Addie and I were lucky enough to be able to go to Caldwell for a little vacation before this next little guys comes in August. Mitch endured a whole week with us gone, but did pretty well considering we talked with him every night and left a meal plan for him to cook while I was away.
The flight was great! Luckily we sat next to two very nice ladies that were totally kid friendly and both very unique. The first lady didn't speak very much English and kept calling Addie "Bubka" which was very cute. She was on our second flight too although she didn't sit by us she did make a little slinky toy from some paper for her to play with. The second lady was headed to Notus, Idaho to compete in a period correct shooting competition. She had 45 revolvers (not that many,it's a type of gun obviously not with her on the plane), period dresses, hats, and even a fake name she goes by when she performs. Awesome. They were both very helpful!
We hung out with the family for a week and a half which was so much fun. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew were down for the whole week too so we did some fun stuff. We went to Zoo Boise on Saturday and although it was pretty rainy it was still fun and Addie enjoyed seeing all the animals now that she knows the names and sounds of most of them.she really liked the penguins, wallaby's and the baby goats that she got to feed, or rather watched Grandpa feed them. She practiced her roaring with Uncle B.J. and climbed into a groundhog tunnel with Tristan.

Addie loved the Discovery center, especially making echoes in a sound tube and watching a whiffle ball float above a stream of air.

We also got to play a lot in the backyard with Grandma, Grandpa and Tristan. She loved throwing the Frisbees and balls back and forth and playing soccer with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma "C" also gave Addie a ride in the wheel barrow. My Grandpa Hart used to do this to us kids and it was always a treat when he let us ride around as he pushed. I'm sure Grandma "C" gives fun rides too that hopefully Addie will remember as she grows up too!



Addie loved playing the piano and singing "Jesus wants Me for a Sunbeam". She's getting better and better everyday at singing almost all the words to some of her favorite songs. Among which are the ABC song, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, the "horses" song which is the All the Pretty Little Horses lullaby ( which she sings to her ducky and monkey friend while rocking them back and forth), Popcorn Popping, 5 Little Monkey Jumping on the Bed, the "mr. Crocodile" song, I love to See the Temple and I Am A Child of God to name a few. She loves to sing with momma which makes me happy because I love to sing with her too.


We also got to go to Given's Hot Springs as a family which we hadn't done since we were little kids. We thought it was going to be packed because when we were little it always was, but when we went this time we had the pool completely to ourselves! Addie loved the water which surprised me because when we went to an indoor water park about a month ago she didn't want to get in the water or play or splash hardly at all. I think she liked that the water was warm so it made her a little more comfortable, like a bath would feel. Well she got a little too comfortable because when people would hold her she would want to escape and try to swim by herself. I think because she thought everyone else was swimming without help she could too. She was even brave enough to blow bubbles in the water which Mitch says most kids her age are not comfortable with. She loved trying to get Grandpa "C" and played a game with him for awhile where she would throw a little silver ring to the bottom of the pool and Grandpa would pick it up with his toes which she got a kick out of. There was a little shallow part of the pool where Addie could walk but still be mostly in the water. Here she tried to corral the balls and tried to let go of my hand so she could walk by herself, silly girl, I didn't want her to faceplant and totally wreck her pool experience so I held on to her. She liked climbing the stairs in between the little pool and the big pool, she would go up them then down into the big pool and visa versa. She did this several times, which was pretty tiring for momma. The pool was lots of fun but the warm water sure drains ya!

B.J. and Tristan really like the Birds of Prey that are in the Boise area so we went to the Center that they have there in Boise to see some of the cool birds. We saw a bald Eagle, a Peregrine Falcon and some California Condors. They also had several stuffed birds of Prey from around the world. Heather's favorite is the Harpie Eagle. I really liked the owls that they had there. They do a little demonstration with some live birds but the first bird was a hawk and was a little spooked by loud noises apparently so Addie and I had to leave. Luckily there was a little room that was for kids that had some fun beaks to try on, some books to read and some eggs to compare in size, shape and color! Grandma "C" came out to watch Addie so I could see some of the other birds they were showing. They only showed one other bird, and it wasn't even a bird of prey, it was a crow, I was a little dissapointed, but the bird did soem cool tricks and Tristan even got to participate! he put a piece of paper out for the crow to take then fly back to the trainer. He also gave the crow some money for the donation box, which the crow put into the slot himself.It was pretty cool.

These are some of the highlights of our trip with pictures for some of what I just explained. If you click on the scrapblog link in the lower right hand corner it will enlarge it in another window so they are a little easier to see.