Summer Vacation 2014: Boise, Idaho

Lauren, Tyler and I flew into Boise, Idaho from Eugene, Oregon.

We actually flew Eugene to Portland and then to Boise.  I'm pretty sure we could have driven in the time it took us to get there.  But who wants to drive that boring stretch of Central/Eastern Oregon?!

(My Mom did but I didn't want her to have to turn around and drive home by herself.)

 Matt was on a work trip to China (again!) and he would meet us in a couple of days.

We got to spend our first evening in Boise not only with G'ma Jan and G'pa Michael but also with the cousins, Madison and Crisstopher.

First up?  Take the dogs, Farrah and Rachett, on a walk to the neighborhood park.

I love all the green colors.

I especially love how M and C are posing in the bottom right photos.

Cousin Selfie!

"Laurdison"

The next day G'ma Jan, Aunt Jennifer (Matt's sister,) and I took our kiddos to Roaring Springs.

It was a bit on the chilly side but the children did not care.

The next day G'ma Jan took the kiddos to the park while I went to pick up Matt from the airport. 

She let me drive the Lexus!

(I kind of want one now.  Babe?)

I drove both the Lexus and Matt home safe and sound.

That evening we had the best pizza made in G'ma & G'pa's wood fired pizza oven.

Family Picture time

(G'pa Michael, G'ma Jan, Jennifer, Todd, Me, Matt

Madison, Crisstopher, Tyler and Lauren.)

Cousin Time!

top:  they all look to be about the same size even though they range in age from 5-10

bottom:  Lauren and Crisstopher playing screen time,  Madison checking Tyler's temperature with the infrared thermometer.

One evening we went out to dinner at Cafe Ole.

The food and drinks were great but what I remember most is that both L and T were able to win a teddy bear out of the grab-it  machine.  When does that ever happen?!

G'pa Michael is a great planner and he likes to have fun.  He made sure we had fun every single day!

We went swimming at the condo pool.

It was a bit cool (and rainy) for me which is why I'm wrapped in the towel in the bottom right picture.

Look at Lauren's face.  Grandma Jan is obviously telling her a very funny secret!

One afternoon, we went bowling at Big Al's

 Big Al's is a bowling wonderland.  You can bowl, eat, drink, and play all the video games you want.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the video games we played but I know we all had a blast.

After lunch we enjoyed the flowers and the fountains in the shopping area.

At might we would play some mean games of Uno.

 Lauren even got to sew a blanket for her new teddy bear.

Maybe she'll teach me how to sew one day.

On the Fourth of July we went downtown to catch a glimpse of the annual parade.

Grandpa Michael just happens to have keys to Boise Plaza so we got to watch from the roof!

Awesome views!

That night we went to the Boise Hawk's baseball game and to see the 4th of July fireworks at the stadium.

Boise Hawks played my hometown team the Eugene Emeralds.

What a fun evening!

Happy 4th of July!!

We had so much fun on our Summer Vacation 2014.

It was wonderful to see our family again and we made so many great memories.

Thanks for such a good time!

This is the sign of an AWESOME VACATION!