So we were supposed to have a cabin trip to Redfish Lake planned with Shelia and Wayne and their grandkids; Davis and Olivia, but then this forest fire happened the night we were supposed to leave and they evacuated the lodge and campground and were closed for the rest of the week, which left us scrambling. Marisa and I have been going thru really bad vacation karma for the last couple of years and it got us again....our RV trip last year got cancelled by cold....Mexico got rained out....don't get me wrong, ANYTHING is still better than working, but it has been strange. We have ended up scrambling to either change an existing trip or book a completely new one. I am always the more positive person in this experience (strangely), because like I said, as long as I am not working, almost ANYTHING is an upgrade. This time was not different, I just said, we'll let's figure something else out.
We had kind of planned to hit Roaring Springs on Friday after Redfish as we haven't been yet this summer, so we bumped that up in the rotation to Tuesday instead of Friday. We booked a cabana for the 9 of us that was just great, food delivery, a place to keep our stuff, shade etc. I think we need to embrace the "cabana principle" for other trips as well (we planed a Vegas trip next year already with Shelia and Wayne because of the "cabana principle". All 5 kids had a blast in the wave pool and the lazy river. The older kids went on some of the bigger rides. Jake and I went down the "twin terrors" together - he also went with Marisa later in the day....Marisa, Tanner and I went on the "thunder falls"....and the biggest kid went on the "cliff hanger" which is three stories high - you stand in a closed phone booth like tube three stories up and the bottom of the phone booth just drops out....it was AWESOME! I was really happy that the kids were able to "cowboy up" a little and go on some of the bigger, scarier rides. They had a blast on them, especially Tanner, who "chatted" the adrenaline back out of his body every time after (seriously, he would NOT stop talking...). We stayed until 5 at night and had a really great time. The Borland-Suttons went back home, we changed clothes and took Jake to his AAU basketball game which was right down the street (they won on a last second free throw). So good day all around!
The next day we decided to take a day trip up to McCall. Shelia and Wayne had never been and it's one of our favorite Idaho places. The drive is a good part of the appeal of the trip as it is right along the Payette River and is gorgeous. It would not have been as good of trip with the 9 of us in two separate cars, so we decided to rent a passenger van so we could all drive up together. Great decision. The kids all sat in the back and played video games, watched movies and read. The grown ups sat up in the front and actually talked and enjoyed silence and listened to music. Shelia and Wayne really liked the drive up and enjoyed the scenery. We spent a few hours at the beach, playing in the sand and swimming. Then packed up and walked around downtown. We got ice cream and checked out the big hockey rink (right on main street and really, really nice) before piling back in the van and heading back down to Boise. On the way back thru, we stopped at Kit's Riverside Restaurant in Horseshoe Bend (a small town outside of Boise), a place we have always been intending to try for the 6 years we have lived here. We finally did and it was great (OR we were starving - one of the two).
Yesterday we took the boat out on Lucky Peak. Marisa had a morning meeting, so we went out after that with Shelia and Wayne and their grandkids. They have started letting water out of the lake already so a lot of the docks were out of the water already. We were able to find one that was still usable and set up camp for the day. We swam and skied and tubed for the rest of the afternoon. The kids played on the beach together. When we pulled up tot he dock, it was obvious that the Parks Dept. had just rebuilt the dock as there was A LOT of scrap lumber laying around....you would have thought it was Christmas morning.
Jake got up on ski's for the first time for real, he also went a lot faster than he has in the tube. It was really good to see him trying new things and stretching himself. Tanner went in the tube a couple of times and went for a little bit all alone (which was huge). We still weren't able to get Faith out of the boat. She continues to vex us with her reticence to try to new things. She is cheerleading starting next week and we have explained to her that she needs to show up and she can't quit as she is part of a team, so we are hoping she sticks it out.
After a week of vacation days we were thrust back into the real word today as I spent ALL DAY at the Optimist Youth Football Coaches Clinic. We were trained all day, got our rosters and picked up our equipment and got ready to start another season of Football. Tanners coach called today to get practices set up and we are getting set to start this week. We have two more weeks of Summer Baseball and then it is on to Fall. We have another summer vacation to fit in still and then we're back to school. The summer has been really great, busy but great.
Summer Ball is moving right along. We moved from last place to third place last night in a win against the Mavericks. The best part of the night though was when Tanner got to take his place on the mound for the first time ever. He was so excited and so nervous. My little skin-and-bones 7 year old boy ( we affectionately call him our "preying mantis") struck out three batters his first inning up. And these were kids that were, on average, 2-3 years older than him. All of us were so proud of him and so excited for him. He was shy about it, as usual, but glowing the rest of the night.
I am writing this because it was so "f-ing" funny (You will see soon why I chose to use that language) and I wanted to remember it when the kids are older.
First, a little background: In our house the "f word" is "friggin" or "frickin". The kids aren't allowed to say it and Jake, especially, will get called on it by his brother or sister when he tries to get away with it.
