Craters of the Moon

We took a day trip this week with our kiddos to Craters of the Moon. It's been over a two years since we've been, and it was fun to see what the boys remembered! Of course we went at the wrong time, again!! If you recall from last time we went, the weather was really bad- cold, cold, cold!! So, as the not as smart as we would like to be parents we are, we decided that it's a ton warmer outside, and we should just go for it!! HOWEVER, the day we went was extremely WINDY!!!!! ( the last picture is of us trying to stand on the ash mountain, but the wind was blowing over 50 mph up there, and our skinny kiddos couldn't hold their own. We never made it to the top.)
Soooo, to try to salvage our trip, we went caving!! My boys love it so much anyway, and we were out of the wind. Surprising how nice it really was out of the wind! In fact, we could have spent all day down inside exploring the different caves, if not for a few factors:


1. The kids wouldn't have taken the flashlights out of my car. I am a mom who is usually prepared (extra water, blankets, food, etc. in the car, including flashlights- which have come in handy on several occasions!) However, today I was pleasantly surprised to find not one out of five flashlights in my storage! So, two of the four caves were out of the question.

2. The fire out on the INL. Coming out of Indian cave and heading to the next one, we noticed a small plume of smoke in the distance. Remember the wind I was talking about earlier? By the time we came out of the next cave, the smoke was drowning the horizon. We knew we could probably still get home, but thought it best to pack up. Plus, we had two kiddos who were desperate for a nap by then!!

We really had a great time there. Carson and Colton absolutely LOVE exploring, climbing, and leading us through each cave. Weston loved climbing, too- hey, he is my best climber out of all the kids! He would actually cry if we tried to carry him or help him over something! Brooklynn, however, is too girly. She complained in every cave we went into about the slimy rocks, dirt on her shoes, and even the smells in each cave (they didn't smell). She didn't want to touch anything that was ooey-gooey or even dirty, and was afraid of spiders when the caves got small!

Ririe Reservoir + Ruth Family

We went to Ririe Resivoir with the Ruth Family to celebrate Mike's birthday. Any time we can get together as a family and eat and have fun is a good excuse, so when Mike's birthday rolled around, so did all the Ruth's! Ririe Resivoir was a perfect spot. The kids could all play and run and swim while we could watch but also eat and do our own things! Thanks for the invite!

Shawn throwing redneck horseshoes for her team. Scott and I were a team, playing Shawn and Jared, and Heather and Holly. Guess who won? We did, we did!! (I'm not at all competitive!!

Mike's birthday cake- sooooo yummy! Thanks, Laura!

This is Holly's third oldest- Mason. He's such a charactor! His dad asked him why he was wearing that- he even knows how to swim!!

Weston in his swimsuit! He had a blast!

Brooklynn, Tatum, Carley, Maren, and Mairah down by the water. Brooklynn thinks these older girls are amazing!!

Mike, Scott, Mom, and Weston down by the water!

Our family getting ready to eat! Just look at us all move!

Brooklynn playing in the sand. She made sand castles most of the afternoon!

T-ball

I got roped into coaching t-ball AGAIN this year. I swear, I've coached more of my kids's sports team than I have been a spectator! (Scary thing is, I usually don't know what I'm doing-especially in soccer!!)

This year was fun for the most part. I did have some questionable parents again, but I have learned over the years to just let it go- I'll never be able to make all 12 parents happy at the same time! If their kid wasn't getting the ball, I would move them in the field, and the kids would hit it to opposite way the next time, so they still wouldn't get the ball! Ohh, parents were M.A.D.!!

Here are some pictures of the last game of the season. Scott took picutures for me since I was coaching and not able to! Also, side note, Weston was good all season, but this last game I had to hold him the entire time- even though I spend all the time in the field!!