Hagerman Fossil Beds, Family fun and Craters of the Moon...

I'm trying to make sure I remember all the good things we've done on this trip, so we are post friendly right now.  

We made a day off date with poppo to go see the Hagerman Fossil Beds.  I had this genius idea that we could try to fulfill the requirements to be a jr ranger at any of the parks we visited.  We watched a movie, dug fossils and then headed out to find the fossil beds.  Not the best marked park, and a little too hot for a 3 mile hike to see oregon trail wheel marks.  We enjoyed the day, but didn't really feel like this was a hot spot to hit again... sorry hagerman...

 Our next fun date was to the fountains for a picnic in the shop with Gramachele .  I love these fountains.  I remember when we very first moved to Twin Falls.  I had a friend whose dad worked at JC Pennies where Blackers used to be. They had escalators and the two of us would go visit her dad at work and ride the escalators and then play on the fountains while we waited for her mom.

 We visited with Grandma Williams while she was in town (and later in Arco with her)  The photo below cracks me up.

 The kids helped pops mow the lawn...

 We visited Herrett's museum.  That was fun, but mom was paying attention and saw that they were having a solar viewing.  That was really cool  We saw the sun through these neat telescopes and talked about pinhole viewers and even got to see Venus on the big telescope.  It was awesome!!

 We visited this little sweet garden downtown and stopped in to share a story with this lovely statue

 Following this we packed up and headed out of town for the weekend.  We went to Craters of the Moon.  What an AMAZING Jr Rangers Program they have here.  The Rangers ROCKED!  They were so enthusiatic and fun and encouraging. The kids LOVED it and proudly wore their Jr Ranger badges all weekend!

 Em was NOT impressed with my breakfast....  I love the photo below.  It's going on my wall...

thWe hiked to the top of this awesome viewpoint.  What a unique and beautiful landscape.  It's so stark, but really remarkable!

 Isa was tired the rest of the time...  She took lots of rests  Good thing she's so cute!

 Emery Loved hiking around can't you tell?  She was cracking me up.  I tell you this girl is unstoppable if you are doing something she is in the mood for.  When she doesn't want to do something she digs in her heel and gives the best moody faces ever.  Good thing I had Balance (a Do Terra oil blend)  This photo was taken after I poured water over her head to cool her off.

 Colin, before his little legs said no more!

 Liam LOVED it. He loved hiking and exploring and adventuring  His favorite part was the caves.  He would have caved all day long.  What a great attitude!

 Spatter cones,

 Indian Tunnel

 Colin totally DONE!!  Those little legs could not go one step further...

 Liam still smiling!

 The super brother strikes again.  Liam totally carried Colin on his back to give me a rest...What a good kid!
Five minutes out of the park, Colin was FAST asleep.  Funny boy...
Our next adventure took us to Arco.  I've felt it was really important for the kids to see where their Grandparents grew up and to hear their stories about growing up.  So we started with Pops.  He was raised in Arco and Moore and so we headed that direction...

 Visiting a piece of a WW2 submarine

 Out at the Ranch in Moore, looking for the Lost River...

 Found it!

 Pops shared stories with the kids about Mr Who an owl he raised from a baby, and Bobbi the bobcat.  He told them how he and his brothers would play out near the river almost every day, fishing, and adventuring.  I'm so glad we took the time to share this with Pops.

 Hanging out with family and getting some GG snuggles.  On a side note, it was wonderful to watch my kids with Grandma.  They would clap for her and encourage her.  Isa and Emery put on a show for her and had her practicing her numbers and words.  They would lovingly bring her water and help her move from room to room.  They gave her kisses and hugs and just gave pure unconditional love.  It was really wonderful!

 Aunt Lucy helping Emery to get over her fear of dogs...

 Heading out of Arco.  This is the number mountain.  Senior classes have painted their graduating year on this mountain since the early 20's  I love it.  To me it brings back long walks with Morgan in a place that seemed to have been lost in time.  It is family weekend trips and squeaky beds.  It is Williams Beans and some of the greatest people on earth. It's a part of me because it's a part of Morgan and I love it.