Raft River Vacation

We had the opportunity to take a little vacation to one of our favorite spots, Raft River, Idaho! 400 foot waterslides, a 400 foot zipline, a candy cannon, trampoline and so much more, who wouldn't love that!
We took off Thursday after school got out. Poor Jeffrey, he was stuck in the back of the van and the van was filled with all of our camping gear. Look at the picture and play a rousing game of "Where's Jeffrey?"

Our good friends, the Deardens, went and spent that first night with us. We got there pretty late so we just set up our tents, gathered around the lantern for a few stories, said a prayer and put the kids to bed. Then we stayed up until 2am playing Ticket to Ride. (Diana won but James is convinced it was beginners luck.) The next morning, the kids got up had breakfast and headed for the water slide. James had 16 miles to run that day so he headed off to run in the middle of no where. The course he had mapped out wasn't what he expected. He ran in blinding heat over a course of continual rolling hills and climbs. It was horrible! Diana and I took him a drink in the middle of his run and this is what we found. James saw a snake, a badger, and two farmers who told him there was a better way to get from one place to another. We spent the day on the waterslide and in the afternoon the rest of our 75+ group showed up. Everyone set up camp and had a great time going down the zipline and waterslide. The following picture is a shot of where we all set up camp. We are still missing a couple of tents in this photo but it gives you a great idea of what it looked like. James had to go to the Martin Harris Pageant with the YM/YW so he left with Jeffrey around 4pm and didn't get back to camp until 12am. We had a great dinner and then everyone went up to the camp fire and talked. Both Julie and Jackson feel asleep while we were up there. After some serious convincing, I was able to get them back in the tent and get them to bed. Then a few of my friends and I sat around talked and ate some of the yummiest treats from Winder Dairy thanks to Deborah Phair. (Who knew that you could have the best cut up fruit, chocolate covered cinnamon bears, yogurt covered pretzels, bagels and chocolate milk delivered to your door every week! It was all SO GOOD!) The next morning, we all got up and the sliding continued! This time, our friend Bryan Parry, was great and got the 4 wheeler from the Steadmans to help Jeffrey and I get to the top of the hill. We wouldn't have been able to make the trek up the steep hill if he hadn't. The kids and I all rode in a tube down the slide twice and Jeffrey LOVED it but he loved the 4 wheeler even more!Then it was time to shoot off candy in the candy cannon and that was a major hit. Diana followed in the tradition of past Relief Society Presidents of the North Park Ward, alright just Kathy Hales but still! She went on the zipline twice and did a great job of it. Julie took the following pictures of the event and did a great job so I am posting a few of them. James took Jackson down the zipline with Jackson hanging onto his neck and legs wrapped around his waist. They did this twice but James never told me when they were going so I wasn't able to get any pictures! :( At 3pm we loaded up and headed home. James was exhausted and I was so tired too. I fell asleep and apparently so did James and Taylor Dearden (they were following us because James is spatially aware...right) after an hour, they pulled into a gas station to get something to drink so they could stay awake. Diana and I decided to take matters into our own hands and kept them awake while we talked on the walkie talkies the entire way home.

We got home at 5:15 and had 1 hour and 45 minutes to shower everyone, do a load of laundry, decorate the kids bikes, and get a game together for the Ward Social and Bike Parade. I am just throwing this in here because James and I were laughing so hard about this not only at the time but later that night. Our friend, Jake Baxter, stole a scooter from Abby Pryor and started showing us his "scootering skills". Flips and twists were found a plenty. It was so funny!

Julie Bike Decorations

Jacksons Bike Decorations

The kids had a great time and then there was face painting and the bean bag toss game with prizes. Everyone who planned it did a great job! Then on our way home we had to drop a couple of things off at James' parents house. It is always a treat for the kids to go to grandma and grandpa's and see Vivian, the lion kitty. Alright, there is nothing small about this cat, and when you pick him up, it feels like there are no bones in his entire body. It is really weird! Now, you might be reading this and thinking that I messed up on my grammar because I said that the cat's name was Vivian and then I said he.....well, this is right. It's a boy cat!!!! He is a really nice cat though and the kids love him.

All in all, we had a great time and it was a nice end to the summer for the kids. Thanks for everyone who helped plan, prepare, and participated in this great weekend. We can't wait for next year!