Travel Log: Boise

The kids had Thursday and Friday off so I decided to travel the 6 hours to Boise to visit Tiffany and Adam. (Robin was busy here so he stayed behind. We all missed him!) Even though my sister and brother-in-law had just moved up there and hadn't finished unpacking yet, they let us come visit. They even gave us their basement so it was like having a very large hotel room. I had kept my plans a secret from Alex, Elisa and Sabrina. That was so hard to do. I almost let it slip so many times. I'm used to talking to them about fun things coming up and it was hard not to. After they got home from school on Wednesday, we left. I gave them clues along the way, but they figured it out way too quickly. We stopped at Tremonton for dinner and then finished the trip. We arrived at the Mercers' house around 9 pm. We set up our things in the basement and then played a game called Survive that the kids loved.

The next day, I took the kids to a children's museum. It was smaller than many we've been to in other cities, but it was the perfect size for the time we had. They were able to see everything and go back to the exhibits they liked the best. They had things for different ages, which is always good. It's hard to find things that all 3 of my children enjoy. Sabrina didn't want to leave, but was happy when I told her that we'd be back to Boise to visit her aunt and uncle again sometime so probably she'll be able to come back to the museum. She especially loved the veterinarian office and the grocery store. Alex and Elisa spent a lot of time in a fun little room that had a wall lined with special light-sensitive material. A bright light flashed every 60 seconds and the wall would record the silhouette of your whole body. They liked doing crazy poses. But the day wasn’t over. When Tiffany was done working, she went with us on a scenic ride then we ate pizza at their house. Adam was home from work, so we all went bowling. Sabrina didn’t like the bowling as much as she liked dancing on the arcade dance game, although she made it clear that she didn’t want anyone to watch her dancing! I managed to sneak a few photos though.

On Friday, I took the kids to the Boise temple to take photos and then to the mall to look around while Tiffany and Adam were working. The store they liked the best is called Fuzziwig’s. It’s a candy store which also has small toys. They sell Wonka bars and were playing the soundtrack from the old Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie. We stopped off at a few stores and they ended up buying a T-shirt each so they could have something from Idaho and because I had packed warm clothes since I thought it was going to be cold, but it ended up being warm on Friday. We hung out at the house while the kids played with Tiffany and Adam’s 3 dogs. My children have had a love/fear relationship with them before, but they were able to get to know each other and play together so they are doing much better in the same room. For dinner, Adam and Tiffany made a turkey (yep, a whole turkey!) and the fixin’s. It was sure good! Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. After that, I was tired so I went to sleep. Alex and Elisa stayed awake laying in bed watching Ratatouille until 2:30 in the morning.

When we woke up on Saturday, we went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was my first time there. I even tried a small taste of grits. I didn’t think it was bad at all. All of us had breakfast for breakfast, but Sabrina wasn’t in the mood for any of the many choices. She wanted a cheeseburger and French fries. Lucky for her, they made it for her. At least she had some protein. We spent the last little while at the park, but then we had to leave. Bye, Tiffany and Adam! On our way home, we stopped for lunch at Jack in the Box. They don’t have that restaurant anywhere near our house and the kids like it, even though I’m not a fan. We got home before 9:00 that night and got to say hello to Robin. He bought us candy to welcome us home. Each of the kids got their own bag of M&M’s with a note on them that said, “Feast, my child, feast.” They did! I got a bag of Kisses.

(Although this isn't part of the trip, I’m including it here.) The next morning I woke up and was laying in bed thinking about my Sunday school lesson. I planned it already before I left on the trip and even thought about it while I was driving for hours, but hadn’t felt like I had what I wanted to do. In bed, I realized what I should do so I got up and wrote it all down. I also had been asked to do the spiritual thought in Relief Society and was given a topic. I had that planned the week before also. But since church didn’t start until 1:00, I decided that I had time to make treats to give out with my spiritual thought. (Can you tell I usually teach the youth who always ask for food?) The message was about showing your love for your family so I made little brownie muffins in my heart-shaped mini-muffin pans. Both my lesson and the message went fine and the sisters were so glad to have chocolate.

I told Alex, Elisa and Sabrina that we needed to plan what to do on Friday since they have that day off of school. They all said, “Go back to Boise!” Alex said yesterday, “I miss the sound of the dogs’ feet on the wood floor.” Hopefully we’ll be able to go back and see them all soon (and hopefully for a whole weekend not when they have to work).