Lava Hot Springs

Talia and I in the Pool

William, Dusty, and Talia in the Pool

Just one swimsuit and one towel per person!!
Dusty's lovely sunburn (spray on sunscreen--not so great!)
Dusty taking Petra for a brief float in the river by our yurt.

We took a trip to Lava Hot Springs the last couple of days. My mother-in-law took all of the kids and Dusty and I down and we stayed in a Yurt. Boy, talk about fun. 7 kids (4 under the age of 8) and 3 adults in a tiny little one room shack. Actually, my first emotion on pulling in was sadness. I remembered that the last time I was there, we were with my whole side of the family (except for Ryan and Heather (and they were on the phone)), and I announced that I was pregnant with Talia. I just missed my family so much. It feels like I never get to see them.



Anyway, on the first day, we went to the pool. That was pretty fun. It's a pretty great pool. Then we went back to the Yurt and tried to get the kids to sleep (very unsuccessfully the majority of the time). The next day, Dusty, Jessica, Neil, and William floated down the river while Alice Marie took the little girls shopping, and I stayed home so that Talia could get a desperately needed nap. When they got back, William told me that I just had to try floating the river, so we went up again. This time, we went up a little higher, and there were some rapids and a little waterfall. William and I, in one double tube, went over the falls just fine, but Neil and Jessica, in another double tube, capsized and Jessica lost her sandals and they both got kind of scraped up. Fortunately, Dusty had gone on ahead to take some pictures of us as we went under a bridge, and they were able to get out there instead of taking the rest of the hour long float.



After that little misadventure, Neil and Jessica weren't able to go swimming at the pool (because of the open wounds), but the rest of us went back (except for Talia--it was her first time ever swimming and I'm not sure that she liked it all that much). Anyway, that turned out to be a very eventful hour!! First, Petra got sick. She started acting all sleepy and saying she was hungry. She couldn't even open her eyes all of the way. We later realized that because we'd forgotten her Pediasure and she'd eaten about like she always does, she had had basically no calories in the past 24 hours. And it's not like she has a lot of fat reserves! Well, while she was lying on the grass, I went to buy her a PB&J at the concessions stand 10 feet away. While I was waiting in line, this car came screeching up the ramp that passes just uphill from where we were. It hit another car, spun around, and smashed into the guard rail right above where Petra was lying. I had horrifying visions of it smashing though and rolling down the hill right on top of her. It didn't (though it did leave quite a dent in the guard rail!). What it did do is speed right down the ramp it had come up, leaving a whole tire behind and starting a fire in the grass next to the road!!! Some people from the pool ran up and put out the fire, and the cops stopped the driver right at the pool parking lot. I later heard a local girl who had gone to see what had happened say that the boy was wasted. It was really, really scary! I have never seen a car accident before.



Right after the pool, I had to rush back to Shelley for play rehearsals. I am playing Kate in The Pirates of Penzance. It is a really fun one. Anyway, Petra was doing better since eating, but I decided to bring her home with me to completely recover, and since Neil and Jessica couldn't swim (and Neil didn't want to share a bed with William again (and Jessica didn't want to have to use the port-a-potty again)) they came home with us. Everyone else came home the next morning (today). Anyway, it was a fun little trip, even though we didn't leave the state or anything. Who knew you could have so many adventures so close to home!