Oh summer days - we love you! Andrew fishing in the back yard.
Mack and Andrew were semi forced into seeing Phantom of the Opera. Maybe not the best pic for their first exposure to musicals, but in they end they both had good things to say. And some of the comments didn't even involve the refreshments.
The boys spend a week up at Camp Morrison in McCall for scout camp. Andrew found a lovely moss wig and earned his swimming merit badge in spite of 40 degree water temperatures. Over the course of the summer Mack earned 9 merit badges and Andrew 8 - impressive.
The kids and Greg spent a weekend in Utah at an extended Rush reunion. Natali got to model some of Grandma Rush's old clothes. Here she is in her wedding dress. The kids will never forget the massive slip 'n slide and the endless supply of creamsicles.
The littles and I spent a day at the art museum in Boise. They loved the gardens.
One of the best parts of the summer was the return of Elder and Sister Dame!! We were all so happy to have them back close to us. Here they are at the airport they day they flew home.
Summer wouldn't be complete without ballet performances of Beauty and the Beast. Gaston and Belle were fabulous and the cat - random but cute.
A last hurrah at the zoo with Andrew, Lily and Emily before school began.
The day before school started we took the whole crew over to Grandma house to have an eclipse party with Wilfords. We were able to see totality for just less than 2 minutes. It was such an amazing experience to feel the air get colder and see the strange lighting as the sun got darker and darker. I loved seeing the 360 degree horizon but were less excited about the unwelcome mosquitoes coming out. Then one tiny sliver of sun peeked out and the effect was gone. It only took the smallest bit of light to end it - amazing!
None of our photos of the actual eclipse were any good and I forgot to take any pics of the lighting or the kids - so we took these much later in the day. It was such a cool experience.
