"Evelyn is a natural leader who inspired the class to think deeper and hold higher level conversations"

This was on Evelyn's final report card for the year. I do not think there could be any better compliment. Go Ev!

*****

This is Maren. She's pretty awesome. She is also good at a lot of things.

Unfortunately, backpacking is not one of them.

At least not yet.

It all started on Friday afternoon when we arrived at the trailhead. There was a light drizzle of rain, and a pretty chilly wind coming up the canyon. There was also snow on the ground. The three older kids cheerfully jumped out of the car and put on some warm clothes. A little weather was not going to stop them.

Ready to go!

Pretty cold start.

Maren was cheerful too...for a while. She insisted she would be fine with her "jellies" on her feet (see picture) and her little skirt. I decided to let her win the battle for now and I put her warm clothes/shoes in my pack thinking she would quickly change her mind. We started hiking.

My pack weighed more than twice as much as the last trip I went on, and it was only for overnight (instead of three days). I guess that's just what happens when you hike with kids.

The kids carried as much of their own stuff as we could cram into their packs. Evelyn even carried her blanket in her hand the whole time since I refused to carry it for her.

"Hiking" is actually not the right word to use when it comes to Maren. I think it would work for the older kids. Maren, however, "delicately picked her way over the rocks." The extent to which this slowed us down cannot be overstated, seeing as the trail was basically covered in rocks. It took a lot of patience. That's okay though. I was determined that this trip would be a good experience.

But then Maren got cold. No problem, right? I whipped out her long pants and boots and offered them to her. She looked at them defiantly and refused to put them on. I tried to force them on. She took them off again. Finally, I at least convinced her to put socks on under her jelly shoes. But then the socks were on wrong. "They don't look like a princess" is what she said. She took them off.

What?! My patience ran out. I left her behind, thinking she would catch on that this was not a game and finally start walking. I was wrong. She just sat there and screamed. Like, really screamed. 15 minutes. There were probably other hikers in the area calling 911. There were probably bears and mountain lions running to find cover. And there was one very frustrated dad, and three other very frustrated kids who just wanted to get to camp.

And so I went back and put her socks on and adjusted them until they looked like a princess and hated the whole time that I was letting her win, but was at a complete loss of what else to do. It was getting colder and it wouldn't be long before nightfall.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, we turned a came to a clearing in the trees and could look at the ground we had covered.

Shoot. We had gone the wrong way. My fault. As a consequence of my navigational error, we were not even half way yet. Under normal circumstances this wouldn't be an enormous problem. We were only about a half mile off track. The problem is that we were covering less ground than that every HOUR. At least Maren was. The older three could have run to camp and back in the time it took for us to navigate our way over a log in the trail, but a team is only as fast as its slowest member, and in this case that was my sweet, sweet Maren.

Maren, who at this time, decided she was just going to lay down and die on the trail. Literally. She would not stand up. She just laid in the mud and moaned like the end was near and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. We tried coaxing her on. We tried bribing her. We tried leaving her behind. But she was determined. She was not going to move.

The older kids and I had a huddle and decided it would probably be best at this point to just call the trip off and head back to the car. Again, hating that I was letting her win but having no other option, I picked Maren up and carried her. Over a mile.

We made the best of things though, and the night actually ended up being a lot of fun. We "camped" in the back of the car, and told stories until late at night. The next day we woke up to a beautiful day and went on a little walk (probably a forced death-march from Maren's point of view) to a waterfall. It was nice. We also had fun exploring some of the rougher forest service roads and driving through mud puddles. Good times.

Our "tent." We are really roughing it here. 

The kids were pretty excited about the water purifier. It's nice when things I see as a chores are viewed as privileges to them. 

Beautiful morning

A pretty waterfall we hiked to.

When we got home the kids helped me wash all the mud off the car. All in all, I'd say it actually turned out to be a great trip. It wasn't the backpacking trip I was expecting, but we still had a blast. And next time, Maren will just stay home.

As I think back on this trip, I am glad that it ended up being a positive experience even though it wasn't what I was hoping for. I really, really want my kids to learn to enjoy being outside in the mountains- mostly because I really enjoy it and it means a lot to me and I want to pass that on. I realize that I could have forced things more, or that I could just give up and decide that it isn't their thing. I'm not ready for either of those options though. Maybe this is what it will come to eventually. For now though, I am all about creating great experiences for them that will make them want to have more in the future. I think we accomplished that here. Maren may not go backpacking again any time soon, but she definitely had a good time camping, and I'm pretty sure the day will come when she will be able to try again with a better turn out. At least that is what I hope. We'll see.

