our idaho...

DISCLAIMER:

all photos courtesy of karen anderson photography...

boys will be boys...

could this picture be any cuter?!  

we went to the idaho falls zoo one day with hunter, talon & ryker (my cousin's darling boys...) where we saw a baby camel drink milk from a bottle, made souvenir pennies, and got "attacked" by a monkey (through the glass... yep attacked. i screamed so loud i think the monkey thought he was getting attacked!) we were observing and gushing over the monkeys thru the window and another monkey screamed, jumped and splattered himself right where my head was!

scared me to death.

and while i was running from the monkeys,

rowan was falling in love...  

with a beautiful (and slightly older)

little girl named

aubrey robson.

later aubrey asked her mom, 

"if our paths cross one day, mom... 

do you think it would be possible for rowan and i to get married?"

(sigh)

our favorite spot at the zoo was the (mini) alligator..

sorry to disappoint you, florida... but idaho's version was a whopping 3 feet long.

perfect for little eyes to marvel.

aubrey's twin sisters... hailey & lauren.

sarah's newest best friends.

the zoo wouldn't quite be complete without a photo shoot in good light...

(thanks Mom for photoshopping the tired baggy eyes, getting rid of my post-baby spare tire, and putting some glow on my face... you are the best!)

4th of july at bear world

where we rode some fun rides and fed bears a tray full of donuts (and ate a few ourselves)...

i see now why bears are considered "cute and cuddly", they were SO fun to feed!  they'd sit on their bums and wave their (big) paws at us from the (big) truck we were in...

i was holding sarah (who ate more donuts than the bears) and she was so wiggly i thought she might topple out of the truck and end up a donut treat for one of those (cute) bears!

bouncy cars with aunt katie... nothing better!

trust me, it wasn't that boring. ;)

grandma's house

the best part of our whole 3 week escape to idaho was just hangin out at the house...

doing bubbles.

mowing the lawn with bonka (grandpa).

making bonka play "head shoulders knees and toes" while mowing the lawn.

swinging.

swinging.... and more swinging!

loving on "minja" (actual name "ninja")

ok, maybe strangling minja.

she looks like she's about had it with his "love"

helping grandma water her flowers...

i mean, pick her flowers.

showing sis how to help

splashing in the mud with a uni-pony...

drawing pictures with grandma jody (my grandma)

wow, she's really good :)

sliding down the slide in your church dress...

then climbing back up and doing it again!

playing with daddy in the grass...

and under the fort in the swingset

laughing with auntie katie

getting lots of kisses from uncle kendal

obsessing over a new toy

(aka tasha from the backyardigans)

although her name is now

 "gloria"

relaxing with bonka & gloria on the porch at night... 

sipping diet pepsi with limes and eating cherries.

and riding Hank.

first with bonka's help.... then

all by himself!! 8 second-style....

for being such a cautious child (and pretty much scared of everything)

i was shocked at what a natural he was in that saddle.

he was so comfortable up there!

he even kicked his little heels and said "go faster, hank!"

i will post more tomorrow...

my sweet and kind mom stayed up until 3 am editing these photos for me and that was nothing compared to all that she did for us while we were there...

i got to forget for 3 weeks what it was like to get up with my kids and feed them breakfast.

she did that every morning and let me sleep...

she made countless meals and changed even more poopy diapers.

she bathed them, took them outside to swing, rocked them, kissed them, and loved them

just as she did me when i was small.

we love you Mom (Grandma)

thank you for making those 3 weeks so special.