Cooper Spur

I'm so bummed I didn't take my camera when we went to Cooper Spur. It's our second year going and this time we rented a house with my parents, which worked out great. It had a huge backyard to play baseball and run around, our own hot tub, a creek nearby to explore, and tons of room to have the Ronne's, Selby's, and their friends over for dinner and breakfast the next day. I think we had a total of about 25 this year. What was really fun was that we woke up to a ton of snow on Sunday morning. We had a few snow flakes while watching the pond skim on Saturday, but then sun for the rest of the evening, so it was a surprise to see so much snow on the ground the next morning! We even got to sit in the hot tub while it was coming down.

Easter!

We started Easter weekend on Saturday with an egg hunt at the kids' school. It ended up raining on us, but we brought umbrellas and made a quick dash before going under cover to see what they got. Lots of candy, but also a few tickets that they could cash in for prizes. We've done this egg hunt before and the kids love it and they get to see their friends from school. Saturday afternoon we made rice krispy Easter eggs instead of dying eggs the traditional way. Papa was home from a long busy call weekend, so he got to join in on the fun. We molded them into large plastic eggs and put a little candy "surprise" in the middle. The kids had a lot of fun decorating them with frosting too. I think you can tell the one's that Isaiah did, a little heavy on the frosting! Easter morning we were happy to wake up to clues that the Easter bunny had visited our house. Ashley remembered that we forgot to leave carrots out for him, so we weren't sure. We'll have to put a few extra out next year to make up for it. They figured he got enough from the other kids' houses, so he was ok and wouldn't be upset. He left "carrot clues" all over the house that lead to where their baskets were hidden. They always get excited about this part. After getting ready we headed to Grammy and Grandpa's church, then over to their house for another egg hunt, Easter baskets, and brunch.

Making rice krispy Eggs and eating the left overs!  We'll be doing this again next year!

Meticulously decorating

A little Reach the Beach training

Brian and I have been trying to get as much training in as possible for Reach the Beach. A few weekends ago the weather was gorgeous, so we decided to go for a long ride with the kids on the Spring Water trail. We really didn't know how long they would last, but it ended up that we did almost 30 miles and no complaints! I was really proud of them. We stopped after about 20 miles to stretch and run around on the playground, but then got right back on the trail and finished another 10 miles.

Steelhead Fishing

We had an offer from our guide to go Steelhead fishing since we weren't able to catch any Salmon last fall, so we took him up on his offer and went last Monday. My parents were a huge help and took the kids overnight and to school the next day. Since we were staying at the beach house Sunday night we decided to take the bikes and do a training ride on the Vernonia Trail. It was a very challenging 40 mile ride that made me realize how much training I still have to do for Reach the Beach! We did it in a little over 3 hours, though, so that wasn't too bad. I was hurting after, but somehow survived fishing the next day which was a very fun experience. Apparently not many people land a steelhead in the boat so I feel like I got really lucky. The boys said it was because it was a "tired" fish (they normally fight much harder than mine did), but I was just fine with that. Mine fought hard enough! We also got lucky with the weather and it only rained for a short time. The scenery was stunning since we were going down the Kilchis and Wilson rivers which have rapids and canyons. It took a little time to figure out the "song and dance" of steelhead fishing in a row boat, but I think we did pretty good. Keeping your balance while casting and making sure you don't tangle up your line is a real challenge! We weren't able to bring home dinner since I caught a native fish that we had to throw back, but Brian did hook two more and I another on the Wilson River which had much faster water and stronger, less tired fish that got away :(

My "tired" Steelhead

I've never seen this before, but it's the boat ramp to get into the river.  I couldn't believe how steep it was and they were teasing me that I should be the fist to be lowered down it in the boat.