Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

Memorial Day here in the U.S is the long weekend that really seems to kick off summer. Everyone who owns a boat dusts it off and heads out on the lake, people are out walking their dogs and mowing their lawn.  Winter is officially over on Memorial Day.  This year....not so much.

But we have been moaning about our pitiful Spring for weeks now and this weekend seemed to be the time to just forget about the weather and get out there anyway.

A family and friends bike ride along the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes seemed like just the thing. Some participants were a little less than enthusiastic but after a little coersion convincing they agreed to come along all the same. I think the location was a big drawcard although the promise of a donut stop may have been the clincher. The trail  itself is over 70 miles of paved path beginning at the southern tip of Lake Coeur d'Alene in Idaho and runs nearly all the way across to Montana.

Because of the wide spread of ages we decided to ride a small, fairly flat portion of the trail that ran along the edge of the lake.  We drove to the trailhead at Heyburn state park and biked up to Harrison where we stopped for coffee and donuts and then turned around and rode back.  A total distance of about 16 miles.



The water level in the lake was super high.{So...THAT is where all our rain and snow has ended up.} There were lots of submerged logs and debris in the lake and washed up on the shore. The Marina at Harrison was flooded and there were no boats out on the lake at all. You can see the fee station and dock at the marina are partly submerged.



 There was still lots to see though...a family of turtles swimming in the lake, some Great Blue Herons..(or GBH's for those in the know)...and an interesting sculpture kept us entertained along the way.

 I'm hoping this first group ride of the season sends Mother Nature the message and she now realizes that she better get her giddy up otherwise we will be holding summer without her.  Hopefully with more fun rides and loads more donuts.

It's Great to be 8

When you are 8, achieving happiness is simple...







If it takes a village to raise a child then it takes a culdesac to make the cake! ( It was SO good...yum)



Happy Birthday to a great little guy who is growing into a wonderfully funny and kind, young man.

Snapshot

This post is really just a whole lot of random things that I really should post separately but I just can't seem to get around to it lately. So here is a little summary snapshot of the last few weeks.

Easter.Of course there was also a lot of chocolate eating which makes it perhaps my favorite holiday.




My lovely brother sent us a package full of Easter eggs and some Australian flag tattoos to help us celebrate Anzac Day.



Soccer, soccer and more soccer....what can I say about that.

This week was picture day after the game.Smiling is obviously somewhat of a challenge for young boys.For some reason its hard to get it right.



And yes....this IS a faux hawk that Max is sporting.  Since Matt cuts the boys hair I'm never sure exactly what kind of hairstyle they will end up with until they step out of the bathroom.  It could have been worse...he could have been bald just in time for picture day!
 


Speaking of my husband, apart from been the hairstylist of the family he is also the baker.  He can make his own bread...FROM scratch. No cheating with a bread machine here. And it was SO good. We demolished this whole loaf as soon as it came out of the oven.



Bloomsday  has come and gone.  A 12km race here is Spokane.  I think there were around 50,000 runners and walkers this year. I ran it.  The kids and Matt walked it.  Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I think that part of it was that we scored a beautiful, sunny day.  A total surprise considering that this is what it looked like outside my house a day before.