Live From Boise! It's.... the Week of July 20

Sunday 20 July

This week's installment is written from beautiful Boise Idaho. Mid-day is in the low 90's but mornings and evenings are very nice. With the high lattitude and daylight savings time the sun doesn't set until 9:00, so evening activities can continue longer than usual. (It also makes it more difficult to get the kids in bed before 10:00.)

Troy stayed home on Monday and finished up some work. He told everyone at the office that he would be on vacation beginning Monday, which gave him just enough peace and quiet to get one last project cleaned up before taking off on Tuesday. He wishes he could pretend to be on vacation more often.

Rachel spent the day packing and cleaning in preparation for the trip.

Tuesday we didn't have to be out of the house until 1:00, so that gave us enough time to get everything into the van and the house cleaned up just a bit before leaving. The big adventures for the day were the airplane flights from Phoenix to Denver and then from Denver to Boise. The girls were very excited to ride the airplane. Once we got to the airport and were able to look out the window at the big planes and trucks, Zach was also very excited. He kept pointing out the window at all of the equipment outside calling them "tools". It was quite a sight to see the three girls walking down the concourse with their carry on bags.

The first flight to Denver went well. The Frontier Airlines planes were nice, and had a screen in the back of all of the seats. The kids also had their own little bags with coloring books that they carried around on with them. As we were coming across the mountains towards Denver, the plane hit a thunder cloud and gave us quite a ride for a few seconds. The kids and Troy thought it was more fun than scarry - but the stewardesses got a couple bruises as they were tossed around.

We ended up with a late flight because our original flight was changed. So we didn't even get on the final flight from Denver to Boise until 9:30 pm -- finally arriving in Boise at 11:30. Needless to say the kids were tired but we made it to Grammy's without any major meltdowns. We didn't get everyone to bed until 1:30 in the morning.

After such a late night on Tuesday, we let everyone sleep in and take it easy at Grammy's house on Wednesday. The kids had fun exploring the back yard with the trampoline, pool and treehouse.

Unless there was a good reason to get up early, the vacation mode for our family is to get up around 8:00 and get breakfast. By around 10:00 we are usually ready to get out and do something. On Thursday we decided to take a trip to the Boise Mall. Not a bad way to pass the afternoon... if you like shopping. Zach and Troy got bored and tired by the end, so they took a nap while Rachel and the girls tried on clothes in Children's place. The big adventure was being in the mall when the power went out to a section of it. The girls had some money saved up, so they bought some stuffed animals. Total damage: about ~$160.

Thursday night Grampa Willes (Papa) hosted a music education session. He and the girls had a good time talking about Melody, Harmony, and Rhythm. Papa played some samples on his stereo and keyboard.
After the music session, Grant, Stephanie, Evan and Jason arrived from Lodi, CA. Everyone was excited to see them.

Friday Troy's family and Grant's family and Papa Willes went over to the Boise Zoo. Zach's favorite was the Monkeys. He calls them the "Ooh Ooh Ah Ahs". The animals were more active than we've seen them in the Phoenix Zoo -- probably because the temperatures were much cooler. At the end of our trip we came to where they are constructing a future African animals exhibit. There were no animals in it yet, but Zach really liked watching the big trucks and tractors! The girls made sure to stop in the gift shop before ending the outing.

Anna's family arrived that afternoon -- so now all the cousins were together. Dinner that night was shredded beef tacos back at Grammy's house. Even with that many people dinner wasn't that crowded. We set a table outside so some of the kids ate out there -- leaving enough room from the rest of the crew in the dining room. That evening we attended cousin Austin's performance as a troll in the play "Sleeping Beauty," the wrap-up of a week-long drama camp. Grammy had tried to get Katie in as well, but we didn't arrive in time. Next year. We hit a yummmmmmy ice cream place called Goody's for after show treats. It's in the "trendy" Hyde Park area of Boise. It reminded me a bit of Mill Avenue, although only the size of two blocks rather than 3/4 mile. It was cute. Papa also held another music lesson that night. Kim Butterworth arrived late that night to join the festivities.

Saturday was Boise River day. After renting a raft at a local shop, most of the crew took turns going from Julia Davis or Municipal Park down to the take-out at Ann Morrison Park -- about a 2 mile trip. It was long enough to have some fun in the raft, but short enough that we could make 3 runs that day, and the drivers of the vehicles got to take turns riding down the river. Todd was sick, but even pregnant Anna and Kim took a turn on the raft. Stephanie and Evan also met us for the final run of the day. For that run we had 4 adults and 6 kids all loaded in to a 6 man raft. The river also got gradually more and more busy as the temperatures rose mid-day. Grant said they were almost playing bumper boats for parts of the final trip. The kids had a great time going over the little bumps and splashing each other as we went down the river. Rachel didn't want to take Zach, so she got stuck at home the whole time :-( Note for next time: It took about an hour to rent the raft. So it would have been best to leave an hour early in the the pickup to get the raft. All the people could have come in the van and met at the park later. Also - neither Julia Davis, nor Municipal park had very good places to put the raft in. It would be worth scoping out a better launch spot. We were all together again at Grammy's house for dinner that night. As a consolation prize for being home all day with Zach, Troy took Rachel out to dessert at Goody's again. We met Grant and Stephanie and Megan and her family who were all coming from Austin's final performance.

After getting the kids to bed, Troy, Grant, Anna and Kim went over to see Dorian in the Hospital. He has a tube down his throat which prevents him from talking, and the medication he's on keeps him from being very alert. He was able to open his eyes and nod his head yes or no to questions. Really, it's a miracle that he's still alive. He's been in the hospital for 6 weeks now. It's going to be another few months probably before he can get out of the hospital.

Sunday morning was far from restful. We had to get everyone ready for pictures by 10:00. Amelia McDonald Berg and her husband Paul are semi-professional photographers. They were able to come over on Sunday morning when everyone was looking good, and take pictures of the group. Even Megan and Austin and Cade made it over. Taking pictures with children is always tortuous, or humorous - depending on if you're responsibile for the particular child that does not want his picture taken. Paul's Technique was just to make everyone say cheese and then snap photos in rapid succession - hoping that there would be at least one where everyone was looking cute, facing the camera and had their eyes open. The photographers posted the photos online so we could see them and order the ones we want.

As soon as pictures were done Troy, Brian, Anna and Todd went over to practice "This is the Christ" with the pianist before church. Troy says to remind him to make a copy for his ward to do sometime. Sacrament meeting featured Brother and Sister Farar who just returned from their mission at the Far West visitors center. Our musical number went fine. I think Papa was proud to have his family perform for the ward. The kids went to primary. Troy took Zach to the nursery.

Sunday afternoon we all had a good ham and potatoes dinner and then took turns taking naps while the kids played games and watched veggie tales.

So thus ended a great week of vacation. The cousins all had a good time playing with each other and getting to know each other -- even if they did get on each other's nerves now and then. I think a good time was had by all.