Kelly's Whitewater Park - Cascade, ID

A few weeks ago we headed northwest to raft the lower section of the Salmon River. On the way we had to stop at Kelly's Whitewater Park in Cascade, ID. It is an amazing place! They have created several levels of waves along a section of river for people to come and enjoy whitewater! You can kayak, float in a tube, surf, boogie board - whatever suits your fancy. And it is FREE! My favorite part was the bathrooms, seriously the nicest public restrooms in the world!

Darren and Brady on the upper wave.

Some father- to- son kayak advice.

Paige and Autumn carried this kayak a LONG way to get to run this rapid!

Darren surfing.

Brady in the big wave. I could watch him kayak all day, I'm such a proud mom. The crowds of people kept pointing at him - he's so little compared to all the other kayakers!

Justin surfing on the boogie board.

We could have left Brady here all week and picked him up on our way home. He loved it. The waves were really friendly and a perfect warm-up for the river. This is no doubt the best practice place! Such a great place to get a feel for the water, waves and eddy's.

The other kayakers kept asking him how old he was and how long he had been kayaking. When he told him he could roll at seven they couldn't believe it! I guess that is sort of a freak of nature sort of thing - especially if you've ever sat in a whitewater kayak!

Spudwoman and Mountain Bike Mania

Ready to go

Tomorrow is the Spudman Triathlon. I am not ready. I only started riding my bike 3 weeks ago after trying to rehab from a back injury.

I was going to just do the swim. Then I decided I could probably do the bike too. This morning I decided I would do the run too. Why not, I can always walk it. Hopefully. I have not put my running shoes on in 3 months. I am an idiot.

Darren got into the Spudman too. He has been sick for going on 2 months. He has not swam or ran. He is opting for his own Spudman. Somewhere in the South Hills on his mtn. bike. He may or may not be going all the way to Oakley.....

• bike pump - check
• water bottle - check
• wetsuit - check
• extra goggles - check
• shot blocks - check
• banana - check
• chamois butt'r - check and double check (you don't want to know)
• bottle of headshot to possibly be chugged 10 min. before swim - check (don't ask)
• a brain in either one of our heads - ??????

Standing for Something

When you want to have fun, who do you call? TED. He has this really cool rack on his truck and it is usually filled with fun toys. Tonight it held Standup Boards.

He has been trying to get us out on these for a while. We finally did it tonight.

I'm in my wetsuit so I could get a swim in while we were there.


The boys got the hang of it right away.

The Stand Up Gang.

There were some boys jumping off some cliffs at the back of the lake and as we approached they started yelling at Ted. "Ted, is that you? We didn't know you had a Stand Up gang!" Everyone knows Ted.

We stayed until close to 10:00. Beautiful time to be there.

Off into the sunset.

Shoshone Wave

So, we went surfing in Hawaii.....or was that Shoshone on the canal? It's hard to tell from this picture. And the conditions were so similar - sandy beaches, palm trees....or was that hard lava rock and sagebrush? What's the difference really?

The Jenkins came to visit and we had to take them to one of our favorite spots.

The longer the surf, the harder the fall.

Then a skydiver was reported missing. Suddenly he fell from the sky just as Brady was about to surf the wave!

It didn't stop Brady, he remained focus on the task at hand.

Sharing the wave.

Walking up for a second float down the canal. The Lazy River at Seven Peaks has NOTHING on this!

I haven't surfed it in a few years. I forgot how fun it was!

On Their Own

What do you get when you put three boys in three kayaks and turn them loose in the canyon?

Dinner?

This was the first time I let Justin paddle up to Vinyard Lake with no adult supervision. I had no doubt in my mind that these boys could handle it, but still.....We had so many obstacles in getting them to the lake.....no receiver hitch to be found for my car, Darren needing stuff delivered in the middle of all this, finally getting the trailer hooked up and loosing the tail gate SOMEWHERE along the way, leaving one of the boys with the boats to go find the lost tailgate, Paige thinking she broke her finger while she was home alone while I was doing all this. Nothing is ever easy, but they had a blast so it was worth it.

They paddled up Twin Falls Reservoir, swam in Vinyard Lake to avoid Poison Ivy and caught way too many Crawdads. A fun summer day if you ask me.

Fisher Creek

It just doesn't feel like summer unless we have biked Fisher Creek.

Darren, Justin and I headed north, picked up the Weber's along the way, and drove over Galena Summit into the Sawtooth Valley.

Justin smoked me to the top!

I haven't been on my bike for WEEKS because of an injury. I felt it today. UGGGGHHH! I hate being out of shape!






This is such a great ride. Eight miles up, eight miles down. The downhill is the most fun you will have on a bike. Banked corners, whoopty doos (?), and lots of smooth trail. There are a few scary spots, I found one and have a little blood to show for it.


My back did OK, I did a lot of stretching on the way. It is the drive up and back that killed me. As Justin and I drove away with the Webers, Darren headed up the trail again for a second loop before heading to Bradley.

I was a little jealous, mostly of the fact that I wasn't in good enough condition to do it twice, but I was quickly consoled when I remembered that Ketchum Burrito was on the way home!

I am motivated by food! And Diet Coke.

Paige's Trip

Paige got to go on a trip with Grandpa and Grandma Smith and her cousin. They went to Phoenix by way of St. George. The highlight was staying at Paige's great aunt's place! She was gone for a week, and we really missed her. It was pretty quiet around here without her!

Paddle boating in Clara's pond.

Clara's library.

They had to pass Grandpa's driving test before they could drive around on their own.

In Phoenix they went to an aquarium.

The awesome play house at Clara's. I think Paige was ready to move in!

Pretending to fall out the playhouse window?

Grand Canyon. Paige took great pics don't you think? She loved staying at Aunt Laurie's and seeing her cousin off on his mission. It was a great experience for her. We firmly believe that Grandpa just turned off his hearing aids in order to survive the giggling girls in the back of the car! Two girls that have only brothers enjoyed having a "sister" for a week!

For a tour of the playhouse, watch the video by Paige and Autumn.