Stephen,

I grew up in Boise and know the area pretty well, including the area north of Boise where the total eclipse path will be.

Boise's a great medium/small city with plenty of places to stay and a good number of options for family fun. Plenty of restaurants, great parks close to downtown Boise, and it is pretty close to where the total eclipse will be.

My concern with the Boise area would be that the area where the total eclipse passes, north of Boise, is a relatively closed-in area without many roads. It's pretty mountainous/hilly throughout the entire area, although there are breaks in the hills and mountains with some really great-sized valleys.

But it's two lane roads everywhere you go, and mostly in a north-south direction. Many of the sections of the road (Hwy 55 north out of Boise) follow river/stream areas and are surrounded by hills, leaving the view of the sky relatively small and there are few options to travel quickly east/west in case of cloud cover.

The center of totality runs through Smiths Ferry on Hwy 55, but just a little ways north is Round Valley, which really opens up and would be likely the best place to view in this area. It has a number of east/west and north/south dirt roads that are off the Hwy.

Hwy 55 is also the main north/south option out/into Boise, so I would be worried that it could become a parking lot in spots on the eclipse day. Weekend summer traffic on this road under normal circumstances is pretty heavy.

Eastern Idaho is much more wide-open and flat where the eclipse path will be. This leaves much more flexibility to see the eclipse and travel more easily if things need to change. But there are no cities in that area close to the size of Boise, so traveling to the area is more difficult (as in, takes more plane flights to get there) and the cities there may not be as fun as Boise. I would wager you'd still have a good time with small kids there, however. Family fun is usually pretty easy to find, no matter where in Idaho you may be.

Honestly though, my experience in eastern Idaho is pretty limited.

Hope this helps!

Alex