Staycation/Visitation

My parents came up with my sister and her kids this past weekend for a mini vacation.  We hung out, ate lots of food, played games, had a few stressful moments when we almost needed to call 911, then a not-so-stressful moment when someone did call 911, but most of all we had fun and made some memories.  

I had the brilliant idea to show them the new additions to the BYU-Idaho campus.  I forgot that there's virtually no where to park though because everything is permit parking now.  Plus pushing a stroller around with very few elevators made the tour very long and tiring.  By the time we finally made it to the Crossroads Plaza to eat all of the kids were starving and beyond grumpy.  Needless to say, I think we convinced more than one college couple to wait a few years before having kids.  Plus, Maggie has some obsession with public restrooms.  If shoe knows we're going somewhere, she will put off using the potty at home so that she can use it at the library, store, etc.  So all she wanted to do the whole time we were there is go to the bathroom.  There was a guy sitting near the bathroom and he probably thought something was wrong with Maggie as many times as I brought her to the bathroom.  Oh well.  We can laugh about it now, but I don't think they'll ever let me bring them to campus again.

On Saturday we went to Bear World.  In all of my time living in this area I have never been there.  I interviewed with them once while I was in college and I basically had to job if I wanted it, but I turned them down because it would have involved working on Sunday.  Anyway, I have always felt that it is kind of a tourist trap; you can see most of the bears from the highway without paying and the admission is a bit steep in my opinion.  They were offering half-off admission though, and I have to admit it was worth every penny.  Part of the admission included petting the cubs, if you count touching the tip of its rump hair "petting."  So I was even able to "pet" a bear cub.

After Bear World we went to eat at Pizza Pie Cafe, then came home and played in the yard.  Everyone was in the yard except for my mom who was holding Lane and watching all of us through the sliding door.  I was having Duke perform tricks for everyone (the kids really got a kick out of him jumping through the hula-hoop).  I came back inside to get a few more dog treats when my mom's phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket.  She wondered out loud who would be calling her from a 208 area code.  She answered it, and the conversation went something like this, "Really?  No I'm just here visiting my daughter.  No, we're all fine...(She's looking very puzzled and concerned at this point) I honestly don't know how it happened; my phone was in my pocket, I guess somehow it dialed 911.  No really, we're all fine....You don't need to send an officer..."  The conversation went on for quite some time until my mom finally convinced the dispatcher that there was no emergency it was just an accidental dial.  The dispatcher told my mom she would tell the officer that was on his way to stand down.  My mom actually dialed 112, which apparently is the same as 911.  We all had a pretty good laugh at her expense.  My nephew asked if the cops were really coming to the house and we told him no.  Then my mom said, "I hope I sounded convincing enough." And just as she said that there was a knock on the door.  Yeah, the cops really did show up.  

That's the gist of our weekend.  Here's a picture overload to cover the rest.  Enjoy :)        

Feeding the horses.

 

Silly girl

Maggie was determined to feed this goat rocks.  It wasn't having it, especially since all the other kids had real food for it.  

When we were feeding the trout, somehow Maggie's flower bow fell into the water.  My mom fished it out with a long net.  From then on, anytime we were near water Maggie would point at it and say, "My pink bow fell in the water." 

 

My cute cub.

albino elk

One of the bears wanted to ride home with us when we were leaving the park.  It was in front of the car blocking us so we were proceeding very slowly.  Then it put it's paws on the hood and walked them along the entire length of the car.  For a few seconds we thought it was going to break the mirror off.  Four cameras were on, but none of us took a single picture of it.  I think we were all too mesmerized with what was happening.  We had a good laugh about it afterward. 

I was surprised how much Maggie wanted to ride the rides since she's never been around anything like them before.  She liked three out of the five she rode; the other two...not so much.  

Proof she liked it on the way up (I know it's small, but she's smiling really big).  Maggie wanted to ride this one even though I told her I couldn't ride it with her.  

She did NOT like it on the way down (It was slow, but kind of jerky).  Everyone thought I was mean for "making" her ride it.  she kept saying, "I'm done, want down." between her cries. 

This little guy is all smiles all the time.  My brother-in-law came up Saturday morning and was so proud that he was able to make Lane laugh until my sister told him that Lane smiles and laughs at everything.  By the way, his tooth finally cut through, but now he has three others making him grumpy at night.

watching the bear cubs.

Don't you just want to cuddle it?  

There's something about a bathtub full of kids...

It snowed and was really cold on Friday.  I think crocuses are my favorite flower because they just keep on blooming in the snow.  They're determined to add some color to the unpredictable spring weather.