Some Nature School friends and I met at the river near Virgin. Cool enough to be refreshing on a hot summer day, but warm enough to be really fun!

There were 4 moms and 17 kids 🤪

The silt in the river was so silky smooth we put it on our legs! 

Charity loves this cute puppy, Bricksy!

Charity accidentally got swept down the river through this rapid (which she called a waterfall!). She swims well enough she was fine— it just gave us all, mostly her, a good scare. 

I got to feed this sweet little babe. Born with a cleft lip/palate his Mama is so patient to feed him upright with a special bottle. (Surgery has to wait till he’s old enough.)

After seeing us rub the silt on our legs, Cory decided to take it a step further... 😂 “You wouldn’t believe how badly this dried out my skin!”

We went to Pine Valley with Sabrina & her kids. Playing in the wild and escaping the heat... so nice!

By the stream- Charity didn’t want to get her dress wet 😂

Parker

Fishing poles... 😡 We should have stuck with the ONE we had & take turns... instead of going out to get one for each boy. Tangles... more tangles... waiting for mom to untangle... 🙄 Wait till they are old enough to untangle their own... or buy toddler versions of a fishing pole!

Griffin & Oliver

Parker, Jack, & Lincoln diverted the river around to make a tiny stream of their own. 

We still need new house numbers and outdoor lights, so it’s almost there. (We did Sherwin-Williams Amazing Gray for the walls & Natural Choice for the accents.) Before - the roof and accents and walls were all basically the same color. 

Can’t believe these boys are getting so big! They are both in karate & their 2nd year of music class. 

Present time!

Griffin asked for “a small can of Pringles chips, a small bag of Cheetos, and Skittles”. So... that’s what they both got! Haha. Oliver asked for the rhino LEGO set. So we balanced it out by getting Griffin some Lincoln Logs. 

(These blocks are a favorite in our house! Definitely worth the investment. If you’re on the fence about getting them, do it! But get rid of the tin they come in and get a different container to hold them. That tin was a fun toy in itself and ended up causing a dent in our freshly painted walls!)

Oliver can build Legos like the big kids now!

Swimming at Mimi’s for a party

Griffin shooting me with a water gun 😂

Parker & his “pet” lizard that he keeps in the window well of his bedroom. 😂 It has since escaped. 

On our way home we stopped partway in Missoula, Montana at 3am and slept in a hotel. I wonder what the front desk man thought of us carrying in 5 sleeping kids... After a continental breakfast and a quick stop at the park, we made our way to Idaho Falls: Grandma’s house! 

The next morning... by himself... Jesse took ALL of our kids plus Angela’s kids (minus Hannah) to Tautphaus Park Funland AND the Zoo! He brought them home with pizza, so he also fed them all lunch. Super dad! 🕺  It was nice to visit (and super nice to be in a clean place!). 

Ice cream cones in the backyard, thanks to Jesse again. 🍦

Matthew & Lincoln

Charity giving Rose “tickle torture”. 😆

Nature... “art” by Parker & Rose

Thanks for a fun visit, Mom & Dad!

Our final destination: Red River Hot Springs. Rustic place with a natural hot spring (135°F) that continuously feed the hot tubs and pool. We spent the remainder of our trip here, which was a couple hours drive from Riggins through mountain pass roads sans cell service. Beautiful drive! 

The lodge from the back side with a couple of our trailers. 

The cabin we slept in. No electricity, no plumbing. Like I said, rustic. (Those in the lodge had both, however.)

Jack & Lincoln in the pool, which is kept at about 90°F. 

Lola, Flora, Belle, & Cora

Lawn games. It would have been awesome if this was actually grass! 






The boys were constantly exploring the woods. They were in boy heaven!


We went on a little side trip to float down a river... but after tons of mountain dirt roads and Nate’s flat tire, we stopped at a smaller river and just played there. It was still fun. We found a snake on the road on the way. 

Jackson & Charity

Audrey, me, & Ashley

We sat in this ice water river (Papa for a few minutes and me... briefly)

Some of the girls made flower crowns for the younger girls. Here’s Cora. 

Where we ate our meals. The staff there fed us breakfast and dinner each day. SO nice to it have to worry about meals!

Annual plank contest 💪 

Charity fell asleep before the contest...

Charity jumping in the pool to Jesse

Oliver flipping into the pool

Oliver with Daddy

Mimi even got in the pool!

Other activities included four wheeling, shooting guns, & mountain biking. So much fun crammed into just a few days!

Charity with Claire

& Elle

We had so much fun! Thank you, Mimi & Papa for providing wonderful memories for our children with their cousins! 💕