This has become somewhat of a tradition for the three of us to go the free zoo day in Saginaw with Parker. It's been fun to track her growth from the time we started living here in 2014. It's fun, but it's also kind of sad. Seeing these animals caged up and in poor living conditions is kind of heart-breaking. But, I still enjoy spending time outside and making memories with my sweet little caboose.
Our western summer adventure is finally done and we are headed home. I can't believe we left in June and are now headed home at the end of July. It's been so great. I have loved every minute of seeing new things, family that we've missed, and exploring our beautiful country. I seriously can't wait for another epic summer like 2018!
Dan works at a bank in Rexburg, so we had to stop by to say hi. We also went and hung out with their family in Rigby later that day. It's so fun seeing their family grow--they're now at 6 kids! They just adopted their 6th baby, Kingston Ellis, this past year. Their kids are all growing so fast and we love playing with them all!
No vacation to Idaho would be complete without a trip up to West Yellowstone. This was soooo fun! On our way north, we stopped in Ashton to eat the infamous Big Jud's with all of us seated at two tables--an adult and kids table--what were we thinking?!? We were able to see some wildlife at the Grizzly Wolf and Discovery Center. We were also able to catch a show at the PlayMill (which never disppoints.) It was "Annie, Get Your Gun!" and so fun to see with everyone.
We loved staying with Dave and Melanie. They are always fun hosts and have a million things to do and eat. Their youngest daughter, Brielle, was such a cutie-pie and followed us around asking a million questions. She stole our hearts.
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| Maryn actually designed this logo for Dave's trash collection company. |
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| Putting a bandaid on Mel's finger because she's scared of blood. |
The next day, we headed north again to Blackfoot to do a little sight-seeing. Mark lived some of his childhood years here, so it was mostly showing the girls what there was to see. One of which was the Idaho Potato Museum. Talk about kitsch. This place was a mixture of terrifying funhouse and boring Idaho history. Haha!
After that, we headed up to Idaho Falls and checked in with our favorite Aunt Fay and Uncle Bob Pennock. Fay is Laurie's oldest sister and is an absolute gem. She and Bob are funny, warm, loving, and great to visit with. Their farmstead in IF has been a favorite place for years (for Mark growing up) and for our family ever since. I can't imagine not stopping by to say hi.
It was a fun day capped off with our second stop in Rigby to stay with Dave and Melanie's family.
