Camping at Riley Creek

We spent a few days camping at what's becoming out new favorite campsite in northern Idaho. It's pretty plush as far as camping goes with showers, bike trails, boat launch and a basketball court. The kids can take off and ride their bikes or fish while Mon and I can catch up on some books.

Hiking in Maui

We spent one day hiking to some waterfalls called Twin Falls. I was a little hesitant to go on a hike with the family, I don't recall ever going on a hike as a family before, but I knew the draw of the seeing the water falls would help the kids get there.  We had a great time!  We found some falls that were fairly close and not much of a hike in a guide book called Twin Falls. Seeing the waterfalls was better than described in the books.  Beautiful, cool, clean water was a great change from the sticky salt water.  The second waterfall had some teenagers jumping off the cliffs, so the kids and I climbed to the top.  The kids wouldn't jump of the top with me, but I talked them into taking the plunge farther down the cliff.  The same teenagers told us about a few more waterfalls farther up stream so we attempted to follow the trail and found another pristine pool with a smaller water fall.  Even Monica couldn't resist a dip in our own secluded water fall.  We attempted to follow the trail even farther up stream but kept having a hard time finding the trail.  It gave me memories of walking through Tiajuana as a kid with my family as my Dad kept insisting that we weren't lost.  We were lost then in Mexico and now as the father of my own family, I'll admit we were lost in Maui too.  It didn't take much to find our way back down and on to the main trail again.  All in all, I think we're gonna see some more family hikes in our future.

Surfing in Maui

In Maui I learned the secret to surfing in the ocean: Weigh 50 lbs or less! Caleb and Abby both loved learning how to surf.  I scouted a few businesses that taught people how to surf and then Caleb and I rented a surfboard and tried to stay within ear distance while they taught the basics of surfing.   We then hung out at a great learning area with small consistent waves. With a little push to get him going, Caleb was easily surfing for 100 yards plus.  The hardest part was him trying to get the 9-foot board back out past the breaking waves.  He beat at the waves until I body surfed in to help him get back out to the rolling waves.
  Abby joined us on the second day of surfing and surprisingly she loved it.  She seems to think that all surfers keep their hands fixed in the 'hang loose' sign,  constantly posing while on the surf board. She did great. I'm now a proud papa of two surfers.

We had a fantastic trip to Maui.  Lots of fun stuff and lots of relaxing too.
I bought a new waterproof video camera before our trip and started putting it to good use.  Here's my first video of some highlights as we snorkeled.  Caleb never really felt comfortable with the snorkel gear, but Abby loved it.  She's hang on the back of my shorts and we'd take off.  We saw several turtles, lots of colorful fish, and tons of beautiful coral.

Soccer, Soccer, Baseball, Soccer...

With Spring in Wallace home comes soccer, baseball and more soccer.  Did I mention soccer? Caleb and Abby have been busy playing their sports, but this year has been especially busy for Caleb as he's been invited to play in more competitive leagues in both soccer and baseball.  We considered it a privilege at first for Caleb to play in these leagues since he gets better coaching and a little more training.  What we didn't realize was amount of time each kid is asked to commit to the sport.  And when you multiply that commitment times two sports, it's made for a very very busy spring.  Most of Caleb's practices are 2-3 hours, 2-3 times a week.  And then the games on top of that.  Caleb has enjoyed it though and he has improved drastically in both sports.
  Abby has also become quite the soccer player.  She much more aggressive than she was just last fall, even scoring goals for her team now (see video proof).

Hawaiin Days in the snow

Caleb, Abby and I headed up with Grandpa Stu to 49 Degrees North for some skiing and watching fools freeze. It's an annual event at our home resort when people try to ski/board across a pond of water. Always entertaining and fun. Caleb and Abby even got a small education as one of the participants dressed up as Elvis. Caleb and Abby had no idea who was Elvis, I did my best in explaining he was the king of rock and roll. Other than thinking that he was popular when I was young, I think they got the idea.

Silver Mtn Weekend

We spent the weekend up at Silver Mtn resort a couple weekends ago. It's a pretty cool resort about an hour from Spokane over in Kellog, ID. The ski hill is reached using a gondola which is always fun. Our stay also included access to the resort's indoor water park where we spend a couple days. The water park has one of those surfing waves for me to use on my quest to become a surfer. I've got the hair down, now I just need the skills.
The skiing was spring-like conditions. And then we got a taste of summer at the water park.

Christmas trip video part 7 of 7 again...

The youtube police busted me for using illegal music..Hopefully this one works.

Christmas trip video part 6 and 7 of 7

Part 4 of 7 again...this time with sound..

Seems I went a little too far with my copyright infringement and youtube took away my audio. So me, Jay-Z, and Snoop Dog (think Beatles and Beach Boys, but 60 years younger) had a little chat and I got the audio back up.