Spokane Pictures

We have some shots of Riverfront Park downtown, siblings at the 4th of July barbecue, pictures of our drive and my ride up Mt. Spokane, and then some various pictures of the countryside I got to see on all my bike rides.

Spokane

After a week in Sandpoint we headed down to Spokane for a few weeks to hang out and see friends an family. It was a typical trip in that I worked one of those weeks, we had a nice 4th of July gathering and celebration of John's 70th birthday, I rode up Mt. Spokane on July 4th, and the kids with Pat and Melinda went and saw fireworks.

Other than that, we just kind of hung out. We did some crawdad fishing in the Spokane River, I rode my bike a lot, and we did whatever else we felt like doing on the day. The weather wasn't particularly warm, and we had already gotten our fill of sand and water, so we didn't do too many things outdoors. We played games, walked around Riverfront Park, went up to Manito Park, and ate froyo and drank coffee. Pretty fun.

Lake Cruise

Pat and Melinda joined us in Sandpoint for the weekend. Although we didn't have great weather, we were still able to have some fun.

Today we took a couple hour boat cruise around Lake Pend Oreille. We saw some bald eagles and nests in the distance and parts of the lake we otherwise would have never seen. Towards the end of the tour the kids were able to steer the boat and were given honorary captain certificates. It was a fun experience and not something we are able to do back home.

Lake Pend Oreille

Today we drove towards the southeast side of the lake for a short family hike on Mineral Point Trail. The view were amazing. There were many times when I felt like I was in another country, or another world.

Sandpoint, Idaho

This summer we decided to go back up to the Inland Northwest. Due to all the restrictions, we felt it best to drive up and spend time in a place that we already were very familiar with and that was relatively open. Northern Idaho definitely fit that description.

We spent a week in Sandpoint, mostly going to the lake and riding my bike around the area. You can see a lot of new things on a bike. I went back up Schweitzer Mountain and otherwise rode around the general area. We stayed in a nice, but small and older home on third street. Being within walking distance of downtown was nice.

The weather was good until the end of the week when Pat and Melinda joined us. Regardless, it was so nice to head out of town for some R&R and a change of scenery after being kept at home for the past several weeks.

Jonathan's 10th Birthday!

Jonathan is 10 years old! Due to the circumstances this year, a group party with friends really wasn't a viable option. So, we decided instead to have a small family party and then his friend from school, Michael, came over later in the day to hang out and have a sleepover.

As you can see from the pictures, Lego Star Wars was the theme this year. By theme I mean the only thing he wanted and received. Micheal came over and they jumped on the trampoline, had a few Nerf gun fights, watch movies until midnight, played with Bailey, and otherwise just hung out together. Julia disappeared and spent the night over at the Stremmel's (Brooke and Rachel) house.

I would like point out that the Millennium Falcon box is so large, Jonathan can barely see over it!

Second Annual (Mostly) Bikes up Pikes

Girl Time at the Cabin

Julia had so much fun at the cabin last week, that she and Stacey took Brooke and Rachel there for a few days. They had a great time together and even waded a little into the pond!