We left Sunday, June 17th, and drove to Idaho for our Ricks Family Reunion. We do this yearly with just my immediate family (meaning my siblings with their children and my parents). We take turns planning it, and it was my sister, Melanie's turn this year. She planned it at Miracle Hot Springs in Buhl, Idaho. It is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but the seclusion was nice. There were several swimming pools there that were different levels of hot to cool and there was a campground with these igloo-type rooms that some families stayed in as well as a giant igloo room as a meeting area. Some of the families, like us, put up tents too.
Melanie had activities planned for each day and meals were divided out by family. In the afternoons, most of the kids and some of the adults swam too. I thought she had a good balance of planned activities and free time.
We arrived on Tuesday afternoon and set up our tents and had dinner. Wednesday, we went to Balance Rock park and hiked up to Balance Rock and enjoyed the park and a sack lunch. The weather was great!
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| Jarem collecting sticks for the fire |
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| At Miracle Hot Springs there was a pond with an alligator (In Idaho, really?) I guess the hot springs kept him warm |
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| The little boys and especially big boys played lots of frisbee during the reunion |
The first full day we were there, we went to visit Balance Rock Park. This is a nice park area with rocks to climb, swings, a picnic area, and of course the Balance Rock that you will recognize as a rock balanced on another rock with only a narrow bridge between them.
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| Standing by the stream at Balance Rock park |
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| Looking at the stream, this is where everyone was drawn when we first arrived at the park |
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| Jarem and his cousins by the stream in their red shirts |
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| Another picture by the stream, Ashlyn included this time |
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| The kids climbing the rock steps at Balance Rock Park |
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| Jesikah with cousin Hayley |
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| Jesikah swinging with Emily on the swings. |
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| Hayley with little sister Avery |
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| Jesikah, Hayley, and baby Emily with their Aunt RaTray |
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| Hayley and Avery swinging |
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| Cool rock formations |
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| Climbing the rocks |
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| Balance Rock: I thought the rock on top looked like Jimmy Neutron (remember that movie?) |
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| The twins swinging: Jesikah with Emily, Melanie with Ana |
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| Tessa and Eric swinging at Balance Rock park |
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| Grandpa playing a game with the other boys where you try to get these big washers into the round holes in the wood. If you look closely you can see the washer in the air. |
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| Alex throwing the washer to the other goal, kind of a ring toss type game with heavy metal washers |
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| Grandpa showed Tessa a mountain lion print and also dropping (no pic of that) :) |
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| Eric and my dad climbing a rock |
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| People climbing at different levels |
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| Eric helping Jesikah up the rock to Balance Rock |
My dad climbing up the mountain
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| Several of us up on top of the rock |
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| My brother, Joel, pretending to lift the rock |
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| Girls up on the balance rock |
On top of balance rock, this time I am in the picture too.
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| Eric helping Tessa climb down from Balance Rock. See Jarem below, that was his waiting spot since he was afraid to go further |
Later, I had baby time:
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| Me holding Ana |
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| Got a smile from Orin! |
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| Cute little 5 week old Sam gave me a smile |
2 comments:
Those rocks are really cool. I think my family would have liked to climb up there. It's the going down part that scares me much more than the going up. Looks like you all had a great time. I liked seeing you in that picture! Like you, I am always the picture taker.
yes, jimmy neutron for sure, lol! looks like a fun family reunion, much better than the one we just got back from.....i told loren we're taking a break from that reunion for a few years. :/ you did a handsome job on jarem's haircut! :)
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