Sophie and Aspen were actually really good on the long (8 hr) drive to the Payette. Sophie was really excited to sleep in a tent and play outside. Aspen was at a difficult age for this trip. She was crawling and finger-walking, but she always wanted to be put down so she could eat rocks, dirt, bugs, sticks, etc. Fortunately we had a lot of people who were willing to take turns holding her so was entertained.
The nights were the hardest with the kids. It didn't get dark until around 10:00pm, but Aspen was ready for bed by 7:30pm. So we would put her to bed in the tent, but when we opened the zipper to come in, she would wake up and start crying all over again. It was also really cold at night and in the mornings, but it got really hot during the days.
We rafted the Main Payette a few times, along with a run down Old Swirly and the Cabarton. Isaac and I would switch off watching the girls so we could go down the river a couple times. My mom was very helpful watching the girls so Isaac and I could do one run together.
The Old Swirly section flows right past our campsite and to the take out about 1 mile downstream. Since there are no rapids on that section, we stopped at the hot springs to pick Sophie up and let her ride in the raft for a little while. She was so excited and cute! She just kept saying, "I'm not 8 yet" because we told her she couldn't go down a river until she was 8. The whole time she wanted to paddle and be just like the rest of us. She also saw some wildlife like birds, ducks, and otters. It was a perfect first exposure to rafting. She was warm and only in the boat for 15 minutes, so she didn't get bored. Watching her have fun in the raft was the highlight of the trip.
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