Fall Creek Falls

For Labor Day, we didn't go to hunting camp. We didn't go to the fair. But because everyone had the day off, we decided we should do something fun. I wanted to hike the 0.7 miles in to Fall Creek Falls. We never found the trailhead (Anyone know where it is?), but we found the falls regardless.

This picture shows how each of the girls felt about the falls. Winnie was totally unconcerned. She lacks a healthy fear of falling. Rebekah was terrified. Miriam was worried coming down the steep path to them. Analee was nonplussed. 

 It was a beautiful view, but we couldn't get the full picture from the top like this. I still hope to find the trailhead someday.

After driving to Palisades Dam and goofing off there for a while (Rebekah was scared it would break, so she tiptoed along the top. Seth was teasing her by stomping on it.), we went back to Swan Valley for square ice cream.

Seth: cookie dough. Analee: Play-Doh. Miriam: Play-Doh. Rebekah: Peanut butter. Gwendolen: bubble gum. Andrea (not pictured): lemon custard.

Gwenism #10

While looking at photos of insects on display at the Eastern Idaho State Fair.

Gwen: That looks like a worm.
Andrea: It's like a worm, but it has legs. It's called a millipede.
Gwen: No, it's called an L-M-N-O-pede.

School starts

When did my girls get so big?

Rebekah the 5th grader. She has Mrs. Campbell this year.

Analee the 3rd grader. She has Mrs. Martin.

Miriam the kindergartener. She has Mrs. Schuster.

Miriam's puppy backpack. She claims the puppies on the back are named Chocolate and Vanilla.

Showing off their new sneaks.

My three school-going gals.

It's a little weird just having Winnie with me in the mornings. When we went to story time at the public library this week, I kept trying to find my second child. Of course, she was busy writing 4s and Ds at school.

The big girls rode the bus to school the first day, but I dropped Miriam off so we could get these photos:

Getting her name tag in front of the school where the kindergarteners are dropped off the first week.

Mrs. Schuster with her morning class. (Miriam's the one at the far end.) 

Waving goodbye before going inside the building.

Hunting camp the first

Last weekend we visited hunting camp and helped with some of the setup. Of course, there was also a fair amount of four-wheeling, fork melting, BB shooting, snack eating, dutch ovening and other shenanigans. It was fun to play with Calvin and Lily (visiting from Boston), the Papworth cousins and the Wilde cousins.

Our girls get BB guns when they turn 8, so since Miriam is still 5, she borrowed Rebekah's gun to shoot at pop cans.

Rebekah taking her fork melting very seriously.

Mack pretending to be lassoed for Winnie's entertainment.

Analee posing on one of her cousin's four-wheelers.

Until next time, hunting camp!

To see more pictures, start here.

To my daughters

As our family walked along the beach of Lake Yellowstone and explored, I had the time to reflect on what a blessing it is to be a mother. Each of our girls is a special spirit, and it is a privilege to be their temporary steward. It was then I got the idea of writing an open letter to all four of them, telling each one thing I love about them right now.


Rebekah,

As the oldest child, you have responsibility thrust on your shoulders. We often ask you to fetch a child from the yard for lunchtime or to help someone get her shoes on. But even when you're not fulfilling a parental request, you exude authority. It's not surprising that toddlers seek you out for help finding a friend or that your younger cousins come to you when they want help getting on a swing. You are a helpful and responsible young lady. I can trust you to watch over your little sisters even when I haven't asked you to. I've come to rely on you for so many things this summer that I'm a little afraid of what it will be like when you head back to school next week.


Analee, 

I hope you never lose your ability to see things through fresh eyes. So many times I have heard you express appreciation for the area in which we live or the places we visit. "We're so lucky to live in Idaho Falls so we can walk the greenbelt." "It's so fun coming to Yellowstone. It's so beautiful here." "I'm glad we live in our neighborhood." Your gratitude is refreshing in a world where people take simple things for granted or have an attitude of entitlement. Yes, we do live in a beautiful area; it's just a small part of a beautiful world that God has made for us. My wish for you is that you'll be able to see many parts of the world and appreciate the beauty in all of them.


