Building the swingset

 This swing set was a long time in the making.  We started by watching craigslist for someone selling a wooden swing set.  We came close a few times but it never worked out.  That went on for probably a year.  Then we decided we would build one.  That happened in a series of drawn out steps.  We had to decide what we wanted it to have.  We wanted to plan for the future, so it would be something the kids could enjoy now and when they are big. We went to parks and measured the height of swings that adults could swing on.  We wanted it to be quality so it will last forever and we needed enough features that all five kids would have something to play on at the same time.  And for our little monkeys, Katelyn and Naiya, we knew we needed monkey bars.

Once we established what we wanted we had to decide how to build it.  Holly and I mow the lawn and we didn't want to have to mow around a huge A-frame swing set.  So Mike and Rusty started calculating what type of beams we would need to withstand the force of swings.  Once the supply list was complete we ordered everything to be delivered.  In the meantime I ordered the tire swing, swings, chains, and gear from a swing set supply company.  The beams arrived and were dropped off on my front lawn.  And there they stayed.  For about 3 months.  Mike and Rusty were so busy with work that the swing set waited.  The plan was to dig four foot holes to place the beams in.  When digging day came it was quickly apparent that hand digging the holes wasn't the best plan.  So off to Tates rents we went.  We rented an attachment for the skidsteer that dug a mean hole.  The holes were done in less than an hour.  Then, while Holly and I were both running errands, the boys decided to try to dig a deeper hole just to see how deep the water table really was.  So a random 8 foot hole in my yard was born.  Really, they just wanted to play with the hole digger.  We reminded them that a tiny 8 foot hole with lots of water wasn't the best option for a backyard full of kids, so they filled it back up.  However, it sunk a little and became Ridge and Aliya's new favorite playplace.  For months they filled it with water to throw rocks in it, make "stew" in it, and anything else you can imagine.  The posts were set in concrete in the holes that day, and again, there they stayed-for several months.  I painted the posts with deck over to improve their longevity.  A few more months went by and then a miracle happened.  Another day to work on the swing set!!!  The horizontal posts were placed.  The gears were screwed in.  The monkey bars were lined out. And finally, the swings and tire swing were hung!  We even got a monkey bar bonus.  There was some unused vertical post in the monkey bar section so we drilled holes and placed vertical monkey bars.  Katelyn especially loves these.  You have to do a pull up on each bar to reach the top.

The kids have played with the swing set non-stop since it was done.  They love it.  The frame type is very easy to mow around.  We have also acquired three trampolines in our backyard.  The kids jump from one to the next.  They like to use the top of the monkey bar beam for a balance beam.  They feel pretty cool on top of the beam.  The swings are strong enough to hold adults and the monkey bars have been used by the Dads on several occasions.  It was worth the wait!

Backpacking to Island Lake

Russ and I were able to go on our yearly backpacking trip again, thanks to my Mom who watched our kids for us.  We went to Island Lake in the White Clouds.  8 miles in, four days, three nights.  We planned on hiking the 8 miles to Walker Lake on the first day and setting up a base camp.  The other days we were going to hike to various lakes nearby and fish.  On the way up we met a man from Southeast Idaho who said he came to this same spot every year.  He recommended camping at Island Lake instead of Walker Lake.  He said there were far fewer people at Island Lake.  We took his recommendation and set off toward Island Lake at the fork.  It turned out to be great advice.  We saw only one other person camping at Island Lake and it was beautiful.  We had a great camping spot and the perfect rock to sit and cook on right by the lake.  The next day we left our base camp and hiked over the mountain to a series of lakes, which we fished at (or napped at in my case).  Of the lakes we visited there was only one that was good fishing, but it was so good it made up for the other lakes.  On the third day we did more hiking but by afternoon we knew the weather was turning.  It started raining and the wind was howling.  We hung out in the tent playing card games and even cooking from under the cover of the tent.  When the temperature started dropping significantly we decided to pack up and head out early.  We didn't want to wake up to snow.  It took us long enough to get out that it was near dark when we reached the car.  We were so tired that we decided to stop in Stanley and stay the night.  We got some dinner at a restaurant there and slept soundly.  The next day we drove home fully recharged from a great backpacking trip.

Kyleigh's Friend Party

 Kyleigh wanted a redneck pool birthday party, aka irrigation night party.  The kids (first party with boys and girls) came over in the evening.  I turned the irrigation water on and a while later checked it only to find we didn't have hardly any water.  The whole party was centered on the water so I called Russ and they went down the line to figure out why there was no water.  It turned out it was plugged up.  After the plug was cleared we started getting water.  Unfortunately not as much as usual but it worked fine.  We divided the kids into teams and they designed their flags for capture the flag while the water was filling the yard.  I bought about 20 of the dollar store water squirters and they played capture the flag while squirting water at each other and running through the irrigation water.  We had burgers, watermelon, and chips for dinner around the fire pit.  I think everyone had a great time.  Most importantly Kyleigh had tons of fun.  Happy Birthday to her!

Kyleigh's 12th Birthday

 Happy Birthday to our 12 year old.  To celebrate her birthday we went shopping for school clothes and found the jackpot at a second hand store.  For dinner she wanted steak and potatoes, and who would say no to that?  We had Mike and Holly over for ice cream cake and presents. She went to her first young women's activity that night and all the sudden it was over and she is officially twelve.  Not sure how that happened.  But man, she is cute!

Visit from "House"

This guy grew up in Silver City with Mike and Russ.  He and his wife were on their way to a permanent residence in Oregon after doing traveling work for a number of years.  We had the opportunity to go out to dinner with them while they were traveling through. We heard a number of stories where most of what happened was "a good idea, at the time!"

Lego Bonding Time

Warm Lake

Warm Lake has become our standard for wood cutting.  There is so much dead wood and they are the perfect size. We cut down the dead trees and cut them into fireplace sized logs.  No splitting necessary.  Warm Lake also has good fishing.  It makes a wood cutting trip a fishing trip.  There is also a swimming beach if it is warm.  The little restaurant makes some killer onion rings.  This particular trip we got some fishing in, two trailers of wood, and hamburgers all around.  Not sure it gets any better than that.