Rain, Rain, Go Away

I needed a break, the kids needed a break, Michael needed a break.  I mentioned that I would love to go to McCall and just sit around doing nothing and relaxing.  The kids could run around in the woods, splash in the lake, and NOT watch any shows or play any computer games.  I was just wistfully wishing.  Michael took my idea and ran with it.  Two weeks later we headed up to McCall for a week of sun and fun.  We got three days of overcast and drizzles, two days of pouring rain and beautiful sun on the day we were packing to head home.  It sounds awful but it was really quite perfect. I can only say this because we were not camping.  We stayed in a tiny, 70's decorated, no hot water but dry and heated cabin.  We read a LOT of books, played a lot of games and snuck out when it wasn't raining to have short adventures.

"Mom, take a picture!"  "Of the bus stop?"  "Yes!"  They loved riding the bus into and around town.  Every day they asked if we could ride the bus into town.  It was fascinating.

 Hanging out with the bears.

 How pretty is McCall?

The McCall public bathroom.  A lot of the shops don't have public bathrooms so we visited this fine establishment many, many times.  I'm pretty sure Ethan took this picture but we spent enough time visiting this building I couldn't leave the photo out.

We discovered the bike trail that borders the woodsy side of McCall.  Right before bedtime the rain let up and we headed out for a five mile bike ride.  Upon departure the kids were not enthused.  Libby was the most opposed (surprise!).  Then she discovered how to use the gears on her bike that we finally had fixed and she had a glorious time.

 We stopped to climb on the rocks.

The picture cracks me up.  We try so hard to get a nice picture and this is what happens.  I'm loving it.

The last day of vacation the sun came out and McCall warmed up.  We were planning on leaving town in the early afternoon.  We ate breakfast, packed the van, cleaned the cabin, made a lunch and headed to the beach instead of heading home.  Perfect.

When we finally pointed the van toward Boise I realized something:  I was relaxed.  Weird, huh?  Usually by the time I get home from vacation I need another break.  We all came home from this trip mellow and calm.  Maybe I need a little bit more rain in my life.  It forced me to slow down.  With no computer or other distractions it forced us to just spend time with each other, like families used to do.  It ended up being just what we needed.