Our Boise trip was so much fun!
Thank you Granny for making it possible!!
It was spring break and we played with the kids a bunch for a few days and the last part of the week, Granny, Chris’s mom, came up and watched the kids! We needed to spend some time with just the two of us. Something every couple should do at least once a year!
So, We went to the Miracle Hot Springs first.
www.mhsprings.com/ It’s a short drive from our house, maybe 40 mins. Let me tell you… It was HOT! They have a good name for “hot springs”. And I didn’t know at all what to expect, but I was picturing something more glamorous. Silly me, in Idaho! Hahah! There is no such thing! But, it was fun because we rented our private pool. We stayed for a few hours. Oh, and yes, fried our brain because it was so hot! At the hot springs, they have an alligator living on the premises which is right next to the dome shaped tents always set up that you can rent. Kinda odd yet fun. We made the mistake of texting Granny after we left the alligator that we saw one. Oh gosh! Bea went crazy at home wanting to see it and packing her bags to go visit the alligator. Yep, I think that is what we will be doing this weekend.
Hagerman Idaho is like Antique Street and we went into some awesome shops! Lots of fun looking at vintage dresses and hats and shoes and jewelry and soo much more. We found a really cute children's school desk. We would have loved to put that into the girl's room after it was fixed up at bit. But, we were driving Chris's 80 something Toyota Corolla so we couldn't exactly fit anything like that in. By the way.. Boise is a 2 hr drive. So, there and back (4 hours) we only spent $25 in gas! Could you just pee your pants! Totally awesome!
We stayed in the BEST PLACE EVER!!!! Its called the Boise Guest House!
http://www.boiseguesthouse.com/ Thank goodness our favorite Boise B&B closed, because I liked this much better! Way nicer than any crazy expensive hotels! We got an amazing $69 rate because we were last minute! Cool!! I would stay there hands down any time I went to Boise! Check it out because they have small rooms to 2 bedrooms and you can even rent the entire house! All the rooms comes with full little kitchens too! What a cool place for a reunion!!! One of the best things is that it is in walking distance to downtown!!
They have not paid me to say any of this! :)
Chris has never known how to pose for a camera.
I have to say that Chris likes to vacation because of good food. I am not an amazingly great cook, but I am trying to be better as of late. And I LOVE to window shop. I love going into local fun boutiques and shops and feel like there is more than Target and Costco. SO, that being said, you'll understand the rest of my post. :) I cant remember ALL the places we went, but i do remember theses places. If you like this too, than when you go to Boise, with or with out your kids, you'll know what to do!! :)
Our favorite grill is Tucanos. It's a Brazilian restaurant. Chris served his mission in Brazil and he said they do a good job getting some of the food right on! Yoohoo! Yumm.
While we were there, we saw us in about 7 years. What I mean is that we saw a family that looked just like ours... cool parents, 5 kids, one boy, but the youngest was about 7 or 9 years old. We both noticed them. We talked about them. I cried. like tried not to sob when we talked about them. I just saw them and knew we were so blessed to have each other and this beautiful family we created. It's been tough lately and it was wonderful to see this family. I knew we would be there soon and I just felt this crazy hysterical feeling that I didn't want it to go by that fast. I wanted to just enjoy them all, even Chris, all now more! It was powerful. It was a really great way to start our getaway. And the meat was good too!
We ate way too much here and had a relaxing time at the guest house! :)
Oh, of course thank the heavens there was Fanci Freez! We made up a fun nickname for the place and everything. It is open until 10pm and it hits the spot if you are in need of a chocolate shake emergency! :)
Here is my number one favorite thing to do! Have a map (you know, the things before GPS) of the city you are visiting in hand (not too big so you can fold it up and put it in your husband's pocket. haha.) and a few places in mind that are marked on the map and put on your running shoes and go for it! Hit the city to explore!! Heck Yes!! It's not getting lost when you have the spirit of exploring on the brain! Find some great things! Boise has a REALLY fun newspaper that is free and its on all the corners of the streets it seems. It tells you all about everything that is going on in town. Boise Weekly. That is a must have! Unfortunately, we couldn't agree on any events that we wanted to go to together. But, that was ok, because we had lots of fun doing what we were doing.