*****

Rachel and Addy went on a Silverwood date this weekend and had tons of fun. I can't say much about it because I wasn't there. When I asked Addy how it was she said "It has been a perfect day- almost like a dream." Sounds awesome.

*****

While they were gone, the rest of us went to the beach. The water was still too cold for Lindsey and me, but the other kids didn't seem to notice. Maybe I'm getting older? Smarter?

Have a good week!

A few days ago Rachel and I watched Lebron James and the Cavaliers win the first title in 52 years for Cleveland. I have to admit, it was pretty exciting and I got more emotional than I usually do over sports. I went to school in Cleveland and I know how much this means to the city. I also think it means a lot to Lebron as a person, and I think that's pretty awesome.

The real reason I am mentioning this though, is because the recent NBA finals caused me to look back over some stuff I had written back in 2013, and I came across a gem that was just too good to go unpublished. It has nothing to do with our week, but I'm putting it on here hoping people can enjoy this as much as I did:

*****

So, the other day I was just sitting at work, minding my own business, when the phone rang. "Hello," I said.

"Hello," said the voice on the other line. "I'm looking for a Logan Hazard."

"This is him"

"Great. This is coach Mike D'Antoni from the Los Angeles Lakers. We're in a bit of a bind and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind helping us out."

Well, I was a bit surprised, but I told him that I would do whatever I could. "What seems to be the problem?" I asked.

"Well, our star player, Kobe Bryant, is injured this week and we have a big game coming up. Now I'm confident that we can win that game without Kobe, but basketball isn't just about winning. It's also a show. It's about giving the fans what they want. And what people want is Kobe. They need to see him out there on the court, doing what he does best."

"I follow you," I said, thinking this would be a great opportunity to market myself to my little community. "So, how can I be of service?"

"Well...We want you to BE Kobe for a week. Do you think you can do that?"

At this I was a little taken aback. "What do you mean?" I asked, cautiously.

"We've searched all over the country looking for someone who resembles Kobe closely enough that they can step into his shoes and people wouldn't know the difference- sort of like a stunt double. Finally we came across your profile and it's a perfect match."

"Um...I think there's been a mistake."

"Look, if it's a question of money..."

"No- it's just that Kobe Bryant is- Well, for one thing he's black. And he's big. And he knows how to play basketball. That's not me. I'm very much white, and I'm pretty short, and I have yet to find another person my same age who is skinnier than me (except for my brother!). Oh- and I don't really play basketball either. In fact, my little sister can probably beat me in a game of HORSE. Like I said, I'd love to help but I'm pretty sure you've got the wrong guy."

"Listen," the coach said. "Are you Logan Hazard or aren't you?"

"I am, but..."

"Is this your social security number" (he proceeded to read off my SSN)

"Well, yea, but..."

"Are you a dentist in Post Falls, Idaho?"

"Yes"

"Did you eat lunch at precisely 12:24 last Saturday at Del Taco?"

"Yes"

"Okay- so you look here. You are speaking with a man who does not make mistakes. When I say you can be Kobe, I am one hundred percent confident that you can do the job. Now, I'm offering to pay you 2.3 million dollars each day that you are down here filling his place. Does that sound good to you? Are you going to walk away from that?"

"Well, yes sir- I mean no sir- I mean, I'll do my best sir, but I don't think people are going to buy it."

"Leave that to me to decide. Now, I've already arranged for you to be on a flight in four hours from Spokane to LA. You will be on that flight. I will be waiting for you at the airport. Do you have any questions?"

"No sir."

"Good. I'll see you in six hours."

*****

Now that I've got that out there, I can move on with our week. For starters, I want to congratulate Rachel on her bike race. 80 miles. 2nd place in her age group. 5th female overall. Pretty impressive.

First up are some pictures from Jason Duchow- a local sports photographer that does amazing work. We have purchased these pictures, but they haven't arrived yet and we can't wait to publish them, so you get the watermarked version for now. 

