Lava Hot Springs (who knew Idaho could be so much fun!)

I took the kids (minus Reagan - I don't have the correct body parts) with my parents and brother's family and sisters' families to Lava Hot Springs in Southeastern Idaho. If you are not familiar with Lava - it is spectacular.

We were camping, which was really fun. The kids had a ball sitting around the fire and eating s'mores, plus time with their cousins to just hang out. The main attractions in Lava include a river which is just the right size to tube in, an olympic size pool with a three level diving platform and of course, the natural hot springs. What lava does not sport is a town! There are a few old restaurants, a grocery and few campgrounds. We really had fun though and the memories will last along time. In fact, the last time I was in Lava was when I was seventeen with a buddy - and I won't need to go again for at least seventeen more!! Uncle Dusty was great with Brandon. Brandon was a wild man in the river. He wanted to tube over the waterfall (six feet high), use the "surfing" ropes and generally hang out in the river. The current was way too strong for Brandon, and actually was difficult for the adults to handle. So Dusty spent alot of time with the boys in the water.

Dusty is such a hoot, he would put on his googles and go fishing in the river for sunglasses that other people had lost. The first time he went diving, Chad (older brother) and I thought he was crazy, or just pulling our leg(s). We about died when he emerged with six or eight pair of sunglasses! Everytime we would turnaround, Dust would be holding a new pair of glasses.
My niece, Ally, went right off the high dive, so what was I to do, of course I could not chicken out. Here I am in all my gracefulness.

Our campsite was next to a natural hotspring that dumped into the river. The kids would spend forever sitting in the water laughing and having fun. The way the water emptied into the river, one of the kids could sit in the opening and back up the water, until he moved, letting a ton of water down the spout! It was like sitting in a hot tub. This is our cute cousin Kate - she has such a fun personality, laid back and sweet. Looks like her and Kiersten are having an awful time.




Grandma Jody brought enough sweets to feed the whole campground, however, my kids did a good job of finishing it off. Nightly s'mores were a hit.






Brandon the wild man. He was really fun camping. The only time he got upset was when I told him we were not going to tube over the waterfall. He burst into tears and would not stop until we went to the waterfall. When we finally walked up the river, we discovered that somewhere upstream more water had been released and the river was really running fast. I could not quite bring myself to take him over the falls- which proved to be a good idea, as both Chad and Dusty scraped themselves up pretty good going over. However, Brandon and I put in right below the falls and had a wild ride down the river. We tipped over in one spot, but he held on like a champ, with no tears. We are in for it when he and Austin are teenagers. I've already decided no unsupervised trips with Uncle Dusty.