Father's Day Weekend

Craig had the Saturday, Sunday and Monday off over Father's Day weekend so we headed up to McCall with his parents.  We drove up Friday after Craig got off work and just hung at the cabin that evening.  Saturday morning we woke up and headed to Boulder Reservoir to do some hiking.  We decided to try a new hike this time and headed towards Louie Lake.  It was a perfect day for a beautiful hike in the mountains.  Brooklyn did great as always in the backpack and she loved throwing rocks into the lake once we got there.  On the way back down she even crossed the stream all by herself, she was so proud.

 That afternoon for lunch we hit up My Father's Place and then Brooklyn and I took a nap while Craig and Stan went for a scenic drive up to the Upper Payette.  That evening we roasted hot dogs and grilled brats for dinner.  We of course had to hit up Ice Cream Alley for dessert, they truly do give you "mountain sized scoops".  Brooklyn loved her rainbow sherbet even though it was a little chilly (don't let her hat fool you, it wasn't that cold. She just wanted to be like Nana who had her winter clothes on in the middle of June).

 Sunday was a really great Father's Day.  We went to church and then had Stan and Craig open their cards and presents.  We then packed up a picnic lunch and headed to a pond nearby to do some fishing.  Brooklyn was oh so excited.  She couldn't wait to catch a fish and luckily she did, she caught 4 actually (with a little help of course).  She was even more excited that Nana cooked them up as part of our dinner.  She was so proud of herself and she can't wait to go again (especially now that Pops bought a Frozen fishing pole that is just her size).  That evening we ate a yummy dinner and just hung around the cabin.

Monday morning we went into town and ate breakfast at The Pancake House and then headed back to the cabin to get all cleaned up and then headed for home so that Craig, Stan and Mark could golf that afternoon.  I really don't think you could ask for a much better Father's Day than that, hiking, fishing, golfing, good food and family that loves you.

Mother's Day in McCall

Craig was able to take a few days off before Mother's Day weekend and it allowed us to spend a lot time together as a family.  Before we headed up to McCall we decided to hike up Table Rock.  Craig and I hadn't hiked it in over 15 years, so we decided it was time to try it again.  We had just purchased a new hiking backpack for Brooklyn and she was excited to try it out.  It was not a very long hike but it was fairly steep, so Brooklyn stayed in the backpack for most of it.  Once you get to the top you have a wonderful view of Boise.  After the hike we headed to Camel's Back Park for a picnic lunch and to play on the playground.  After we played for awhile I convinced Craig that we needed to stop for some ice cream at a cute little ice cream parlor downtown. Craig really splurged and we all shared one scoop of strawberry ice cream.

The next day we headed up to McCall.  Brooklyn had a lot of fun playing on the swing set in the backyard.  We also decided to go on a few hikes.  On Friday we tried to hike up to Boulder Lake but got stopped by snow when we were only about 1/2 mile from the top.  It was still a beautiful hike with a beautiful view.  While we were hiking it got pretty windy and a huge pine tree fell over only about 30 yards from us, it was pretty crazy.

On Saturday we decided to hike around Ponderosa State Park.  We went in thinking we would just kind of explore some of the trails, 8 miles and about 4 potty breaks (for me) later we made it back to the car.  My pregnant feet and back started to talk to me about mile 6, but it was beautiful and well worth it.  Brooklyn was able to get out of the backpack more and do some hiking herself.  While we were up there we roasted hot dogs for dinner one night.  Brooklyn thought it was the coolest thing that she cooked her own dinner, she keeps asking if we can do it again.

Sunday was Mother's Day and luckily my husband knows me very well.  He got me a huge thing of dark chocolate and let me take as long of a nap as I wanted, I couldn't have asked for anything better. We also went for a nice long bike ride with our new bike trailer. On Monday we headed back to Boise.  It was a wonderful long weekend spent together and I didn't even have to feel bad about eating the chocolate because of all of the hiking we did.