Summer Camping

We've found our new favorite place to camp this summer at Kalispell Island on Priest Lake, ID. They are boat-to camp sites maintained by the state forest. Beautiful sandy beaches, crystal clear water, tons of wild life, lots of hiking trials and several marinas close by for ice cream runs! But watch out for sasquatch sized slivers on the marina's docks!
We've stayed there twice in the last couple weeks and are learning our way around the island. The kids attempted to build a shelter but decided they'd rather sleep in the tent.
We continued our quest in finding the perfect s'more combination. This last one consisted of graham crackers smothered in peanut butter, chocolate cake cookies, and perfectly goldened marshmallows. Delicious!!
And what's camping in the northwest without a massive rain storm?? The storm hit and we packed up in record time. The kids even helped after they were promised breakfast at McDonald's.

Videos from the Sand Slide

I can't upload videos from my phone to the blog, so I'll share the videos on different posts;

Surfing On Water

One of my favorite sports has become Wakesurfing. It's a sport that's evolved over the last 10 years from wakeboard boats that put up huge wakes.


It's a load of fun and easy on the body, since the boat is only going 10 mph. I can't pull huge tricks, but I have been placing my kids on the surf board between my feet since they could stand.



It's gotten a little more tricky as they're a lot heavier than before but we all have a blast. The coolest thing though is that now Caleb and Abby want to surf with their Dad. Having them not scared of the water is a plus, but having them still think their Dad is cool is sweet. I'm figuring that the "cool Dad" time is slipping away quickly, so I'll relish every moment I can.

Non Family Re-union

My in-laws have a tradition of inviting a family to their lake house each summer. They sometimes refer to it as a family reunion, but since half the people attending are not related, Monica and I call it the non-family reunion. It's a weekend of food, lake time, more food, sun, friends, and more food. Did I mention the food is always good?

This year was no different. The weather was a little confused, but we took advantage of the windy conditions by sailing and when the weather was calm, we wakeboarded and wake surfed.

As with any extended period of time with my in-laws, I stuck my foot in my mouth about every 15 min. You'd think we'd all be use to me being a dork by now, but I try to keep my insult to appollogy ratio at 1:1.

The kids did great. We tried to be adventurous by staying a night in a tent at the lake (instead of driving 22 min to our comfy beds in our own bedrooms separated by walls 15 feet apart). I think we'll wait until Abby stops screaming in her sleep before we attempt a family tent night again. Caleb and Abby ran all day long with there cousins, aunts and uncles. Their energy level is staggering. Good times.