Idaho & Bear World...

Our little family headed out for an adventure this past week.  

We stopped briefly for lunch in Idaho Falls and made it a point to retell our Kaelster his birth story.  We showed him the city he was born in and walked around the falls pointing out the temple that his birth mama, and his Grandma & Grandpa Gardner were married in.

Our little "Idaho Spud" loved being in the limelight and we loved remembering those happiest of days when our family came to be.

Then on to our first vacation stop -- a little gem called, "Bear World" just south of Rexburg, Idaho en route to Yellowstone.

It was spendy and I'm sure Ryno was grumbling about the whole thing until we got going...

Guess who is calling Bear World a victory?

All of us - that's who.

Thumbs up for this place.

You start by driving around in your car (as many times as you please) to view the free roaming animals.  The bears are in a separate area from the deer and elk - and it's a good thing because seriously, if anything happened to that baby elk I would cry my eyes out.

Cutest scene ever.

The albino elk... his velvety horns were pink with all the blood coursing through them as he worked on growing his rack in the summer sun.

And then it was time to enter the bear area.

Don't worry, we actually rolled up our windows.  Ace made sure of that!

#nervous

After the drive, we went into the "Baby Bear Nursery".  I died of cuteness overload.  They are DARLING!  They frolicked around and wrestled with one another and all I could think about was how many similarities there are between my baby boys and these baby bears.  ALL the energy all the time, spastic, fun, attempted ferocity and clumsy balls of movement rolling around with and onto one another.  From still to highest speed at the drop of a hat for no rhyme or reason and voraciously hungry when milk was produced.  :)

Ace really thought he should be able to take the little black bear home for obvious reasons...

I was SOOOO tempted.

I mean, we already have bottlesand blankies around here.  :)

And a baby Boone to play with, so.....

 There was a cute little petting zoo, which the boys loved.

Dax named this little buck "Munchie" and he claimed the deer would just "follow him everywhere because they were best of friends". 

 And then we were off to the "amusement park" - and though I use that term loosely, the boys literally thought it was a mini Disneyland.  NO lines.  LOTS of turns on the rides and a nice cool breeze - maybe it was better than Disney!  :)

 It was a great way to start our Yellowstone adventure and it's a place my little gents won't soon forget.  And when I take them back there in a few year's time... I'm SO recreating these images.  

 And they'll be big and hairy... Sigh.  :)

Memorialize the Weekend...

This weekend we celebrated the start of summer in wonderful Wayne with all of my family.  The Rasmussen's were holding a reunion and we were invited to attend since the Albrecht brothers were hosting.  I made them pose for this picture for several reasons really:

1.  I have very few of them together

2.  I want to show my boys that even in adult hood brothers are friends & work together

3.  These guys are all like bonus grandpas to my kiddos and they are so loved...

(whether they like it or not)

Of course the boys were eager to hang with cousins (which they did for hours on end)... so much so that we mostly played and I rarely even got out the camera.

And just as eager to ride in the razor with their Daddy-o to one of their favorite fishing spots to really nail 'em.  Ryno told me that he spent 98% of the time baiting hooks and caring for their catches.  These little dudes set their own hooks and reeled in every single fish.

Next time they'll have to clean 'em themselves, say Papa Bear.  :) 

Baby Boone made the rounds from loving sets of hands to more loving sets of hands at the reunion, at Grandma's, to little adoring girl cousins, and Aunts and Uncles.  

He also discovered and LOVED the swing at Grandma & Grandpa's beloved red house.

We visited the grave of my Grandma & Grandpa Albrecht.  It's such a pretty little cemetery and my little patriots remembered the significance of the flags billowing in the breeze at certain headstones.

And of course, they spent some time making mud pies at the "bakery" where cousins worked for HOURS together stocking the shelves with red velvet and chocolate delectables.

I love that little corner of the lot.

I also love that we would spend every waking hour of life, and every dollar in our wallet, and maybe throw in a kidney or some other organ for these people in our life.

 We are truly blessed.

Donuts, Peaks & Snaps...

Well, we kicked off summer with cousins at Seven Peaks per tradition.  It was hot, crowded, borderline disgusting, and OH so good.  I saw someone wrote on the Seven Peaks website the following review, "The water was visibly filthy when we went.  I actually saw a bandaid floating in the wave pool."  I'm here to say I have never NOT seen a bandaid floating in the wave pool.  It's like a fixture of all public swimming pools in the summer months.  (A disgusting and nasty fixture, but a perma-fixture during June, July and August, nonetheless).  So consider your immune systems buoyed up like your booty in a donut shaped tube, cause friends... the water will be visibly dirty.  :)

It so happened that our Seven Peaks date fell on National Donut Day so of course we made a pre-peaks stop at Daylight Donuts for some love.  Bonus, everyone got a free donut to celebrate one of my favorite made-up holidays.  That's a good omen don't you think?

The kids vacillated between being pool honeys, wave pool junkies and thrill seekers on the water slides.  They are complete water dogs -- every last one of them.  And I was a little bit carefree since Grandma Janice was tending baby Boone.  It was like I had all "big kids" and it was pretty awesome.  

So, my sis and I caught some rays and managed the "snack bar" and she taught me the fine art of snap chat, which we later perfected in the bucket seats of her hot new Mom van.  You guys, it's literally the lamest social media platform ever BUT it's kind of entertaining.  I mean, a Marilyn Monroe filter?  

I might join Snap Chat yet.  LOL

 We passed this "water themed" mural in downtown Provo and immediately flipped a B and made the kids pose in front of it.  That's what good Mom's do, duh.

Ace is such a stud, he makes Haven's armpits get all sweaty so she has to use the armpit perfume.

Hurry...Name that movie!

 More masculine studliness...

We loaded up those water-logged babes after a long day in the sun and immediately realized we needed to serve up some Snow Cones to keep them awake for the drive home.  #exhausted

It was a pretty great day.

And the happiest baby brother reunions you ever did see.

(After we washed all the giardia off of us)

Summer - we gotcho numba.