Family Fun in Boise, Idaho

Trevor and I just got home from a 6-day trip to visit my family near Boise, Idaho. (Steve stayed home, working and taking care of Brayden.) We had a great time. 

Trevor and I had already been to Boise four times (in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2021), so we'd visited many of the area's best museums and other attractions already. For this trip, we spent most of our time playing board games, solving puzzles, and hanging around the house with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece. 

I visited my parents' church for the first time on Sunday, then returned on Monday and Wednesday to the church's Food Bank, where my mom volunteers. I spent five hours boxing up produce, bread, and desserts to bring out to our guests. It was snowing on Wednesday as I carried boxes out to their cars, which was quite a novelty for me! I was too busy to take photos until near the end of the shift. Here's my station when we were down to the last few items. Those shelves were overflowing when I started. It's a great feeling giving food to people who need it. 

Each evening, Kari, Trevor, and I worked on a MouseAdventure in a Box, eventually completing Box 3, 4, 5, and 6. Some challenges were harder than others, but so much fun. If you love Disney, doing research, and solving extremely difficult puzzles, you'll enjoy it as much as we did. 

One afternoon, I taught Allison how to make cat-shaped candy in the mold I got her for Christmas. 

On a typical deRosier trip, we visit multiple museums and attractions each day. On this vacation, we only went to one: the World Center for Birds of Prey. 

We'd visited it back in 2015, but it has grown significantly since then. So has Trevor! He barely remembered having been there before. 

We had a great visit. We loved learning all about the aplomado falcon and the other resident raptors, including the harpy eagle, Panama's national bird. I don't think I've seen one in person before - they're huge! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the harpy eagle, but a resident vulture did a great job posing for me. 

    

  

A major part of the work of The Peregrine Fund involves reestablishing California Condors in the wild. The current world population is approximately 400 condors, up from 22 individuals in the 1980's. They've been breeding condors since 1993 and have played a critical role in preventing their extinction. 

If you haven't been to the World Center for Birds of Prey, or if it's been awhile, I highly recommend a visit. 

So what else did we do during our visit? We ate. I was thrilled to return to Coned. It was just as good as I remembered. 

  

We enjoyed lunch at Mongolian of Eagle, had delicious pizza from Flying Pie (they're Whirled Famous), and got finger steaks, chicken rings, cheese curds, and the best-ever milkshakes from regional chain Arctic Circle. 

I never would have ordered finger steaks had I not seen this banner in the airport. When in Idaho, do as the Idahoans do! 

My sister took us through the drive-thru of not one but TWO specialty soda shops, Sodalicious and Fiiz. Both were tasty. 

  

There's one more thing we did during our time in Idaho and that's give my nephew Timothy his latest money gift. I'll tell you about that tomorrow.