4th of July and Camping

On the 4th of July we rode bikes over to some friend's house that is on the parade route.  It was really fun to watch the parade with a big group of friends and in the shade.  We got home at lunch time and made sure to get Elliott down for a nap after lunch to maximize how well he would do staying up late for fireworks.  He took a great nap while we did work around the house (laundry, camping food prep, mowing and tree trimming).  Emmett and Ezra played well together most of the day.  We spent more time outside when Elliott woke up and grilled hamburgers and ate outside.  We had so much time to kill before fireworks that we watched a movie (Old Yeller, Emmett had just read the book).  Then we did most of our remaining fireworks (we had done quite a few the night before) and then walked from our house to what we hoped would be a good viewing for the new launch site of our city's fireworks.  The Melaleuca Freedom Celebration is touted as a very good firework show, often said to be the biggest west of the Mississippi, but I think lots of people claim that.  Our viewing spot was really wonderful and the best part about it was not having to battle traffic.  There was a lot of foot traffic, but that was manageable.

Thursday, after running class and a make-up piano lesson, we headed up to Rexburg to go spend our very hot day at a waterpark.  We met up with a few friends there and ran into another family we know as well.  It was lots of fun and especially nice for each kid to have a friend to be with.

Friday we got the oil changed in our car and then headed out camping.  We ended up going where one of my friends recommended and that campground had filled 2 hours earlier.  We were getting a little concerned when another campground option was also full, but we found a beautiful spot in a campground and it ended up being a really fun trip.

If you look closely the Big Dipper is framed by trees above the tent

 The campground was on a hill overlooking Earthquake Lake.  In 1959 a 7.3 magnitude earthquake caused the side of a mountain to slide down blocking the Madison River.  27 people died and a new lake was formed.  We hiked down to it's shore our first night.  The next day we went to the visitor's center for the lake and learned more about it.  We also hiked to a memorial boulder there.  In the afternoon we read while Elliott and Jim napped.  Ezra and Emmett spent lots of time stalking chipmunks and throwing pine cones at each other.

 After packing up to leave Sunday morning we did one more hike where Jim and Emmett had hiked the night before.  We saw people fishing from boats, all kinds of birds (including swallows feeding their young and pelicans fishing), and the boys threw rocks and sticks into the lake.  The wildflowers were amazing in the meadows and there were large groves of aspen trees that would be very colorful in the fall.