Tuesday, September 4, 2007

Labor Day Weekend

We had a blast in Boise. We really like Boise a lot, not just because there is family there but because it is such a nice town. On Saturday we floated the Boise River. I think it is the Boise River but now that I am forced to remember the name of it, I am not quite sure. It doesn't matter, we floated a river okay? It was so fun. It took us nearly 3 hours. We had a 6-person raft and 5 tubes and 12 people ranging in age from 3 to 37. I guess that means Harold was the oldest person there, interesting. So, Harold had a lame tube that was misshapen and he wasn't able to really sit on the thing, he could only put his body through the middle and go along that way. He was fine, until he hit a "rabbit" (which is what Chase calls rapids) and was really more of a fish shelf then a rapid anyway. But, the tube was lame, as I said, and he got flipped over. I didn't even see it. I was on the raft, trying to help kids transfer from raft to tubes, etc. and Harold comes paddling up with a seriously distraught look on his face. I asked if he was all right and he told me what happened. He got himself resituated on the lame tube and continued on. From that point on he was ahead of us but thought he was behind us for some reason and was trying to catch up the whole time. I think getting flipped off the tube made him completely disoriented.

At one point Mack and his cousin Dallin were on a tube and got separated from the group. They got really behind and we were starting to freak out a little (okay I was freaking out a little, I am not sure about the others), as they are only 8 and 5. We ended up stopping in the brush and waiting for them, but the current was strong enough that David and Jill (Dallin's parents) had trouble standing still and grabbing the boys. But, they did it! We also had some trouble with trying to fight the current. Every time we tried to avoid running into the brush on the sides, we ended up hitting them head on. I suggested to all the adults that we do a brush up course on river rafting by watching River Wild (the movie) and trying again next year. Meryl really knows how to steer a boat, she is amazing. :)

Oh, and I forgot to tell you that when I transferred from a tube to the raft, I had to have David hoist me in. The rocks were slippery and I was bare footed and couldn't get a grip. I am not sure what he grabbed to get me into the raft, but I ended up doing a major face plant on the bottom of the raft and it took me WAY too long to right myself. Yes, my big ole butt in cut off jeans was hanging in the air. Nice.

So, we went to dinner that night with the adults and the two babies who had been left behind while we rafted. One of the babies ended up hurling all over the place, it was really quite gross but so funny too. And the restaurant had no mops. What? No mops? They had to use all kinds of cloth napkins and a squeegee. Crazy. But little Mitchell was laughing afterwards so all was well with him. The food was great by the way, we had gone to Johnny Carino's.

Then on Sunday we did the church thing and went to David and Jill's house for a super, super yummy dinner of homemade rolls/roast beef sandwiches and salad. YUM! Plus, Jill made homemade blueberry pie from handpicked Oregon blueberries and homemade ice cream. I have been spoiled, but I was so grateful to eat again since last week all I had was applesauce and bread.

On Monday we just hung at Jeff and Carrie's until we went to pick the kids up at D&J's house (they had spend the night there).

So we are back home and my big news is.....I start school tomorrow. WOW! I am so excited. My sweet new visiting teacher brought me a notebook, mechanical pencils, pens and highlighters. She is super cute, is she not? So, I am going to BYU today to scope out my classrooms and to buy a parking sticker. But, on another good news front my next-door neighbor works at BYU and she is going to be able to carpool with me. SWEET!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

So glad you're feeling better.
What are you finishing up or starting at BYU? Good luck on you're first day.

Kathy

mom/Janet said...

I had to laugh outloud at some of the rafting stories. I've been thinking about you this morning thinking you started today - - - so with that - - I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. I'm getting ready to start another Independent Study course and I'm looking into starting up on my violin lessons again. Trying to decide if it's too much with my work and all. But anyway, GOOD LUCK tomorrow. I'm so proud of you!!!!!!!!

Janet

Abbie said...

Hilarious story. I envied the yummy dinner that you at Sunday night. You guys are still coming over in 2 weeks right?

Hamblin Family said...

You are hilarious! What a fun weekend and good luck with school. I must admit, I am a little jealous of you. I loved school, but Blaine was not the biggest fan.