So...we were driving to a basketball game across town and Brian reacted to something on the road- a driver that did something wrong or something- and said (excuse the language), "Fuck!". I said, "Brian, watch your language!" (in typical mom fashion) and Tanner said in a singsong voice, "Daddy said the "F" word! Daddy said the "F" word!" and Faith says (deadpan), "No he didn't. He said "fuck"."
Needless to say I was busting up laughing as Jake said to her, "That IS the "f" word, Faith!". We were all laughing so hard, because it was said in such sweet innocence, that Faith started to cry.
That one's gonna be told for years to come....
It's been a busy but fun couple of weeks.
We returned from our vacation to Sun Valley on Wednesday afternoon- in time for the first Summer Ball practice. The boys (all three of them) had a great practice followed by a HOT game on Monday night. It was 108 that day and we kept them cool with lots of water dumped on their heads and forcing liquids every few minutes. Ken, a friend of ours with a son on the team, ran around the infield and outfield with a big jug of water to keep the kids hydrated. It was pretty funny- we were all sure Ken would be the one to collapse from heat exhaustion, not the kids. Despite the heat it was a great evening. The team lost, but they played well. It was Tanner's first game playing with the big kids and he was nervous. He did GREAT though!! He is one heck of a catcher and held his own with the 10 and 11 year olds.
Jake had HSB Basketball camp Fri, Sat, and Sunday so Brian and I hung out with Faith and Tanner and took them fishing down at Quinn's pond. It was a bit of a bust because we couldn't find a good spot and had forgotten sunscreen so it was a short and sweet trip.
Saturday night was the annual Camp Out on the Green and it was projected to be another 107 degree day. Still, we decided to brave it and set up our tent early in the day. We headed out to the Green around 7:00 and both Faith and Jake invited a friend to come spend the night with us in our Taj Majal Tent. The kids all brought their scooters and rode them all over the closed parking lot, they had icees from the icee shack, hotdogs and s'mores from the campfire (yes, there was still a camp fire even though heat was the LAST thing we needed!). It cooled off around 10PM and they showed Despicable Me on the screen outside the Merc. There were a bunch of Jake's friends there- and lots of girls- and it was pretty funny watching him interact with the girls. I know I say this often but we will really have our hands full with that one once puberty hits full on! Everyone had a blast and we all slept pretty well from midnight to 730AM. We packed up early- trying to avoid the heat- and spent the rest of Sunday indoors.
The babysitter cancelled at the last minute for last week so I took Tuesday off . I took the kids to the pool in the morning where Faith showed me that she is now (finally!) water safe in the deep end! Yay! She's become quite the little fish already and all three of the kids would gladly hang out at the pool all day everyday if we were able. Later that afternoon I took the kids and each of their friends to see Monsters University. That was pretty fun, too, and even though the older kids didn't like it much, Faith and Tanner (and their friends) liked it a lot. Of course, the boys had to sit separate from me (I embarrass Jake to no end these days and Tanner and his friend wanted to be like the big kids). They are really growing up TOO FAST. It's killin' me.
The 4th of July made it a short work week. The kids decided to ride in the neighborhood parade after being invited by a neighbor to drive these cool powered cars. Faith was supposed to drive one, too, but decided last minute she was too afraid so she rode her scooter and collected candy along the route. Brian and I walked. It took up most of the morning then we spent the afternoon at the pool. The evening brought our annual 4th of July Hawks Game with Sheila and Wayne. We had great seats in the shade and the weather was perfect- not too hot at all, which was a miracle! The fireworks after the game were the highlight, of course. My only complaint was that they replaced my favorite 4th of July song (God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood) with "Party in the USA". Very disappointing. But it was a great fireworks show which ended with another gigantic fireball which I guess is the way they do it here in Boise since this is the third year in a row it has happened.
Brian worked on Friday but I had the day off so the kids and I hung out together exploring the river a little bit, going out to lunch, going to the library, and grocery shopping. More time at the pool rounded out our day. I LOVE SUMMER.
This week is going to be a little nutso. Between work commitments, orthodontist and Dr. appts, summer baseball, and basketball there's hardly a spare moment. Luckily our babysitter is back so she will take the kids T/W/Th from 10-3 giving Brian and I some time without the kids around so we can breathe, relax, and.... oh yeah.... work. I head to Vegas for work training on Sunday-Thursday and then the summer will be half over. CRAZY.
So we were supposed to have a cabin trip to Redfish Lake planned with Shelia and Wayne and their grandkids; Davis and Olivia, but then this forest fire happened the night we were supposed to leave and they evacuated the lodge and campground and were closed for the rest of the week, which left us scrambling. Marisa and I have been going thru really bad vacation karma for the last couple of years and it got us again....our RV trip last year got cancelled by cold....Mexico got rained out....don't get me wrong, ANYTHING is still better than working, but it has been strange. We have ended up scrambling to either change an existing trip or book a completely new one. I am always the more positive person in this experience (strangely), because like I said, as long as I am not working, almost ANYTHING is an upgrade. This time was not different, I just said, we'll let's figure something else out.
