Rexburg, ID {Part 4--Bear World}

Bear World was actually such a great place!  I was a little worried when we drove by it on the way to Idaho Falls and it looked kind of small and like it just had a couple sickly looking animals.  I was so glad I was wrong!  So the bear part of the park, you drive through.  You are supposed to keep your windows up but we broke that rule!  It was so amazing to see the bears so close to the car and just walking around.  We even saw a grizzly bear!  

When you park the car and get out there is a  petting zoo, some rides, and a little baby bear exhibit.  We watched the baby bears wrestle with each other for about 20 min.  It was so cute.

Summer was refusing to go on rides at first but then the kids coaxed her on and she had a lot of fun.

 I love Jordan's expression in this one--haha.  The car kept bumping on the ground as it went around.

We drove around to see the bears twice (Dad has to get his money's worth.  The second time we let Jordan drive and Kya sit up front.  Totally fun experience.

Rexburg, ID {Part 3--BUYI}

It's pretty hard to wrap my head around the fact that I graduated from Rick's College 20 years ago--seriously 20?!  Crazy.  But then you start walking around campus and realize, it's a totally different place (except for the few parts that are EXACTLY the same).  I am glad we got to take the kids and show them where we started off life...separately but yet at the same place.  So many great memories from this place.

The temple was new since we were there!  It was so cool to see it, up on the hill so far above anything else.  It was beautiful

It was kind of sunny;)

Inside the MC looked exactly the same from this angle...

...but then you turn around and see THIS instead of just another gym--so weird.

The library was pretty much the same...being in the stairwells made me feel like I was back in time

I had heard the Sporey building had burned down and a new one built in its place.  The new one was much bigger and more modern.

Walking to the Hart building (it was so hot and the kids were troopers)

 Both the places I lived while I was at Rick's were torn down (both made into parking lots)...I had heard this, but to see it was kind of sad...almost made me cry.

Here is where the dorms used to be:

Here's where Harmony House used to be:

 

One afternoon, Mike took the big kids to an escape room and I just threw Summer in a stroller and walked around campus.  I tried to go on some of the same routes I used to walk as a student and it was so surreal.  I remembered one Sunday afternoon when my roommate Mykalee and I were bored, we went and sat by the "Welcome to Rick's College" sign and talked to all the students who walked by.  So I walked with Summer to find the sign and take a picture, but of course, it was gone.  So we settled for this BYUI sign.

The picture is kind of green because Summer was holding a green umbrella to keep the sun out of her face:)

I am sure glad we got to go back to Rexburg.  It was such a wonderful part of my past that I was excited to share with my kids.

Rexburg, ID {Post 2-- VRBO St. Anthony}

With a family of 6, VRBO is just the way to go if you don't want to break the bank...or eat out every single meal.  The place we stayed in St. Anthony was a total FIND!!  I can't believe how great it was for the price we paid.  We actually ended up spending a lot more time there than we thought, just because the lake on the property was so perfect.

Walking to the lake on the property...there was an electric fence on either side of this path to keep the cows out of the lake.  Mike actually shocked himself while bending over to wash his feet...hahaha.  I absolutely love this picture of Summer. 

The lake was fully equipped with paddle boards, a pedal boat, kayaks, a rope swing, noodles, beach chairs. and floating mats.

 We had some epic battles to see who could stay standing the longest....looks like Dad's going to win this one!!

The sunsets were gorgeous...and the quietness was just heavenly.  Mike and the kids went stargazing a couple evenings.  Tyson and Jordan even saw a shooting star.

Jordan was a little obsessed with tormenting the cows

A lot of Nintedo was played (can you spot Summer;))

Summer and Jordan made friends with the owners' dog...he was a cutie

Totally great VRBO!!  We would for sure stay there again!

Rexburg, ID {Post 1--Road Trippin}

Our family really hasn't done any big road trips...I think maybe 4 hrs tops (except way back when we lived in Northern California and we would drive 16 hrs to Canada every summer...but it's been a while).  So I was a little worried about the 12 hr drive to Rexburg but it wasn't so bad.

We stopped at Coeur d'Alene on the way there (5hrs) and then had a long drive the next day before arriving in St. Anthony Idaho.  On the drive to Coeur d'Alene I was stuck behind a driver that was swerving all over the road!  It was actually really scary...when I went to pass him, he swerved my way and I was sure he was going to hit us!!!  Luckily everything turned out ok.

We stopped at an old school A & W

This is somewhere in Montana, I think

Originally we planned to spend a day in Coeur D'Alene but we didn't arrive until late and then we needed to be in Reburg the next day.  But we went out to see the waterfront and main street even though it was already dark (actually Jordan convinced us to not just hang out in the hotel and relax, which is what we felt like doing after driving for hours...but we are glad we went out and saw a little of the town.  It was a warm summer night but there were a ton of mosquitos near the water)

On the way home, we stopped at Shoshone Falls, which was incredible but SUPER hot. We basically jumped out of the car to look at the falls and the canyon and then jumped right back in to head home.  I am glad we stopped though...one of the most amazing falls I've seen!  I wasn't sure where we would stop on the way home, so I didn't book a hotel and Mike must have called about a dozen before he found one with some room--crazy.

Microsoft Picnic 2018

Each year we look forward to the Microsoft Picnic, but this year with all the reorganization we didn't think we would have one to go to.  But we found out about it just the day before and somehow we were all free!!!  It was a great weather, great food and a lot of fun.

Vasa Park has a fun dock with diving boards and water slides.  Summer spent almost the entire time in her floaty on the lake.

All the food is free so we did a few runs to Ben and Jerry's and Daddy's Doughnuts--YUM

They had bouncy houses, slides, a playground, a train, balloon animals...etc.  

Summer was the perfect age for it all.

And we all got some quality time together...until Dad had to go back to work:(

Amanda Visits!!

Back in the days when Jordan and, her cousin, Becca weren't old enough to attend EFY, Becca would come and stay with us while Manda went to Tacoma for EFY.  Well, this year Becca went and Manda was too old...so she came and stayed with us!!  Since Jordan can drive now, and the girls are practically adults, I didn't get to tag along for all their adventures (like getting lost in a parking garage for 3 hrs or watching fireworks down by the lake, or pedal boating green lake) but we did have some fun times with all of us together!

We went out for dinner at Olive Garden for Kya's birthday and then walked around the lake

We visited the Japenese Gardens in Seattle

 

We walked around University Village

We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends

And we had a girls night.

I am so grateful that my kids have so many awesome cousins that they are so close to!  

Blessed for sure:)