Heading Home

Alternate title: A Journey in Forceful Expulsions from the Human Body

Sunday afternoon we packed up and headed home. Sam rode with Krys and Mom for the first few hours, to give us a little more elbow room in the van. We drove to Salt Lake with minimal stops and delays. Once near Salt Lake City, though, we did make a pit stop at IKEA. We decided to do a little bit of shopping, and pick up food from the food court on our way out. 

The kids weren't feeling the adventure of IKEA. Then the food court was entirely out of pizza and almost out of hotdogs. It was a rough stop. Ethan also started feeling sick to his stomach. Everyone was turning grumpy and tired, which I assumed was from a lot of travel in a short time span.

Sam wanted to travel in the van the rest of the way home. Krys was looking for a second driver, so Michael took off with all the kids, and I drove off with Mom and Krys. Then things in the van got real, real fast. Michael was pulling off at every freeway exit for the teenagers to make mad bathroom dashes. The trash can in the van caught more than just an occasional dirty napkin. It was a symphony of stomach and bowel rebellion.

Meanwhile, Krys, mom, and I were traveling in blissful ignorance. By the time I learned the van passengers had a stomach bug, food poisoning, or possibly the plague, there was nothing I could do. I just kept driving my plague-free vehicle down the freeway. Michael kept visiting all the bathrooms of Utah and Idaho. I think I got the better end of the deal. 

I made it to Boise shortly after midnight, and found myself locked out of the house. I rested in the hammock until the rest of the family limped into town, almost an hour later. There was a mad rush to the bathroom and shower and then everyone collapsed for the night. Vacation was well and truly over.

Talent Show

Chicken Fried

Saturday night we had a family talent show. Ethan, Libby, Colista (friend), Ellie (cousin), and Aria (cousins friend) joined in song to close the show. As they sang several other people joined them and everyone else started singing and dancing along. While the video is dark and the sound is abysmal, the experience was one of those rare sweet idyllic moments that life occasionally hands out. 

I can't seem to embed the video, so just click on the words Chicken Fried above and it will take you to the private YouTube video.

Reunion or Bust

The next day we roused the troops, loaded up, and headed to Bryce Canyon (and we only got a little lost). Ethan was driving, but Michael was navigating. Blame who you will. I was in the very back squished between Grace and Sam, so I bear no fault. 

Before climbing on the shuttle to explore Bryce. 

This was at our last lookout. The view was amazing and worth the slog up the mountain. 

We saw all the hoodoos (rock formations) and natural amphitheaters a person could hope for. 

We returned to camp, were fed a lovely dinner, and visited with relatives.

And that night we watched the stars come out with amazement. I have never seen so many stars in one night. It was hard to find constellations because with so many stars visible, it was hard to pick out just a handful.

On the Road Again

We haven't been camping for almost two years. This year we had nothing holding us back. We loaded up the van with our children, an extra child, and headed down to Panguitch Lake, Utah for a family reunion. 

Everybody awake and alert as we roll out of town at 7:30 a.m.

A couple hours later the early morning start and liberal doses of Dramamine caught up with them. We got a lot of driving done with only a stop or two for gas.

As the afternoon wore on everyone was a little more alert, so we stopped for lunch at a roadside park, emptied our bladders and started on our journey again. The new-to-us van was traveling well, the kids were squished but content, and we were flying down the freeway.

Unfortunately, our sleeping bags decided they wanted to fly as well. They were in the completely sealed cartop carrier that has traveled the northwest extensively with us. Nevertheless, as we were zooming down the freeway outside Fillmore, Utah, we noticed something fly off the top of the van. Michael pulled over and I jogged down the freeway, hoping the orange item we saw fly did not in fact belong to us. Half a mile back, I discovered it did in fact belong to us. It was Grace's sleeping bag. Michael, meanwhile, had opened the carrier (that was still locked) and discovered we were in fact missing two sleeping bags. We found the other in the median, mostly unscathed. We fought the brutal wind, and managed to reload the sleeping bags. Michael tried to put an extra strap around the shell, but the wind kept whipping the strap away. I also was not excited about still being stopped alongside the freeway.

