4th of July

FOURTH OF JULY

After our Island Park trip we drove to Idaho Falls to stay for the Fourth of July. I've been spoiled with the Melaleuca Firework Show in Idaho Falls and nothing else compares, so I force my sweet husband to travel to Idaho Falls every year so I won't be disappointed. Haha. We started the day with the Parade. Ty really doesn't enjoy the parade much. I'm thankful that he suffers thru it for me and the kids. Even Jay LOVED the parade so much this year! I'd stop going for Ty alone if the kids didn't always have so much fun watching it... and not to mention the candy. Haha. We were in the shade this year so even the hour wait for the parade wasn't too bad. Grandpa Gordon of course spoiled the kids with toys from the vender cart (he'd never buy us those things when we were kids... haha... okay maybe once or twice I batted my eyes and talked him into it). Grandma and Grandpa had all the fun this year. Grandpa had 2 grandkids on his lap and Grandma had one the entire parade!
My nephew's birthday is on the 4th of July so we had a Cars birthday party for him. My mom made the cake. It turned out amazing as always! Grandpa pulled out the pool and the kids had a blast playing in the water and getting each other wet with the hose. Then it was time to head to the river! We always park the cars, find a spot to put chairs out and then go to the baseball game! The Idaho Falls Chucker's WON the game! YAY! That's always a plus! Haha! The fireworks were amazing as usual. There were a lot more lower fireworks this year that we weren't able to see, but it was still a spectacular show!

The night before, Uncle Tyler set off his own fireworks so we stopped by to watch. Gotta love cousin time!!!!! Can't tell they are related at all can you? Haha.

PARADE

Being adorable and unhappy in the same second.  Waiting for the parade to start and if the stroller isn't moving, he doesn't think he should have to sit in it! Haha!

Attempt at getting a cousin picture... this is about as good as it gets. haha.

This is how much he loves the parade!

His phone died. LOL. 

He would never admit it but I think he thought Jay's reaction to the horses/floats was kinda fun to watch.

BIRTHDAY PARTY

The cake my mom made for my nephew. Amazing right? 

(Ty and I set up the track. It actually worked. Haha. We could run a race car all around and through the cakes.)

BASEBALL GAME

Jay loved the Chucker!

The girls did too!

And this is about when my phone died so no pics of waiting for or watching fireworks.... sad I know. 

OTHER EVENTS WHILE IN IDAHO FALLS

LUNCH WITH FRIENDS
We went to lunch with a friend I've had since high school. The kids love to play together! I wish we lived closer!

FAMILY PICTURES

Since the entire Gordon Family was in town, my mom jumped at the opportunity to get family pictures done. These are just some I took of my 3 kids with my phone. They turned out amazing (as far as location and attire goes... I'm no photographer... haha... and we couldn't get the girls and Jay to smile at the same time... in fact getting Jay to cooperate at all was quite difficult. lol.) I can't wait to see how the other pictures turned out!

DRIVE IN

Grandma and Grandpa took everyone to the drive in while we were there! We went to see How To Train Your Dragon 2. My girls LOVED it! Crystal even stayed awake thru the entire movie. First time ever! Haha!

Cook Reunion in Island Park

COOK REUNION

Island Park, Idaho

On our way to the reunion we took a detour to Mesa Falls to avoid road construction. We decided to stop and check the falls out on our way. We stopped at the lower and then the more impressive upper falls. The girls were fascinated (especially by all the lava rock on the side of the mountain) and really enjoyed it. It started POURING rain as we pulled into the upper falls parking lot. We were wet but the girls didn't even complain! 

We then made the rest of the trek to the cabin in Island Park we were staying at. I wish I had taken a picture of our car by the time we got there. The last 4 miles is dirt road and it was muddy from rain. We have washed the car twice and still haven't gotten all the dirt off of it!!!! The cabin was the perfect size and fit all of us nicely (in other words it was huge)! 

The next day even though it was rainy a group of us headed to Yellowstone to see Old Faithful. Another group went four wheeling and Ty and his dad went fishing. Ty's mom, the kids, and I opted to go to Yellowstone. It POURED on us on our way there and was still raining when we parked the car to see Old Faithful. We hurried into the big lodge there where we decided to eat lunch while waiting for Old Faithful to blow. Leslie found a perfect window spot to watch Old Faithful without leaving the lodge. It was still raining and the wind was blowing a bit so I had no problem with it. Old "Faithful" was 10 minutes late and the rain suddenly stopped so we decided to find a closer spot outside. We found front row (standing since the benches were all soaked) spots and waited a little longer. The sun even came out and the sky was mostly blue! BUT of course the wind was blowing and when Old Faithful went off she blew her mist right into us!!!! We couldn't see the water coming out because the wall of spray was in the way! Haha!  Good thing Leslie had her umbrella to block it when it reached us, otherwise we would have gotten even more wet than we already were! We then checked out the visitor's center and the old inn they have there. While we were in the inn it started pouring again, but as soon as we were ready to go it cleared up and we headed to the car. As we walked past Old Faithful it was time for her to go off again so we decided to try seeing it again. This time on the other side so the wind was behind us. It was a much better show! We stopped at Biscuit Basin on the way home and saw some other geysers and hot pots. It ended up being a pretty good day considering the inclement weather! 

The other groups didn't have as much luck. Haha. The four wheeling trip was wet, muddy, and cold. They didn't just get poured on; they were hailed on too! Ty and Scott's fishing trip didn't last long either. They were hailed on as well. Both groups said the hail was quite painful and they were soaked to the bone by the time they got home. So glad our day went better! lol! 

The rest of the trip was full of fun, games, food, and four-wheeling! We all had a ton of fun and hope to do it again next year!

PICTURES FROM BEFORE OUR TRIP

TBALL

Crystal had her last Tball game. We got a picture of what was left of her team by the end of the season. They started with quite a few more kids, but these are the ones that stuck it out to the end!

CRAWDAD'S AND STUFFED CLAMS

Ty was feeling adventurous while we were shopping last week and bought crawdad's and stuffed clams to make for dinner one night. Everyone was a trooper and tried it... even Jay! He loved the clams but didn't take to the crawdad very well. Lily of course loved it. She's our adventurous one. Haha. Crystal liked the crawdad soaked in butter but didn't eat much of the stuffed clams! I thought it was pretty good but I don't like my food having a face while I'm eating it...

IKEA
Gotta love the Ikea trips. YAY!

 CHILLIN'

Just a random pic of Jay chillin in the cart while we check out at Walmart!