Hide and Seek

While we were at the park, Rob and I walked over to read a historic marker and Amy was running around after some geese. We looked at the sign for about 20 seconds. Tops. We checked on Amy and poof! She was gone. Not on the hill chasing geese, not running in the parking lot, not in the lake. We ran around totally panicked. I think we were ready to call the cops and jump in the water when we heard giggling. 

That little brat was hiding behind a tree. We found her and she yelled "LET'S play hide and seek AGAIN!!" So, in the span of less than a minute, we lost Amy Gail, experienced panic, found Amy, got ready to administer the longest time out of her life, and then couldn't stop laughing long enough to do it.

and then she tried to climb the tree.

Saturday Fun times

Operation: Explore Boise

Code Name: Outdoorsy

Combatants: Team Jones

Feedin' the geese. We found some doughnuts and english muffins on the ground. Geese like doughnuts. 

Yesterday we set out to explore our new home a little. We headed through downtown and through the Hyde Park neighborhood (which is super adorable) to the Boise River. The river is also close to our house, but we headed to a spot near Boise State. There was a park with tennis courts, playgrounds, and a lake next to the river and the Boise Greenbelt.

Sun flares are all trendy in your pictures and people fake them. These are real, and are caused by a super dirty UV filter in the sun.

We crossed a fallen log over part of the river to go play on the banks.

This part of the river has a couple of side streams that join the main river in a series of little rapids. Along the banks are lots of rounded rocks and you can tell there will be pretty plants in the spring.

Skipping stones and selecting superior sticks.

Sometimes people decide to get in the river in their socks and shoes. Those people get wet and cold. Observe shock on those people's faces. 

Baby Shell Game

She says "round and round and round they go. Keep your eye on the square." I don't know where this came from. It must be Dinosaur Train, but I don't remember them doing a lot of gambling.

I find it equally frustrating and valuable that she quotes Dinosaur Train all the time. On the one hand, I can't stand that her little imagination is wrapped up in a TV show. It makes me feel that letting her watch it (albeit only 22 minutes a day) is stifling her little brain and that without it she'd be making up some cute game of her own. One the other hand, I know that it's just emulation and that it is a normal part of language development. If she wasn't copying her little Mesozoic heroes, she'd be saying all of the non- toddler appropriate things I say all the time. I just hope she is able to play freely and doesn't feel bored if she isn't playing dinosaurs.
It is awfully funny to watch her recreate carnival games on the kitchen floor. I wondered what she needed all the bowls for.

Graupel?

First of all, I love it here in Boise. We haven't even explored all that much, but I really like it. One of the things I like is the weather. I worried a little that Idaho might be too cold, but it's pretty tame, really. We had a little snow, but it went away. We can drive up to the snow in 20 minutes if we want to play in it.

Unlike Tucson, the weather is actually variable here. What??? Like, sometimes it's cloudy?? Yes! And sometimes it does things I don't even have words for. 

run away! 

Today after lunch it got very windy and started to thunder. If this was June, I'd say it was a big rainstorm coming. It got dark very quickly. Amy and I went up to the balcony (!) to watch it, but it came up so quickly we had to come right back in.

It was pouring ice fast and sideways. It was a little like snow and a little like hail, very loud and just a little scary. Rob said the locals were calling it graupel. Whatever it is, it was fun to watch, from inside that is. 

Snowy

Our second day here started out clear, but it started to snow after breakfast. It doesn't really show in these pictures, but it snowed like it was pouring rain (but snow). Amy wasn't sure she wanted to go out and play in that stuff, but we got her suited up anyway and headed into the backyard to check it out.

We got a snow suit from Anna. What the heck is a snowsuit? When she gave it to us in Tucson, I was pretty sure it would never be cold enough to wear it. It's like puffy overalls with elastic feet and a puffy jacket. Turns out, it's the perfect thing to wear in wet snow. Duh. Amy skidded her little feet around in tracks and said she was skiing. Then we threw snowballs at the garage. 

The next day the snow was melted, so we took a walk. This is Quinn Lake. It's a lake, but it's only separated from the Boise river by a little berm. It was partially frozen and the icy part was covered with gulls, ducks, and geese. They made me cold to look at them. I have to bring a better lens to get pictures of them. New home, new birds! The ducks on the frozen lake reminded me of Laura Ingalls (what doesn't?) She told a joke about a lake that froze so quickly that the ducks were still in it and it froze around their feet. The ducks flew away bringing the lake with them.

This is a little bike bridge over the river. In the summer, Rob can ride his bike over this bridge to get downtown to work. Not a bad commute, huh? Amy and I are getting a baby bike seat this weekend so we can explore the Greenbelt too. 

The Drive

along the Arizona strip. 

almost in Utah

Utah

This is actually Idaho already, but it looks like New Mexico

Utah

Out of the car at the Idaho state line. Note the Cheetos. It was a long drive.

Home.

Moving to Idaho

It has been a very very long time since we blogged. Looking at the last post, I see a teeny tiny baby sitting in her swing. Now we have a bouncy, crazy, sweet little 2 1/2 year old.

I'm going to try to start blogging again so that we can keep in touch better and show everybody what we discover as we explore our new home in IDAHO!!! Idaho?! I know. Idaho. Here's something I didn't know six months ago, Idaho is awesome. It's beautiful and full of nice people who like outdoorsy sports. I have my camera with me all the time so I'll show you pictures of the adventures we have now that we're here. First, though, I want to show you some pictures from our move. 

This is us leaving Arizona. It was a long, slow climb through Vermillion Cliffs. The truck and trailer were so heavy, we crawled along at 20 mph in some spots. 

This is what the highway looked like when we passed by.

This is what it looked like later. Yeah, we did that. Sorry, AZ.

So, lots more to come. More pictures of our trip. More pictures of Idaho and our new house. Our new life is ahead, no looking back!