Rexburg, my guilty pleasure

I had a lovely weekend in Rexburg!

We left Thursday afternoon and arrived just in time for dinner. The kids were FANTASTIC on the drive there. I kept bracing myself for a pull over on the next exit in a big ass hurry moment and it never came. They colored, they ate, they slept, they colored some more and then we were there! I was so proud of them. I think they were annoyed at how gushy I was about it. "You girls didn't fight at all!" "I'm so proud of you for being such great travelers" and on and on until Jamie actually said, "I know mom! You think we're great hikers too," in her most exasperated voice. Apparently I gushed about hiking also.

Friday we went grocery shopping and played at the splash park downtown. We picked up lunch and then Kelsey told me about a place that only serves....drumroll....gourmet hot dogs!! I wanted to throw my lunch out the window and go there instead. I've made a mental note to go there next time....for EVERY meal!

Saturday was spent at Bear World. I wanted to go to Yellowstone but the time crunch won and we went just down the road to Bear World instead. You drive through really slowly and look for bears that roam free through the park. (Well, as free as electric fences around the perimeter could be.)

We were right behind the feeding truck so all the bears were out on the road when we went through. A HUGE ass black bear licked all the bugs off the front of our car and then sniffed around Kelsey's window. It was a little creepy.

Ooh, I forgot about Saturday morning! We spent the entire morning in the front yard watching the crop duster. That was actually the highlight of my trip. I tried to take a picture but the sun wouldn't cooperate. I should edit that to read, I spent the entire morning watching the crop duster. Everyone else lost interest after 5 minutes. Once again...easily entertained. Hey, at least I'd be a cheap date, right!?
"Do you want to spend 75 dollars at Bear World or do you want to drink cheap beer and watch the crop duster?" See, totally a cheap date. Shut up...I think it's a good quality to have!

I decided to head home Saturday night instead of early Sunday morning so we hit the road at 5 and once again...super little travelers! Our ipod died somewhere around Burley so that kinda sucked but the really great thing was all the talking that the girls did...for a while anyway. It got annoying around Mountain Home but before that...hilarious!

Oh and one more thing. Despite my eye rolling about Rexburg, I actually really love it. I love that we rode 4 wheelers to the dunes and my kids swam naked in the lake, I love that the crop duster was my favorite thing, I love that when I asked Kelsey where the next gas station was she said, "There isn't another one between here and my house" (20 miles-ish), I love that across the yard is a giant spud cellar that is empty right now so some guys from the church are building a parade float in it, I love it that Kelsey sees someone she knows everywhere we go, I love that there are streets and hills named after her family, I love that Kelsey's dad was 5 minutes from the house and of course he had jumper cables in his work truck, I love (and am terrified of) crossing on the freeway instead of over it, I love all the little dorky things that make it annoying and rural. It's my guilty pleasure, for sure.

To be fair, I would actually drop dead if I had to live there but I do enjoy visiting!