McCartney Vacation ~ part 3

Our first full week in Utah/Idaho was kicked off by a trip to BYU.   I was pretty adamant about our kids going to see it, I want them growing up feeling like they can go anywhere they want for college and so the more colleges we see, the better!  Of course, LSU is still the best!  It was fun to be on campus, it kind of made me miss college life...just a little!

 Mike almost got eaten by a prehistoric fish...that was creepy :)  We visited the dinosaur museum, Susanna screamed for Honey the whole time so I ended up taking her outside, but the rest of the crew seemed to enjoy it!

 We went to the Monte L. Bean museum as well.  This was probably one of my favorite things...it is made out of butterflies...can you see it?!  Even those antenna...So cool!

closer shot...

That day was the hardest one for me I think.  I hadn't slept well the night before because I had a bad headache and couldn't find medicine until like 4:30 am and then the kids were kind of all over the place, Susanna had to potty 3 times in 15 minutes and when I finally sat down to eat in the student union, Jillian was hungry and I am the only one who can feed her.  I was kind of done after that...but I really can't complain.  Although, for the record, chocolate covered cinnamon bears from the BYU Bookstore?  I had heard so much about these and I was expected amazingness out of them, however, they were only ok.  That was kind of a bummer ;) 

After we left BYU we went back to the house to pack for a mini-trip to Idaho where we would stay at Ashley & Ben's for a few days.  Then we went to a little park to have a birthday picnic with some of Uncle Mike's crew.  

I really, really like these people!

We left at about 8:00 pm for a 3 hour car ride to Burley.  I was a little worried but other than Jillian crying for the last hour of it, it wasn't too bad!  We woke up the next day and explored the banks of the Snake River.  It was pretty overcast but really fun out there.  And gorgeous, I was surprised at how pretty Idaho is!

These girls had a blast playing on the "beach" making "soup" and "cheesecake" (?) and getting all dirty!

 This is the ONLY picture I got of Drew really smiling at me!  He thought he was slick and hid behind the umbrella when he THOUGHT I was snapping a picture, then when he lifted it up, I got the real one!  Drew- 8,456  Mom- 1

Mike and rest of the guys fished in the drizzle.  They caught a few and tried to bow-fish...it was semi-successful!

 And Miss Jillian, she just chilled out on the sidelines with Aunt Ashley and watched everyone around her.  She is such a pleasant baby.  I seriously can't take it!  I LOVE her!

 The next day we went to Twin Falls to an indoor pool fed by a hot spring called 1000 Springs.  On the way, we passed by the Twin Falls Temple and ate at Chik-fil-a.

 The view was pretty amazing.  

Drew didn't want to swim so he and Honey & Jilly hung out and watched.  The rest of us had so much fun (not that Drew, Honey & Jillian didn't).  We jumped off the high-dive and played on the log-roll.

I managed to only get one picture, this one of Mike and I, at the pool but made up for it at Shoshone Falls.  It was gorgeous!

AND we met up with some familiar faces while we were there!!!  My parents were on a road trip from Jackson Hole, to Oregon and happened to be passing RIGHT through Twin Falls while we were there so we stopped off on the side of the highway to wait for them to follow us to the Falls, they had dinner with us, and then kept on going.  It was such a fun little happenstance and I was super happy we were able to make it work.

Isn't he even cuter with that scruffy face?!

My parents are awesome!  And super cute!

 And Alissa took this picture.  Isn't this just beautiful?  I could not get enough of the scenery the WHOLE time we were on vacation.  The next day we went back out to the Snake River to play and ride jet skis.  The sun had finally come out and it was so nice.   Summers in Utah and Idaho are nothing compared to Louisiana. I keep telling Mike that I would be outdoorsy if I lived in a place like that!

Susanna and Avery, back at the beach ;) cooking up something yummy!  We went back to the house that night and watched a few comedians on Netflix and then got ready to return to Utah the next day.  Idaho was way more impressive than I expected and being there was one of my favorite parts of vacation.  I love Ashley and Ben and are so grateful for their hospitality.  Fun times in ole' Burley!