Wednesday, August 31, 2011

20 Year HS Reunion....Yiiikees!


Last weekend was my 20 year High School reunion in Portland (Grant High School). So crazy. I had a great time reconnecting with old friends. Everyone really just looked the same, just older. Friday night was for Grant High School students only, and Saturday night students and spouses. Both events were at Mcminemans establishments, which was fun as always. We stayed downtown at the Crystal Ballroom on Saturday night (sans kiddos) and had a fun night out on the town.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Our First Bakcpakcing Trip!

Hiking down to the lake

Bridger guarding the campsite

Blue Lake

The family on a hike around the lake

The boys

The lake

Heading back out

Caulder, Collin, Owen, Kessler

The whole group... Bridger, Mat, Kessler, Owen, Caulder, Danielle, Robyn, Ryan, and Collin
We took the boys on their first backpacking trip this July. Our good friends the Morris's joined us with their two young sons. We started the boys out with an easy backpack, and hiked just one mile down to a beautiful little Alpine lake near Cascade, Idaho called Blue Lake. All of the boys had their own packs, and really enjoyed themselves. We hiked through the snow around the lake, and fished for trout. Although it was 100 degrees in Boise, the lake was at about 7500' so it was still pretty cool up there. We stayed just one night, and had a huge full moon to enjoy.

Redfish Lake

The lake from the canoe

Kessler chilling in the hammock

Hiking

Canoeing to an island on Little Redfish Lake

The view from Little Redfish Lake

Hiking
We lucked out and secured a campsite at Redfish lake in July. So we drug out our huge tent and canoe, and spent three nights in the Glacier View Campground. The weekend started out a little shaky. Caulder had a stomach bug and was not feeling well the first day, but once that passed we were able to get in some beautiful hikes and canoe rides. Our campsite was huge, and had a lot of rocks, logs, and bushes for the boys to explore. We were also across the street from a little playground, so there was a lot of activities to keep us busy around our campsite.

4th of July

Century Drive
Hiking through the lava tube
Rock window
Climbers on the rock Pinnacles at Smith Rocks


Goofy Boys

 We did our second annual 4th of July trip to Bend again this year to meet up with Grandpa Dick and Grandma Dee Dee. It was finally warm so we took advantage of the pool across from our condo and got in a little swimming. We also checked out Century Drive and stopped at some of the pretty lakes along the way and hiked through a big lava tube. On our way back to Boise, we stopped at Smith Rocks state park. We hiked the loop around the park, and watched climbers repel down some of the huge rock pinnacles.