So, this blog is about my kids. But every now and then, I get to do stuff that is so awesome that I have to write about it. Last weekend, my brother came down from Post Falls, and Eric (my brother from another mother) and Dad came up from Ogden. We spent 2 days on the South Fork with a Cyclocross race squeezed in between. The fishing was not great, but the weather was perfect. It was a lot of fun!

The Guys at Clacka Craft let us demo this boat for the weekend. It is the Clacka Max. It is an 18 ft boat that will seat 5 plus the rower. We had 4 guys in it for a total of almost 900lbs. It rowed beautifully. Despite being huge and heavy, I could still crab row this boat and hold a drift just like my smaller 16 ft model. This boat is on my dream list.

The nicest fish ended up in my belly. On the South Fork, it is the law to keep rainbows. I was happy to oblige.

Eric smoking it up on the cross race. He took 4th over all in the mens A race. I also took 4th in the mens B race. 4th out of 4. I was the slowest guy out there, but no one had more fun!

Summer time and the livin's easy

Ok. My first official blog was going to be all about our adventures this summer, but we’ve had too many to possibly give them all the credit they deserve. The biggest adventure was the birth of Andie Michelle on July 8^th. The older girls fell right in to their roles as big sisters, showing Andie the world as they see it.

In mid August, Andie did go on her first camping trip. We spent an awesome weekend in Teton canyon.

As far as Michelle goes, early summer meant she was mega-prego and by mid summer, we had a new bean that was too young for our wild weekends. This gave me PLENTY of excuses to take the other two girls out for some fun. We had multiple fishing trips on the Henry’s fork, complete with nights in tents. It was awesome.

The most notable night out was the girl’s first backpacking trip. We hiked the 1.3 miles into Aldous lake on the Idaho/Montana border. The trail is part of the continental divide trail and was perfect for 3 and 5 year old legs. I’m still not sure how I fit 3 sleeping bags, 3 sleeping pads, 2 pet pillows, a 3 man tent, cook gear, clothes, and enough food for a week (mom did not want her babies to go hungry) into my pack. It was completely awesome.

Fast forward to last weekend. I was chomping at the bit to go do something, so I used my usual excuse. “Honey. Would you like me to get the girls out of your hair for a couple of days?” Tee hee hee. I asked the girls what they would like to do. Of course it was Yellowstone. I bought an air mattress that would fit the bed of my truck, loaded our stuff, and headed out. (See James Halfpenny’s book about Yellowstone Bears. There is a great story about a grizz in the Indian Creek area bear named “The Tent Crusher.” This is why Michelle was much more comfortable with us sleeping in the back of my truck)

Our mission was to find bears. Kellie and Katelyn are both just crazy about them. We have had good luck lately, but not so much on this trip. We struck out. However, we did come across 10 wolves. 1 on the Blacktail Plateau, 3 at the east end of Lamar valley, 3 near Slough creek, and 3 more in the Hayden valley.

We spent a lot of time in the car, but had a total blast! 

Welcome to Jay Petervary's No Idle Tour 2011

Welcome to Jay Petervary's No Idle Tour 2011:
Go Jay P, Go!! I met Jay when I started doing cycloross back in 2008. His skills impress me.
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