Adult summer camp.

In early June, I was lucky to be able to spend a week in McCall, Idaho at the McCall Outdoor Science School summer teacher institute.  It was so much fun.  I bunked with my two teammates from Koelsch (my school) and one of my oldest and dearest friends, Katie.  We attended the institute during the day, and partied it up at night.  Just kidding.  We usually just went out to a bar for a bit, and then snuck beer into the cabin and played Farkle until all hours of the night.  Like I said, so much fun!

The institute was targeted toward middle and high school teachers.  So we were the wildcards there as first grade teachers.  We became more literate in biofuels science, especially woody biomass biofuel (after all, we live in the northwest and have a surplus of woody biomass).  Going into it, I was clueless.  And after the intense week of exploration and instruction, I am happy to say I feel quite a bit more literate.  But in no way am I an expert.

Here's my sweet bunk

And the lovely Payette Lake

The weather was seriously cold and crummy for the first half of the week, (I'm talking jeans, boots, and down jackets and SNOW in June) but by Thursday, we were able to get out and walk through Ponderosa State Park and enjoy the amazing setting that was our home for the week.

And here we all are in front of our home away from home.

I'd love to take part in another summer institute in the future.  Especially because they paid us for our time with some grant money, and I got two credits through the University of Idaho toward recertification!  Woohoo!

Waldon Family Vacation 2014 - Part 5 - the finale

The cabin was so awesome for just hanging out.  The kids loved being able to eat together at the island.  (Don't mind all the alcohol in the background... we WERE on vacation)

And as long as they were sprayed down with bug repellent, they loved digging and running around outside!

We even managed to use the timer function on my camera and get a decent shot of all of us!  Shocking, I know!

And we managed to get some crappy sister shots... but I had to include one!

It was a great way to kick off summer vacation!  Can't wait for the next family trip!

Waldon Family Vacation 2014 - Part 4 - The girls do Jackson Hole

While the men and two older kids fished and adventured, we girls (and Will) headed to Jackson, Wyoming.

We shopped and lunched, thrifted and wandered.  It was a relaxing day in one of my favorite places in the world!  And sadly, we captured fewer pics than the guys!

Nerds...

Mom found Einstein (her hair twin :)

Sister saltwater sandals

The Tetons!

Waldon Family Vacation 2014 - Part 3 - The men and children fish

There was one day where the guys and Clara and Ben decided to go on an adventure and go fishing.   They checked out the falls at Lower Mesa Falls and fished on Henry's Lake in the boat.

Of course, they needed sweet treats to keep the fun rolling..

And I have to say...we girls were all impressed that they captured these memories with pictures!  Way to go, men!

Waldon Family Vacation 2014 - Part 2 - Yellowstone National Park

We all drove through Yellowstone together in a 3 car caravan.  We spotted an elk almost immediately, and beyond that didn't see much wildlife except for buffalo.

We stopped to walk near some geysers and tried to take pics, but it was super windy!

Although I got this great shot of the guys with Ben and Clara!

We saw this cute Yellowstone tour bus on our way through the park.

We headed to Old Faithful and got there just after it blew.  So we had to kill time for about an hour.    It was a good thing that crazy ground squirrels or chipmunks were hiding under the deck and sneaking out to grab the plentiful food droppings from our toddlers.

And thar she blows...

Here's a pretty shot of Yellowstone Lake.

On our way out of the park, we saw all the mother and baby buffalo heading down to the river to swim and drink!  The babies were pretty active and running around like crazy.

I loved this pic of Emily blocking out old Faithful in this pic of Kurtis and I.  It's more like Old Emily here...

It was a pretty fun day full of driving and seeing!