Updates

The Bivalve Bash results have been posted for this year's run. Cheryl was 24th, Ama was 51st, I was 24th, and Jonathan was 28th. See the pictures too. Cheryl is on page 8 of the photos and Ama is on page 9, Jonathan was in the mix too, I believe he was page 2. I'm in the crowd on page 4, the bald guy in the foreground with the glasses on.

Gabe just celebrated his 6th birthday at the Furrer Farm. Fake dad, aka Scott, presented him with his first motorcycle, a 50cc Yamaha JR. It looks and rides like a real racing dirt bike. Gabe took all of about 10 seconds to get the feel for it before heading out into the pasture to ride through pies and chase the horses and cows. He spent well over an hour dinking around the fields smiling through his full face helmet. Soon the jumping will begin.

We spent a few days camping last weekend on the Stilliguamish river with some friends, it was a great time until it rained, duh WASHINGTON. Here are the kids wit their very own fire pit. We enjoyed the company of a couple other families sharing cooking responsibilities.

Last Wednesday we competed in our last All Comers meet. This season we will miss the last two due to work and travel. Jonathan decided to run a fast mile clocking a 7:23 for a 21 second PR! He then backed it up with an amazing performance in the Jogger's Mile; a race where the idea is to finish closest to your predicted time without the aid of a timing device. Jon predicted an 8 minute mile and ran an 8:01, winning the entire competition. The prize was a $25 Starbucks gift card, which mom promptly offered him $15 for, no sale. I did my annual Firefighter's Mile in full bunker gear and SCBA clocking a pitiful 10:44, a full minute and 22 seconds slower than last year.

Today was the opener for black bear season. We hit the Wallace River at 4 am, walking into our spot in the DARK. Talk about senses on full alert. The only action we had was a few grunts from a bear behind some blackberry bushes; he could smell us but not see us, we could hear him but not seem him. He lost interest in investigating us and silently wandered off. The berries will be ready for eating in a few weeks and the local bear population will begin moving around a lot more as the sweet blackberries become edible.

Life gets really busy here in the next week as we prep for heading to Steamboat Springs CO for the annual Hirst Family trip. There will be an entire new batch of kiddos this year as we add 3 newborns. Jonathan and Gabe will no longer be the children of the trip. The dynamic will be interesting. Ama, Gabe and I are driving down and flying back. Out route down will take us through Vernal UT and Dinoland! Gabe with be in paleontologist heaven!!

AND...

The boys, Cheryl and Fake Mom (Vicki) are competing in the Western Gaming (horseback games) at the Stanwood Fair this Sunday.

I think that's about it,

Tony