Four wheel, for squeal!

One morning Kyli and I decided to take the kids for a quick trip up to Torrey's Hole (an area just up the highway named after the restaurant that my grandparents owned once upon a time). We thought it would be fun to see how they reacted to the ATV's and also to share with them a place that holds many fond memories from our childhood. The kids had fun throwing rocks into the Salmon River and Kyli and I had fun trying to skip rocks (I swear I used to be pretty darn good, but you wouldn't know it based on my most recent performance). Veronica took some time to warm up to the idea of playing in the sand and water (the morning air was a bit on thebrisk side), but soon the two of them were drawing in the dirt and having a blast. I had to laugh because there is nothing like a trip to play in cold water and mud to bring out thedifferences between boys and girls. Cael had no problem getting dirty and Veronica pointed out everyspeck of dirt that found its way onto her body (it was pretty darn cute and fun to watch)!

We took Cael on a couple of trips and he seemed to love it. The first time we went up Thompson Creek with Chris and Veronica and the second time Ryan and I took him up Peach Creek. The ride up Thompson Creek was a lot of fun (although we were sad Kyli couldn't come because her back was hurting) and we stopped to take pictures as well as enjoy a beer or two (the kids had juice), not to mention all the absolute quietness that is Idaho (a much needed change from our chaotic lives back in Denver).

Kyli and Chris left on Sunday so Ryan and I decided to take Cael for another ride up Peach Creek (lots of creeks (cricks) in Idaho)! It started out great with a meandering road that would eventually lead us to the actual trail we were looking for. Cael switched back and forth between riding with Mommy and then Daddy. As we headed up Peach Creek I was a little apprehensive because it was a much different terrain than what we had just left. I wasn't comfortable driving with Cael so I handed him off to Ryan. The trail got steeper, rockier and more narrow as we climbed and I started to get nervous. Towards the end of the ascent Ryan was leaning as far to the right as he could while also keeping Cael on the ATV in order to prevent the four wheelerfrom falling down the hill immediately to our left. Finally Ryan stopped all together and told me we were going to turn around. Cael and I went and did some exploring leaving the actual maneuvering of the vehicles to Ryan. The machines are heavy and can weigh up to 800 pounds a piece so you DEFINITELY do not want one of them falling over the top of you. It got a little scary for awhile, but Ryan managed to get them both turned around and then walked them down to an area that was a little wider and more conducive to the type of riding we wanted to be doing with a 2.5 year old.