I’ve been itching for a return visit to Idaho ever since we ventured over there last October to visit my mom and dad. North Idaho is rich with summertime lakeside hangouts, so we spent a week there in August, paddling and camping and hanging with the cousins, whose visit happily coincided with ours. Together again and it feels so good!
We laid low our first couple of days, doing the playground and park circuit with the kids. Post Falls has no shortage of places to play, and Falls Park is one of my favorites.
Juliette is a monkey bar machine these days – just tonight I noticed the thick callouses that have formed on the balls of her hands. Girl’s got grit.
After the playground, the kids dipped their feet in the Spokane River at Q’emiln Park.
And then spent the afternoon romping through the spray park that’s right across the street from my mom and dad’s new house.
Elise is 11 and almost too cool for school, so I reveled in these moments when I saw the goofy girl I’ve known for the past decade emerge from her pre-teen shell. These three!
We headed into Couer d’Alene Monday morning for coffee and muffins, then hit the trail at Tubb’s Hill for a mini-hike. First though, a photo op with Mudgy the Moose.
We rewarded our little hikers with treats and balloons from the Main Street candy shop. Mitch grabbed a box of Bean-Boozled jelly beans, but more on that later – I’m still recovering.
We cooled off in the evening back at Q’emiln Park…
And then set the kids free at the park across the street from the house. We joked that my mom and dad have the biggest front yard ever!
I got out for an evening solo stroll and felt that beloved country vibe as I cruised past cows and goats and horses and sheep.
We were back on the lake circuit Tuesday afternoon, this time testing the waters at Honeysuckle Beach on Lake Hayden.
The water was nice, but the ice cream truck was the real standout of the day.
A few of us headed over to Corbin Park after dinner for disc golf, fishing, and rock-skipping. The course here is not for the novice golfer, as most holes require you to thread your disc through a gauntlet of pines.
That said, Juliette wasn’t gonna let a few measly trees get in her way!
Th stretch of river here is gorgeous – golden and serene and sprinkled with plenty of perfect, flat skipping rocks.
Mitch caught a four-inch trout that he promptly threw back. When Shane joined us after his round of disc golf, Juliette excitedly shouted, “Daddy! Uncle Mitch caught a fish and it was FOUR inches!” Size is relative, I guess.
On Wednesday we headed to Priest Lake, and Idaho leveled up. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.