Miriam,

You have an imagination that rivals inventors, authors and scientists. Whether you're playing with Polly Pockets in your bedroom or sticks in the yard, you can create whole worlds. As you start kindergarten and encounter so many new people and ideas, I understand that you'll need to conform to behavioral standards, but I hope you can retain your ability to keep your mind free and open to new ideas. You are incredibly bright and vivacious. May you continue to find the fun in all situations, no matter how mundane.


Gwendolen,

You still have so much growing to do, and we have a lot to learn about the person you are. But it's already obvious that you have a love of words. You've proved that your vocabulary is expansive for your age, and your love of books will help it continue to expand. If you're feeling sad, you want me to read you a book. When you go to bed, you have to have a book. Even though you have years to go before you enter public schooling, you know exactly where the library is at Fairview, and it's your favorite place in the entire building. I hope your thirst for words is never satiated.


To all four girls,

Your parents love you so much. We see a glimpse of your potential and are overwhelmed by the possibilities your lives have. We know that, with your continued education — both spiritual and temporal — you will be an asset in the world and help others see the good in themselves. Thank you for sharing your personalities with us.

Yellowstone

Seth and I vowed to take the trailer out more times this year, so we planned an excursion to Yellowstone.
DAY 1

This was just part of a day, actually. After Seth got home from work on Wednesday, we hooked up the trailer, picked up some Wendy's, and drove up to the cabin in Island Park.

DAY 2

We woke up at the cabin, ate breakfast and drove up through West Yellowstone and into Yellowstone. Minus the pull up and over the Continental Divide (three times in one day!), pulling the trailer went well. I had arbitrarily chosen Bridge Bay campground, which meant we got to drove all the way past Madison Junction, Old Faithful, West Thumb and nearly to Fishing Bridge before we could unhook and explore. Seth masterfully backed the trailer into our allotted site, and we took off to see some old and new things.

We made a quick stop at Canyon for gas and to acquire Junior Ranger workbooks for the three older girls. Let me tell you, those books were well worth the $3 each. Not only was it chock-full of activities for the girls to complete (and complete them they did ... they took them very seriously), but they also earned badges after doing all their work. More on that later.

We hadn't been to the Petrified Tree before, and now I know why. If you were going to stop there because you were driving past anyway, I can understand getting out of the car to look at a tree surrounded by a fence. I'm not sure why we drove there as a destination, though. It was slightly underwhelming, but now we can say we've seen it.

On the trail to the tree.

 Miriam, Andrea, Winnie, Analee and Rebekah next to the petrified redwood.

Next stop: the Upper Falls. This is a place we'd been before, but it was worth it.

Analee sketching the falls for her Junior Ranger book.

Winnie being held up by Seth so she can see the brink of the falls.

Seth, Winnie, Miriam, Analee and Rebekah posing by the rocks at the falls.

Last stop for the day: Mud Volcano Area. Always a favorite.

Rebekah, Miriam and Winnie reacting to the Churning Cauldron.

Analee taking a picture of an old sign of humor someone left behind.

Seth holding Winnie's hand as she leaps down the stairs.

The doe and two fawns that crossed the trail right in front of Miriam and Rebekah.

Looking at the Dragon's Mouth Spring. (My personal favorite of the Mud Volcano Area.) Winnie, the gymnast, was climbing the fence as you see here, only she was putting her foot on the top rung before we noticed. Gratefully she didn't take a spill into the spring.

We returned to our campground for dinner and sleep that evening, then set out for ...

DAY 3

We started out the day with a hike. Rebekah and I introduced the rest of the family to Lone Star Geyser. It turned out to be the perfect hike since we could take the bike trailer/stroller on the wide path for the little ones.

