Rigby Lake

Each time we drive up to Rexburg we pass through the small city of Rigby. There really isn't much there but we always see a good sized lake right off the highway with tons of people hanging out along the beach so I decided TODAY was the day we would check it out for ourselves. We packed a picnic lunch, umbrella, sand toys and our little raft and headed north.

What a wonderful day we had. We set up all of our things and the boys headed straight for the sand! It reminded me of days spent on the beach in CA. Not QUITE as much fun but it is as good as it gets over here I guess! ☺

 There was also a dock with a slide on it not to far from the beach. Parks (of course) was the only one who was brave enough to give it a try. Dal made it up the steps but had a change of heart at the top.

 Then the boys came running over to me saying "The Shuldburgs are here!!" Holly is a good friend of mine in the ward. She is my visiting teaching partner, fellow preschool mom, Zumba friend and she has 3 boys as well! We packed our stuff and moved right on over so our boys could play together.

 5 hours later we came home to a delicious crock pot dinner....gotta love the ready to go dinner after being gone and in the sun the entire day!

Couldn't resist a little crack shot.

Rigby Lake......a new favorite. ☺

A Boise re-charge.

The spouse had a hearing in Pocatello on Friday and a bike race in Boise on Saturday so we decided the best thing to do if we wanted to see him at all this weekend was jump in the car and come along! Honestly though, I needed it. A Boise friend and family re-charge was so in order.

While Nate was at the courthouse for a couple of hours the boys and I hit up the Pokey Zoo. I ♥ this little zoo!

That evening we met up with Nat, Robby and fam and went swimming. Baby Bryan is growing SO fast. And he is SOOOO cute....I can hardly stand it!

 The next day while Nate was racing in 100 degree temps (no thanks hon☺) we met up with the Koppings at Ivywild pool.

That night we had a few families over to my parent's house for a BBQ. It was SO much fun. I have just really been missing my Boise friends like crazy the past month or so. They just make me laugh and forget about the stresses of life. Great friends are SO good for the soul, especially one's who love you for WHO you are and make you feel better about yourself by just being around them. It's amazing to me.....I don't really miss Boise (the city), I don't miss my house (as much) anymore, I'm adjusting to the colder weather, and I don't miss my husbands job AT ALL, but I really miss the people. My family and friends.

We played games, pigged out, and let the kids play and play until the sun went down. ***Quick side note here...I've decided that I am NEVER TALKING again! Yep you heard me right! So my DEAR husband thought it would be fun to take about a million pictures of me while I was explaining how to play one of the games. If I really look like this or make this many facial expressions while explaining a game I think someone needs to just slap some tape across my face and never let me speak again. SCARY!!!

  

ANYWAY....after that, we put the kids to bed and the adults headed to MERRITT'S COUNTRY CAFE again for some delicious and terrible for you SCONES! YUUUUUUMMMM!

My friend canteen is filled again....for awhile anyway! What a great trip. 3 weeks left until school starts. I bought all of the boy's school supplies and tucked them away...now we don't have to think about it again for at least a couple of weeks! ☺

Check this guy out.....

Yep.....he is mine, ALL mine!!! ♥

FUN close to home!

It isn't really summer until we do the annual camp out in the backyard! Our neighbor was telling us how her son wanted to go camping so badly but with a new baby she just didn't feel up to it. Enter: Camp Starnes. One tent, a fire with smores and hot dogs, a table with crafts, and a MOVIE set up in the tent. Invite neighbors and there you go! A great night for kids and adults. Best part.....I got to sleep in my OWN bed at the end of the night! ☺

Tonight for family night we took the boys over to a park nearby with some small hills. We got some big ice blocks and took the kids ICE BLOCKING!! Yippee!!  

We all came home muddy and wet but it was worth it!

On the road again...imagine that!

So, I calculated it up. Of the 60 days of summer vacation so far the boys and I have been out of town for approximately 28 of those days!! Nate has joined us for about 5 of those days but WHOA. No wonder my garden produced nothing but weeds and my ward thinks I am pretty much inactive. I've probably got the neighbors wondering if our marriage is on the rocks. I told Nate....maybe I'm supposed to be a trucker or something. Hehe.....no way.

2 days after Starnespalooza my travel buddy, best friend, and wonderful GRANDMA EE came up and we jumped in the car and headed up for our yearly vacation up at Yellowstone!  It was a quick trip and we didn't see too many animals this time since we were headed the wrong way and we were there at the wrong time of day. It's still a magical place and unlike anywhere else on earth.

After Yellowstone we headed north and then over to Bozeman Montana to see Nate's Aunt Suzan. She used to volunteer at the AMAZING museum up in Bozeman and she told us to come up and see the FROG exhibit going on. It really was awesome! Suzan was our own personal tour guide and the boys loved learning about all of the different frogs from all over the world. There is also a huge exhibit on dinosaurs and on Yellowstone and even on pioneers!  It was SUCH a fun place to visit!

Grandma couldn't get enough of the SWEET PEAS all over the gardens! They were all so big and beautiful and smelled DIVINE!

Later that afternoon we headed back home. We were only gone for 2 days but it felt like a week! My 75 year old Grandma is the absolute BEST. I'm so grateful I have a buddy who loves to see the world with me from my passenger seat. There aren't many Grandmas out there who are as active, adventurous, and as fun as she is. We're already planning next years trip.....GLACIER NATIONAL PARK!