Duck Valley Indian Reservation

A week after we came home from McCall we turned the van the other direction and headed to the high desert.  I barely had time to catch up from the McCall laundry and go grocery shopping before heading out on vacation again.  While packing I was a smidge less than cheerful.  The reservoirs on Duck Valley Indian Reservation is known for its fishing, sage brush, and...well that's all really.  The kids tend to get pretty whiny and I have sympathy for them because unless you are out on the boat fishing with Grandpa there really isn't that much to do.  But we went.

There were lots of storms.  Hot, hot windy days followed by afternoon storms with buckets of rain and gale force winds (at least it felt that way).  But then the evenings were mild and calm.  And the rainbows came.

We found a park and Michael was over the moon that there was a real metal slide!  The kids seemed to enjoy it as well.

 I think I'm in trouble.  I may have to send this one to an all-girl boarding school. 

 We let off a few fireworks on the Fourth but Mother Nature just had to show us up.

 Did I mention the wind?  It did make for some great kite flying.

Duck Valley should also be famous for the sheer quantity of  bugs.  May flies, red ants, black ants, red and black ants, mosquitoes, horse flies, house flies, little and large dragonflies, cicadas, and more.  One of the cicadas (think huge ugly fly looking thing) made a momentary home in my hair, and I think I did a fabulous job keeping my squealing to a minimum.  The dragonfly above hit my father-in-law's windshield, was sucked into his open window and landed on his lap.  He flicked it over to Michael's brother in the passenger seat who thought it awesome and showed everyone when we stopped.  The dragonflies didn't bite but I think everything else did.  My kids look like they are small pox survivors with all their mosquito bites.  25% DEET apparently isn't strong enough.

We also headed into town for a pow-wow we learned about.  It was definitely a small town, slow-paced, low key event.  We only stayed for a few dances as the pauses between the dances were longer than the dances themselves. 

We didn't catch any fish nor even had a nibble, got baked by the sun, got rain poured out upon us, and got eaten alive by horseflies and mosquitoes; but the trip had its high points.  There were sunsets and fireworks and cousins.  It also made me homesick (in a good way) because I was raised in similar country.  With all that said, I may just send Michael and the kids next year.

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.

Nut House

Grace comes out of the bathroom and shares, in her tattle-tale sing-song voice, "Mom, come see what's in the bath-room.  Sam is being naugh-ty!"

Sam wanders out sans pants (not unusual) and I ask him what he is doing.

Sam replies, "I was...I don't know how to call it."

So I wander back to the bathroom expecting to find my face lotion, deodorant, and/or mascara smeared everywhere.  Instead I find the counter littered with feminine hygiene products, half of which have been carefully unwrapped.  I sigh and walk out to finish seeing our friends off and then walk back to find ALL the feminine products unwrapped.

Grace looks at me and innocently says, "I unwrapped the rest of them."  I guess they couldn't be content with wasting only some, we must waste all.

I set about cleaning up the mess, making a mental note to replenish the stock when I see the dog sneak behind me and grab something from the tub.  I tell him to drop it and he darts off hoping to keep his prize.  I chase him down and reach in his slobbery mouth to retrieve a bar of soap.  SOAP!  Why would he try to eat soap?!  I was expecting a rubber ducky.  Who eats soap?!  And why?

I live in a nut house.  That is all.  Thank you for reading.

Out of the Mouth of Babes

Sam was dancing in the living room minus his clothes.  "The Matilda" song had just come on.  Both Grace and Sam love this song and will start pointing and humming pretending they are Matilda.  Sam started grooving and pointing.  Grace walked into the living room all freshly dressed.

Sam looked up with eyes gleeming, "Gwace, it's the Matilda song" as he continued to dance and point, butt-naked, to the beat.

Grace lowered her brows, scrunched up her mouth, folded her hands in front of her, glared at Sam and stated with vehement disapproval, "Not for naked people, it's not!"

***

After our new haircuts we were driving home and talking about our haircuts.  Grace looked at my new messy curly hair and stated, "Mom, your hair is very runchy.  You need to brush it every morning AND every night."

I don't think she cares for the new style much.

***

Who ya gonna call? 

Haircuts. Finally.

I don't think I've had my hair cut in over two years.  My girls have received haircuts but they were always by my hand.  I have no idea how to cut hair but they both would break down in tears at the thought of anyone else cutting their hair.  So I would give in and cut their hair and it sure looked like it. The last haircuts were so bad I put my foot down.  We all dragged off to get our hair cut by a woman in our ward.  My girls cried when I told them, but they both got over it, eventually.  They were, if not happy, at least resigned by the time we arrived to be beautified.  By the time we were done everyone was loving their new haircuts, even me!  Michael commented this was the first time I haven't cried over a haircut in years.

Loving our new do's.  Libby loves her haircut, she just didn't love getting her picture taken.

 

Side view.

Wondering where these photos came from?  They're taken with our new camera, the purchase of which has nearly become an annual ritual.  I found one on Craigslist that is water proof, shock proof, dirt proof and freeze proof.  It may not take phenomenal photos but it sounds like it just might be Katie proof.