Since you can walk so conveniently to everywhere, we walked to breakfast. OR, you can have this place deliver to your room at Boise Guest House for a small fee.
We walked over and it was SOOO YUMMY! I think I ordered the most amazing french toast known to man with potatoes that they baked first then fried that literally melted in my mouth!!
The rest of the 2 days were just walking around shopping (not really buying anything) and eating. hahah. It was a raining on and off and so we would just go into a place and split a little something, all day. It was a great way to talk to the waitresses and owners and ask what the best places were around for all sorts of stuff. We met a lot of friendly fun people. Also, Boise downtown, it seems, to be all about local! Lots of great local stores! It's all old buildings that have been kept up and beautiful. Some of the architecture is just so amazing. I wish they would make things like they used to. Although, there are some really great new buildings too. In fact, I remember saying to Chris that Boise does a really great job mixing the old and new and keep things flowing. Here is just a little of where we went....
BEST PIZZA!!
I think that 8th street downtown should just be called "Yummy Way". It has like a concentration of awesome food all in one place!!
This was one of my very favorite places that we went to. A new restaurant simply named FORK. Its in the old National Bank. Way cool! Everything on the menu looked tasty too. And, everyone we talked to recommended it.
We HAD to go here just in the spirit of our Addie! It was WAY good for breakfast!!!
They are known for something... I'll ask Chris because he ordered it and he might remember. :)
taken by me again! In Addies!
yeah, well, you've got to have chocolate!
They have these awesome shoes made out of chocolate!
The next girls night maybe???
http://www.citypeanut.com/
fun treats for the kids!!
We found my favorite store!! Its a store that only sells things from local artisans from home. Handmade! Like etsy.com, but a store!! Way cool! They want to see some of my stuff. I asked what they wanted to see more of and I said... I can do that! :) I love to make everything!!! So, if it sells and I love making it.. I'll do it!! :)
PINK 274 N. 8th St., Boise, ID 83702
If you are looking for fancy jeans or boutique clothes or prom dresses at an amazing price, you need to go here!! I also tried on some way cute shoes I saw in Vogue. Wow! The nice crazy shoes are sooo comfy! Chris wanted me to get them because he knows I love shoes, but don't indulge in my obsession. Plus, they were nice n sexy. But, I was sooo much taller than him! It didn't seem right. He said he loved them anyway, but I just couldn't do it.
See, I have a new coat that I got for my Bday... thanks Linda for the money from my bday! I love it! Its fun.
some cool things I took pictures of...
This place was funny!
Chris and I have never really shopped for rugs before. We seriously shop at Costco for everything. Although, I like the idea of shopping elsewhere with some fabulous culture and personality. Well, this place has got it. The very friendly shop keeper showed us all the rugs. He said we could get some out if we liked them. He said which huge piles were 40% off and so we looked there first. He left us alone and we started having fun pulling some stuff around and looking at the rugs.We found one we liked and then looked at the price. Ummm... hahahahah! We couldnt stop laughing!! They were like $8 thousand on sale. We were almost in tears laughing (something we do often, we are those annoying silly shoppers when its just the 2 of us) and then we imagined if this rug was a magic carpet because it costs WAY more than both our cars. I know that is how much stuff costs in real life, but in my world of shopping at clearance racks only and sewing my own Vogue lookalikes, I just don't see that number on a tag...ever. But, the shop keeper could tell what kind of people we were and nice enough and told us about this place...
It was on our little map and its a consignment store for furniture. Really neat stuff!! Fun too.
He showed us the $5 bowl of stuff. Ha! And we did buy some rings at Davies Reid. I feel cool wearing it on my thumb, thinking of the good laugh rummaging through Boise stores not really having enough money to even touch some of the clothes and rugs.
Ok, this squirrel was crazy! I was walking by the grass and all of a sudden he came right up to me! I jumped because I didn't know what was going on! Little freaky squirrel! Don't you know that you are supposed to be scared of city people? if it was the woods, I'd expect it, but not here...
So, I told Chris to stay put and I'd take pictures of him getting bit! :) anything for a photo shot!
Aw... the wild life of Downtown Boise! Geese! These guys were just hanging out on the lawns of various places and would fly around and call out at eachother. Kinda weird. Only in Idaho you get this kind of interaction with animals in the city.
Just some cool spots....
Thank you Boise!!
