Photo Update

Have posted a few pics of the kids from our weekend trip and also a link to a gallery of photos from my Mt. Whitney trip. Scroll down to view.

Weekend Fun

We drove out to our property near Duchesne on Saturday afternoon for some "get-out-of-town-and-into-the-wilderness" time with the kids. It's a bit of a drive (about 2 hours to get there), but worth it. There was a thunder/lightning storm passing over head as we arrived and the kids were a little disheartened, but it cleared up pretty soon after we got there. We took our dutch oven and cooked potatoes for dinner. The kids ran around on the rocks; Emily will not take a back seat to any one and very much has that "anything-the-other-kids-can-do-I-can-do-too ... and-don't-you-dare-try-to-stop-me-if-you-value-your-life!!!" attitude. She did really pretty well, actually. Pretty good climber and only a few tumbles.

We also took our new telescope to try out. It was a Christmas present from Robin. The kids really enjoyed looking through it. After dinner we let the kids wander a bit throughout the wilderness; not wandering too far mind you, but that was one of the main reasons we bought the property in the first place - the tromping through the wilderness by the kids.

We then roasted hot dogs and marshmallows to cap off the evening. Good times. We had rented a redbox movie (Alvin and the Chipmunks) for the drive home, which didn't start until about 9:30pm!!

We were feeling pretty good as parents when Ethan exclaimed that this was the "best day of my life!" Of course, the next night at dinner it also said the same thing because the food was yummy, so we're forced to discount slightly the fact of whether or not it really was the "best day" of his life; but still, it was fun.

As promised, here's a link to the photos:

Weekend Trip to Duchesne (July 2008)

Pics of Robin and Matt's Cruise

Two weeks ago Robin and I went on a 5-day cruise out of San Diego down the Baja Peninsula, porting in Cabo San Lucas and in Ensenada on the way back. Robin's parents and her sister Amanda and Amanda's husband, Adam, went with us. A good time was had by all.

Here are a few pics from the cruise:

Surviving Mt. Whitney

On Wednesday of this week I hiked Mt. Whitney along with my brother-in-law, Wade, and his brothers-in-law, Ryan and Mike Richey.

Very fun, and very exhausting. Still recovering.

What I ate during the day:

2 oranges, 3 apples, 3 bananas ...
2 clif bars (260 calories and 42g of carbs per bar) ...
3 PowerBars (210 calories and 42g of carbs per bar) ...
about 120 oz. of water, with 60 of those oz. being fortified by Special K protein water mix (30 calories, 6g of carbs per mixture) ...


We got up at 3:00 am California time, were on the trail at 4:20, summited around 12:30. Started our descent around 2:00 pm, got back down to the trail head around 7:30 pm.

UPDATE:

view photos by clicking on picture below (will take you to a gallery):

2008 Mt Whitney Trip