27 July 2014 - Joanne's Birthday

This week was non-stop fun.  On Monday, I formed a little motorcycle gang (i.e. a guy from church and some of his friends) and we rode to Stanley, Idaho, a little mountain town surrounded by 12,000 foot peaks.  It's about three hours east of Boise.  This is us stopped at a scenic overlook at about 8,000 feet.

A view of Red Fish Lake with mountain peaks behind.  On July 21st, it was only 68 degrees.  We ate lunch at the lodge here.

After my return from Stanley, the next day was Joanne's birthday.  Jessica was at Boise State for an EFY-type youth conference (BYS specifically).  I had arranged for Emily and Madeline to stay with Eric and Laura while Joanne and I had an overnight adventure in McCall.  McCall is a Park City-like town about two hours north of Boise.  It sits on Payette Lake.  Here we're mountain biking in Ponderosa State Park.

After our ride, we literally cooled our heels on a small beach on the lake.

Sunset over the sailboat marina at Payette Lake.

The next day we drove the truck up past Brundage Ski Are to Brundage Lake.  The water was so clear you could see all of the rocks deep beneath.  One of the beautiful places on earth. We mountain biked here too.

 Later in the day, we went back to Ponderosa State Park and drove/hiked to the top of Osprey Lookout, a basalt cliff overlooking Payette Lake.  Joanne has conquered the peak.

Back in town, the girls and I made a homemade vanilla bean frozen yogurt cake for Joanne's birthday.  Lest anyone wonder, the candle on top is a question mark.

Blowing out the candles.

The girls were creative and got Joanne 5 Second Rule.  It's a fun game and we played it for her birthday.

On Friday, I got some inflatable kayaks from the college's Outdoor program.  We took them to the Boise River for a three mile float.  Joanne is in the foreground here and Jessica and Emily are behind.

This was us at our launch point, less than five miles from our house.

Jessica and Emily weren't always in sync, but they eventually got the hang of the tandem kayak.

On Saturday, our stake held a Pioneer Day celebration.  Among many activities, the girls hauled Madeline in a handcart.  I estimated that I cooked 300 pancakes that morning.

And on Sunday, we rested.