Riding horses and fishing- Fun stuff to do in Idaho

The girls were very excited to visit Papa and Grams on their farm. Evie wanted to make friends with the chickens right away. This is the same rooster that tried to peck her eyes out 2 years ago. This time it chased Kara around, so Ben was on a mission to kill it. After quite the chase, Kerry ended up shooting the poor thing. But I hear the hens are happier with him gone, and the new "head rooster" is pretty glad as well.

Visiting the horses. This horse was huge! I've never seen such a large horse up close before.

Kara tried to get the cats to love her and follow her around. She ended up with lots of scratches.

But one of the cats did sort of give up eventually, and let himself turn from a farm cat to a lap cat for a couple days. Petting cats was in Kara's top 3 favorite things about our trip.

The girls couldn't wait to ride. Evie was so proud of herself up on that horse, and I got some fun video of her riding with Papa.

The girls were laughing at this horse chewing on the fence. They were a little concerned that he'd chew his way out.

Kiersten was a little nervous, but did great. She even got to hold the reins and steer a little.

Kara really enjoyed riding again.

She got to show off her skills as a solo rider. She kept on reminding me how lucky she is to get to visit Papa and all of the animals.

When Ben and I were first dating, we took pictures of ourselves frolicking through these flowers. It was fun to go with the kids and get a picture in the same spot.

2002

2014

We had the girls run around a bit like we did back then. I'll have to dig out the rest of the frolicking pictures to compare. It was a different time of year, but mostly looked the same.

On the way to go fishing, we stopped at Mesa Falls. It was gorgeous.

Not a view you can see just anywhere.

When we got to horseshoe lake, the first thing Ben did was get his fishing line caught under a rock. He had to wade out pretty far to get it free.

Lana brought butterfly nets for the girls. They did actually manage to briefly catch a few butterflies.

But they mostly used them to catch caterpillars. One of the caterpillars hitched a ride on my backpack and started building a cocoon around itself. (Or a spider started wrapping it up in a web for dinner. But I think it was the cocoon thing). 

All the girls got a turn to fish off the boat. Kiersten is the only one of them to catch a fish, and she caught it on her first cast. She was pretty excited.

Ben and I didn't catch anything either. It took me a while to remember how to cast the line. Kind of embarrassing, as the girls figured it out after just a few tries, and I had to try about 30 times before I could do it.

It was a lovely day. We did get a little rain, but nothing too bad. Katie and Brennon each caught a fish.

Kara on the boat with Ben. She was slightly disappointed not to catch anything. I think she did get the lure caught, and broke the line.

I don't remember liking fishing very much as a kid, but it was a really enjoyable day, and I'd love to get a chance to go again.

(thanks for the picture Katie ;) )

Island Park

We spent several days in Island Park with Ben's mom and siblings. It was a fun time. I wish I'd gotten pictures of us all playing games late at night. That was lots of fun. The kids participated in some Olympics, and Kara was pretty dominant, being at least 4 years older than everyone but Kiersten. Next time we'll have to have her start even further back to make up the difference. Evie was super excited to place 3rd in a couple of the events.

The running race was really close. We had to have Kara and Kiersten re-run the last part to get a clearer winner. Kara needs to watch out, Kiersten is a fast little thing, and she wont be able to beat her much longer.

Proud kids with their fun medals.

There were Olympics for us adults as well. We only ended up having time for 2 of the events. Shooting was one of those, and Kara and Kiersten got to participate as well. Kara was pretty upset that we never finished.

Nancy took the kids on a treasure hunt. They sure had a great time. Evie and Tommy kept wanting to do more treasure hunts the rest of the time.

Roasting marshmallows is always a hit.

Whitney and Evie are such sweet little buddies.

The girls were really great about waiting and taking turns on the water.

They each got several rides on the jet ski with Ben.

Kara was happy to ride on the tube by herself. When she rode with Ben she got really squashed.

Kiersten was super excited to get to ride on the tube as well. I was nervous about it, but she did fine.

I even got a quick ride when I went out to help Ben look for the flag that was missing. We didn't find it.

It was a fun family reunion, and the kids were sad to leave.

Yellowstone

We just got back from spending 2 weeks in Idaho and Utah. We did so many fun things, that I am just going to break it all up into separate posts. One of my favorite things we did was take the kids to Yellowstone. I haven't been for more than 10 years, and some things have really changed.

It is so beautiful

The kids had a hard time with the sulphur smell, but  still really liked seeing all of the thermal pools and geysers. Kara was really impressed by the boiling mud pots.

It was a lot of walking for the kids, but they were pretty good little troopers.

Kara for sure enjoyed it the most.

Ben had to give lots of shoulder rides, and I did my fair share of carrying girls on my hip.

We were stuck behind bison a couple of times. The first time, the girls were really excited about it. But they weren't too happy when we were stuck behind a huge herd blocking the road for about 20 minutes. It might have even been longer, but I fell asleep waiting for them to move, so I'm not totally sure.

Bison next to our car. They definitely weren't in a hurry to get anywhere.

I was a little nervous at the upper and lower falls. The trails were just so narrow. I only let Kara hike down with Ben to see the lower falls. I took the 2 little girls on the easier walk to the other waterfall.

Katie, Jason, and Lisa went with us. It was sure a fun group.

Kiersten was excited to see an elk. They sure are big compared to the little deer we're used to seeing at home.

Old Faithful

We waited about half an hour for it to erupt. The girls did get impatient, but I think it was worth it.

I couldn't stop taking pictures. I just love it there. I would like to stay there for a few days with the girls in a few years when they have a little more walking endurance. There is a lot we didn't get to see.