Balloons, races, and peaches

We went to the Spirit of Boise Classic on kids day. We waited in line for over an hour in wet grass (it was cold) for our turn.

It was cool watching the air balloons fill up. 

The basket only fit 5 people so Jake and I didn't get to go up.

They didn't go very high since there were a ton of kids in line waiting but still neat to get to be in the basket.

Thursday Aug.30th Kaylee had her first cross country race. She was saying she was going to walk some of it and I encouraged her not to. She did great and ran the whole race

Emma made a sign for her...

She was nowhere near first place but I'm really proud of her for running the whole thing and trying her best! 

We went to our 90 year old neighbors house to pick peaches and got a ton!

Our Labor day excitement was canning peaches and making jam. The whole family helped. I've never done it without outside help so I felt quite accomplished.

Kelli's labor day (or day before) excitement was getting engaged to Ian!!!

Back to School

We had our annual back to school feast. After a lot of thought we went with The Little Engine that Could theme. I think I can... work hard with a positive attitude. Kaylee in particular will have a harder school year- bigger school with a lot more kids, more responsibility and she's on the cross country team.

We went to the middle school to find her locker and all her classes. Luckily her good friend has a locker right above Kaylee's.

First day of 6th grade.

I walked her to the bus stop to make sure she found it and had a friend.

First day of 4th and 1st grade.

Jake and I also celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary that week. We went to dinner the day of then to the temple to do sealings with the Partridges since they share the exact some anniversary as us. We came out of the temple just in time to see this beautiful sunset!

Camping Trip

Two days after we got back from Utah, and the week before school started we went on our first camping trip of the year to Redfish Lake. 

We set  up our camp and then headed to the Lake because it was hot. Of course once we got there the clouds rolled in...

We brought a raft only to discover it had a hole in it...

so we rented a paddle boat instead. Austin has wanted to do one of these for a long time.

The kids really like paddling around.

After the boat ride we played in the water until dinner time.

We had tacos for dinner and then roasted marshmallows.

Brooke and Austin's favorite activity was playing in the fire...

It hadn't rained in months but of course since we went camping it rained... thankfully it wasn't that long or hard- just enough for a little soak.

We went to bed around 9:30. It wasn't too bad temperature wise but none of us slept that well the first night.

Emma slept in until about 8:30 the next morning. Everyone else was up before 7:00

Once we ate breakfast and it warmed up a bit we went on a hike. It was an easy kid friendly hike and we all loved it. There was some complaining at times but for the most part they did great.  

The hike ended in this field with a beautiful view of the Sawtooth mountains.

We hiked 4.5 miles and had beautiful views the whole way. It was overcast or lightly sprinkling which made it even more enjoyable.

After the hike we went to the hatchery where the kids could fish for free.

Jake got a little frustrated as the kids kept getting theri lines caught on trees, or weeds.

Emma didn't' want to fish but she sure likes the worms.

We played in the river after fishing and then went back to camp for dinner. We roasted hot dogs and had marshmallows and smores again.

Yoga out in  nature..

We all spet better the second night. It felt colder but we managed to stay warm enough.

Our morning fire helped warm us up. It was pretty chilly that morning.

We packed up our tent and all our gear and wanted to go to the lake one more time but it was packed and we couldn't find a parking spot.

We opted to play in the river again instead.

The kids and Jake caught a frog. Emma especially loved it.

After lunch by the river we hit the road to go home.

The worst part of camping is cleaning up. We told the kids if they were good about helping we could get ice cream (after a shower of course). There was still some complaining,  but they managed to earn their ice cream. 

I love spending time with my family in nature!