We decided to spend Mother's Day taking a trip with our family. We left Thursday and headed to Spokane.
This goat "eats" trash. Kayda had a great time letting it "eat" her hair.
Riverfront park! Not such a great park for actually playing but we were passing through so we had to go see the clock tower, blocks and the BIG red wagon!
You can see their three little heads popping up over the edge!
She's getting run over!
They decided they should pull the wagon!
Stopping the wagon.
We got a kick out of "inability to escape predators". Daddy and I thought it would be great to post outside a fast food restaurant.
We did the sky view over the falls. Carson didn't like being up in the air and snuggled in with Mommy once we got going.
The dam is wide open so the water was really rushing through.
We ate dinner at Olive Garden and while we waited for our table the kids played endlessly on the escalators. We convinced Dillon that the pager wouldn't buzz unless he held it a certain way and pointed it at the restaurant. He did it for a few seconds until he figured out we were messing with him.
Friday we headed back into Spokane to see the temple. It was a chilly, windy day but the kids had a great time walking the grounds real quick.
On the way back to Post Falls we stopped at Cabela's. The kids enjoy the Olympia one so much we decided to give it a go. (It's not as much fun)
After that we took a break at the hotel before heading out to find Falls Park.
There were over 25 goslings there! You obviously can't see them all in this picture but they were everywhere!
Here's the Post Falls dam. Again, wide open!
The ducks and geese expect to be fed so they come right up to you. Carson was having fun following them around.
Kayda sat with us until one came close.
"Feeding" the duck! I told her all about the ducks I had growing up that looked just like this one. They were hand tame since we raised them from ducklings. Until one got eaten by a raccoon, then we got two more grown ones to keep it company and our hand raised one rejected us to be with his ladies. Kayda is super interested in animals and talks a lot about becoming a vet.
Later that evening we headed in to Coeur D'Alene to explore. We found the best park I have ever seen. It's the Fort Sherman Playground and it was awesome! It had balance beams, slides, swings, rings, monkey bars, pretend boats, tire swings, a giant sandbox, hidden passages, nets to climb on... everything. It was FANTASTIC!
Kayda and Dillon were playing pirates, this is Lady Hook!
Saturday was the day the kids were most looking forward to. We headed off to Silverwood to be there in time for when it opened. It was open 11-6 and we spent the entire day there. Everybody had a great time!
We came across bumper cars first and of course Kayda had to go on them, unfortunately Dillon wasn't quite tall enough (by ONE inch).
This log ride was Carson's first ride! He snuggled in with Mommy and had a great time!
We spent a lot of time at the kid rides for Carson and it worked out because Kayda and Dillon were just as happy to ride them, though they rode a few of the more advanced rides. Carson rode with Kayda for this one and HATED going up. He freaked out every time she did. After that she didn't want to ride with him again.
We were all able to ride on the bumper boats. The kids had a great time squirting eachother! Fortunately we had hood and I was wearing rain gear. We managed to stay pretty dry!
We decided to have Carson drive his own plane so he could control if it went up or down. He must have ridden this thing a good 15 times, Dillon and Kayda also rode it a bunch. By the end Carson was more than happy to go on anything that HE could control the height.
Kayda wanted to ride the paraglider, Daddy and I took turns riding the bigger rides with the kids. Carson usually tried to follow me so Daddy ended up doing most of them.
Waiting for his turn on the helicopters.
The corkscrew! Apparently it was the first ride in the US to go upside down. It was moved from Knott's berry farm in 1990. Kayda and Mommy are on there toward the middle. Kayda wasn't a huge fan of the big drop or going upside down. We got off the ride and Daddy wanted to ride it so Kayda toughed it out and went again. In the end she says she liked it, but neither Daddy nor I are convinced!
Kayda, Dillon and Daddy rode the Thunder Canyon ride. Carson desperately wanted to go with but I thought he was too short. I figured out later that he could ride it with an adult so then we all rode it!
Once he got splashed the first time he wasn't so smiley anymore!
Going on the big roller coaster with Daddy. Kayda didn't want to ride it which was a surprise!
We took the big train (which apparently Silverwood bought out from under Disneyworld), it's 99 years old. The big kids liked it well enough but Carson was not impressed. He hid snuggled up to me with his hood pulled up as far as it would go for the majority of the trip. It didn't help that the cowgirl host was in the middle of the train... behind us.
And they found another carousel!
Last ride of the day, literally. Kayda and I were the last ones allowed on the ferris wheel!
Mother's Day we went to breakfast and headed into Coeur D'Alene to wander shops. We were hoping to get back to Fort Sherman park too but could find anywhere to park thanks to a concert in the park.
Tricking Carson into eating!
There was a really cool toy store in town. Kayda found these masks and next thing you know they're all wearing them. Left to right: Carson, Dillon, Kayda.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel for more swimming! The kids LOVED having a nice warm pool to play in! We had a couple hour long sessions in there with Mommy and Daddy worn out LONG before the kids were done. We bummed around the hotel most of the rest of the day. Everyone was recovering from Silverwood I think. The kids weren't willing to leave the room even when we asked!
Monday it was time to head home. We decided to stop in Cheney to see my old college.
This was where most of my classes were. It is by far the ugliest building on campus and yet I miss it tons. I loved being a student and don't know why on Earth I rushed through getting my degree so quickly.
This is Vantage. We wanted to document it because Daddy and I have NEVER, in all the drives between home and Spokane, seen the river so low. That beach reaches all the way out to what is normally the middle of the river!
It was a wonderful trip! Daddy and I were pretty nervous because it's actually the first trip we've ever done with just us and our kids. We always have relatives or friends with us. It was very relaxing and we're looking forward to our camping trip next month that will also be just the five of us!
