Off to Idaho

On Saturday morning we finally headed off to Idaho, but not before spending the night at Sunny and Steve's and sneaking in a quick visit with some cute little cousins. The boys were in heaven riding around the cul-de-sac on little 4-wheelers with Sam and Charlie.





After our quick visit we took off to Idaho to meet my family at a vacation home near Lake Cascade. I have only been to Idaho once before so I was surprised by how truly beautiful the landscape was from Boise heading up to Cascade. I never had a chance to stop and take pictures, so this one from the car window will have to remind me of the picturesque surroundings we enjoyed on our drive.


On our first real day in Cascade we all went for a little "hike/walk" behind the house to check out the water (which actually ended up to be quite marshy) behind our house. I use the word hike loosely because it was Sunday and my Dad was still wearing his church clothes.

Reed was very excited about the activity and wasted no time finding the perfect hiking stick. He then led out like a true explorer on a fallen log over a small gorge. Sometimes he really surprises me with his boldness.




At one point Max was climbing up a sandy incline and kept slipping back. "I'm treadmilling, I treadmilling!" he said.


The water we discovered wasn't exactly what we had in mind for recreation activities, but it was still beautiful.






Poor Olivia was just getting over 'hand, foot, and mouth' and wasn't quite in vacation mode on the first day. Thankfully and miraculously she recovered quickly and completely without passing it on to anyone else.


Max and Scarlett are only 3 months apart, but I am still always surprised by how inseparable they are whenever they are together. Here they are making "snake traps" and "snake holes".




The further we walked the muddier it got. Almost without notice we started sinking down to our ankles. I probably should have been helping more, but watching everyone get stuck in the mud was just too funny and actually one of the highlights of the trip for me.




For as non-outdoorsy as my family was growing up, we did often take the opportunity to "explore" random forested/mountain areas we would discover on our vacations. Those expeditions usually made for some of our best memories----and this little adventure was no exception.