Rexburg, ID {Post 5--There are fun things to do here}

It's no secret that Rexburg is a tiny town, so when we booked a 6-night stay I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to fill the time.  But, I think we managed ok. 

Monkey Rock

When planning for this trip, I tried really hard to find things to do that were unique to the area.  I thought this waterfall was pretty cool.  The current was a bit stronger than I anticipated and the water was colder, but we all thought it was a pretty cool place!

Idaho Falls

It was a bit of a stormy day when we went to Idaho Falls...still warm but just dark and windy...and the temple gates were closed:(  But the visitor's center was great.

 Summer tripped and hurt her leg on the rocks, which was sad, but her expression in this picture is priceless...poor girl.

Mini Golf

Bowling

Jordan surprised us all with three strikes in a row!!!  She almost beat Dad, which is unheard of in our family.

Elgin Lake

This trip was a bit of a fail on my part.  I read about this lake that was right in the middle of the sand dunes, so I thought it would be great to experience both at the same time.  Well, it was SUPER hot out and the entire lake was only ankle deep (not much for teenagers to do) and the sand surrounding the lake were so hot that we literally just about burnt our feet.  It was awful.  Plus there were a lot of bugs and we saw a snake--yuck.  So after we helped Summer trap a few fish, we decided to call it a fail and leave.

Restaurants

Had to go to Big Judd's.  Only we went to a different one than I went to as a college student (kind of disappointing) and none of the kids wanted to try the challenge of eating the entire burger and fries.  So Mike and I shared it...and still couldn't eat it!!

Frontier pies used to be the fanciest restaurant in Rexburg.  It was THE place to go back in the day.  Well, now it's like a ghost town:(  The food was still good (the kids got to try scones) and the pies were delicious (although I don't think they had quite as many to choose from as they used to)...and I think our waiter was training.  I asked if I could have a salad instead of fries with my meal and he was like "I don't think so" and just disappeared.  But eventually, he came back with my salad--haha

Summer and I stopped by Mill Hollow for frozen yogurt.  It was completely unchanged and just as busy as I remembered it.  I was a little confused about the sizing and ended up with this giant yogurt--Summer didn't seem to mind (until I made her throw half of it way).

And we can't forget our Sonic experience--hahaha!  Somehow they messed up Tyson's order and got him a giant chili dog and then when he finally got his breakfast sandwich it was moldy--yikes.  And he sat on a table and it fell over, and we had no ketchup and giant Ice creams!

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.