Fort Huckleberry

July is huckleberry season at the cabin. The patch is literally out our back door, so we decided to take advantage of it. The mosquitos are out of control in the huckleberry patch, just as they were last year. This time we came equipped to do battle with them. Here is a picture of our little pickers ready for action.

Here's a picture of Elena helping me pick berries. She picked for a solid 15 minutes.

Luis, on the other hand, picked all day every day. His son Alex would deliver food, water, or beer and an empty bucket every hour or so. We had to drag him off the mountain each evening for dinner.

This is a banner year for huckleberries. There were lots of really big berries.

On Sunday afternoon Karen instructed me to keep Alex and Elena out of the cabin so Marcus could take a nap. I took them to the flattest spot I could find in the huckleberry patch and instructed them to build a fort. Alex and I discussed defensibility and weaponry. Elena added flowers to make it pretty. She also stashed huckleberries inside to share with any friends that might happen along. She is such a girl! Here is a photo of their fort. They are inside, but you really can't see them.

Here is our haul from the first weekend of huckleberry picking. Seven gallons.

Luis and I returned the following weekend without kids. My parents also joined us. It's amazing how productive you can be without kids. Seventeen gallons!

Luis and I set our trophy berries aside, so here is our bragging rights pic.

I Just Wanted Some Ice Cream!

Karen and I went for a bike ride the other day. I told her I wanted to ride to the convenience station on Hwy 45 to buy some ice cream. She thought I was joking until I rode up to the store and pulled out the cash I had stashed away.

We had a nice ride and it wasn't too hot (thanks in part to the ice cream). We may do an organized ride in Fruitland in a few weeks. I'll have to cross-reference the course map for ice cream stops before I commit.

Here's a selfie we took during our ice cream stop.

Canyon County Fair

We took the kids to check out the fair again this year. Sprout really wanted to hit the rides, so Karen stood in the mile-long line to get tickets while I distracted the kids. We headed toward the animal barn but our mission was thwarted by the ice cream truck.

About the time we sat down with our ice cream, Karen texted that they opened another line and we  had to have the kids present to get wrist bands. We shoveled down the ice cream and headed over to the rides.

The kids loved the rides, especially the house of mirrors.

Sprout may be the first four-year-old in history to fasten her own seatbelt on a fair ride.

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Sprout wanted to go on one of the bigger rides called the "Octopus." It looks something like this:

The Octopus consists of many moving parts. The whole thing spins around and tilts from side to side as it spins. There is a piston at the center of it that gives a little kick when you hit the top of the rotation. Individual cars spin freely. There are no seat belts. The first time we were up high and the piston kicked in, our car did two quick spins. She fell into my lap and started crying. My stomach churned. As I held onto her and clutched the handles, I took note of the condition of the welds. I could see daylight on both sides of some of the welded pipe. I realized this was the exact same machine I rode as a teenager, and its age was showing. I desperately wanted to signal the operator or Karen to stop the ride to save my white shorts  (I was sure Sprout was going to puke because I was close myself), but I was too occupied holding onto her and the lousy handle. There weren't any people in line, so the operator was letting us get our money's worth. I finally managed to get a signal to Karen and the operators, and the torture was over. Sprout was done with rides at that point, so we headed over to check out the animal exhibits.

Last year at the fair, Sprout really wanted to ride a pig. She almost cried when we told her that kids don't ride pigs. As we wandered through the barn, a very nice teenager, Mason, offered to let Marcus go inside the pen with his pig. He then proceeded to lift Marcus into the pen and hold him while he rode his pig. Sprout had zero interest in riding the pig. I asked Mason how showing went and he said it was all great until another kid's steer stomped on his foot. I then noticed that he was leaning on the fence and putting all of his weight on one foot. He said that they planned to head to the ER to get it checked out once he was done taking care of his animals. If my kids turn out anything like Mason I will be a very proud father.

The Dog Whisperer and Other Cabin Adventures

We've been to the cabin four times since my last blog post. For the first trip, Papa Les joined us. He brought his dog, Poppy. To say that Elena loves Poppy is an understatement. Poppy is the perfect size and she comes complete with a leash!

 

Elena took Poppy for a walk every five minutes. Seriously. 

Here she is demonstrating her "Eat yummy food just out of range" technique. At least she followed instructions not to feed Poppy. Poppy ate a toy a while back and we nearly lost her. Her diet is fairly restricted now and it doesn't include the 5 rawhide bones/day that she gives our dogs.

We enjoyed a nice campfire with Les and Karen's cousins Bruce and Nancy, who own the cabin next door. Note where the leash ends.

Here she is with Papa Les. Again with the leash.

Meanwhile, Marcus stole my hat and posed for pictures.

Les went for a long ATV ride and we took the kids up to a local mountain "lake." We didn't make it to the big lake, but this one was scenic.

Here is view of the Cascade Lake on our way up the mountain.

Here are some pictures we took along the way:

Karen went for a run one morning on the road in front of the cabin. When I heard bells, I texted her that she had better get home quickly or her running shoes would never be the same. She was too late.

I think this trip marked the end of Marcus' "easy keeper" days. We have very few pictures from our outings after this point. Normal cameras are too bulky to carry around while chasing after him.

We spent a weekend at the cabin with my parents and my brother, Kory, to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary. We took a picture of one thing that weekend. Seriously, it was a major blogging failure.

One thing my parents wanted to do was to go for a boat ride in Grandpa's boat. So I hooked it up to the ATV and drove them around...

We spent a few hours trolling for trout and had a great time while Dad caught a couple of nice fish. Congratulations on 45 years!

Second Child, Second Birthday

I don't know what the statute of limitations is for reporting your son's second birthday, but Marcus hasn't turned 3 so I think I'm good. He turned two on June 6th. We went all-out for his birthday, of course (we had family over for a BBQ). Here he is posing with his cake.

We all know what he's thinking about...

And here he goes! Karen wasn't watching him and I wanted to see how this would unfold.

Here's tip from Marcus: In order to scoop cake into your face quickly, it's best to place your mouth as close to the bowl as possible.

Next we opened presents. He got a train set from my parents. The train set came in a big box (forefront). He LOVED the box. Later, after we hid the box , he decided that the train set was pretty darn fun too.

 

We celebrated Karen's Dad John's 39th birthday on the same day.  Luis bought Marcus and "Grampie" matching gifts. Only Marcus' gift was much larger.

 

When we visited the Dare family a couple of months ago, Matt and I talked about our kids. When we had Elena he congratulated me for "not having a boy." I told him that Marcus is our sane, careful child. I told him that the "boy" curse was not as bad as he predicted. Matt laughed and told me that Marcus is "100% boy."

 Matt was frickin' right. Over the last couple of months he has become a very energetic wrecking machine. As I was making dinner tonight, I found him scattering flour across the kitchen, playing with paint, trying to drink my beer, and standing on the table. That was like 15 minutes.

His favorite game is to run away when he knows you don't want him getting into something. This game is much more fun if you chase him screaming, like when he's too close to the road. I remembered a trick I learned about 15 years ago in a horse clinic: how to catch a skittish horse. His tips were to avoid eye contact, look at the ground, pet some other horses and nonchalantly circle around and wander up to the horse. This tactic worked for a solid two months but I think he's on to my game. I may have to resort to carrying corn around in my pocket.