McCall: Camping Edition

Due to some changes in the nature of the McCall cabin, we were not able to stay there this summer. The kids were wildly disappointed. After doing a fair amount of searching, Michael found a campground that was near McCall and he booked a reservation. Grace was still extraordinarily disappointed, and was beside herself when she found out the campground did not have showers nor flush toilets. We persevered though, and gathered the camping supplies.

Michael left them on the lawn overnight, and for the first time in weeks it rained, so we woke up to damp sleeping bags and tents. Michael was about ready to cancel at that point. After a bit of deep breathing, we dried everything off, loaded it up, and stuck to our original plan. 

When we arrived, we discovered a beautiful campground, surrounded my huckleberry bushes. We set up camp with only minimal injuries. We then discovered we needed to cut our own firewood. Sam and Michael set themselves to this task, while Grace miserably set up her own tent. Then the mosquitoes descended and they loved her. Despite bug spray, Grace was getting eaten alive. Each bite swelled up to enormous proportions. The biggest one had the same diameter of an orange. Her trip was not getting any better. At this point we were seriously considering going home early. We did not need a miserable vacation. 

The next day we spent some time on the lake with the paddle boards, and it was moderately better. We took turns swimming and rowing across the Upper Payette Lake. As a no wake zone lake, the entire lake was calm and peaceful, perfect for our type of recreation.

We chopped some more firewood. Sam and I both regretted not using gloves, as we were left with several blisters.

We played some board games.

We enjoyed a dinner of pie iron sandwiches and soup. The mosquitoes enjoyed a dinner of our blood. 

On Tuesday we made the trip into McCall.  Our first stop was the campground with showers that we weren't able to secure a camping spot in. We used our park pass to get into the park and then made good use of the hot running water. Once we were clean, we were ready to take on the town.

Unfortunately, the town was covered in a haze of wild fire smoke, and it was hard to breathe, but we still made the most of it.

I only had two kids with me, but they still humored me by posing on the bear statue.

And the random pick up truck bed.

We did some thrift store shopping and stopped in at the bookstore. Grace bought every poster they had while the rest of us restricted ourselves to a book or two. The Barn Owl is a fun little book store that brings us joy every time we are in McCall.

After a bit of begging by the teens, we even decided to eat lunch out at Growler's. Sam was amused by the sheer amount of lettuce on his burger. 

After our well-balanced lunch of burgers, fries, soda and tots, we decided we needed dessert. And there is one place that makes everyone happy: Ice Cream Alley. This is my child sized scoop! 

Grace got a single and Michael and Sam took their lives in their own hands and each ordered a double. They both survived to tell the tale.  Needless to say, by the time dinner rolled around, no one had much of an appetite. Thankfully, the mosquitoes were also resting, and we had a calm evening around the campfire.

The next morning the smoke had started to clear and the weather was perfect, so we grabbed a few supplies and headed back to the lake. I had found a little beach with a picnic table when I was out walking one evening, so we headed over to see if we could snag it for a few hours. Alas, there was already someone else there. Thirty minutes later, as we were paddling around, I noticed the couple leaving. We quickly paddled over and beached the paddleboards, claiming the beach as our own.

We settled in for the duration. We paddled around a calm lake, I read my book, Grace and Sam created water games and Michael took photos and combed the beach.

It was downright idealistic. We were all glad we hadn't gone home early as we just enjoyed being outside. It was a wonderful last full day of vacation. I also was able to beg and bribe some help picking huckleberries. We didn't gather a ton, but did get enough to make a couple huckleberry coffee cakes. Sublime.

Bonus Story: Where Sam makes an archnemesis

I went to bed early one night and told the kids to make sure that all of the food was put away. The next day Sam was at camp and heard a lot of rustling in the bushes. This was followed by the sound of cellophane. Sam wasn't sure what was up, but he figured wild animals didn't usually have access to packaged snacks. 

As he drew near, he saw a chipmunk who was happily eating a chocolate bar that hadn't been put away the night before. Sam startled the chipmunk and confiscated the illicit goods. The chipmunk started yelling at Sam and would not stop. It just sat in the tree, staring at Sam, chittering its little soul out. Sam felt guilty and broke off a small chunk of chocolate and put it at the base of the tree. The scolding did not subside. 

The gnawed upon bar

The next day as we were packing up camp, we once again heard chittering. There was a chipmunk staring at Sam and yelling. We can only assume it was the original chipmunk, and he has no forgiveness in his heart. He wants his chocolate, and he wants it now. Sam did not appease the ferocious beast this time. It was probably a blessing that this was our last day at camp, otherwise Sam may have been viciously attacked during the night.

