because of that.

This was definitely different, the Soaring Eagle. You go backwards up at an angle and then they let you go and you "soar" forward. Jayden and Jack went first.

Then Curtis and Alice. She wasn't scared at all. She even said she wanted to go by herself, but we didn't do that.

Stillman and Garrett.

This gives you an idea of how high up it goes.

Me and Charlotte

Michelle and Bridger

Waiting for our turn in laser tag. It was Nortons vs Butterfields. They won the first round but we won the 2nd round.

Curtis switched places so I could be in a picture.

A ride similar to the frog hopper but also spins. I rode it once.

Garrett rode with the girls.

Mini golf in the dark.

The four youngest kids did bumper cars in the dark. They only had 4 working cars.

The Dark Ride. I was proud of myself for getting 2nd place for points on shooting zombies. Curtis got 1st place. Garrett 3rd, Michelle 4th and Stillman 5th. There are 8 people, but they only show the top five.

It cost more money than I wanted to spend but it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went here and made some memories. I didn't get pictures of everything. They also had go karts, outdoor mini golf, a virtual reality game set up, bowling, arcade, ropes course, etc. There is also a separate swimming section with waterslides, but we didn't do that. We stayed until closing at 10:00 and then said our goodbyes to Stillman's family since we were heading home the next day.

I was going to try and get pictures of the cabin for remembrance, but we were in such a rush to get packed up that I only got pictures of the loft master bedroom where Curtis and I slept.

They told us to leave the beds unmade before leaving, hence the mess. We used the twin bed to hold luggage.

There's the skinny staircase.

One thing I wanted to make sure I mentioned was the fact that we saw some cool wildlife at the cabin. I think it was Sunday morning when we saw a bald eagle in the distance over one of the ponds hunting for its breakfast. We also saw a couple of deer, some wild turkeys, cows, horses, the beaver, and different birds. It's not every day you see a bald eagle, but maybe the owners are used to it. It was pretty cool. It was a great vacation and we're so glad we made it happen, even in this little cabin. The gorgeous scenery was worth it!