Edwards Family Does McCall

Family Vacation, Part 2 was the reason for the trip: the Edwards family reunion in McCall, ID.  We spent the entire day traveling, first leg to Boise.  

Owen is still consumed with cows, and loved seeing the inflatable cow in the Boise airport.  Also at that airport: lots of signs reminding people not to travel with guns.  It felt like a foreign country.

We were so disappointed to land in the 98 degree temperatures and be surrounded by brown landscapes and hazy skies.  Adding insult to injury, we had to take a detour around a fire in the hills, which added almost 2 hours to an already 2.5 hour drive.  A quick trip to Costco and Winco had us stocked up on Cinnamon Gummy Bears to deal with the ugly driving conditions.

Kate needed a potty break break, so we stopped off in a town called Weiser.  Texting Brady's cousins, Beau and Emily who planned to meet up with us in McCall, we mentioned Zachary's question, "Do people live here?" and "That's unfortunate.  It seems like the middle of nowhere."  A quick response from Emily shocked us: "It's so true.  You can tell him (Zac) that Beau graduated from high school there, and that will explain a lot."  Whoops.   Haha!

That night, we pulled in for a 10pm dinner and 11pm devotional with the family, then stayed in our 6th accommodation of the vacation.  We stayed there for 5 nights and it was easily the most comfortable with our king-sized bed and bathroom suite, complete with all green appliances and a green toilet.  Perfect!

Mom's homemade cookies in Mom's homemade cookie container.  I remember Brady pulling this container out from a cabinet under the counter and sharing his mom's cookies with me before we were married. Brady remembers it from the earliest years of his childhood.

Morning one of the reunion started with half the family heading out early on Paul and Angela's boat.  We were all excited they hauled it 8 hours (plus encountering a tow truck with their truck issues on the way), and they were stressed when halfway through the day, it made strange noises and needed to go to the shop.  They got it fixed quickly and back on the water by early afternoon.  In the meantime, we took turns cruising on the lake with Scott and Natalie's inflatable paddle boards.  The kids loved paddling with cousins, swimming, and building sand castles.  Owen went out with me for nearly an hour and enjoyed it until the last 5 minutes, when he took control of the paddle and tumbled us both into the water.  I also took Kristen's mountain bike for a spin.  Paddle boarding and mountain biking on the same day???  Lucky.

Beds are overrated in this family.

I loved watching my kids blend right in with their cousins who all know each other so well.

Brady and Zachary went on the boat in the afternoon with another group, and he was a pro at wake-surfing, dropping the rope and getting up on his first attempt.  Zac was so excited to show his cousins his surfing prowess, but after reading "I Survived" books about shark attacks in a lake (really, a lake?!), he was terrified and cold and too jumpy to really give it a shot.  

I brought Owen for the evening boat run, and was a kid at Christmas waiting for my turn to wake surf.  I watched a few of the cousins, and then managed to get up after swallowing a lot of water.  It was thrilling, although slower and smaller than I expected.  

My favorite moment of the day was when Kate asked if she could try.  I was anxious for her after watching cousins get tossed all over the place in their attempts, but she was sure.  I watched nervously, but she and Brady had no trouble popping up, and she was quick to drag her hand in the wave and ham it up.

The night concluded celebrating Kristen's birthday.  Owen is one lucky toddler, getting all kinds of attention for the three birthdays we observed.  It was a lovely day filled with lovely people.

To avoid over-romanticizing this vacation and how spectacular it really was, I will note that I was dealing with awful skin reactions and infections for three days (thank you, nasty hot tub) and had a bout of tummy trouble for a few hours that day.  

Friday, the entire family went on a huckleberry loop hike that Natalie remembered doing in the past.  We walked up a mountain to a gorgeous lake, popping huckleberries in our mouth along the way, and encouraging the toddlers in the trek.

My favorite shot of the day:

Owen wanted to imitate every one of Walker's actions--walking with a hiking stick and digging into logs with the same stick.

The lake begged us to swim after lunch, and a few dove in with clothes on.  Zac and Parker kicked it off.

Ryan and Kate joined.

Owen thought hard about it.

Naked baby buns!

