Stoker Family: Hot Tub Party & A Fishin' Trip

Ever since we got here the boys have been waiting and waiting and waiting to get in the hot tub. Finally on Friday night, our one-week mark of living in Orofino, we decided to have a family Hot Tub Party.I have to tell a funny story about Ethan and the hot tub...Ethan kept pestering us about getting in the hot tub and we'd told him we had to wait until after dinner. As soon as dinner was over he said "I'm going to get my swimsuit on!" but Jeff told him it was a hot tub so he didn't need a suit...Ethan questioned that but Jeff said "You only wear socks in a hot tub." And Ethan believed him. Moments later Ethan came streaking through the kitchen in only his socks, making a mad dash for the hot tub. We could barely stop laughing long enough to tell him it was a joke!

After the hot tub we roasted marshmallows over the gas stove. I had been wanting to use the fireplace but on Friday it actually started to warm up and was too hot for a fire so we improvised and put the stove to use.

We had the gigantic campfire marshmallows and the boys did their best to eat them, although the marshmallows overtook the s'mores.

Then we settled down and watched 'How To Train Your Dragon'and Owen fell asleep on the floor, which was nice because he hasn't been going to bed without screaming and throwing a massive fit ever since we moved.

This morning we all slept in and then decided to go fishing. It was spur-of-the-moment and we weren't prepared very well, but the boys had fun.

Before we moved, the Primary Presidency gave the boys these Spiderman Fishing Poles, which was really quite perfect because that was what they had asked for at Easter. They really enjoyed casting and Owen even threw his in the pond, but luckily it didn't go very far and Jeff grabbed it.

Here is Ethan with the first and only catch of the day...

Kamden was much more interested in the worms that were purchased with the intention of being bait, but he insisted that they would make better pets than fish food. He even named a few of them and carried them around telling them they were

"Cute little critters."

And I'm pretty sure that these are huge tadpoles. They were everywhere!

We also chased a lot of butterflies...

And on the drive up the mountain we saw four of these birds swooping around. I think they were hawks, but Jeff didn't seem too sure about that...

Here's another funny story about Ethan: Yesterday when we were driving home, we passed the school bus on our way up the mountain. Ethan saw it and said, "That school bus is waiting for me." I told him there was no way he was going to be riding a school bus while we live all the way up here, but he continued to disagree so I asked him what would happen if the school bus went flying off the road while he was riding on it. He was quick with his solution as he told me, "I would jump out the window with a parachute...or a jet pack."

Too bad he won't be getting the chance to try that, I'm sure he would find it pretty exciting. He keeps asking when he gets to start first grade and I keep trying to talk him into home schooling for next year, though I don't know if either one of us would survive that.

I'm still getting the house put together, but here are some more pictures of the outside, in case you're interested:

This is the little pond at the front of the house with lots of tiny goldfish: