Pocatello

 Last weekend we did our final trip of the summer and visited family and friends in Pocatello! In the 10 years I lived there, I thought I had pretty much seen the whole city but then my father-in-law suggested going for an evening walk after dinner on Friday night and took us to a path I'd never been before. It reminded me so much of the Eagle greenbelt which runs alongside the Boise River. Instead, it was called Sacajawea Park and it was a paved figure eight path that followed the Portneuf River. It was so beautiful! It was still fairly hot out so Lyla quickly asked for a ride. haha

We saw baby ducks and found tons of walking sticks. ;)

I have to give a quick shout out to my father-in-law ... he has lost 65 pounds from walking 4 miles a day with their puppy and I'm so proud of him!! This baby bump and I were having to sprint to keep up! 

Liam was totally in his element!

"Come on Bella, follow me!"

These two shared a bit of a love/hate relationship during our visit. Smothering love from Lyla and constant retreating from Bella. haha

Saturday morning we visited another new-to-me spot, Edson Fichter Trail and Nature Preserve. It had a few ponds to check out and ran right along the railroad tracks. 

They opened a Children's Museum in the mall and we got to check it out with some friends. We met the Southworth family there and our kids had a blast together building this car ...

How cute is she with her tape measure?! And Liam's face as he hammered ... haha

Teamwork makes the dream work, helping him hold up the car so he could attach a wheel ...

They loved climbing the rock wall too!

Saturday evening we went to a few stores (real life: it turned into a total souvenir fighting match with our children) and had dinner at Winger's with my mother-in-law. I loved that I was able to get a picture of Nic with each of his parents this time! 

On Sunday we got to see our friends, the Bradley family, who we haven't seen in 4 years! They live in Arizona but still have family in Pocatello like we do. This year we happened to time our summer trips at the same time! Our kids got along so well and had the best time "swimming" in the pool-temperature hot tub, watching Angry Birds 2 on Netflix, and testing out their virtual reality goggles. I'll give you one guess what Liam is now begging for. ;)

Love these friends so much! No matter how much time has passed, we always pick up right where we left off last time ...

We ended up driving home Sunday evening. My body was ready to be done traveling until this baby comes. I had my first braxton hicks contraction in the middle of the night while we were there and it was definitely unnerving. I've had many since and am glad to be home trying to rest up for the remainder of the summer. Everyone was sad to say goodbye, especially Lyla to Bella! Looking forward to them visiting us when the baby is born!

We spotted a deer on the way out of town!

Shockingly enough, we drove 8 hours to and from Washington without any car sleeping but 10 minutes into this trip, Lyla fell asleep with her uneaten dinner in her lap. She slept all 3 hours and woke up just as we were rounding the corner to downtown Boise. Bless her heart, I think even the kids were worn out and need a break from traveling. Until next time, Pocatello! Can't believe we'll have 3 kids the next time that comes around!!