Kindergarten!

Jackson started kindergarten today! He's been so excited and couldn't wait for school to start. As it is with kids growing up, it was bittersweet for me. I am so excited for him and love seeing him learn and progress, while at the same time ache at the thought that he is growing up and I have to let him go just a little bit. He's such a great kid and I know he will do great. When we got home, he couldn't stop talking about how much he loved today. 

I did have a mom fail when I picked him up late because I thought he got out 15 minutes later! I must have been thinking of his preschool schedule last year. I was only 5 minutes late and he was the last kid there! Oops. Luckily, he didn't seem phased by it. 

Of course I had to whip out the camera for some first-day pictures. 

He's looking so grown up! Here's to a great school year!

Pioneer Day Parade and another trip to Island Park

We try to make a few trips up to Island Park in the summer because it is our favorite time of year up there. On our way there this time, we stopped in St. Anthony for the Pioneer Day parade. My dad sometimes drives his 1915 Model T, and Jackson and Bode got to ride along and throw candy this year.

The boys helped pick out the candy the night before and they were SO excited. They couldn't believe how much there was!

Lined up and ready to go!

Sean rode with the boys and my dad, and my mom, Davis, and I watched the parade from a little shady spot we found. 

The St. Anthony Pioneer Day Parade is what every parade should be, in my opinion. Tons of candy, and tons of actual floats where a lot of effort has been taken to create them!

Plus, they had cool stuff like girls standing up on the backside of two horses, ;)

…camels wearing patriotic hats,

…and giant shopping carts!

Unfortunately the Model T had some overheating issues so they didn't make it through the entire parade route (and of course my mom and I were seated at the end), but I was able to run down a block and see them before they pulled over. The boys had so much fun and felt so cool that they got to actually be in the parade in grandpa's cool car.

After the parade, we continued north to Island Park. I am always impressed with how beautiful this section of Idaho is during this time of year. The view of the Tetons was so pretty that day.

We took the scenic back way to Island Park and made a short stop at lower Mesa Falls. 

The next morning we headed into Yellowstone to take the Mystic Falls hike. On our way to the trail head we saw some pretty cool pools.

This "Sapphire Pool" was amazing. Such an awesome color and the water was crystal clear and DEEP. Somehow, in my many trips to Yellowstone I had never seen it.

On the trail

 The hike was perfect for the kids. It wasn't too long or steep (even though I managed to eat it), and the waterfalls were really cool.

Davis was his usual happy self :)

After our hike we did a little exploring and came across White Dome Geyser right as it was going off. It was another first for us and it was awesome!

The next few days we did the usual: riding four wheelers, getting in the hot tub, going into West Yellowstone, taking walks, etc.

Grandpa feeding Davis using the old airplane trick.

Showing off a tadpole he caught at a pond near the cabin. 

Davis's first trip to Campfire Lodge for breakfast:

Canoeing the headwaters of Hebgen Lake

Boys will be boys! ;)

We can't get enough of this place and are heading back again in a few weeks!

The Fourth

The Fourth of July has become one of my very favorite holidays. I love that it is a chance to get together with family, is generally warm, yummy food is involved, and it is a holiday without a lot of added pressure in the form of buying gifts, etc. We always go to Idaho Falls and have a great time.

This year, the boys and I went up a few days early so we could spend some time in Idaho Falls before heading up to my parents' cabin. It felt like I hadn't been "home" in a really long time and it was so fun to go and stay awhile.

I took the boys to their first ever drive-in movie with my sister-in-laws and their kids. We saw 'How to Train Your Dragon 2' and the boys thought it was so awesome. Bode only made it through about 2/3 of the movie before falling asleep :)

We also went to the zoo with cousins from both sides of the family!

One of my favorite things to do when I am in Idaho Falls is take walks with my mom. We walked over to Tautphaus Park one night and let the boys play around the fountain. I love that park.

It wouldn't be Fourth of July without a ride in the Model T!

Our families have started doing fireworks the night before the Fourth and we had some pretty fun ones this year. We had sparklers nearly as tall as the kids and some awesome aerial ones Emily and Dave picked up in Utah.

We made it to the yummy annual breakfast on the Boulevard.

Parade time!

Carson and grandpa

That pretty girl in the middle is our niece, Riley. She's on student council for Bonneville!

After the parade we packed up all of our stuff and headed to Island Park. We had a big bbq and watched the fireworks at Island Park Reservoir while also watching a private fireworks show at one of my parents' friend's cabins!

The weather in Island Park was perfect and we had an awesome time hanging out with everyone.

Bode's love of four wheeling is still going strong!

We got a bit dusty on one of our rides :)

There were s'mores...

...and lots of time to hang out with cousins.

We also took a hike to Coffee Pot Rapids one afternoon. 

It was so beautiful!

These two little troopers hiked the entire 4.4 miles.

On our last full day we spent the afternoon at Hebgen Lake. We took the kids to a little black sand beach my parents used to take us to when we were growing up. The scenery was awesome and the kids had such a great time. It was fun being there with kids of my own. 

 We had such a great trip. We're already looking forward to going back soon!