Hiking+Swimming+Wrestling=Camping

Chillin' to da max.
The kids on the Cress Creek trail near Heise. Gotta love the concrete trail.
Madeline taking a breather before the final round smack-down with brother.
Ethan taking his breather in the Heise pool.
Wrestling, Heise style.

This past weekend we were going to go up to Teton Canyon near Driggs but decided on Heise due to the heat. With the swimming pool a stones throw from the camp ground it was a no-brainer.

Camping at the Heise Campground is classic – it's like camping in a city park on a busy day. It's not what Britt and I were used to but we had a blast, as did the kids (and that's all that matters, right?) We hit the pool Saturday and Ethan and I rode the slide a few times. On the first go I forgot to release him from my leg-lock that I had on him going down the slide and he ended up under water a bit longer than he wanted to! Oh well, it'll build some character on him.

Later that evening back at camp, Madeline and Ethan proceeded to hone their wrestling skills while mom and dad sat back and cheered little Madi on. She is one tough cookie. Then came the time honored marshmallow roasting over the fire. It's funny how kids are so tantalized by fire…and anything with sugar, (ie. marshmallows.)

Sunday we hiked the short easy trail of Cress Creek. Madi walked it all by herself (it's only a mile roundtrip) with no complaints. She is getting fast on her feet lately and doing good about not going down face first so often.

It's funny how your perceptions change once you have children. Camping like we did this past weekend is something I would have had great disdain for 10 years ago. But now, it makes perfect sense. It's all about getting the kids exposed to different experiences and expanding their comfort and knowledge. Sure, we'll eventually head to the mountains and hopefully backpack in to some backcountry lake(s) but for now, it's all good. "The kids are alright".

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Ride to Live, Live to Ride

"Look out!"
One proud lad.
"Hey, what's the big deal? This bike thing's piece of cake!"
A day on the rocks with dad.

Ethan recently reached a milestone in boyhood yesterday – he learned how to ride his bike sans training wheels. Some may ask "what's the big deal?" but believe me, for us it's like the parting of the Red Sea…a miracle.

We bought him new bike for his 5th birthday in May and since then he has kept his training wheels on. I took them off on a couple of occasions. But to no avail. He grew frustrated and didn't want anything to do with the bike without the training wheels on. So back on they'd go. His reliance on those damn wheels was getting to the point that there were actually hampering any progress, and making him a bit embarrassed around other kids. He would lean so hard to the right that we had to repeatedly bend the arm back into position on the right sided training wheel. He had a serious gangsta-lean going on.

As the weeks passed it became obvious that it was time to try it again. So he and I went over to the elementary school to practice on the pathway that circles the school grounds and from the first go he got it. I'm glad I donned the running shoes because man, he was bookin'! To make an already long story longer, he was so stoked. He only went down twice, but that's because he didn't know how to stop properly. Plus, you got to have a few spills in the beginning right? Afterward, it was awesome to see him beam as he rode past his buddies in the neighborhood who just the other day were asking him why he still had his training wheels on. Yup, pretty cool.

Now it's just getting him to "look for cars!" when he launches out of the driveway on that thing.

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Da Haps

Ethan and his slimy buddy, Charlie the Snail.

Madeline gettin' er done!

Daddy and Madi at the car wash.

Finally, our new edition in print.

Memorial weekend came and went, and like usual it rained. Ethan and I went out climbing on Memorial Day with some friends and yup, it rained. But that didn't stop us from having fun. We ran into some friends of ours at the cliffs and while I climbed, Ethan tromped around and hunted for snails. He found one in particular that interested him enough to name it, and so he did…Charlie. Charlie rode home in dad's coat pocket with a bunch of his other slimy shelled friends and once we got home, Ethan "released them into the wild." They are somewhere in our front garden among the tulips, roses and bark living happily in case you're wondering.

This past weekend was spent with me away climbing (imagine that) on Saturday and the kids doing various things with Britt and her mom. On Sunday the West Side TeNgaio's spent the day goofing off in various ways. Ethan helped dad wash mom's car until he found the gutter filled with water more interesting. Madi took over after that and put some elbow grease into the car wash. She is so interested in helping people out when they are working on something…anything, she just likes to be involved. She is also pronouncing more and more words that she catches us off guard sometimes, making us do a double take and say "Did she just say…". Yup, she is a wonderchild.

Britt is still on the mend but doing much better. She says she has to constantly remind herself to not over do it though. It's pretty easy to hurt herself at this stage when she starts feeling stronger, but things haven't healed up entirely yet so she has to hold back on pushing it. Soon enough chickee.

On an end note, my friend Jerry and I received our new edition of our guidebook, Sweet Spots, in the mail last week from the printer. We are excited and relieved to finally have it in our hands, to have the paginating and layout work done. Now comes the real work though – to sell the 1,500 copies we have sitting in boxes on a crate in Jerry's garage. It's all good.

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