We thought abut going up to Idaho Falls for the 4th of July. We hadn't been up there since Thanksgiving the previous year so we were well past due for a visit. Then one day talking to Derek's parent's on the phone Hyrum asked them if he could come to their house. They of course agreed and we were committed.
We left town after a crazy three plus hours at church ( the three hours being me and the boys the plus is Derek's of course) On the way up instead of saying "Are we there yet?" Hyrum kept saying"Why are we not THERE yet?" We introduced Hyrum to the Alphabet game which he had a tough time getting into. And we discovered how hard it is to play the alphabet game in the middle of nowhere Idaho. By the time we got there it was after the boys bed time but could not be kept from Daddy and Uncle Dave's old He-man and Transformer toys and all the other "new" toys at Grandma's house.
That was in fact why Hyrum asked to go to their house...to play with the toys. :) We finally got them to sleep at around 11 and we worried if we could wake up with enough time to make it to the parade at 9am. But the boys woke up at 7 bright eyed and bushy tailed. We headed to the parade route well after we should have been there but we ended up unintentionally imposing on the kindness of friends once again and had a pretty good spot to watch.
Hyrum filled his coffers of parade candy and we counted it a win. Hyrum and Noah are big into wearing their shades.
We relaxed and played during the day until we headed to the river to stake our claim of a piece of grass to watch the fireworks on. We were fortunate to find that piece of ground where there was a playground very close by and the boys and I headed out while Derek sat enjoyed the view
and kept our spot. It was a little crazy and nerve racking to keep track of my boys among all the other kids at the park. Hyrum was off to the biggest slides and Noah was happy at the little slide.
Noah needed a more watchful eye so I stayed near him but it made me nervous to have Hyrum so far away and out of reach. Hyrum was none the wiser. He was having fun.
Noah hit his mouth on a bar so we went back to the spot for awhile to see Derek and when his family got there we went back to the park. It was nice to have more eyes on the boys. Noah discovered that Hyrum was on another part of the playground and wanted to go with him Hyrum was good enough to watch out for him...at least once.
He's got a hold of Noah's shirt to keep track of him and make sure he doesn't get stepped on or lost. The next times he just raced up without him but Noah was none the wiser he just kept climbing.
We left the park after awhile but Noah wasn't done. He had a bee in his bonnet and needed to explore so off he went. We were lucky to notice before he was down the street. He took to walking by some older ladies down the street from us and would smile, wave and later blow kisses. He had them in the palm of his little hand. He's a charmer that one.
As Noah was off getting as lost as he possibly could Hyrum stayed close to roost aided by an unbrella to shield him from the blazing and glaring sun.
As dusk fell we decided to get out the glowy things which is a tradition we started after spending a 4th of July with our friends the Jenkins who are much more fun than we are. Hyrum couldn't wait and Noah got right in there with the glowy stick fighting.
Then the fireworks began and we were serenaded throughout.
Noah loved them too, he kept pointing and laughing and at the end he just clapped and clapped.
On our long walk back to the car Hyrum piped up and said "I love you Momma! I Love you Daddy" We told him we loved him too then he said "I love Momma and Daddy and Noah" We smiled as he spontaneously professed his love for us all and we said " We love you too buddy, we have a great family huh?" Then he said "Yeah, I love myself too!" Glad to know my little man has a lot of self confidence. :)
The next day we were going to go to Bear World but after seeing how much it was and knowing there was no way my boys were going to get anywhere near a live bear we opted to go to the zoo in IF. On our way into town we passed signs for the zoo. I turned to Derek and said "Why have I never known there is a zoo here and why haven't we gone to it?" Derek remembered it being kinda little and broken down so they were almost apologetic when we went but it was SOOO GREAT!
It was perfect and so cute! I seriously want to go every time we go up now. Here are some highlights
Noah connecting with the animals from the stroller
Baby camel feeding ( there were so many baby animals at the zoo. It was fun!)
The Lion drinking fountain
Everyone had to try it
And Lions!!
( Hogel zoo doesn't have lions despite having a lion drinking fountain...it was Hyrum and Noah's first glimpse at a real lion)
Otters! ( they were hiding that day but someday I'm sure we'll see them )
Monkeys! They were so intrigued by Hyrum so Derek was being voice for them and Hyrum LOVED it. Every time we talk about the monkeys he says "They liked my hat and thought it was funny that I wore it backwards and then forwards"
Right next to the zoo there is a place called "Funland" that we went to after the zoo. It's a hard place to describe. It's kinda like a traveling city carnival that doesn't travel. We were all but the only people there when we went. We got there and Hyrum conned his grandma into getting him popcorn. Then we decided what to do with the 10 tickets we got. Noah knew immediately what he wanted to do.
Hyrum wanted to do the ferris wheel. He said he was going to be super brave. As Derek and he walked up to it and they started it up...seriously....and they got on. It was a ride for two. Hyrum loved it.
Did you know John Lennon is living in Idaho Falls? :)
Then came the moment Noah was waiting for. His first amusement park ride ever!
Would you look at that smile?
When we got home we got the boys outside to play on the riding toys awhile before we hopped in the car to go home
When I saw Hyrum on the worm toy suddenly I saw this in my minds eye
This might have helped me see that.
Such a good time and so much fun playing with and connecting with grandparents. I just have to tell this story. Derek's dad is notorious for slipping little creatures scraps of food most of the time that little creature is the family dog Blossom but it seems as though Noah picked up on his tendency pretty quickly and was rewarded for his patience.
Of course it wasn't long before the dog noticed someone cutting in on her gravy train.
She was all too happy to see the little ones leave. :)
Road trip classic:
On the way home we were playing the alphabet game again but in a more populated area so it was going faster. Hyrum was much more into it this time too. We were looking for the letter "K" and Hyrum said "There it is" pointing at an "R V park" sign. I told him that "R V park" didn't have a K ( thinking of the big letters R and V) then I noticed my mistake and said "You're right Hyrum it does have a K. Momma's a little dumb" Hyrum started to laugh and said "Momma, You're dumb!" Guess I asked for that. :)
1 comments:
Pam said...
Thanks for sharing the 4th with us. Isn't it fun to watch the world in kid's eyes? Love you!