The Kids Are Back

Last weekend nephew Rus spent a night with us, along with his three children and two additional ones.  It was fun to spend time with all of them.  We got a nice visit in with Rus too.  I love being in the way of his journeys back and forth to and from Utah.  Here he is with the five kids.

Grandchildren Seth and Angelica have been living with us all last school year.  They've been home in Taiwan for the summer.  Already summer vacation is shifting into school days.  School begins early in Idaho; August 22nd.  So they have returned to us as of Monday of last week.  Gerald came too.  I love it when he is here.  So after a care-free summer, we are once again entering into a parenting role.  The kids seem to be happy to be back.  Now that they are back, I realize that I have missed them.  Isn't it interesting how we adapt to things and situations, even without consciously trying.

We've had some fun with the kids here.  Angelica and I decided to give the cat a bath.  Hum.  The kitty has never experienced it before so it became a bit of an adventure.  We lowered her into the tub and a low, loud growl emerged from her throat and didn't stop until we got her out of the tub and into a towel.  She was happy to head for the safety of the yard.  Here's Angelica giving her some sympathy.

Our neighbor and buddy Larry Wintersteen always has an adventure in mind to involve us with .  His latest was a one day trip down the Snake River.  We made that trip on Friday and it was such fun!  We drove to "Thousand Springs Resort" for our adventure.  For a few hours we traveled the river seated in the dining cabin of a cruise boat, with a young man narrating the history and sights of the area.  Much of the Snake River can be seen from the nearby freeway, but this area lies hidden below the level of the highway.  It felt like we were isolated from all civilization, with just beautiful sights to please all eyes.  Out of the surrounding hillside, there were occasional water falls, fed by an underground river.  

Idaho is full of beautiful, isolated places.  We continue to discover some of them, with the help of friends who know their hiding places.  

Our back yard is full of critters; pheasants, quail, rabbits, ground squirrels, birds of all sorts, and, occasionally, deer.  They are relatively new to the neighborhood, but today one wandered into our yard.  We watched him stand, look around and then lie peacefully under one of our trees.  We left off watching him for awhile.  When we caught sight of him again he was in the middle of our garden, helping himself to our produce!  You might be able to picture what happened next, when Layne rushed out to save our now finally producing garden.  The deer rushed off and is gone...for now.

School starts in two days.  Our lazy days of summer are over.  Sigh.