Rebekah, Analee, Seth, Miriam and Winnie on their way to the geyser.

Four girls and their walking sticks. After Rebekah found one for herself, Seth helped the other girls find and prepare sticks for them to use.

Rebekah watching a minor eruption. We arrived just in time to see this one.

Analee, Seth, Miriam, Gwendolen and Rebekah watching the start of another eruption. After the first eruption, we decided to stick around to see if another would happen. Around 30 minutes later, we got to see a larger eruption.

See?

After we made it back to the car, we drove to the Old Faithful area, ate a picnic lunch and waited around for that geyser.

Miriam sitting on Seth's shoulder for a good view of Old Faithful. She didn't last up there until the eruption, though.

We picked out a few souvenirs, enjoyed some ice cream and went back to camp to attend the ranger's family program. (One of the requirements of the girls' Junior Ranger Program was attending a ranger-led program). Then we ate dinner, toasted some marshmallows on the gas stove of the trailer (it was very windy outside) and went to bed.

DAY 4

We woke up, had our breakfast and drove to the Fishing Bridge visitors' center to check it out (none of us had been there before) and get the girls' Junior Ranger patches and buy a Lone Star patch for Analee and Miriam. The ranger there looked through the girls' workbooks very seriously, discussed them with the girls, then had them raise their right hands and take a Junior Ranger oath that included, among other things, promising to take care of Yellowstone's animals, plants and rocks and eat their vegetables every night. Then he awarded them with big patches. The girls were very proud of them. (Rebekah plans to make a bandolier to put her patches on.)

Then we drove to a nearby pullout by Lake Yellowstone and spent an hour exploring and throwing things in the lake. It was the highlight of the trip for me watching the girls get dirty and have fun.

The skies were very smoky from the area wildfires.

Patterns in the dirt around the lake made by the water.

Rebekah with some cools rocks she found.

Miriam throwing rocks into the water.

Analee skipping rocks. She proved herself to be a good rock skipper.

Three girls on a beach.

Seth and Andrea on the beach. Day four of our trip also happened to be our 12th wedding anniversary.

Winnie throwing a rock.

After the lake, we went back to camp and checked out of our spot in time to go home and unpack.

We saw countless bison, several elk, eight mule deer, an oprey holding a fish, a few squirrels/chipmunks, a mama bighorn sheep and her baby, lots of geese; and we only missed three of 50 states in the license plate game, so I'd consider our trip a success. 

To see more pictures, start here.

Literally

Sometimes we let the girls put the toppings on their own, personal-sized pizzas. And sometimes Seth sees that all of the toppings are in one general area, and he advises them to "spread it around."

And sometimes, they take it literally.

I didn't get a picture of their hands, but both Miri and Winnie's digits were completely covered with pizza sauce.

Sleeping stance

How can anyone fall asleep like this?

Please excuse the dark, blurry phone pic.

Alice in the public library

I adore our public library. Especially the children's department. We usually visit the library once a week, and our girls get to enjoy such things as story time, acting for kids, the summer reading program complete with prizes, and themed parties.

Our family has learned that when it comes to the parties, it's a lot more fun if you really get into it. So as soon as they announce the themes, we start dreaming.

First party: the Mad Hatter's tea party.

Miriam as Alice.

Analee as the white rabbit. (She's late!)

Winnie as the doormouse.

Seth as the "eat me" candy. (He's a good sport. Especially since he found out we were attending this party an hour before it started and went along with wearing this last-minute "costume.")

Rebekah as the Cheshire cat and Andrea as the Queen of Hearts. 

We enjoyed a story, singing, playing ...

Pretending to have a tea party.

Analee beating Rebekah in musical chairs.

... crafting ...

Analee's crazy paper bag hat.

... and eating.

Winnie and her cupcake's frosting.

Just wait until you see us at the Wild Things party!

To see more pictures, start here.