"Real Life in Boise With Kids" - a weekly series where Boise With Kids will feature real, relatable, normal parents doing awesome things across the Treasure Valley. It'll be a space where local parents can share about their passions and give real, honest, tried and true feedback and tips for living their "best (family) life" in Boise. Hopefully it'll give you a chance to learn more about our community, inspire you to try out new places and activities, and get hooked up with pertinent, useful stuff that will help you and your family to thrive in Boise.
Get ready to meet the "Real Parents of the Treasure Valley" - 😜
If you'd like to share about yourself and be featured in this new series email Becca at becca@boisewithkids.com. We can't wait to learn more about you!
Meet Lenka: Hello! My name is Lenka and I am a mom to three wonderful kids ages 7, 3.5 and 1.5. We also have black 9 year old German Shepherd. My husband and I are both originally from the Czech Republic. We moved to the United States for my husband’s work in 2011 to gain some experience and enjoy many adventures. Although I have really missed my home (especially in the beginning), we fell in love with life in Idaho and decided to stay.
Our first destination was Pocatello, ID. We loved the outdoors and the university and met so many amazing lifetime friends there! When our first son was born we knew it was time for a change. Boise was our first choice since it is a bigger city with so many more activities for kids but also not too crowded and very outdoor friendly. The first thing we really got excited about was how many breweries there were here. We love that so many of them are kid and dog friendly!
Becoming a member of the Boise Babies and Tots MeetUp group helped me to get into the community and meet many wonderful parents here! We enjoy the outdoors, sports, camping, music, crafts, good food, beer and wine, and DIY projects. Our life in Boise is so fun and busy that I decided to create @boisebusykids - an Instagram account to share our adventures and inspire others! I love meeting people who find this account helpful! When you see us, come and say hi ;-)
My hobby is photography. I’ve been taking photos for a very long time. I went to many landscape photo workshops, worked as a photo editor at The Bengals Newspaper and took many sport photographs for Idaho State Athletic department. I am currently working as a freelance photographer for GoDaddy, Tolman Media Group and AirBnb. This way I can enjoy what I like without the time consuming editing. You can see some of my work on skalskalenka.com
Local Family Favorites:
All my kids have such different personalities and interests. The best way to keep everyone happy is to get out of the house :-) That’s why we love Boise so much! So many places to go and so many things to do! There is not enough space to name all of them :-)
- Idaho Botanical Garden (https://idahobotanicalgarden.org/)
- Children’s museum of Idaho (https://www.cmidaho.org/)
- YMCA South Aquatic Center (https://www.ymcatvidaho.org/facilities/tomlinson-south-meridian-ymca/)
- Fly High Trampoline Park (https://boise.flyhightrampolinepark.com/)
- Green Belt (Barber Park)
- and SO much more!
Favorite Kid Activities:
-The kids have been enrolled in:
Gymnastics (https://danikgym.com/, http://www.wingscenter.com/)
Hockey (https://www.idahoiceworld.com/)
Swimming (https://www.goldfishswimschool.com/boise/)
Let’s Play Music (https://www.new.letsplaymusicsite.com/)
Soccer (https://www.boiseyouthsoccer.com/)
Boise Icode (https://icodeschool.com/boise121/)
My second home is Kaizen Farm (https://www.kaizen-farm.com/) where I am taking horseback riding lessons and hoping my kids (at lease one of them!) will soon follow.
I'd be happy to tell you about our experiences with any of these activities!
Favorite Family-Friendly Places to Eat:
Our kids are very active and also picky eaters. We gave up dining in restaurants a long time ago :-) However, I wish there were more places where you can eat and kids can eat and play. There is actually one place we always stop at when we are heading to McCall that has a playground on the patio (which is very common for Czech restaurants). It's called Sonora Restaurant in Horseshoe Bend, ID (https://sonoramexicanrestaurant.com/)
We usually cook Czech style meals but we often get a take out as well. Some go-to spots are Boise Fry Company, Jimmy Johns and Pizza Hut.
Best Park/Playground:
- Eagle Rock Park (https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/eagle-rock-park/)
- Terry Day Park (https://www.cityofboise.org/departments/parks-and-recreation/parks/terry-day-park/)
Some Summer Camping Recommendations:
Idaho City
Reasonable distance from Boise to drive with littles. Our favorite is Ten Mile Campground! Now you can only camp with a reservation but get a spot right by the river! Go for a hike and get an ice cream and a coffee at Sarsaparilla Ice Cream Parlor, Gift Shop & Suites. My favorite hack: Iced Coffee (no flavor) with a scoop of coffee ice-cream!
Lake Cascade
A little closer than McCall and much less crowded. There are not very many activities but if you are looking for a great camping experience in a quiet campground with a beautiful lake and small sandy beaches, this is for you! Bring bikes for kids to cruise around! Bike or walk the Crown Point trail! Drive to Donelly for home made treats and a coffee from Flight of Fancy (https://www.dessertjunkies.com/), the best huckleberry donuts and muffins you'll ever have!
Bogus Basin
Shafer Butte Campground is a small campground near Bogus Basin. Not too big for entertaining but a great base to explore the nature (especially mid to end of June during the wildflow season) and stop by Bogus Basin with all fun activities for kids (mining, tubing, rock climbing, the chair lift, roller coaster, etc.)