Castle Rocks/City of Rocks Idaho Trip Part 2

So Monday morning we left Massacre Rock and headed to Castle Rock on the way though we stopped a place I can't for the life of me remember, but it had a huge grassy area lots of trees and picnic tables and a very fun playground!  So we stopped there for lunch.  Oh I should mention that because Elizabeth really wanted to ride in the motorhome Tony drove the motorhome with me and Elizabeth in it and my parents drove our Pilot with Devin.  Tony said it was really weird to look in the side mirror and see our own car following behind!  Anyway so we had lunch and let the kids play at the playground for quite a while, we were going to play their frolf course but it was way too windy!  Elizabeth was in heaven swinging and playing all over, Devin still does not swing...we can however now at least get him in the baby swing he just can't be moving...and even that doesn't last very long!  He did have fun though playing with his sister and in the tunnel.  My mom and I figured out that most kids go up playground stairs to get to go down the slide...but not Devin, no...he goes down the slide(on his tummy feet first)to be able to go up the stairs again!  Most kids look forward to the going down the slide part, but Devin looks forward to getting to climb up the stairs!  Oh my funny boy!!  After lots of fun at the park we loaded back up and went the rest of the way to Castle Rocks which is in a tiny town called Almo.  We got there set up, had dinner and put the kids to bed so we could get to our Ticket to Ride games!  Tuesday after breakfast we loaded up in the car and drove through City of Rocks...it's amazing because just all of the sudden amidst the sage brush there are huge boulders that look like they've just been scattered about!  It's crazy!  There are also lots of great rock climbing rocks but unfortunately we didn't see any of them out climbing the rocks.  Both kids eventually fell asleep so we just took a nice drive through the state park, we always love it when we can just enjoy the beauty and amazing wonders of "this beautiful world Heavenly Father Created for me"(Elizabeth by the way sang this song all weekend as it was the song that went with C is for Creation) Not everyone gets the opportunity to just bask in and appreciate the beauty we have all around us, so we're glad when we can!  We stopped by the tiny visitors center where we actually found some good stuff!  My mom got me a fun pioneer craft and activity book to use for school, and my parent's got each of the kids a stuffed animal, Elizabeth picked the mountain lion which she named bambi(not real sure why honestly) and Devin got a red fox...Elizabeth has since taken "bambi" everywhere with her! We got a postcard I'm going to turn into a magnet, and a map for future use. We went back to the motorhome for lunch, then put Devin down for a nap on the bottom bunk!(he'd been sleeping in the pack and play that he's all but too long for now)  Meanwhile my mom took Elizabeth and I to the very little market(I've seen gas station convenient store that were bigger!) in Almo to get a treat, we ended up getting some yummy ice cream treats!  Elizabeth wanted to eat them at the table and chairs they had there and we obliged to her delight!  We brought the guys treats back to them. For dinner my parents took us to the Steakhouse for amazingly yummy steaks!!  Elizabeth had fun playing on the play horse out front then we put the kid in their pj's and we headed home.  It was a very nice trip, just what we needed after such a crazy week!

Massacre Rocks Idaho Trip Part One!

Friday Tony got off work early and we headed up to meet my parents at Massacre Rocks State Park in Idaho.  Elizabeth was so excited to sleep over in the motorhome and to have lots of picnics!  Both the kids had a great time outside playing in the dirt and with sticks and rocks...though Devin looked pretty beat up by the end of it, it's not easy being off balance all the time!  But they both had tons of fun!  The sunsets were gorgeous!  Saturday morning we took a little trail with a couple fun tunnels that had awesome echoes, that Elizabeth took great advantage of, to some wagon ruts left from all the wagons coming along the Oregon trail.  This trip fit in so perfectly to Elizabeth's lessons, as we were discussing how God created the earth and all the beauties within it, and of course for Pioneer Day we'd been talking about pioneers.  So the pictures on the plaques were very great at helping her understand that.  We saw a lot of the beauties God created on our little hike as well!  After lunch we drove into American Falls to pick up some things we needed from their little market.  We were going to go to their little museum first but apparently it's only open on Thursdays or upon request...gotta love small towns!  So then we went over to the park and let the kids play for a good long while.  Elizabeth made a friend named Payton and they had a lot of fun together!  Then it was over to the market. Then back to the motorhome for dinner!  Elizabeth loved that we got to eat most of our meals outside on the picnic table...oh the simple pleasures!  After putting the kids to bed we played some fun games of Ticket to Ride usually until around midnight...it's such an addictive and fun game!!  Sunday after breakfast Tony and I went and played 9 holes of their frisbee golf(frolf)course, and when they said it ain't your mama's frolf course...they meant it!!  It was insane!  Trees and bushing everywhere, oh and of course they have to start by warning you of the rattlesnakes....so every time walk up to your fribee on the ground your ears are waiting to hear the rattling, and you quickly and cautiously grab it from the ground!  It was up the side of the mountain and then down again, half the time you couldn't even tell where the goal was!  My frisbee really liked trees ;)  Tony was actually getting really good towards the end!  Lets just say I'm gonna stick to the snake free Wii version I'm better at!  After Frolf we noticed a little trail that went down to the Snake river, so we put the frisbees away and walked down it to the water...it was so peaceful and beautiful there! We enjoyed the serenity for a while then headed back to the motorhome.  For lunch we drove to Register Rock where there where lots of nice shaded picnic tables and open grassy area to throw frisbees around, it was sooo much fun!  After a while though the wind picked up too much to continue throwing frisbees so we went over to Register Rock, a big rock where pioneers along the Oregon Trail stopped and signed their names.  I was surprised that Elizabeth recognized that they were names on the rock and how well she understood what they were!  My dad even took and showed her a tree that broke a rock!  That sent her mind a spinnin'!  It was nice that we were all alone most of the time so Devin wandered about freely, and once other people started showing up he was done...but luckily we all were to.  That evening after dinner as it started getting darker my mom pulled out some fun glow toys for the kids, Elizabeth got a purple glow wand and Devin got an orange glow sword!  They had tons of fun with them until bedtime, after which we once again played a few more fun games of Ticket to Ride!  Monday we started packing up the motorhome to head to Castle Rock/City of Rocks, but first Tony and I went back into American Falls to get gas and a couple things we forgot to get the last time we were there.  We let the kids check out the visitor center, where Elizabeth got a really good lesson about life as a pioneer.  Then we headed off to the next part of our trip!

 I absolutely ADORE this picture!!