IDAHO: serenity now.

Any Seinfeld fans out there? (Serenity now!)

Also anyone popping in here from the Blog Hop, can scroll down, or click the direct link to my blog hop post:
HERE.

We just got back last night from a little trip with my extended family--my parents, and most of my sisters, and their families.
It was just what I needed.
Ever since Sam started working for an airline, we have traveled to a lot of really cool destinations.
Warm sand beaches, humid jungles, architecture rich with history...
My kids have been exposed to different cultures, climates, and experiences.
It seems though, that we all love Idaho best.
Yep.
Idaho.
Not the Eiffel Tower, or the gold souks of Dubai.
A humble log cabin in a small town (population 236!) in Idaho.

I have been coming to the cabin since my childhood.
Prior to the cabin being built, we would camp in tents on the same property.
It holds many memories for me.
Memories of my grandparents, on both my mom's side, and my dad's side.

It is bittersweet for me to stay here now.
It is fun to make memories with my own kids, but I miss the girl I once was here-- carefree, and blissfully unaware that time marches on, and moments, much like people you love, don't go on forever.

The cabin is on the Snake River.
It is beautiful there, and quiet.
Almost painfully quiet.
And free from Internet, and television.
(But not hot showers, or microwaves.)
We spent time fishing:

Grandpa knows all the best spots.

We tried to catch and release everything, but some of those fish didn't mess around, and swallowed the hook along with the worm.

Those we brought home, we baked up and ate. This is after the boys gutted them. With a little too much glee, I might add.
I did not take photos.
You're welcome.
And let's just say that teenage boys can come up with "101 Things To Do With Fish Eyeballs."
None of those things are good.

Other things we do at the cabin:
The girls braid each others hair...

...while the boys wrestle, and knock things off the shelves and walls.

We play games.
Games that do not need a power source, a touchscreen or a stylus.
Imagine!

We toast marshmallows.
In the dark. 
Where no one can see much.
This results in the kids having marshmallow casualties stuck to their feet, or matted into their smoke-scented hair.
But oh, when the stars come out at night...so many stars!
And then the crickets start up...
There is nothing as perfect as a summer night in Idaho.

 We have hammocks hanging on the porch.

Farm equipment to explore...

 ...barns...

 ...and wide-open fields.

Nearby is a field where we picked currants. They grow wild. I can't imagine them being good for anything but eating immediately, they are so tiny.
My Dad remembers my Grandma making currant jam out of them.
Bless her heart. I hope she sent all the kids out to pick all the berries.

There was a black currant bush too.
Apparently a regular currant bush mixed with the huckleberry bush growing next to it.
They had delicious babies.

The field we were in was beautiful. Late summer grain, and some wildflowers. The sun was starting to set, and made the colors so vibrant.

I mean, I don't want to be a farmer anytime soon, but dang, those fields are beautiful in the right light.

 And those currant berries were delicious.

My Dad grew up in this valley.
His memories are far different from mine.
He remembers plowing fields, and taking water shares, and the harsh winter months.
He remembers hard work--going to bed exhausted and dirty.
But to me it is the epitome of peaceful.
I never realize how much I have missed being in Idaho, until I am there again.
Taking a deep, soul-cleansing breath.

He took us to a place he discovered when he was a boy.
Right on the side of a busy road.
People drive by it, and never know.
It is a vein of rich black soil, embedded with fossils.
I am not sure what this ancient body of water was doing in Idaho, but there it is.

 Chock full of fossilized seashells.

We didn't stay in Idaho long enough.
It is never long enough.
The last day we went to Fall Creek.

A beautiful waterfall.
We took all the little ones.
My big boys helped them up, and down, the falls.


They made a human chain of teen boys, passing the littles over and up (or down). I was pretty proud of them. I think the last time we visited the falls, those boys of mine were the littles then.

When we got to the bottom, the older ones "cliff" jumped. I use that term very loosely, since the "cliff" was only a few feet high. The water was cold. I was happy to be the photographer. No one pressured me into jumping in...

 The littles "swam" in the pools at the base of the falls.

 Grandpa and some of the grand kids:

This is why we love the cabin.
(Cabin couture is sweat pants!)
Not because we do exciting things.
(We let the cabin get wonderfully messy!)
Not because we do anything at all, really.
(Except maybe eat Grandma's homemade fudge!) 
We are very content to just hang out, doing nothing.

But "doing nothing" together.
My kids get the opportunity to get to know their grandparents better.

Their aunts and uncles.
Their cousins.

Even their siblings, and mom and dad.
(That 4 1/2 hour car ride'll do that.)

And that (more than the famous potatoes) is why we love Idaho.

 

"Having someplace to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing."