Thursday morning we cleaned up Canyon River Retreat and loaded back into the car. We had a 2 hour drive back to visit Lynn and do another massage session for Joel and I. Then we took the scenic drive through the hills and mountains to Idaho Falls. My Uncle Charlie, my mom's Brother, and Aunt Judy waited up and had a late dinner ready for us. Definitely appreciated! Everyone was ready to be out of the car! The last time we came to visit was 2 years ago when we did the Idaho to Wyoming trip again.
July 2022
July 2024
Friday we had waffles with berries and powdered sugar to start the day. We decided to check out the Idaho Falls Zoo. It's a small Zoo, but we still managed to spend 3 hours there! Going to the Zoo is fun, but going to the Zoo with a large black service animal definitely was eye opening. Most animals in a Zoo or conservation area are not worried about being prey. So when a large black canine comes into their view and/or passes their scent glands, they wake up and act differently.
The primates were the most active when Sirius walked through. Those skunk howler monkeys definitely were on high alert! Most of the other animals kept eyes on him but didn't pay any attention. The place that was the most active was the Zebra exhibit. Who would have thought. Sirius looked at the Zebras but then at least one of the zebras came towards Sirius and faced him directly. I don't know if it was a challenge or Sirius felt like we were in danger, but he started barking protectively! For a service animal, that is out of character. We knew going in to a Zoo that something like this might happen. Zoo animals aren't in our normal repertoire of training items, and definitely not zebras.
Sirius eventually calmed down and the girls revisited the river otters because they were awake and very playful and active. We learned that an exhibit at the zoo was a grouping of trees around the river and that allowed for wild bats to nest in them at night and control the bugs.
The girls enjoyed the Zoo, but now they were ready to visit Reeds dairy for ice cream since we had talked about it the night before. Funny enough, I didn't use the free coupon bc I was so overwhelmed! Yay. They enjoyed the ice cream and JJ lost his min when he looked into the cup Joel, JJ and I were sharing and found it empty! We grabbed a couple fun cheeses to try, some cheese curds, raw milk and headed back to Charlie and Judy's.
On the way we passed a fire station. JJ cried out, FIRETRUCK! Being that we were in the rural parts of Idaho Falls and it didn't look particularly busy we stopped to see if anyone was there and if we could see the fire trucks. A firefighter came out and said we were welcome to come check things out. They learned about being a firefighter (ff), what it takes to become a ff, how long it takes to get into their gear; they got to step into the boots, pants, and jacket to see what it feels like, they felt the weight of the oxygen tanks, then they explored the truck and ambulance more. An hour later we said thank you and headed back for dinner. Taking on the homeschool/roadschool mentality means that when we see something interesting, we stop, look and learn!
Jared, Victoria, Genevieve, and Gabe came over for dinner. The girls connected and had a good time. Gabe enjoyed Sirius. We had a good time and enjoyed visiting. We realized we have never had the Karen Brooksby kids and grandkids and the Charlie Hess kids and grandkids all together, so maybe we'll plan one! Again, this trip is teaching the girls the importance of people and relationship.
We ended the night with Judy playing Monopoly with the girls. Good times!
Hailey's favorite part of today: "Zoo. Seeing all the animals. my favorite animal was the river otters because they were so active. my next favorite was the penguins because they are cute. the ice cream was really good, better than most ice cream shops.'
Emi's favorite part of today: i liked the zoo, the reeds dairy, meeting Genevieve and playing boardgames with Grandma Judy.
Brystol's favorite parts of today: i got to see the sea otters, Luke and Leia. I also liked getting to see a snow leopard. I also really liked the monkeys and the peacock. There was a white/albino peahen.
After today, everyone is pooped. Even Sirius! GOODNIGHT!
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