Papa and Grams visit

We like to drive through Swan Valley so we can stop for square ice cream cones. It's kind of silly, but the kids are so excited to get them, especially on a hot day. We couldn't eat them fast enough.

 

Once we got back to Idaho Falls we headed to see Papa and Grams. It was nice to have a relaxing afternoon. 

Evie had to wander around and check out all the animals to make sure everyone was still there. 

Having been there the previous week, the dogs did seem happy to see Kara had come back. Freida didn't much care for the rest of us, at least at first. I think she warmed up to Kiersten a bit. 

The girls like to watch Papa work with the horses. He got them saddled up and ready for some riders. Evie didn't want to ride this time. I never got a clear answer why. 

Kara apparently made friends with all the cows. Her favorite memory from her week there was when she woke up to find all the cows had gotten out of the pasture, and Papa was chasing them around and yelling at them. 

She definitely has a comfort level with animals I'll never quite understand. They seem pretty ok with her too. 

Kiersten couldn't wait to go riding. Isn't she cute in that little belt?

She rode around awhile with the Papa holding the lead rope. 

She eventually got confident enough to try it on her own. She had such a grand time out there. 

Kara was ready to go, and has improved so much. 

She was anxious to show us how well she could communicate with the horse, and had lots of facts and tips to tell me. 

She trotted around some orange cones. 

She really loves riding! I wish she got to do it more often. 

We decided to go fishing the next day. 

We had never been to this lake before, but Kerry said he and Kara were catching perch there the other day. 

At first Evie just wanted to wade around. 

Kara and I got to go out in the floating chairs. Kerry took Kiersten in the boat. It was pretty windy, so I struggled to stay where I wanted to be. I kept getting pushed out, so I eventually decided to paddle clear out, upwind from the dock, so it would at least push me back to where I wanted to end up eventually. 

There is nothing about this picture that I don't adore. 

I was excited to catch a fish! I had a tricky time getting him back off the hook, but he swam away, so I think he was unhurt. Ben drove me to the far side, and dropped me off, so I could drift back over. I let Evie sit in my lap, and man, did I get a workout trying to kick with a 60 lb kid on my legs. But we had a fun time floating around together. I had a major kickfest when she was done to get near the dock. I was tempted to dump her over and tell her to swim back, haha. 

Kara got sick of fighting the wind and did some fishing off the dock. She caught so. many. fish. I'm not kidding, she was pulling them up left and right.

She got back in the chair with Kiersten and they worked together to paddle. Then they caught a bunch more fish. Kiersten was thrilled. Ben and I both noticed that they didn't argue at all. When I saw them get in together, I thought it wouldn't end well. They usually get made at each other quickly. But they had fun, and enjoyed fishing together. 

Evie wanted Papa to help her get a fish. They ended up reeling a couple in. I think it was mostly Kerry, but he did make sure she was holding the rod and had her do some reeling. 

Ben didn't get in the water at all. I think he may have fished a bit off the dock. Just wasn't into it that day, I guess. 

We stopped by the gas station on our way home, and Kara said she wanted a picture with the "soda cans". We've passed them so many times, but I don't think we've ever stopped there before. 

I made her take one of me too. We both thought it was extra funny because I had on a coke shirt. When Ben came out of the gas station, he thought we had lost it, we were laughing so hard. 

The other girls were too tired to get out of the car to join our fun. 

The next day we took the girls to Rigby Lake. We haven't been there for a few years, and it has changed a lot. It was really crowded. I've never seen so many people there before. 

Check out Kiersten climbing the slide. They had loads of fun on there. Kara climbed to the top, and then dove off the platform. I thought my heart was going to stop. I was furious with her poor decision making, and impressed by her dive, all at the same time. 

There was another floating dock that the teens and tweens were drawn to like magnets. I'm not sure why the girls kept climbing back up, but the boys sure loved pushing them off. Kara went back over and over. I pointed it out to Ben, and right then, Kara climbed up, shook her head "no", and kind of waved her arms a bit. One of the boys grabbed her and threw her off anyway. I tried to say something to Ben, like "it seemed like she didn't want to be thrown off", but he was already swimming away, and halfway to the platform. I took a hilarious video of him climbing up, grabbing the boys, and throwing them in. I think it was harder than he was expecting, lol. Kara was both proud and embarrassed. 

These two wore themselves out on the slide, and decided to spend some time on the beach. It was the best lake beach of our entire trip, so I'm glad they enjoyed it. 

Back at Papa and Grams' house, Nancy's family came over for dinner, and the girls were in heaven playing with their cousins again. 

We also met up with them at Heise Hot Springs after we came back from Utah. It was a fun place, and I hope to go back. 

I was a fan of the hot pools. I could stay in there all day. It was a super hot day, and I was still undeterred. I took very few pictures, as I spend most of my time luxuriating in the hottest pool.  

The kids loved the 12 ft section in the main pool. They did flips off the diving board and dared each other to touch the bottom. Even I jumped off the diving board once. Kara was unimpressed with my lack of a flip, and she and Ben were snickering together when I surfaced. 

We stopped by Whitney and Tucker's baseball game on our way back out to see Kerry and Lana before heading home. The girls were happy to get one last dose of cousin time.