Lava Hot Springs 2014

This was a whirlwind of a trip.  Because our summer is jam packed with activities that take up almost every weekend this year, we didn't get to spend three days in Lava like last summer.  We were up and back in 24 hours.  Because we would only be there for a short time, each family decided to find their own lodging rather than one big place for everyone.  We ended up renting this apartment type place above one of the old shops in town.  It was a very odd place, but it suited our needs for the night.  The weirdest thing was that the two bathrooms did not have doors, only thin curtains going across that didn't even come down to the ground!  Let me tell what what it's like when seven people do their business and there is no way to contain smells.  Ugh! 

We found Jane and Allan, Lance and Courtnee and kids in town and headed to Royal Pizza for dinner.  It's a tiny place and very popular so the wait was long, but it was worth it because the food was amazing.  After dinner we each made our way back to our seperate lodging for the night.

Preslee was a trooper in her pink cast!

Playing hide'n'seek in the apartment cupboards.

Our apartment was on Main Street and and besides the bright street lights coming through our windows, there was a group of loud drunks outside on the street until about 1:30 in the morning.  Cody and I FINALLY dozed off, when Garrett came into our room crying and scared. After getting him to sleep and me dozing off again, I woke up to him fussing on the floor beside our bed and he was covered in blood.  He had a bloody nose, but in the middle of the night is scared me to death because I couldn't tell where the blood was coming from!  It was a REEEEEEALLY long night for Cody and me.  Garrett woke up two more times with his nose bleeding before the sun came up.  That poor kid has my nose and it bleeds easily in the dry air. 

The next morning, I got a text from Skylar that Leighann had their baby girl at 5:11 that morning!!!  She wasn't due until today (July 4th) so it was a big surprise for everyone.  It's almost all I could think about the rest of the day! Her birth story is HERE on my sister's blog.

Evangeline "Eva" Nita Buras, 6 lbs 6 oz 18 inches of beauty!!

Grandpa came by and took the four big kids to breakfast in town, while Cody, Garrett and I stayed behind to eat cold cereal and clean up the apartment for check out.  When we walked outside, it was really windy and drizzling rain.  Southeastern Idaho is natorious for wind, but that day was crazy.  We stopped at the market to get a few things we forgot at home, then went over to the giant swimming complex.  We got in and set up our camp and almost got blown away.  Come to find out there were 25 mile and hour winds that day!!  It was miserable to get out of the water because you about froze to death.  Even though the water is warm spring water, it almost made it not worth it to swim because of the wind chill in the air.  At 5:30 there was an accident in the deep-end involving the platforms, and when the lifeguards cleared the pool and started backboarding a swimmer, we took that as our que to call it a day. 

We had made arrangements for Jane and Allan to take Ethan and Lance's three boys back with them to Filer for a few days.  I hate saying goodbye to my kids like that, even if it is only for a three days.  But Ethan was very excited to go.  We hit the road at 6:00 and barely made it back to town in time for Lauren to get to her end of year soccer movie party at her coach's house.  We were sunburned and tired, but it was a fun 24 hours!