Here she is "pulling the line." I think that's a bike term that means she is in the lead and everyone else is drafting off of her- sort of like geese flying in formation.

As you can see, it was a cold, gusty, sort-of rainy kind of day. Not the easiest ride.

While Rachel was out in the elements, the kids and I went to the park at the finish line and had a leisurely picnic by the lake.

Kids were pretty intrigued with this dead fish and made me promise to put a picture of it on THC.

Meeting Mom at the finish line was the best part. Go Rach!

*****

Besides Rachel's race, we also had Father's Day this week. The kids gave me a great day of rest and relaxation, including a great breakfast, a relaxing lunch out, and some beautiful wind-chimes to hang by our deck. Sitting on the deck after the kids have gone to bed and watching the sun set over the mountains is one of our favorite Summer activities, and the chimes definitely add to the peaceful ambiance. Thanks guys- it's fun being your dad. You make it easy.

There's a "secret compartment" in the chimes with these notes inside of it, so I can think of the kids whenever I hear them.

*****

Well, That's about it. Here's a few more random pictures this week:

This is a thing I took the kids to where we learned about medieval knights and sword fighting.

This super cute picture of Lindsey was caught candidly while she thought she was by herself trying on clothes.

Have a good week!

It's eight o'clock in the morning and I am at work planning on writing this post in between patients. That is, if I don't fall asleep first. It is hard to believe that yesterday at this time I was camped high in the Grand Teton mountain range, getting ready to make the final push to the car. I had done over 50 miles in just over 2 days, but it seemed like we had been out longer than that. This losing-track-of-time is common for me in the mountains; somehow everything else seems to just melt away leaving nothing but you, your partner (Rachel, in this case), and the hills. It was perfect.

Let's back up though and tell about this weekend from the beginning.

Actually, the beginning took place a long time ago. Provo, Utah. I had met a person who shared two very important traits with me. First of all, Rachel was someone who I could talk with- like really talk with. I have always enjoyed discussing ideas- picking them apart and then reconstructing them or seeing them from another angle and trying to understand alternative perspectives; constantly forming or re-forming opinions, and then turning around to challenge them to see if they can withstand scrutiny. More than a mere intellectual exercise, my mind seems hardwired to process things in this way. Besides this, it often leads to interesting insights that I feel have helped me to better understand the world. Rachel, unlike many people, seems to not only share this same curiosity about the world as I do, but is also eager to communicate and argue (in the best sense of the word) about the things she sees. Because of this, I am confident that we will never run out of things to talk about or ideas to discover together.

The second important attribute that Rachel and I share is a passion for doing things. This can seem pretty unremarkable at first, until you look around and notice how many people there are who actually fit the definition of a "Nowhere Man" as defined by the Beatles: People who live life either in the past or in the future (or both), but somehow never seem to have time for simply stopping and enjoying the now. One of the first things that attracted us to each other was that when we said "we should do...", this thought immediately set a course of action into place to make it so that the idea was carried through to its fruition. Remembering the past is important. Planning for the future maybe even more so. But the now- that is when life happens.

Ok. Enough said. Obviously, Rachel and I met in Provo about twelve years ago, got married, and the rest is history. And as expected, we have never stopped talking or doing. In fact, we have tried every year to set aside a couple of days in a row for just us. This is much more than a weekly date night (we do that too), or a quiet evening after the kids are tucked away in their beds. I think this tradition has been one of the biggest building blocks of our marriage, as we are constantly having new experiences and adventures together to keep the flames burning.

So...the Tetons.

As we have had more children, and as they have grown up and started getting involved in their own things, it becomes harder and harder for us to continue this tradition of getting away. Thankfully, my parents have always been willing to step in and take them for a few days each summer to let us get out. This is definitely not taken for granted, and we are forever grateful for their amazing grand-parenting.

*****

This year, we drove down Rexburg on a Thursday night after work and spent the night at my parent's home. The next day, Rachel and I said our goodbyes to the kids and drove up to Driggs.

It was pretty windy- a good workout on our way up to Victor, and a nice easy ride back.

There is a paved bike trail that runs along the base of the Teton Mountain range between the small town of Driggs and the even smaller one of Victor. It is about 7 miles (14 round trip), and a lovely ride as we soon found out. When we arrived in Victor we stopped at a little cafe and had a great breakfast before browsing the little stores there. My favorite was a small consignment store specific to mountaineering gear. What a great place!

