We left very early on a Thursday morning after Labor Day to drive down to Southern Idaho. The kids could check into their apartments on Friday morning. Kam and Ailey drove in one car and Tyler, Bryn, Beverly, and I drove in another car.
Bryn really wanted to come with us so that she could see where the kids would be living. She missed two days of school that week but she did not want to be left behind and that meant that Beverly was along for the ride too.
Bev's a good little traveler and we made good time. When we got to the turn off for Rexburg... Ailey and Kameron took the exit and we continued on to Idaho Falls. Kameron is rooming with one of his mission companions and his brother. He doesn't know any of the other roommates. Jared and his brother paid extra to move in early and they were already there and eager for Kam to arrive. Ailey went with him so that she could check out the apartment. Kam and Ailey are living in the same big apartment complex. Kameron was able to move in and unload all of his stuff early which was really nice.
We checked into our hotel in Idaho Falls and got settled. Later Kam and Ailey met us at our hotel and then we all went out to dinner with my Aunt Bonnie, my cousin Wendy, and her daughter Miley who will be rooming with Ailey.
We met everyone at Texas Roadhouse. It was good to visit with family and catch up on all the latest with everyone. My aunt was in town from Boise visiting her mother so I was glad that we got to get together for dinner before she left town. It was so good to see everyone!
After dinner Kameron drove back to Rexburg to spend the night in his apartment and Ailey came back to the hotel with us. We found out that the girls could officially move into their apartment at midnight. My cousin Wendy drove Miley and Ailey to Rexburg to scope out their apartment, claim a room, and drop off their stuff. Kameron came to help them unload. Then Wendy drove the girls back to Idaho Falls in the very early hours of the morning.
The next day we met up with Wendy and Miley at Target and did a big shop for the girls apartment. After that it was onto Rexburg to help them get moved in. We stopped in to see Kameron's apartment. He was getting his room set up and didn't need any help. The girls, on the other hand, wanted our help. Lots of it. We got them all unpacked and their room decorated. Wendy scrubbed down everything so that it was clean. She was the real MVP this weekend!
Their apartment is really nice. They are sharing a room and an attached bathroom. There are two other bedrooms for a total of 6 girls in the apartment. Kameron came over to the girls apartment to check things out. He lives on a different floor in another building in the complex. They aren't in the same ward either. Suffice it to say, Kameron refused to allow me to take a picture of him in his room. I wasn't allowed to take any pictures in his apartment period. Boys. He said that he would send me one of his room. I'm still waiting.
The cousins. I think Kameron and Miley look a lot alike. There is definitely a family resemblance.
Me with my cousin Wendy.
The whole drop off crew!
It was a fun and exciting atmosphere at BYU-I as kids were being dropped off, moving in, and trying to meet everyone. Tyler had to watch Bryn like a hawk as she was constantly being scoped out by the college boys who had no idea that she was only 13!! LOL.
After that the kids had all kinds of freshman orientation activities and events that they had to attend. There was also an orientation reception for the parents that we attended. I was thrilled to see that BYU brownies are also served at BYU-I. If you know, you know.
Tyler, Bryn, and I wandered around the campus. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice the campus is and how compact and easy it is to navigate. It really is like a smaller BYU. We ran into the kids here and there on campus in between their activities. The kids got their schedules, student IDs, bought their books, got all that they needed from the bookstore, and tracked down where all of their classes were.
That evening Kam and Ailey decided that they both wanted to go out to dinner with us and then be dropped off at their apartments in plenty of time before all of the evening back-to-school activities began. We had dinner at a little BBQ place in Idaho Falls called Pitmaster BBQ Company. They had delicious cornbread and red cream soda ON TAP! You won't find any red cream soda in WA! Sad.
