Recent family outings

In the last week and a half, the Izatt family has ventured out and about on a few exciting adventures.

The first was a road trip to southern Idaho to visit Grandma Pam's classroom and attend the Twin Falls Temple.

We took advantage of Chuck's Friday off work coinciding with a workday at Grandma Pam's school, meaning she had to be in her classroom working but didn't have students, and had her keep the boys there while Chuck and I went to the temple.  Really, whose efficiency wouldn't skyrocket when three small boys are thrown into the mix?

White boards are irresistible to wee children; Clyde and Will were excited to draw [fairly accurate] self-portraits.

Clyde helped keep Jack happy (while he wasn't rolling and getting stuck under desks and chairs) and Will created an apartment complex for some of Grandma Pam's flamingos. 

In the meantime, this cute boy and I had a lovely time at the temple (and getting Cafe Rio afterwards). Sure can't wait until Boise re-opens and we can go more often again!

Our next outing was the next evening, to the Boise Zoo.  They were holding a special after-hours event for kids with autism and their families, which was perfect: it wasn't too hot, it wasn't too crowded, and they had free carousel rides and face painting.  Grandma Pam was able to come too, which made it even more fun!

Round and round and round we went . . . and I most definitely felt sick afterwards.  Such a lightweight.

We weren't in any hurry, so we ambled around from area to area.

We found the face painting before there was much of a line and Will chose a sun.  He flinched a little during the painting process but overall did really well, which is great considering his sensory issues!

In our wanderings we found a plethora (just for you Mom!) of pretend animals to pose with, even one that sprayed out water on a very amused Will :).

And then we found some real animals to post next to as well, including Will's beloved giraffes.

My arch-nemesis: a big bunny rabbit.  I know most of you don't understand my fear, but look at that thing!  It's huge!  Imagine it up on its hind legs; it's probably taller than Will.  Yech.

Naturally we had to test out the boys' driving skills in the safari jeep and also make a few runs down the giraffe slide.

And then we checked out some more pretend animals :).

Snap, I have cute kids!

The last line of this information about cranes made me laugh.  Let's hear it for the binding ties of co-parenting!

Snap, I have a cute family!

Our third and final outing was to the church-owned orchard in Caldwell with our ward to thin the peach trees.  The High Priests always put together a barbeque dinner up there, so it ends up being a really fun ward event.

Of course the night we went was randomly chilly and windy.  Luckily Jack got some warm snuggling time in with Sister Holm!

The other two boys were in heaven - Clyde teamed up with Seth and they played Harry Potter for two hours and sweet Korena helped me out immensely by playing with and keeping track of Will.  She tried to teach him how to pat his head and rub his tummy, which was pretty cute :).

Jack was pretty fussy, so I ended up holding him pretty much the whole time, so Chuck was the only real laborer that our family provided - luckily he's an excellent worker!  I walked around and chatted with people and tried to get Jared to stay on task and quit throwing peaches at other people, so I feel like that was a pretty valid contribution :).