After returning to our car, we drove up to Jackson Hole where the rangers helped us plan our backpacking trip. We spent the remainder of the afternoon meandering around Jackson, and then got ready for our night out.

Isn't she radiant?! This was where we had an amazing dinner before going to a fun show at the Jackson Hole Playhouse.

Fun times

That night we drove to our trail head and camped so that we could get an early start.

*****

Before I get into the actual backpacking trip, I have to brag a little bit about our packs. Three days. Twenty pounds each. Oh, we are good. What's even more though, is that this trip was probably the most luxurious I have been on, in terms of extra creature comforts. Pillows and dedicated fuzzy warm socks just for sleeping, gourmet food, and plenty of deodorant...on a backpacking trip. I will never look back. I call it "ultralight opulence," and it is worth it.

After eating a nice breakfast we started hiking. I'm not going to go into too much detail about our route, because most people aren't that familiar with the individual trails and canyons of the Teton range. If you are interested then let me know.

Here are some pictures of the first day. Beautiful! Total distance: 17 miles

Rachel's super-hero chi is in the woodlands...

...mine is above treeline.

Almost to our camp

Made it!

*****

On the second day I got up early and did a 9 mile run up to some alpine lakes with a gain of about 1,000 ft/mile. Talk about a good workout! I also ended up coming about 30 yards away from a mamma black bear and her cub. That was cool. I also saw a ton of deer and elk, and had a random bird (I named him Larry) run about ten feet in front of me for about a quarter of a mile. When I got back to camp, Rachel was just finishing up on getting our breakfast ready.

Made it in time for the sunrise!

We got a luxurious start to our day and got some good hiking in. Total Miles: Rachel 16.6; Me 26.2 (Coincidentally, the same distance as a marathon)

It's hard to see Rachel in this, but I  couldn't bring myself to crop it and lose any of the grandeur. This place is magical.

Another lake we hiked to. I'll tell you what- pictures can not do justice to this place.

I think this is one of my favorite pictures of us, but I can't say why. 

Our camp

*****

The next day we got an early start and walked out. On our way out, there was a moose cow and her calf eating about 20 feet off the trail. There was also a little elk who kept playing peak-a-boo with us around a corner about 30 feet off. It was a beautiful hike.

Headed home

We had planned on an easy hitch back to our car, but we actually ended up doing a bit more walking than we expected. Finally, a seasoned old climber picked us up and we talked about routes while he got us as far as he could. Unfortunately, a road closure made it so I had to run the last three miles (which was actually sort of nice) and then take an hour-long detour to get Rach.

We finished up by eating a big meal and then heading home to our kids. Total distance: Rachel 42, Me 55

It was a great weekend.

Have a good week!

Sometimes I read through our blog and it strikes me how busy and active we are as a family. Seriously, we do a lot of stuff. We have been doing it so long though, that we don't even realize it any more. It is just normal. I like it that way.

At the same time, there is something to be said for this picture:

This is on an afternoon that Rachel was working and we were just hanging out at home and taking pictures of each other so that we could doctor them up to make ourselves look silly. After that we read our nightly story (we are working on "The BFG" right now) and then went to bed. Other times we build forts, or do yard work together, play with friends in the front yard, cook, or just each do our own thing. And it's nice.

I guess what I am saying is that I absolutely love our active lifestyle, but I am afraid that because there are so many "big" things to write about each week, there is rarely a chance to focus in on the little things that, when added together, are probably the most significant part of our family. So I just want to take a moment to realize that we have a lot of fun doing "nothing."

That said, let's move on to the "somethings!"

Ev, her teacher, and some of her best friends. She is the second one on the left.

During the week, Evelyn took a hike with her class down to Q'emiln park to see the waterfalls and do a bunch of nature activities. The class ended up going about 5 miles in 90 degree weather- not too unusual for Ev, but I can imagine it was not as easy for everyone else who was there. She must have a very brave teacher to take on a field trip like this.

All 4 kids are in this picture. Can you see them?

