Yesterday the kids and I flew up to see my family in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Each time I come here I seriously ask myself, "Why am I living in Palm Springs, California?"The first thing I noticed while still in the air was how green the ground was. Mostly because it was all pine trees, but in the spots where there were no trees, it was green. I'm guessing it was grass, only because it would take a ton of spray paint to color all their sand...oh wait- they don't have sand in Coeur d'Alene! So one obvious difference is...no sand, and everything here is green. Love it already!
We stopped off at my parents new place (soooo adorable and I want to buy one) and they had their windows open wide, and blinds pulled up! I ran around the house trying to shut them all so the sand and heat wouldn't get in, but Mom explained they have no sand. "Oh yeah, right."
I slept with the windows wide open and a cold Nordic wind was blowing gently around the room. I must have stared at the ceiling (in awe) for over 15 minutes before I realized there was no snow coming, and once curled deep down under the 2 comforters and my flannel pajamas...I slumbered quite heavily off to sleep.
I awoke to my children whispering my name at 6:41am, asking if they can go play downstairs. I told them to go back to bed, as it was too early. They slumbered off until 8:00am and got the 'ok' to play downstairs (surprisingly rather quietly) until I awoke in the now 'too quiet' bedroom at 8:03am.
Calypsos' child-friendly play area-What a great idea! Mom can relax
with a Chai Latte while the kids play!
BTW- the food was INCREDIBLE!
Coeur D'Alene is so breathtaking, and everyone is so friendly here. We must have walked several miles back and forth the downtown, hitting the local coffee shop (Calypsos) for lunch, going to Fort Sherman park, (which the whole community got together to build for the children) (CLICK ON PICS TO ENLARGE)
walking past the lake,
'scootering' over to Grandma and
Grandpa's house, 
picnicking in the front yard, and most importantly- going to FigPickles Toy Emporium for a treat. <---check it out for yourself! At 4:00 pm is the Farmer's Market downtown, which we will 'scooter' on down to and check out!
Homemade furniture from the Farmer's Market
Looking down the street at Farmer's Market
Before I go (for now) I want to say hi to Cindy and Scott DiQuattro- "Hi guys!!!" You would love it here! Stay tuned for more!