Reunion

After Michael and Sam came back from Sun Valley, we turned around and headed up to Crouch, Idaho. It was family reunion time with Michael's mom's family. 

This sign on the road to the cabin cracked us all up. The punctuation was a high point of interest.

Once there we kicked back and spent time with family. Grace got her hair done. 

Sam bonded with the dogs in between snacks. 

Everyone took turns floating the river.

And just sitting by the river.

It was only 48 hours but it was a peaceful escape from Boise.

Sam and Dad Time

Sam has recently become very interested in cars. I am the opposite. If my cars starts and runs with minimal difficulty then I am all set. Michael is not really interested in cars either, but he does a better job humoring Sam than I do. Michael has taken Sam to all the car events this summer.

I was given free tickets to Meridian Speedway, and asked Sam if he was interested in attending. He gave a resounding yes. The night of the event came and it was 105 degrees! Sam still wanted to go, and Michael, who hates the heat and sunshine, volunteered to take him. What a man! Sam and Michael sat in the sweltering heat and watched loud cars.

 

Despite the conditions, they seemed to have a good time.

A couple weeks later, Michael learned of a street car event in Sun Valley. He mentioned it to Sam, and Sam was ecstatic. So Michael took Sam and his friend Oliver on a day trip to Sun Valley to look at cars. Once again this sounds miserable to me, but they had a great time. They sent me many pictures of cars. They were very pretty, shiny cars. 

And then just a week later Michael was given tickets to an event at Firebird Raceway. So he invited his friend and his kids, grabbed Sam and headed out to another event that I cannot even pretend to understand. There were cars, they were fast, they were loud. Sam was in heaven.

I offer Michael a sincere heartfelt "Thank you!!" Sam ended up loving all the events and I would have been a miserable kill joy, so thank you for sweating out all the events with Sam. He was a truly happy camper.

Birthday Magic

Sam has reached the magical age of 14. He will start high school in the fall, has been practicing with the football team all summer, has fallen in love with cars and is taking life by the horns.

It's amazing how quickly he is changing. In the last year is has grown several inches, needs to shave on occasion, and is starting to care about what he wears. At this rate it feels like he's going to be moving out next year. The teen years go quickly.

This year for his birthday he wanted expensive sneakers, protein powder, and beef jerky. And such was received. Eventually. There was a serious delay with his Nike Dunks, but he did finally receive them. Just several days later.

He also wanted cheesecake for his birthday, so with the last of the raspberries and the purchase of every other ingredient, I was able to deliver.

He is ready for all the coming year holds. I'm just clenching my teeth and hoping it doesn't involve a concussion. I am not a football mom. But Sam is a football kid. So I'll just be watching from the sidelines, cheering him on, and closing my eyes when it gets intense.

Loud Celebration

Once again, Independence Day rolled around and I was less than excited. The noise, the heat, and the chance of third degree burns always stresses me out. Michael and the kids had already driven halfway to Mountain Home to buy the "good" fireworks, though. So we were all set. 

The day before my nieces invited us all over to their house to celebrate the 4th, so our plans expanded.

We arrived around six in the evening and let the celebration begin.

We ate way too much grilled food.

We played clapping games, spy games, and murder games. 

We also sat around and visited. Look at these cute faces. I love them all so much.

Sam stayed well away from the games, but close to the food. He and Uncle Jeff also hammed for the camera.

Michael knew that there were going to be a ton of people so he brought some extra chairs from home. He opened these folding chairs and Finn's mind was blown. He started stroking the chair and smiling like mad. Then he patted the chair next to him, trying to convince someone else about the wonderful nature of these chairs.

I was happy to share the joy with him. Who knew folding chairs are the secret to happiness?

After all the food was eaten and the games played, it finally started getting dark. So, we headed out to play with fire. This dinosaur belching and farting giant smoke clouds brought joy to the soul of everyone of every age.

Then the true fireworks started. I had to hide inside the house when Michael let off a couple slightly illegal fireworks. Meanwhile, the neighbors were trying to outdo the city's display. I also hid inside during the super loud fireworks, but I was still able to watch through the window. It worked out well for everyone. After the last firework was burned out, we piled our kids in the van and drove back across town, watching all the wild illegal fireworks light up the night. 

I'm so glad I was able to get together with family. The Fourth is still not my favorite holiday, but it was a lovely evening full of some of my favorite people. What more could I ask for?