Memorial Day Weekend: The Sand Dunes

   It's not a secret that Pocatello is not my favorite.  It has its perks though.  One is being closer to the Hadfield clan.  Damon's parents were camping out at the Bruneau Sand Dunes, a trip they did with their growing boys over spring break for years and years. Damon and I decided to crash their peaceful adult time with our little family for the weekend.  Huzzah!  It was great to get away and have a little adventure!  
          It was about a 2.5-3 hour drive for us, Indie and Estelle slept until the last 20 mins of the drive.  They screamed the last bit.  Which was magical... Once we got into camp Indie calmed down.  She played hard and was tickled to be with her grandparents.  Estelle just slept and was cuddled nonstop.  Which is just how she likes it. 

Sitting by the campfire and talking. We let Indie stay up til we went to bed.  She loved playing in the gravel. (I love Damon's almost floating head of glee here)

Both girls did great sleeping in a new place.  Indie slept on the couch next to our pull out bed.  She's never slept that high off the ground. I had to jump up a few times in the night to stop her from sliding off onto the floor. I was a nervous wreck the first night, listening to every breath and sound, trying to make sure everyone was okay and asleep.  Silly me. In my defense I've never been camping with my own babies and wasn't sure how they'd handle it.  Obviously, we weren't really ruffing it with this camp trailer though.  The 'Shire' is about as luxury as you get while camping. 

Off to the Sand Dunes.  Indie was thrilled that we didn't make her wear a seat belt on the dirt roads.  She loved hanging her head out the window.

It took a while to convince Indie to abandon the first patch of sand we came across and to hike with me to the top to play. 

Half way through, Damon came down the dune and helped Indie climb up the rest of the way.

Shenanigans with Uncle Grason. He tried to bury her feet, but she couldn't seem to hold still longer than point 2 seconds. 

The wind was amazing for kite flying!  A little too amazing. We bought the kite for Indie, but the breeze was too strong for her to hold onto the string by herself.  She tried though. The kite didn't hold her attention for long once she realized holding the string may rip her arm off. 

Playing, playing, playing.

I flew the kite, and after about a minute of having it I had let it drop out of the sky.  A true feat since Damon had successfully and effortlessly flown it for about 30 minutes.  Dame had to go down the hot side of the dune to retrieve Mr. rainbow kite.  The sand was so hot your bare skin could only touch it for a second before getting burnt.  Poor guy. We lost one of the kite rods in all the confusion. 

That tiny dot is Grandma Soozie holding Indie at the top of the dune.

Tired Indie resting after lots of sand play.

Back at camp, snuggling Estelle.  We regrouped for a bit before fishing that night.

Papa Joe and Grandma Sooz surprised us with Indie's very first fishing pole. She was a little more than ecstatic and wanted to play with it and fish right away. 

Indie would reel in every cast by herself and sigh every time there wasn't a fish on the end.  Which was every time we cast. She never caught one. It wasn't a great night for fishing.  She did catch some weeds, to which she was thrilled. She'd pull them off and tell the weed it needed to take bath, then throw it back in the water. 

      Papa Joe caught a fish! Indie zoomed over to him and was so excited.  That's whats so fun about this age. Everything is so exciting and fun! Even weeds on your fishing pole! 

Indie kissed the fishy and held it all by herself before we put it back in the Snake River.

I was a little nervous having so close to the waters edge.  I wanted to get her into swimming lessons this summer, but they only had mommy and me lessons for her age.  Which is tricky to swing with a newborn. Next year!  

On the way back to camp, Indie was so tired that she fell asleep standing up and with her head bobbing against the back of the seat in front of her. Damon and I were silently laughing and filming her. Poor thing. She was such a good girl for being so tired.

Little baby in my bed every morning!

Good morning from this jumping bean in the 'Shire'

Off to the Sand Dunes again. 

It was much hotter the next day.  You couldn't stand on any of the sand without getting burnt.  We set up chairs and tried to play for about 3 minutes. Then decided, Nope, nope, nope. We packed back up and went to the visitor center instead. 

Indie was chased by a giant fish pillow.

Nap time in the Shire!

 Every moment is Nap time for Estelle. 

 Indie's very first Smore!

She loved them. Shocker. 

This was around 10:30 at night.  Indie was so tired she couldn't form sentences, keep her eyes more open than this, and was starting to sway in her seat.  I pulled my chair up close to hers. To catch her if she fell asleep and fell forward.  We let her stay up until we went to bed the whole trip. This night she asked to go to bed.  She was such a trooper.  Little zombie baby. 

Burrito baby in the morning!

My little sweeties! They were rock stars the whole trip!

Smiling for mama.

Papa Joe with the little's.

 Indie loved playing in every nook and cranny the Shire had to offer. 

 Before we left we went on a walk as a family around the camp site. Indie told us as we were walking that Step one: was to go on a walk. Step two: was to pet a dog. So we wondered around until we cornered one of the many dogs around the camp site.  There were also these little baby robin's that Indie liked to go see.  So cute. 

Indie and Estelle both slept the whole way home. They didn't stir when we stopped for gas. Little things were so tired.  Damon and I were both sad to be back home. We unpacked the car, looked at each other and threw the kids back in the car to try and shake off the post vacation blues. 

We went and played at a park then went to this little artificial lake.  We weren't planning on Indie getting wet, it was a cold cold afternoon. She had a ball though.  

That little face.

Riding home in the nude.

 Now I'm itching for our next adventure! Good thing it's summer!