Jetboating and Celebrating the Fourth on Saturday

I woke up to a quiet treehouse on the Fourth, and after reading my scriptures for a few minutes, Eliza woke up and joined me in bed since it had gotten a little cold in the treehouse.  It was so nice just to look out at the treetops through the windows while we snuggled.  Once everyone was up, we had breakfast in the lodge (well, picked it up in the lodge while wearing our masks and took the food outside to eat), then had some time to just hang out and play.

Walking across a rope bridge to breakfast.
Our treehouse is behind them.

This is Jack - the rope swing was a HIT with the kids.

They also enjoyed this swing underneath Andy's treehouse.

Jack was SO ANXIOUS to swim in the swimming hole.
Here he is, fully dressed, in knee-deep water.

We left late in the morning to drive to Grants Pass for our afternoon adventure.
We had a Subway lunch at Riverside Park before checking in for our boat ride.
The other kids played on the playground but Jack was more interested in the geese.

Ready for our jetboat adventure! (Sawyer managed to duck out of this picture.)

There was some beautiful scenery along the Rogue River,

and we turned around once we got to this area, called Hellgate Canyon.
(I think it's appropriately named, no?)

But why would you have a baby in Eliza's windbreaker for a scenic boat ride?

Because this was not just a scenic boat ride.
This boat went FAST and liked to spray and splash the passengers.
And did several 360's on the river.

In addition to the scenery and the "air conditioning," as the captain liked to call it, this was a cool experience because of the wildlife we saw: Ospreys, Blue Herons, turkeys, a Bald Eagle (Happy Birthday America!), and some deer.

Heading back to the car after the ride.

Looking back at the Rogue River.

After our jetboat excursion, we went back to the treesort.  Cat and I supervised play and conversation at the swimming hole, but the water was so cold that there wasn't much swimming going on.  Eliza was in the water more than anyone else.  Meanwhile, the other adults made dinner on Andy's porch: hamburgers, brats, watermelon, chips, and corn on the cob.

(Eliza)

How was Sydney not miserable with cold feet?

The kids chose the rope swing as the place to kill time until it was dark enough for fireworks.  Eliza did some swinging, then tried something else.  The fireworks celebration was mild - no aerials allowed - but we were the only family on the property who had any fireworks, so we were glad we could at least do some sparklers and small ground-based fireworks.

Luke decided to join the older kids in the loft to sleep that night.