Location: Island Park, Idaho
As soon as the sun is up we are too!
Heading outside to play!
Taylee had split the tip of her big toe open on her bike before we came to Idaho.
The previous day her toe kept splitting open again from being in the water so much.
So we had to wrap her toe up too!
Showing off their twinner bummed toes while always using Ryan as her personal chauffeur!
From there the day was spent on the lake!
So much fun!!
Brylee paddle boarding
Mini Warriors
Mel brushing off her skiing skills
I was the designated boat driver most of the day.
So my family's lives were in my hands!
(insert evil cackle here!)
The kids kept taking turns hijacking my camera.
But honestly I really like some of the candid random shots they took!
Late that afternoon/evening a nice mountain rain storm hit.
We could see the dark clouds moving in
but it was the calm before the storm.
We couldn't waste those still waters.
So we set out for one last boat run.
I wakeboarded, Ryan wakeboarded, Luke skiied
and finally Lyndsay was like what the heck and threw on a life jacket to wakeboard too.
Let's just say her run ended with the hugest body/face slam on the wake.
She literally knocked herself out!
We can laugh about it now.
But it was definitely scary as the boys dived in and pulled her lifeless body to the boat.
Then we all worked together to get her back on the boat deck and
bring her back to consciousness.
There were a few tears shed by her and myself.
And a few unmentionable areas shed as well from a bikini that got shifted in the wreck!
(lol sorry Lynds you know we all got a good laugh about it!)
Moments like that really put perspective on how quickly fun can turn to disaster.
Luckily everyone was ok and Lynds just knocked her marbles around a bit!
So we decided um that's probably our signal (and the looming rain clouds) to head back in!
Then we sat inside and watched Mother Nature cool itself down.
The same extreme heat wave that took over most of the West
also hit Idaho that week too!
We were so relieved to have escaped the 119 degree days back in Phoenix
but little did we know that we would have record breaking heat in Idaho too!
Mountain sunshine is so much more extreme than desert sunshine.
So we lathered up nonstop on sunscreen.
I can't remember another time it being that hot in Island Park.
But it definitely made the lake so much warmer!
Usually I'm tripled wet suited up to even touch that mountain water! lol
After the cool rain storm settled the dust and heat,
we headed out on a rhino and rzr ride around the island.
Me, Ryan and the kids were in one.
Lynds, Aaron and Kyrrigan were in the other.
Needless to say it became a competitive race!
We did manage to stop and take in the beauty as well!
There's not a lot of pictures from this day (per my standard lol).
But the memories are in my head.
I was tied up driving the boat most of the day
and simply enjoying the people I love
in a place I love!
Oh but wait the day didn't end there.
We were all SO tired and crashed out about 11pm.
The upstairs loft has 4 beds in the same room and then 2 twin beds on the loft balcony
Me and Taylee were in one bed.
Luke and Mel were in one bed.
Jeslynn was in another by herself.
On the balcony were Anden and Brylee.
We hadn't been asleep long before I hear this scratchy rustling noise.
I tried to pretend I was dreaming but unfortunately I wasn't.
My first thought was those dang kids are up walking around.
But I sat there in the darkness and continued to listen.
Nope it's not humans.
And if it's a mouse I'm literally going to die!
So I scrambled to get my phone off the nightstand and hurried to flip on the flashlight.
I discreetly flashed the light around the room as to not wake up the others
and shone it in the direction of the noise.
Which happened to be right on top of my open suitcase next to my bed.
Right then I got the creepy little beady eye reflection of an animal looking back at me.
It took all I could not to scream and wake up everyone.
Instead I tried to calmly whisper/holler for my brother to rescue us!
"LUKE! LUKE! WAKE UP!"
Silence greeted me in return.
I was in a stare down with the rodent
and luckily I had the advantage of blinding him with my flashlight.
There was no way I was losing this bugger from my sight.
In a more desperate louder whisper I continued,
"LUKE!!! LUKE!!! THERE'S A SQUIRREL IN HERE!!"
Luckily Mel heard me and nudged him awake.
He shoots straight up in his bed totally confused,
"WHAT?!"
In my panic whispering plea,
"HELP!! THERE'S A SQUIRREL RIGHT NEXT TO ME!!"
At that moment the rodent jumped off my suitcase and ran across the floor and up
the curtains directly next to my bed.
I followed it with my flashlight while muffling my screams.
There it stood on top of the curtain rod and continued to mock me in his spotlight!
I knew it was mere seconds from pouncing on my face staring up at it.
At that point Luke had his flashlight on his phone out too.
I leaped off my bed and mumbled something about getting Ryan to help.
I bolted down the stairs in the darkness and found Ryan on the couch asleep.
I lovingly and violently shook him,
"WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!! THERE'S A SQUIRREL IN OUR ROOM!!"
I don't think a semi truck could have woken him up.
I kept shaking him and finally he stirred from his unbelievably deep slumber.
I could hear Luke back upstairs scrambling around the room and see his flashlight beam
darting in all directions.
As I was bringing Ryan back to life and explaining for him to go help Luke
because my extermination skills had been far surpassed,
I hear something whiz past my head from the loft balcony
and BOOM land on the dining room table.
Without knowing what happened I immediately JUMPED sky high and landed on the
couch in my kung fun battle position with karate chop arms ready.
Luke was leaning over the railing,
in between Anden and Brylee's beds who were still peacefully sleeping unaware of the animal chaos surrounding them,
loudly whispering to us
"HE JUST FREAKING JUMPED OFF THE BALCONY!!"
Ryan was immediately awake now!
Luke bolted back through the room and down the stairs in darkness to join us.
So now all 3 of us with 3 different flashlight beams were gawking
at the stupid squirrel that had now climbed the
two story picture window and was sitting in one of the window seals staring at us again.
A few moments passed as we nervously brainstormed brilliant plans to capture it.
Then suddenly the beast thwarted our plans and turned into
SUPERMAN SQUIRREL
and literally spread open it's magical furry cape and flew back over our heads!
The freaking Robo-Squirrel then darted back up the stairs to the loft again!!
The boys and their flashlight phones immediately chased after it.
I'll admit I was still frozen in place.
I almost passed out.
All I could imagine is we must have looked as idiotic as the squirrel scene in
"Christmas Vacation"
I kept reminding myself.
"It's just a little squirrel! I'm a mighty human!"
But the obvious looming fact remained.
It can fly.
I can't.
So there I continued frozen in my crouching tiger position on top of the couch.
I could hear scrambling and whispering upstairs in the loft
while seeing the flashlights darting as if there was a Rave party.
They eventually whispered down to me from the balcony.
"OPEN THE BACK DOOR!!"
My fear gripped me. I couldn't move.
"OPEN THE BACK DOOR! WE'RE GONNA SHOO HIM BACK OVER"
I mustered my last bit of courage and ran over to the door and opened it
then dashed right back to the safety of the couch.
I counted the seconds while I waited for the Freak of Nature Squirrel
to land on my head.
Suddenly BOOM Superman Squirrel was back downstairs with puny old me.
But this time to our complete luck,
the plan worked!
He ran those little deceiving legs straight towards the door and on outside to the deck.
At the same time the boys came scampering back down the stairs.
"SHUT THE DOOR! SHUT THE DOOR!"
I ran over and shut the door and there we stood in a moment of silence in the darkness.
Did that really just happen?!
Or are we peacefully in our beds dreaming about mutant animals?
Finally boisterous laughter broke the silence.
Some stories you just can't even make up.
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