Family Vacation 2008

We decided we better do something before the summer officially comes to an end. So, we figured we'd head on up to Boise and play up there for a few days. We went up on Friday night so that we could get an early start on Saturday morning.
We headed off to the Boise Zoo first thing Saturday morning. This was Mackenzee's first time going to a zoo, so we thought it would be fun for her to see the animals.


Our favorite part was the penguins. There were so many of them in the tank, and they were being so silly swimming around. Mackenzee thought they were a hoot, too. Landon's favorite part was the Komodo Dragon. It was HUGE!
After that we met my parents up in Horshoe Bend for a Wild West Shootout train ride. The train ride was about 2 1/2 hours and traveled along the river. It was gorgeous scenery. The actors were a couple of "bad cowboys" as Mackenzee called them, a Sheriff and his deputy.
The bad cowboys were arrested for trying to rob a bank, and they were on their way up to the jail. In the process, the two of them managed to get the deputy's gun. So, they were able to tie up the law enforcer's and get their handcuffs off. They then "robbed" the train {We were given fake money at the beginning}. The sheriff and deputy managed to break free and there was a shoot out off the side of the train. {We stopped at that point, and that's when they hopped off the train.}
Landon and Mackenzee got to interact with the actors as the whole thing progressed. The older cowboy asked Mackenzee in the middle of his tirade if she thought he was mean. She was so shocked she could only stare at him. Landon refused to give his money up to the bad cowboys when we were robbed and so the older one took his baseball cap instead. :0) Landon ended up deciding the money wasn't worth it, so he traded the money for his cap.
It was such a fun train ride. The kids had a good time, and it was a relaxing ride. It was really nice to sit and chat with my mom too. We were so glad they came along for the ride. It made it more fun that way. :0)We were pretty pooped after all of that, so we had a fairly quiet evening at the hotel. The kids loved the pool and as we were close to the theatre area we could walk to Pronto Pups and get corn dogs and their amazing Strawberry lemonade for dinner. So good! :0) {Never thought I'd say that about a corn dog!}

Sunday we went to Roaring Springs and took to the water slides. I don't have the pictures of this adventure yet as I took a waterproof disposable camera and haven't gotten the film developed yet. We were there for a good 5 hours and were pretty water logged by the end of the afternoon. Landon went on every single ride there...some twice. I was truly impressed with him. He normally shies away from anything that might be scary, but he went for it. He even rode the BIG one that looks like a human skateboarding ramp. Though, when he was done he said he didn't want to do that one again. :0) Mackenzee just liked to sit on the beach of the wave pool and splash around. So, Jaysen and I took turns going down the slide with Landon while the other splashed with Kenzee. We had such a good time.
That night we went over to Jaysen's aunt and uncle's house for dinner. Dennis and Janie have dinner every Sunday for any of the Burnham kids that live around there. Similar to our weekly dinner at Jaysen's parents house. Janie went all out because we were coming and made tacos and fajitas for Jaysen. He was in heaven. I was so mad that I left my camera in the hotel, because she let Mackenzee help make homemade tortillas. Janie is from Mexico and so she cooks authentic Mexican food. So good! Mackenzee had so much fun with a little junior rolling pin making her tortillas nice and flat. After she was done with the first one she said, "Here grandma!" to Aunt Janie. Janie ate it up. It was really cute.
The kids had so much fun playing with their cousins too. Mackenzee took to Scott and Jamie's youngest daughter, Cameron, right off the bat. She called her "my friend" instead of using her real name. :0) Landon found a friend in Scott and Jamie's oldest daughter, Caitlyn. It was a really nice evening chatting with Jaysen's cousins and just hanging out.
Monday was Boondocks day. :0) This is an annual thing for us. We go every year to Boondocks just for Landon. He loves it there. This year, my sister Crystal came and brought her kids along. It made it so much more fun.

The bumper boats are always a favorite and Landon is mean with the water gun. I took Mackenzee in with me, and because neither of us were too keen on getting wet we travelled around the perimeter of the pool and watched the water fight going on around us. :0)
So that Crystal could go play with her kids in the water, I sat out the second ride and held little Paige. Crystal was way more fun loving on this ride than me. :0) She fought right along with everyone else and got pretty wet in the process. :0) The kids were all pretty wet at the end of the ride. But, they didn't mind. It was pretty hot outside, so it was nice to cool off.
Landon is big enough that he gets to drive a mini kart all by himself. I'm so glad we have many more years before he is really allowed to drive. :0) We were SERIOUSLY disappointed to find out that none of us could ride the real Go-Karts as they had just painted the railings around that area and so the ride was closed until the paint dried. Serious bummer!
All of the kids had fun play mini golf. It was so funny to hear Riley say, "What's this?" when he was handed the putter. Yeah....they don't golf in their family. :0) There were a few hole in one's and a couple of really close one's too. By the way...if any of you decided to go and play here...watch out for the shooting sprays of water on the 18th hole. Wish I had been given the heads up. I was sprayed right in the face. ;0)

Part of the package deal we bought included tokens for the arcade inside. I think this part was the kids favorite overall.

Kenzee and Riley really like the Spiderman car ride. They each took a couple of turns cruising with Spidey.
Apparently Mackenzee really LOVES Spiderman. We'll have to watch out for that one!
Yes, mommy help Kenzee play some of the games. We cheated. So sue me! :0)
Look at Landon's stack of tickets! They traded their winnings in for "fabulous" prizes at the prize counter. They had so much fun picking out what they wanted. :0)

Afterwards we went back to the hotel and had some pizza delivered for all of us to eat. And then, as promised, all of the kids got to take a dip in the pool.

Monday night, Jaysen's cousins wife {did you get all of that?} Jamee was kind enough to take me to Archivers to do a bit of scrapbook shopping. No kids even! I was in heaven! I got so much cute stuff too. I can't wait to use it! Afterwards, we went to Papa Joe's for dinner. Scott and Jamie's family, Kevin and Jamee's family, and us got a nice little corner room and had a good time eating HOT wings {I'm not kidding either} and other yummy food. It was really nice to hang out with everyone one last time.

Tuesday Jaysen went golfing with his cousins Scott, Kevin, and Nick. As we had to check out of the hotel that day, I took the kids to the mall for some power shopping. Can I just tell you that shopping for 5 hours with an 8 year old and a 2 year old is NOT fun. Actually, it could have been a lot worse. The kids were pretty good to me, and I couldn't blame them for being tired of walking around. I was getting tired. But, we were stuck until Jaysen finished his round of golf at 4:00.

I did get a couple of really cute pairs of shoes. :0) Oh! And the new 'Breaking Dawn'. Don't tell me the ending! I had to read my school work first so I'm just getting to it. It was hard to put it down last night. :0)

Anyway...we had such a good time. It was so fun hanging out with each of our families on the trip. Though I must say that it is definitely good to be home. :0)