Cory and I couldn't let the kids have all the fun.  I cannot pass up a swimming hole, even when I'm dressed in denim.  Shrug.

 A fire started somewhere in the mountains so we pushed the pace to get past the falling ash and hazy smoke.  The kids were excited to try McCall's Ice Cream Alley, and found their names on the wall while gulping down the largest scoops of ice cream $2.50 could buy.

Brady and I led that evening's devotional, and served up dinner with Cory and Kristen, especially prepared for Rachel.  That night, we hurried down for twilight beach time, enjoying the magical hour on the lake when most have gone home and the water is calm.  Our kids stayed on Kauai time for most of the trip, which meant going to bed at 11pm every night was no biggie and it felt like we were cheating the system.

Dad worked hard to get on the board and we all cheered him on.

The next morning, Cory, Kristen and Brady popped out of bed early to mountain bike with Beau and Emily.  They were back quickly but it still took the rest of us a long time to get packed and ready for our 1-mile loop hike in around the state park.  After completing the hike, Natalie and I walked around to find the kids and discovered why we had been hiking for over an hour already but not finished: they were collecting huckleberries for huckleberry milkshake.  They picked at least 2 cups!  We all joined the rest of the family in a tunnel and headed to the beach.

Waiting and waiting and waiting to leave:

Cousins!

 Beau convinced a group of us to go cliff jumping.  I despise jumping off cliffs but I can't pass on adventure (at least when I think it is safe).  Brady stayed with Zachary and Owen, and Kate came with me, anxious but excited to try something new.

She barely hesitated before leaping off.  I told her before jumping I would not drag her in, and she would have to jump if she wanted to.  She jumped up at least a foot!

 Our fearless tour guide, Beau.

 Kristen plunging off the medium-height ledge.

 Kristen, Cory, Beau and I all rotated through the small, medium, and tall ledges, and I hated the tall.  Hated it.  It felt like a long fall.  I am not sure why sky diving is appealing and cliff jumping horrible.  I loved the time with the family and with Kate, and we cheered on Rach as she conquered her fears.

Retrospectively, I would skip the cliffs and spend more time with the family on this day!  We were gone much longer than anticipated.  I would have enjoyed watching Mom on a board and the cousins enjoying more sunshine and water.  

Happy Anniversary to us!  To celebrate, we took up the offer to hit the trails together while Kristen and Mom watched Owen.  Brady showed me a path he had explored with Scott the day before.  It was single track and my first legitimate mountain biking experience.  I loved it, with the exception of a few moments where I panicked hard about mosquitos sucking away at me through my pants, on my arms, and near my eyes.  I think I might have screamed, "I hate this so much!" or something like that.  Ay-yay-yay.  We have been married 17 years.  By now, Brady knows how I actually feel.

 It was 85% awesome and 15% mosquitos.

That evening, we left the younger kids home and took Owen and the adults out for Mexican food.  Owen hammed it up with Grandma and Grandpa and drank Dr. Pepper, and we shared buckets of laughter and stories.

My favorite part of the day was watching Parker and Zachary make huckleberry shakes.  Anyone who knows my child is aware of his aversion to fruit--just about any kind of fruit.  I could not believe it was his idea to make a "fruit" milkshake.  

Sunday morning had to come--the last day together.  Scott and Natalie left with their family immediately after church.  We snapped a few pictures and said goodbye.  

Easton did such an impressive job bonding with Kate.  She was in stitches with him, wrestling and tickling.

The rest of us played on the swing, took walks, played old school Nintendo, and slept.  Our major mission that day was to consume as much leftover food as possible.

These were all taken within 30 seconds of each other:

Blake had my kids in giggles, too, and I love his expressions!

The adults looked at Cory and Kristen's Europe pictures.  Kate, Allison, and Walker spent the afternoon and early evening singing and acting out "The Greatest Showman."  Walker, Zac, and Owen put floaties around their ankles and sprinted around in circles.  The entire family played water charades and planned out the date and expectations for the next reunion.

Just like that it was all over and time to go home.  Kristen and I squeezed in one more mountain bike ride in the morning and we all packed up and left.  My kids were emotional in the car, telling us it was hard to live far away from family.  We get it, kiddos.  We do.