Go Orange, Go Big Blue...

The boys continue the pregame tradition for our first home game against Miami of Ohio...MANY of my high school friends attended Miami of Ohio...it used to be called the "Cradle of Coaches" because so many influential college and professional football coaches began their careers there.  I love my Ohio roots, but I bleed blue!   J and D always throw the football before each home game, and I must serenade them with the fight song.  Then, with flags flying, they drive to the stadium.  Fight! Fight! BSU!

The Broncos Go To East Lansing and We Don't

 My sister and I had planned to meet in East Lansing for the BSU vs MSU game;  she graduated from Michigan State, married an MSU football player; I graduated from Boise State and married a BSU (formerly BJC) baseball player...it seemed a perfect chance to cheer together, for opposing teams! She cancelled...I stayed in Boise... SO, we rented a suite, invited Missy, Kip and McKena, and tried our best to root on the Broncos. 

 This has become almost a tradition...we did the same thing last year for the BSU vs Georgia game!   .McKena loves to swim in the motel pool, and we all EAT and cheer!

Unfortunately, this game ended poorly...Sparty won...we were very sad...we're not used to losing!

Little D is ONE!!

                                             The invitation...

                                             The decorations...

                                              The treats...

                                             Happy Birthday to YOU...Make a wish...
    
            YUM...

                                           Birthdays are FUN!!

Vacation on the Coast

 We have found a great place to start our vacation...Long Beach, Washington...we arrived in time to see the sand sculptures before they crumbled...

 We stopped in Ilwaco (ill-wah-co) to see the fishing boats in the marina...

 Back at the beach, we saw many boats closer than we have ever seen them...they were fishing for tuna, and apparently, there was a competition going on...big prizes...$2000 for a tuna!!!

SOLITUDE...this is why we love Long Beach...we are usually alone on the beach!

Safari Campin'

 Bellamie is ready to go...first, find the animals...they're hiding!

 Our second trip to the Story Trail...this year the story was Hey, Little Ant...and yes, we found real ones.

Next we went to the Boise Aquariium...are those the screaming eels??!!!!

 
Bellamie loves all creatures great and small!

Je t'aime, mes grandfilles!

 The 10s decided on a French theme for their "Gramma Camp", so we started with lunch at Le Cafe de Paris...right here in Boise, Idaho.  Mais oui!  Tres bien!

 Then we went to the Idaho State Capital Building in search of our French fur trapper history.  Nothing there, but we found a copy of the Winged Victory statue...given to Idaho (and every other State in the U.S.) by the French for liberating their country from the Germans during WWII.  The statues arrived in each state capital on the "Merci Train"! 

 We watched the acclaimed film, "The Red Balloon", and made our collages of Paris street scenes.

 We learned to speak French, and recorded our new vocabulary in personal dictionaries.

 On Saturday, we went to Celebration Park to search even further back in Idaho history...we saw some of the 5,000 petroglyphs preserved there...

 We threw the atl atl...(perfect form, Brooklyn!)

We entered a wikiup...and learned about the Native Americans who called Idaho "home"

Cache's Camp

 Cache is a farmboy, loves to be outside, doing things with animals, both extinct and alive! We read about dinosaurs, then he constructed a diorama.     We went to the MK Nature Center...

 to see fish, ducks, deer, in their natural habitat...he couldn't believe that we could stand outside the actual water level and see what was going on in the river.  We saw sturgeon that were up to 10 feet long!

 We went over to Borah High School...his mommy's school...found her name on the Lion fountain (the class gift) , then we hit the football field. 

                                    
 Cache practiced kicking and throwing the football...I was the official shagger...look at that, up and over the goalpost!  As I would return the ball to him with an underhand toss, Cache would say, "Throw it back like a man, Grandma!"   Oh, Cache, if only I could. 

We returned to his favorite indoor, blacklight miniature golf course...super fun!

If It's Summer....It Must Be "Gramma Camp"

      The perfect spagetti rose

If you're saving for a big trip...you need a special bank 

At the "secret" little piazza in downtown Boise.  

Uninvited Guest...

                                      Eden watches as Jay and Dallin take care of business...

                                                    more info below...

We gathered for McKena's 10th birthday...a Hawaiian luau...apparently a remnant from Missy, Kip and McKena's Disney Cruise decided to attend...(a mini mouse!)  EEK!  Never a dull moment when the fam gets together!

The Cache is Off the Path!

I went to the Idaho History Museum with the grandkids...as true farm kids, they found their favorite place to pose! 

Then we went exploring...following clues to find the secret cache...since Cache's name is the same, he took the lead, went off the path, found the cache "off the path"...hurray!