We went another 10 miles down the road to the next exit and pulled over for gas. One of the orange slippery sleeping bags was again trying to snake out of the carrier. We were able to put an extra strap on and continue on our way with no further incident. We can only theorize that the strong wind was compressing the carrier, creating a small gap that allowed the sleeping bags to make a bid for their freedom.

We made it to our final destination at 5:30pm, with no further incidents.

Grace's sleeping bag has a significant amount of road rash but still was functional. Sam's was only a little dirty. They slept soundly in them, despite my aunt theorizing that the only way the sleeping bags could have escaped was if they were possessed. There was no further evidence of sleeping bag possession for the rest of the trip.

Family Fun Adventure

As a family, we won a raffle prize through Sam's library fundraiser. It included a ton of gift certificates for restaurants and events around Boise. So the day Ethan was at work, and the girls had taken a day trip to McCall, and Michael was at work, Sam and I dug out a couple gift certificates and went on an adventure.

We started by playing a round of mini golf. We had a lot of fun, just the two of us, hanging out together. 

After mini golf, we headed to the Warhawk Air Museum in Nampa, with some more gift certificates. 

It was interesting, but I was glad I didn't have to pay $16 per person for the visit. It wasn't that interesting. After about 45 minutes of wandering around we were ready to head out.

But we had to stop for photos first. 

He's the cutest little munchkin. He looks like he will start singing and dancing about the death of the wicked witch at any moment.

We stopped for some McDonalds (another gift certificate) and then headed home. I always forget how much fun my kids can be until I take the time to spend some one on one time with them. We had a great afternoon, and all for free. Couldn't ask for a better day.

Be Still My Heart

Sam graduated Elementary school, so Ethan had to one-up him. He decided to graduate high school. I. Just. Can't. Even. How did this even happen??

I was so grateful to watch Ethan walk across the stage and receive his diploma. This group of students has been through a lot the last few years, and they endured. They did what was asked of them, learned on formats never been tried before, and just kept trying. It was a pretty amazing night.

After the diplomas were handed we all sat there for a quiet moment, until a single deep voice rang out with an "A-wheem-o-way". Then three other voices joined in, as four exceptional students (at least to me) made their way to the stage to sing, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." After the first note, I was looking around. It sounded so much like Ethan. Sure enough, it was. When he told me that he was singing with the choir, he forgot to mention he was part of a quartet singing the closing song. If I were prone to crying, I would have been a mess. 

Fully graduated and posing for an unflattering picture.

His cousin was so excited to see Ethan after he graduated. He waited so patiently for Ethan to find us after the graduation.

It was worth the wait. 

He may be an official adult now, but he will always be my first little baby. Thankfully, he doesn't seem in a hurry to put aside all his childish ways.

This summer he is working full time at Borah pool as head life guard. He's enrolled in BSU this fall and plans on pursuing mechanical engineering.

Sam Graduated

Sam is leaving the small world of elementary school and is headed to junior high. Sam started public school in fourth grade, a school year that ended abruptly due to COVID, his next year was a mix of online and in person. Sixth grade was his last chance at a normal year, even though he was masked for 3/4 of it. Halfway through the school year, though, his beloved teacher left and Sam was left to finish up elementary school learning about interpersonal conflict management skills. It has been a bumpy few years, but he came out unscathed, and pretty well educated. His new teacher and Sam even came to appreciate each other, and were able to work together.

This year he played basketball, participated in track, and even tried baseball, on top of achieving academic honors. He graduated elementary school with honors and is ready to take on junior high.

I can't believe all my children are done with elementary school. It feels very weird to have a houseful of people who used to be babies and are all now taller than I am.