Quarantine Haircuts & 40 Horse Cave

In the beginning of June Idaho finally allowed salons to re-open. We had a gift card for Great Clips that we needed to use, so we took all the kids to get haircuts. It was insane! They make every single person wear a mask, and you have to sit outside on these green dots until it is your turn. I wasn't even allowed to go in at all since I wasn't personally getting my hair cut. I was not at all sure Colby was going to be willing to go in without me, and I was right. He freaked. But I told him if he would go in and be a good boy we could go get donuts after. He LOVES donuts, so that was enticement enough.

One day Kylee invited Colby to help her make cookies, and he even wore a little apron. It was so cute! I'm not sure why my phone focused on Colby and made Kylee blurry, but I love this picture anyway.

One day we loaded all the bikes up and went down to the river path to go for a bike ride. We meant to just go a little bit and then turn back, but we ended up making a loop that was 7.25 miles. Colby of course just rides in his seat on the back of my bike, but it was pretty far for Ally's tiny legs on her tiny bike. About mile 4-5 she started to think maybe she wasn't going to make it, but I promised her a slushy from Sonic at the end and she found her second wind.

One Sunday after church we decided to make our 3rd attempt at 40 Horse Cave. We drove down there the long way (through town, less mountains) so that we could be sure we'd make it this time. The road had said it was opening May 1, and it was June now, so it seemed likely that we wouldn't have problems.

We found the parking lot and saw a bunch of people coming down a fairly steep looking trail. Assuming that must be it, we headed up. Um, yeah. Not so much. We basically scrambled up the side of a mountain and ended up on this cliff with no cave in sight. Getting back down was super sketchy, and for a few short moments Andy was worried that we were going to be one of those idiot groups that gets up to a place they can't return from and has to call for help. However, Kylee and Skyler managed to scramble/slide on their own, Andy helped Ally, and I helped Colby. That kid is like a mountain goat. He kept telling me "I don't need help. I got it." I kept telling him, "Well, I need you to help me, cuz I don't got it. So I'm going to hold your hand." Luckily we made it down with no deaths or serious injuries.

We then walked around a bend in the road and found a different trail leading up to the cave (center top of the photo below). It was also pretty steep and slightly slippery, and Andy had to carry Colby part way because since we had already gone up the wrong mountain so he was pretty tired, but we made it!

It's sad how much graffiti there is everywhere. People have zero respect for nature and for the fact that other people would love to enjoy it without spray paint everywhere. The kids had fun climbing around inside the little cave though, and the view from the top was pretty.

On the way home we took the other dirt road that we'd tried the first time around. This time there was no snow, but it was still muddy in some spots. The drive was really pretty and we didn't see another car the entire time, so it was really peaceful!

Skyler Turns EIGHT!!

After mom and Bruce left to go home, we decided we should head down to their house for the weekend as well because 1) Candice was maybe going to be coming down for her 40th bday; 2) Connie was coming out from Colorado; and 3) Our realtor wanted to have a couple of Open Houses at our house so we needed something else to do.

I used my "AllTrails" app to find this fun little walk that is only about 3 miles away from mom's house. It's called Dripping Rock Falls. If you walk a little bit past the Dripping Rock you can go across two fun bridges as well. Mom and Bruce never even knew this was here, so it's always fun to discover new places!

When Connie arrived mom baked a cake for the two birthday boys (Pax turned 8 the end of April and Skyler was turning 8 the following week). It would have been a cake for Candice as well, but she ended up not being able to make it down. The cake was a new brand mom had never tried and after she baked it it looked really weird, so we put some fun decorations on to make it look more yummy. It ended up tasting great, so who cares if it was a little strange looking!

After the weekend we headed back home and Connie stayed at mom's house for a few more days, then came up to our house for Skyler's actual birtday. The kids had so much fun wearing their matching jammies and playing together.

I'm not sure how it is possible that this kid is already 8 years old. Time FLIES!! Baptisms were still cancelled so that was on hold, but he had a fun birthday with cousins.

He decided he wanted a "Toad" cake (from Super Mario). Whenever they play Mario Kart on our old Nintendo 64 he likes to be Toad, so it was a good choice. Somehow the middle of the cake sank, and the cream cheese didn't blend up right so the frosting was kind of lumpy...but he loved it anyway. I'm really glad that kids are not that picky about stuff. They love any effort.

On Memorial Day (a few days after Skyler's birthday) we woke up to SNOW. Gag. What the heck?!? I blame Pax because he had brought a Santa hat and had been wearing it the whole time he was at our house. He must have been wishing for snow! Haha, j/k. Pax, I forgive you.

We turned on the "Frozen" fireplace on the t.v. It even made real crackling sounds.

The kids all had a blast tackling Andy.

Colby and Kylee went outside to make a snowman. It was quite a bit of snow!

In the very end of May a couple of restaurants opened back up for limited dine-in eating. We had a gift card we needed to use, so for the first time in a couple of months we went on a date. We ate dinner and then walked around the river path by the temple. It was nice!

More Idaho Adventures

My ninja coach told me about this cool place called Fall River Falls that was only about 45 minutes away from our house, so one Saturday morning while they were holding an Open House at our house we took the kids to go find it. It was again even better than we were imagining. There are so many pretty places to see in all parts of the country. Just gotta go exploring!

There is a little cave behind one part of the waterfall that you can climb down into. Only Kylee and I did it because the stream was running really high and fast and it was a smidge too dangerous for the little kids.

Below is the stream we had to cross in order to get closer to the Falls. In this photo it doesn't look that bad, but it really was. It was so fast and pretty deep and the edge of the cliff was only about 10 feet down stream. You could tell that normally when it's not spring run-off there would be a lot less water here...but this time there was a lot!

Another cute picture of these kiddos snuggling in their sleep.

Grandma and Grandpa decided to bust out of quarantine and come visit us for a couple of days. I found these photos that must have been taken by Colby or Skyler. Haha!

We decided that grandma and grandpa would probably like to see Fall River Falls as well, and it had been really sunny in the week since we went, so we hoped maybe the stream would be a little lower this time. It was! Still not as low as it will be later in the summer, but we managed to fling all the kids across it without too much danger. We even convinced grandpa to come across, though he was skeptical at first.

The kids were all excited that they got to go down in the cave behind the waterfall this time.

It was actually sprinkling rain pretty much the whole time we were there, but it was still so pretty! The kids kept finding the biggest rocks they could to toss in the stream and make a big splash.

Another day (also slightly rainy), we decided to go hike up Menan Butte because I'd heard it was fun as well. Let's just say this. When they say "slightly uphill the whole way" what they mean is "Bring your spikes and rock climbing gear." :) J/K. It wasn't THAT bad. But it was sooo steep and the sand on the rocks made it really slick in a lot of spots. I kept expecting the grandparents to give up and turn back, and I would not have blamed them at all. It was tough! But slowly but surely everyone made it.

We were outrunning a storm the whole way, and we had to keep a close eye on it because we didn't want to be on top of the Butte if lightning started. Luckily the wind was blowing a different way and though the clouds looked menacing we didn't see lightning. We made it all the way to the top before we started getting sprinkled on. The kids were little disappointed that the bowl of the volcano is all filled in with dirt and sagebrush now (I'm not sure if they thought they were going to see lava?!?), but the views from the top were really pretty.