The next morning we got our favorite Kneaders for breakfast. Bryn and I did a cruise through DI and I found some great Christmas stuff for my booth and we found the creepiest doll for our "doll in the fall" thing that we are doing for Halloween. We did a big Costco run for both kids while we were in Idaho Falls and then delivered it to them in Rexburg. All day the kids had meetings and activities. In between Kam's things we picked him up and did a Walmart run with him. The Rexburg Walmart was an absolute ZOO!!! I've never seen anything like it. Hundreds of students and their parents with carts piled high! It is also one of the biggest and nicest Walmarts that I have ever been in. They had the most complicated checkout procedure...lines marked and snaking all the way through the store...due to the unbelievable number of people. On our way out we ran into our friends, Tim and Janelle, who were dropping off their son.
A few hours later it was Ailey's turn to do a Walmart run. The crowd had died down slightly. We got her loaded up with groceries. Rexburg was chilly. Tyler and I had to buy sweatshirts. We didn't pack any kind of jackets or anything with long sleeves for trip. Brrr. Rexburg is cold just like everyone says!
That evening we said goodbye to Miley and Wendy. We had the kids come with us to take pictures by the BYU-Idaho sign as all freshman need to do (and were!) The sign is located just across from the Rexburg temple which is really pretty!
We took one more family photo and then it was time to rip off the Band-Aid and tell the kids goodbye. All around us were crying parents and kids. That at least normalized the goodbye because there were tears all around from us too. I don't know if Kameron cried but he did hug Beverly extra long. Ha ha! It was hard to say goodbye to Kameron because we just got him home and had so enjoyed having him back and now we were saying goodbye again. It was hard telling Ailey goodbye. Bryn was having the hardest time of all. It's no fun being the one left behind. Finally we managed to drive away and we drove directly to ice cream. We went to G's Dairy Delights and ate our feelings.
Their ice cream scoops are massive! We each ordered two scoops in a cup. We were expecting a Baskin- Robbins sized scoop and got these monsters. I couldn't even begin to eat it all and had to throw half of it away. I think Bryn did too. We have never thrown ice cream away before!
We drove back to Idaho Falls and checked out the city to see what was new. We drove past the house where my Aunt Bonnie grew up. I have memories of going there with her to visit her parents. We found an awesome gourmet corn dog food truck. That's where we had dinner. It was SO GOOD! Then it was back to the hotel for the night. Both kids texted us pretty regularly that night with updates of what they were doing. Beverly thoroughly enjoyed the hotel. Look at her snoozing away like the Queen of Sheba in her luxury digs.
This dog does NOT know that she is a dog but she is also the cutest thing ever!
We got up early the next morning to drive home. It was hard (as it always is) to drive away from kids living in another state. Not a fan. I want everyone to eventually move back to Spokane! Dare to dream. We planned to stop for lunch in Butte, MT because Tyler's co-workers told him that he had to try the pork chop sandwich that Butte is famous for...unfortunately it was totally gross. Super disappointing. We went to the original pork chop sandwich place and it was NOT good. Several restaurants make a pork chop sandwich in Butte so maybe we need to try somewhere else?! I don't know what the hype is about because the food was bad! We threw away all three pork chop sandwiches. They were disgusting. At least Butte had a park with old school playground equipment. My favorite! We had to get out and stretch our legs so why not play on the equipment?
These crazy swings were REALLY fun!!
Also while we were in Butte, Bryn left her phone in the restroom of a truck stop. It was a good 15 minutes later before she realized what she had done. Then we had to turn around and drive back. Luckily her phone was still there. It had been turned in to the manager. Thank goodness! Yay for honest people in Butte! We stopped in St. Regis for huckleberry shakes at Reilly's favorite place. Reilly was right! The shakes are amazing and that redeemed our nasty lunch!
The kids called us on our way home to tell us all about church and their new wards. Ailey's ward is really on the ball and has all kinds of activities scheduled and Kameron's not so much. Both kids sounded good and were looking forward to their first day of school. We got home to a very quiet and empty house. That is going to take some getting used to but we are so grateful that Kam and Ailey have this opportunity to go to college and to go there together!
Both Ailey and Kameron had great first days of school and even sent me First Day of School selfies! I was so proud!
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