For our Stuart Family Reunion this year, we travelled to Lava Hot Springs, Idaho. It was my first time going there and we couldn't wait to play with cousins for a week and get in some cooler summer weather. After driving to Utah on Sunday, we headed up to Idaho on Monday morning. After picking our rooms and settling into the "Lava Lodge", we ate lunch and changed into our swimsuits to go rafting down the Portneuf River. We set up base at the city park where Grandma could stay and watch the younger ones play.
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| All of the cousins, except Brandon and Tommy |
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| Jacob and Joseph |
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| Zach, Clark, Mathew, John |
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| Jayne and Katelyn |
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| Owen and Carlee |
The big boys rented the tubes and we started up the trail to pick the perfect spot to launch our rafts. Right as we were putting our tubes into the water, there was a downpour. Girls were screaming, boys were yelling and the adults were laughing and telling the kids we were going to get wet anyway. As quick as the rain started, it stopped and the sun would peek out of the clouds every now and then. It drizzled on us a few times during the day but it was the perfect day to go rafting.
On the river were three sets of waterfalls. They weren't very steep or dangerous but you did have to strategically maneuver the tube just right to avoid getting stuck or tipping over. The first couple of times down the river were great. The girls were confident that they weren't going to drown and the boys just enjoyed the ride. But then everything changed . . . I had Sarah, McKell, and Katelyn with me and we were following the Allreds (Steve, Shelly, Nate, and Alyssa), Joe, Uncle Charlie, and Jake on their tubes. McKell was basically forced onto the tube and it was her first time down the river and we were promising her that she would be fine and love it. We were floating and bumping along and on the second waterfall, the Allreds went too far to the right and tipped over. Then the boys on Joe's tube did the same thing. I saw it coming and tried to steer the tube back to the left and almost made it but a current caught one side of it, spun it around and pushed us over the waterfall. We tipped upside down and were caught at the bottom. Shoes were floating downstream, girls were crying, screaming, and coughing up water, bruises and cuts from the rocks were starting to form, and I was trying to get the tube flipped back over and calm the girls down. Sarah and Katelyn were clinging to the overturned tube for dear life with missing flip-flops and tear-stained faces. McKell was perched on a rock screaming and crying while scrambling to stay on that rock. Once everyone was settled back on the tube, we made it down the rest of the way without any mishaps. It was actually pretty funny and made the day a little more exciting. A few of the cousins, aunts and uncles tipped over a few more times but nobody got hurt and everyone had a wonderful time.
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| Matt, Zach, Clark |
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| Joe, Jayne, Katelyn, Kristen |
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| Sarah, Joseph, Aunt JaNay |
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| Aunt Shelly, Nathan, Uncle Steve (they flipped over the waterfall and Steve was dumped) |
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| Aunt Carrie, John, Joe |
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| Tommy, Jamison (his friend), Uncle Charlie |
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| Tyler and Andrew |
After a full day of river-rafting we headed back to the house for dinner. The house was nice and big for all of us with several bedrooms and bathrooms, a great room upstairs with a large kitchen, a big-screen TV, air hockey table, pool table and a big, wide outdoor slide off the balcony. The kids had a great time playing games and sliding down the slide onto a futon below.
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| Card Sharks--Nate, Zach, Matt, Clark, John, Andrew |
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| Happy girls + 2 silly boys |
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| Crazy kids |
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| The Three Musketeers--Megan, Owen, Carlee | | | |
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| Boy Cousins (missing Eli) |
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| Girl Cousins |
After playing for hours until late in the evening, it was finally bedtime but it looks like there will be little sleep tonight!
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| Sarah and Kate |
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| Jayne and Kate |
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| Poor Grandma, sleeping with these monkeys! |
On Tuesday after breakfast, we packed a picnic lunch and headed to the water park. There was a huge swimming pool outside with low diving boards, high diving boards, and three really high diving platforms that measured 17 feet, 24 feet, and 33 feet, approximately. There was also an indoor pool with diving boards and a rock-climbing wall. Four water slides were around the pool and also some kiddie slides for the younger ones. We spent most of the day playing at the water park and the weather was perfect--sunny, warm, and no rain!
Uncle Charlie was the first and only one from our family to jump off the highest diving platform. There were some crazy guys doing flips, twists and other tricks off the top but nobody in our family tried any of those ideas. The cousins had fun daring and cheering each other to jump off the middle platform at about 24 feet tall. Clark and Katelyn both accomplished jumping off that platform too after a lot of coaxing and watching their cousins live after the experience.
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| Jake working up the courage by trying the low diving board first |
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| Katelyn doing the same |
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| Katelyn cheering for Clark as he hesitates before jumping off the lowest platform |
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| There he goes! |
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| Katelyn mastering the high dive |
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| Jake won't be outdone by his sis |
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| Katelyn off the lowest diving platform | |
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The kids had a great time going on the water slides but I think Jake loved that part the best. We had told the kids to stay with a "buddy" but Jake was never to be found. As I searched the pool, I would see a little green streak heading for the water slides time and time again. He loved it and had a difficult time coming home with us at the end of the day.
After playing at the pool for a while, the older boys and dads headed back to the river for some more rafting. Grandma took the little ones back to the house for a nap and the moms and kids stayed at the water park for a while longer. We then decided to meet up with the big boys and headed to the river. We met them at the "hot spot" on the river. A natural hot spring flows out of the rocks on the banks and people had made a man-made hot tub on one side of the river. It was nice, hot, and relaxing. After sitting there a while, we headed back to the house for showers and dinner.
Later that evening, we enjoyed some great conversations, a silly game made up by Carlee and Aunt Shelly, and a movie before turning in for the night.
