Camping in Idaho

My friend Lindsey Hibbert and I took the kids for a few days last week to camp in Western Idaho. We stayed at Pine Flats campground near the Payette river. This area is known for whitewater rafting and hot springs. It was Rocket's first camp out, and he was a champ. He cuddled down at the bottom of my sleeping bag every night and helped keep my feet warm. During the day we enjoyed hiking down to the hot springs and enjoying their natural warmth mixed with the river water. What a beautiful world with so much to see! I am so grateful for my kids adventurous spirit and that we were able to take a little trip together and see something new. My favorite hot spring was called Kirkham Hot Springs. There were so many different waterfalls of hot water running down the rock face there. Various pools along the river had different temperatures so you could choose your preferred temperature. Sydney and I jumped off the ledge into the river and then swam over to the "hot shower" waterfall you see in one of the pics below, and it felt so good!

Texas Trip

We flew to Texas for a while to escape the corona virus quarantine. Texas was a lot warmer and had more things open than we did at home, so we were all pretty excited. It was great to spend so much time with family. Uncle Allen's family even got to come and visit us for one of the weekends. The kids had a ton of fun playing with Grandma and Grandpa and swam almost every day. We swam in the hot tub, sprinkler, Emily's neighborhood pool, the river, the waterpark, and the splash pad. It was super fun! Right about the time we were supposed to come home, our hometown of La Grande, had a major outbreak of coronavirus so we made the decision to stay in Texas longer. The extra week allowed us even more time to build our relationships with family and we are so grateful for all the things we got to do with them. 

Outdoor Adventures

With the quarantine, we have had to make an effort to get outside and do more things so we don't get stir crazy in the house. We have explored some trails near our house called "Mount Emily Recreation Area" that are beautiful. I cannot believe I haven't taken advantage of this place just 15 minutes from my house before now. We also floated the river one day. I learned a lot, and we had ups and downs. If I do it again it will be several weeks earlier so the river is higher and plan on it taking several hours. I had only planned for about 1.5 hours. We love the sunshine and are grateful for the beautiful place we live!

Painting with a Twist

While we were in Texas, Sydney and I went and took a painting class together. We learned to paint a stained glass sea turtle. It was a lot of fun, and we both learned a lot. I liked it so much, I went back a few days later and painted a sunflower too.