Spring is Here

A couple weeks ago we took a family ride on the newly paved stretch of the Fish Lake Trail.  We've used the older stretch of the trail quite a bit over the years and this is a welcome edition.  The trail was busier than I had anticipated but was nice for the kids and much longer than the older stretch.

Ansel likes riding on the back of the Big Dummy.  

  

Emmy just keeps pedaling and pedaling.

 

This weekend I took in some snow camping with the local mountaineer group.  It was fun.  Camping in snow is nice because there are no bugs or dirt and you can build things with the snow.  I dug a boot pit at the door of the tent that was very convenient.  

 The lack of snow this winter has made it easier to be ready for Spring and getting out.  We have plans to start backpacking again, with the kids.  Hopefully it works out.

Vacation Projects

I had some time off a couple weeks ago and got a lot of little projects done.  Cleaning and organizing the garage after installing some ceiling shelves was the most practical project, but wasn't quite photo worthy.  My favorite project was the coat hook rack I made.  I "reclaimed" some wood from a pile of garbage on our neighbor's property that had been dumped there years ago (gotta love that about the outskirts of Spokane), cleaned it up, trimmed it down, and mounted some nice hooks I picked up at Restoration Hardware.  I think it turned out better than expected and is quite practical.  In the hallway from the garage the kids tend to dump their school backpacks and hang their coats on the floor.  Now they each have a hook and I don't trip over their stuff when I get home after them.

 
  

The wood has been nicely weathered locally:

  

I also got lots of little errands run, spent some time in Ansel's class, bought a truck, and finished my taxes.  Among other things.