When the kids were younger, every summer we went to Idaho, we would go ride my cousin’s horses. And as the kids grew up and our trips became shorter, we just didn’t make time for it anymore.
This summer while visiting Idaho, there was a break in the hot weather and I threw the idea of riding horses by the kids and I was surprised when they all showed interest. And luckily, my cousin had the flexibility to make it happen on short notice. She brought 3 of her horses down to an arena and taught my city kids the art of riding horses – including loping and galloping which ended up being their favorite thing to do – so much so the horses grew tired and needed a break from my energetic kids.
Bennett, who admittedly doesn’t like any animals (takes after me), ended up being a natural and couldn’t get enough. Briggs, who loves animals the most, seemed the least interested but he had the hardest time leading the horse around. Cannon had no fear. Hunter looked like he needed a horse twice the size of what he was riding. I haven’t been on a horse in so many years and after riding for a bit, I remember why! My mom, who grew up with a horse, even got on the horse and showed my kids how it was done.
We loved our time. And we all complained for several days about how sore we were – evidently, we used muscles that haven’t been used in a while!
There is a small town outside of the small town of McCall, Idaho. (Which is how almost every location in Idaho is described!) In fact, when we drove into Cascade we saw the population sign showed 1,002. And although it’s really just a pitstop on the way to McCall it has a great little attraction called Kelly’s White Water Park.
There is a stretch along the Payette River where they’ve built some manmade rapids along with a beautiful river front park. Kayakers and surfers are able to use this stretch of the river free of charge to perfect their craft.
Last year, my brother took my three older kids to experience this park with his family. They came back with rave reviews but had a hard time getting over how cold the water was. (This is mountain water!) When my brother suggested we go again this year, Hunter and Bennett were an automatic yes and Hallie was a maybe because the sting of the cold water from the year before hadn’t quite worn off. It’s not a short drive from my parents house so I was reluctant to drive two hours both ways. In fact I contemplated backing out of my commitment to go more than a couple times. But we went and after spending more than four hours there – I had no complaints about the drive. It was a beautiful setting and the kids loved every minute.
As out of towners, we were able to rent SUP and boogie boards – but my brother brought several of his own boards and didn’t have to pay to use the facility. We also rented wet suits for the sizes they had available which ended up being just Hallie and Hunter. (Hallie said the suit was a game changer and made the surfing far more enjoyable. The rest of the kids just shivered.)
Our kids love surfing behind a boat, but this was a little harder – not quite as predictable as a boat wake. Hunter was the only one in the family who was able to make it to his feet – but the others didn’t seem to mind surfing the wave while on their stomach.
We really had the best afternoon on the river – I was so grateful I said yes to an adventure I wasn’t really needing to go on. Sometimes those are the very best adventures indeed.
This is going to be picture heavy because I have far too many random pictures left of our Idaho trip.
We made it to my friend’s farm where the big kids picked cherries while the younger kids entertained the goats. I’m pretty sure my kids were more entertained than the goats.
My brother put my kids to use cleaning up the yard of one of his properties.
We spent so much time playing sports/games. Evening soccer and tennis was always on the schedule and we spent most afternoons in the church gym playing more games and the kids did their sports workouts.
My brother’s pond got so much use. If they weren’t fishing it, they were playing in it.
We visited my grandparent’s grave and then spent some time walking around the cemetery. We had some great discussions looking at headstones that evening.
My brother took my older kids up to McCall to do some natural river surfing. My kids were expecting it to be like lake wake surfing – which is so far from what it actually is. But they all got the hang of it eventually. (The clouds in this picture look totally fake!)
We always make a visit to the local city pool which is funny since we get so much pool use at home, but they are all big fans of the high dive.
Hallie and Hunter both participated in some tennis tournaments. And evidently, we like Hurley sweatshirts.
My brothers really enjoy tennis as well and Hallie has been playing against my younger brother for the last couple years when we visit. She was close to beating him last year, but he pulled through in the end. You can imagine the trash talking they had been slinging back and forth. It was a fun night when we were all able to witness Hallie beating him. Of course he was looking for a re-match the rest of our stay and they couldn’t ever find a time. So the is the picture in which we will remember their one and only battle this summer.
I was able to visit with several friends and managed to snap a picture at on of our meetups. The lady in the middle was my teacher and then coach all through high school. Every summer we meet for lunch and every summer I wonder how I was so lucky to cross paths with her.
We played hard. Every. Single. Day.
I can’t even count how many air soft battles were fought this summer. These boys couldn’t get enough of it.
One morning Hunter and my mom were twinning in their turkey trot shirts.
The local Wendy’s was crushing it with their wall art and failing at actually having frosty’s available – and we went more than once!
