Jump Creek, Temple Trip, Painting, City of Rocks

 

Jump creek was so fun! We waited until 1 for Sara to get going but she finally texted saying it was too crazy for her. Carson took a speech class over the summer and got way behind causing lots of tension and yelling in their house. Evelyn was concerned Jump Creek would be booooooooring without more friends. We watched a Barbie movie during the drive (thanks Lia). It was triple digits hot that day so the hike in was extra toasty. Conversely, the ice cold water felt invigorating driving those hot temperatures away. Josie did not really swim because the water was so cold. She chased dragonflies and hopped on rocks for most of the afternoon. Everett and Phillip tried and tried to climb up the rock face, a couple guys were able to climb up quite high, but not as high as the other guys. Mia and Lia went nerdy again, they stayed in the water most of the time doing heaven knows what. The few glimpses suggested noodle spraying, evil eyebrow floating, jumping, and posing as mermaids. I led and expedition down the stream with the boys and little girls. Josie wore her normal shoes because she forgot her water shoes. Everett tore off part of his toenail (triple ouch). Evelyn almost died because of the crawdad remains we stumbled on several times. Josie morphed into a wolf back at the beach. She howled to the moon. Just a few minutes later she turned into a mermaid. It was all very exciting. 

Lia, Mia, Phillip, and I went to Boise temple for a baptism session. Phillip came down with another hickey on his chin thanks to the bug-bite suction thing. We did not have priesthood to help us so relied on the temple staff to help us out. My Uncle Darrell did the baptizing for us! How cool?! One of Phillip's ordinance names left a very strong impression on our hearts. Darrell and Fawn are coordinators so work in the temple 1-2 days a week. We enjoyed lunch at Chik-fil-a complete with peach shakes. Yummers. 

Fawn hosted a fun painting class featuring a grassy field and flowers. The older girls were especially interested in going so we all went. Josie painted a cute sunflower. Evelyn painted an adorable gnome into her masterpiece then gave it to me for a birthday gift. Everett was in a foul mood, he forgot his shoes and did not want to go. He hid and sulked for a time until he forgot why he was mad. The kids mostly played in the gym while the ladies tried to ignore my loud kids. I busted out my photo studio stuff to take some make-up dance photos. Mia and Lia got into the action for cute cousin photos. I also redid Josie's dance photos since the ones I took back in May were not so cute. Phillip's activity was once again cancelled for the week because no leaders were available. All the girls headed to Sister Whitings for karaoke. Mia and Lia sang their hearts out. I was introduced to The Hu Wolf Totem, a strange heavy metal rock band from Mongolia. Their instruments were worth the entertainment effort.

The weather was slated to be more mild on Thursday morning so the kids organized a lemonade stand. I had a Dr appointment early that same morning. I helped drag all the stuff out to the street, then ran to get ice, cups, and lemons. I had some photo editing to get done while the kids did their thing. Everett was not interested or very helpful, he read his book most of the time. I left for an hour to have an early birthday lunch with Esther and Sara at El Guero. I helped the kids pack it all back in the truck after our lunch. Esther is so stressed with packing and moving she can barely function. I tried to go over to help several time but she was either not there or "didn't" need help. The lemonade stand got sprinklered shortly before I arrived. Mia earned a lovely bruise when her chair tipped over when the sprinklers came on. Everett threw an epic fit locking himself in the bathroom for an hour. He was banging the walls so hard picture frames were popping off their nails. He was mad the kids cut his pay in half because he didn't help set up, break it down, serve customers, or yell. The kids each earned about $8 after paying for cups and ice. I unlocked the bathroom door and forced a very combative Everett onto my lap until he started crying and went limp. I think he is more stressed about starting Middle School, friend angst, and overwhelming feelings than he lets on. Josie made a really cute cat box. She later added leg holes so it became a cat plane.  

Friday was my 45th birthday. Justin surprised me with a fancy Rowenta iron and a year subscription to The Daily Wire. I surprised myself with a Nuimo Belle doll and perfume. Evelyn and Josie went grocery shopping with me for the morning. I wanted to go roller skating so we headed there around 2:30. I did not realize the session ended at 4, we only had an hour to skate...boo. I was in a foulish mood most of the day. I enjoyed a video chat with Jeremy and family. Jana left a voicemail singing Happy Birthday. Dad called me for a quick chat, that was really nice. Justin and I went out for pizza at a delicious spot in Meridian/Kuna called 3 Wood Pizza. I went wild and tried a dill pickle pizza. It was deliciously made with ranch, bacon, and pickles. Mia helped make strawberry jell-o lasagna for dessert. 

I had a photo session starting at 7:30 am at Kathryn Albertson park with the Allen family. It was a challenge to have a picnic lunch packed and ready to go Thursday night. We all needed to leave the house by 6:45 am. I was very impressed the Allen family was all present and accounted for at 7:30, not an easy feat for four separate families! We got their session over in less than an hour. The kids roamed the park for the duration picking flowers and enjoying the cool morning. Our goal was to be at the City of Rocks visitor's center around noon to meet up with James, Miekka, Seth, and Jacob. The drive was absolutely stunning, lots of back roads full of farms and tiny towns. I was really worried it would be way too hot for hiking...instead it drizzled half the time and barely warmed up past 70! That was an unexpected blessing. The kids picked up Jr Ranger badge books and we all watched a movie about the park. We had a picnic lunch before starting the first loop at Circle Creek. Miekka had an app open that corresponded with 11 different markers along the trail teaching about geological marvels that made up the reserve. Josie and Evelyn immediately adopted Sesie and Beebop as trail assistants. Everett was keen to climb as many rock piles as possible. We stopped at Bath Rock next, story goes that cowboys would climb up this large rock and bathe in the natural holes when they filled with water. Jacob made like a mountain goat hopping all the way to the pinnacle. Everett and Phillip joined Jacob a while later. I tried my hard climbing up the steep rock, a brisk wind whipped my shirt clear up to my elbows...while my arms were reaching above my head. Some folks got a nice look at my undies and bra. The view from uptop was worth the effort. Getting down was slow and carefully done, we all made it just fine. Our last stop was to Window Arch, it was about 250 feet from the parking lot. Another family was just leaving as we arrived, the guy let us know there was a larger arch just a bit further down the trail! He just discovered the second arch after 8 years of visiting the park. We checked out two ranger backpacks for the kids to enjoy. Inside the packs were all sorts of fun tools for the kids to use like binoculars, bug catching items, etc. We headed back to the Ranger station before it closed at 4:30. The kids finished their workbooks, took the oath, got their badges, and stickers. All too soon it was time to dole out hugs and head home sans Lia. Our van was much quieter, we loved having Lia. Maybe we need to make this a new tradition?! The kids picked Jimmy Johns as a dinner treat. We missed Justin all day. He was busy with end of quarter/6 mth reports at work and Elder's Quorum stuff, plus all seats were taken the way there. I enjoyed listening to the 3rd Adventurers Wanted book and several podcasts.