When Dad's away, the rest of us will...

(go to Idaho to) PLAY!

Ben was out of town last weekend, so instead of staying at home and hanging out with the kids by myself I decided to go to my good friend Kathryn's house and hang out with the kids there.  I picked Cat up early from school on Thursday and we drove the 5 1/2 hours to Boise. (It went surprisingly fast, thanks to the 75 mph speed limit.  Sweet!)  The kids did really well on the drive up there and we arrived in time to eat dinner at Kathryn's house.  Then we had 2 full days to play!

On Friday morning Kathryn took us on a driving tour to get a feel for Boise.  The highlights were the temple, Boise State University, and the fun downtown area.  

Cat with K's daughters, who are a year older and a year younger than Cat.  Perfect!  They were making those melty-bead shape things.  A great way to keep them happy until dinner is ready.

That night K painted the girls' nails while I was putting Jack and Eliza to bed.  

The next day we took the kids to the local children's museum, where there were lots of fun things to do.  This is a chair that uses a pulley system so that the rider can pull him/herself up, then air-resistance brakes to slow you down when you are ready for descent.

Cat loved it.

And Jack even pulled himself up.

As always, the kid-sized grocery store was a big hit.

If Cat looks like a professional here, it's because she's had lots of practice.  We have not one, but TWO  toy cash registers at home.  Don't you just love receiving hand-me-down toys??

Make way for the little shopper.

This was a flat surface that you lay down on, then when you push a button, nails (not sharp) come up and lift your body up.  It doesn't hurt because your weight is distributed evenly among the nails.  Jack did it several times.

Having fun with the delay & reverb mics.

This girl is sure that she will be a rock star one day.  Isn't she adorable?  She had lots of fun with the mic.  Watch out - she just may be the next big thing!

Air from the cone is suspending the ball in mid-air.  Jack was into it.

Giant bubble maker.  A cool idea, but it was being finicky when we were there.

Fun with a green screen!

Jack's turn to see the upper portion of his body floating on TV.

The older girls just wanted to play meteorologist.

Kathryn helped them build a perfect arch.

Outside play time back at the house.  Sidewalk chalk,

Jumping rope (Cat's new FAVORITE thing),

and Bubbles.

As you can imagine, they were all pretty worn out by bedtime.
What better way to wind down than with  some good books?

We had such a fun time with these guys!  Thank you for hosting us, sharing your toys, and showing us around your town.  What a treat!