The fishing/camping trip was definitely a highlight for my boys and they had stories for days!
I’m not going to post every sunset picture that I found on my camera, but those sunsets never got old.
My parents and brother were such good hosts – obviously making it a little too comfortable for how long we’re willing to stay.
Our Idaho summers always hold a special place in my heart – and it’s taking root in my kids’ hearts as well. As one of the songs on our road trip playlist says, “I’d rather be in Idaho…” at least in the summer time. 🙂
Here are some more nuggets from our summer adventure to Idaho to see family.
I loaded and unloaded that Thule so many times and as you can see the kids were always very helpful. 😉
We happened to be in Boise for one of Hallie’s tennis tournaments one day when we realized that the regional soccer championships were taking place a couple miles down the road. This tournament has the best teams in every age category from every state competing to go to nationals. It was fun to watch soccer at that level of play.
My kids always look forward to going to my childhood friend’s house and picking her cherries. She has a lone cherry tree on her property and their family doesn’t like cherries so my kids are always happy to help strip her tree.
We hit up Lego day at the library. They dump buckets and buckets of Legos out on all the tables and kids build to whatever the theme is for the day. When we went it was farm day.
We went into the mountains one day for my uncle’s memorial service. After the service, the kids were able to play and explore and even hopped in the river which was the only refreshing moment of a very hot day.
My brother threw up a target challenge with the air soft gun and these 4 boys are the sharpest of the shooters.
We had so many park evenings. We played games. We played tennis. We enjoyed the golden hour.
I saw old friends and unfortunately this is the only one I snapped a picture with – she even joined me for one of Hallie’s tennis tournaments.
The kids played in the sprinklers and had water balloon wars with cousins.
The cousin time was the most valuable time.
We visited the local pool a couple times and the high dive was by far the favorite feature.
Night after night we enjoyed beautifully vibrant and then peacefully silent sunsets. I think Arizona has equally beautiful sunsets, I just never get to witness them with farmland, which really adds to the beauty.
We had ice cream outings with grandma or as Hallie calls her G-Ma.
And I say it every year, but it’s true – my parents are so great for letting us come stay with them so my kids can experience a sliver of what Idaho has to offer. I love coming home. I love the small town (visiting, not necessarily going back to live there!). I love spending time with family. I love that my kids are begging to go to the library and the public pool. I love that they have experiences that we just can’t provide in Arizona. In all reality, Idaho and Arizona are vastly different and yet I love both of them and see the good each area offers – which is why I love that we are able to make this happen each summer.
One of the highlights of every summer road trip to Idaho is the time my kids get to spend with their cousins. To add to that, my brother has worked on his property for years (and is still working) and it’s my kids’ very favorite place.
It’s a large property in rural Idaho and it has just about everything you could ask for in country living. Want to ride dirt bikes or ATVs – he’s got you covered. Want your own private pond out your back door – don’t worry, he dug one (and was expanding it this summer) and if you want fish – he stocked the pond. There’s animals. And guns. And a woodshop. And archery. And everything else that my kids think is amazing.
We don’t always stay with him, but this year it worked out and my kids were in heaven. The minute we walked into the house, Briggs went straight to my brother and requested a wooden axe. My brother takes his role as the favorite uncle very seriously and all my kids walked away with a wooden arsenal they are so proud of.
The kids enjoyed all the heavy machinery he was using on the property as he excavated a larger pond.
The temperatures in Idaho were hitting record highs which meant every day those kids were in the pond. They had mud wars. They paddle boarded. They had races. They sought refuge from the heat.
Bennett was soooo excited to try the dirt bike and I was soooo hesitant. We are city people and my kids are city kids. So when they go to the “farm” they like to think they are country folk which couldn’t be further from the truth. I doubted his abilities but my brothers assured me the bike was small enough that it wouldn’t be much different than riding a bike. Luckily, they were also there to teach him and help him. As a precaution, we only allowed him to stay in first gear which limited how fast he could go.
I was pleasantly surprised with how well he did and how much fun he had. Even in first gear he was flying high on adrenaline. Lucky for us, my brother can own all the toys and be our destination every summer.
Hallie and her cousins had a new found sense of freedom since my niece now has her driver’s license so they were often on their own. Grabbing lunch. Grabbing ice cream. Running to the grocery store. They enjoyed the ability to run to the dollar store to buy whatever supplies they needed for their bucket list items – make a cake, make suckers, make popsicles, paint portraits of each other…it was a long bucket list and it kept them more than busy!
Even when we weren’t staying at their house and we were staying at my parent’s house, the kids were begging most days to drive the 30 minutes to their cousins – they were always scheming up some fun activity.
It’s time my kids will always remember about our summer road trips.