Or kids are ninjas! A few weeks ago we were at a "Family Fun Fair" in Coeur d'Alene and our family "won" a free month of karate lessons for the kids. I mean sure, it's a marketing gimmick and they want us to continue the lessons after the trial period ends. Well, with four kids who are interested, and classes taking place 2x/week, this might make for a pretty funny joke, but is nowhere in the realm of reality given all the stuff we have going on already. It's a fun thing to do though, and our kids are loving it. They even started calling me "sir" and are asking to do chores around the house (they had a lecture on "self discipline"). I'm a little weirded out, to be honest, but I can go with it for a while.

On Friday, I met Rachel at the discovery museum. One thing I have to say- Rachel is really good at spending time with each of our kids individually. She goes out of her way to do things they are interested in, and to talk to them during these moments about things that are important to them. Even Lindsey is getting old enough to recognize this. I try to do the same thing, but I find my time to be more limited and it's not always possible. I do think it is important though. Anyway, when I got there she went off to work and the kids and I had a good afternoon. That night, Rach and I went on a rock climbing date, topped off with a nice dinner at an Italian place. It was lovely.

Saturday was a super eventful day.

To start the day, Rachel went on her usual long weekend ride. Sixty miles this time, on a beautiful trail around nearby Liberty Lake. The rest of us made a big, heavy breakfast and then sat around the house playing computer games and watching TV.

After a while I got all the kids in the car and headed up to the Spokane Art Festival where Rachel met us on her bike. This was actually really, really neat. There were booths all over with artisans from around Idaho and Washington showing off their work. It is amazing to me the amount of talent and creativity that go into some of this stuff. The kids also got in on some of the action by making masks. Top it all off with a live big band and a Sinatra-esque singer, and it made for a really pleasant morning.

From there, I took Evelyn to downtown Coeur d'Alene where she met up with some friends from church to get Gooey's at the resort (supervised, of course). On the way there my car died, but we'll get to that later. While Ev was out with her friends, I found a nice little cafe and ordered lunch for myself. It was a beautiful day outside and I ate on the patio next to a 21-year-old kid busking for money with some beautiful fingerstyle jazz guitar. I read my book or watched the passerby while enjoying my food, and after giving the appropriate tips to my server and my entertainment I struck out onto Tubbs hill. There, I climbed up the mountain away from the crowds and just enjoyed the weather and sights and sounds of our town. Ahhhh...This place was made for me. It was idyllic.

So...the car.

On the way to Evelyn's thing, my check engine light went on, the temperature gauge spiked suddenly, and the engine started smoking and making grinding noises. Thankfully, I was able to safely pull into a parking lot and Rachel could get us in time to switch vehicles. While I was out enjoying the afternoon, the car was being towed to a mechanic where it was soon pronounced dead on arrival. Not worth fixing. Gone.

Alright. Well, on the way home, Ev and I went to a local dealership to check out our options. Later that same day, I ended up writing a check for the exact car I have been wanting for a long time. It's a Dodge Durango with a slight, hardly noticeable lift to give it a few more inches underneath. It is small enough to be "small," but big enough to seat our whole family. It has 4-wheel-drive and can get me where I want to go in the mountains, while at the same time maintaining its decorum during a nice night out on the town. The seats all fold down flat making a nice bed for hauling or sleeping, and it can tow anything that Rachel and I are likely to throw at it. I like it a lot.

At first I wasn't thrilled with the red color, but I got it anyway because it was a good deal. I have to say, the red is growing on me.

Sunday started bright and early for me with the Windermere Half Marathon. This was a beautiful run along the Spokane river on a mostly downhill course. I was hoping to actually place in this one, but was off on my target pace by just enough to miss the mark. I guess there's always next time. It was nice though, and Rachel and the kids all met me at the finish line. We went out to breakfast at a local cafe afterwords (where our kids were AWESOME and got several compliments from the people sitting around us), and then back to the art festival for about an hour.

I like the shirt for this one. That's the most important part, you know.

That night we rode our bikes to Super 1 (local grocery store) and got ice cream for Family Dessert night.

This week, of course, is the last week of school. No more homework. No more bus. No more parent teacher conferences or after school programs. No more day-long free babysitter. Bring on the Summer!

To celebrate, Addy and Jack had "field day" which Rachel and I got to participate in a little bit. It was a fun afternoon.

And now, we are busily packing for our vacation to Rexburg, where Grandma and Grandpa will take the kids for 3 days while Rachel and I try to get lost in the mountains.

What a life.

Have a good week!