4th of July at the Cabin

  It was a great weekend at the cabin for the 4th...perfect weather and great company.  Nana and Grandpa could only stick around for the parade, but it was well worth it!  The kiddos are a 'Candy Magnet' and there were some really cool floats...complete with kids armed with super-soakers.

  Sunday we finally got around to relaxing on the lake...

 ...floating around with Claire-bear...

  Our really great friends Ben and Missy joined us for the weekend, all the way from Boise.  Later that night the three of them were sick from sunburns...it was so bad Ben and I had to run into P-burgh to get some aloe-stuff.  Somehow I managed to keep the burning to a minimum, which is not usually the case.  The kids were fine and unburnt, but they couldn't understand why momma didn't want them to touch her legs!  
   I also made a cool little swamp buggy that I thought the kids would enjoy, but it turns out they weren't near as interested as the grown-ups!  Daisy didn't quite know what to think about it...

  Here's some cool youtube video of Grandpa behind the wheel...
Video: Grandpa Driving the Swamp Buggy

  And I got an idea to put the GoPro on 'er and see what that was like...gave a pretty cool perspective and a great view of Echo Lake at sunset...

Video: GoPro on Swamp Buggy

Boat Family Shake-down

  So I've taken the boat out a couple times but hadn't had the nerve (confidence) to do it...until the wifey's birthday.  I rebuilt the carb and took a VERY quick crash-course in outboard motors...who knew there was something new to learn about engines?  I thought I'd seen it all with bikes, cars, and planes but these boat engines are a different breed entirely.  Anyway, I got the engine fixed up so it would finally start with one pull so I guess it was time to do the deal.
  So as I was saying, Joyce really wanted to take it out with the kids so we took it to Hayden Lake....and....

...see those smiles?  Yeah, it was a great time.  What I thought was going to be the shortest boat trip of all about 1 hour turned into over three!  Of course, the canopy was a big hit and helped a ton.