Well, my summer vacation is in full swing and I am enjoying every minute of it. Yes, I have tons of things I have to get done before July 25th, but I also want to savor the short summer I get this year.
We started out by taking Heather and Jon to Big City Cafe for breakfast. This is one of D's and my favorite spots in Boise. The pastries are delicious, as is the coffee, and the breakfast offerings are huge.
The Richert clan also did a lot of biking while we were all together. Jon and Heather brought their mountain bikes and we made sure they got a lot of use out of them. Our first ride was to the military reserve, where my very favorite trail can be found. We spent a good part of the afternoon playing up there and then Dave and Jon made a trip to the jump park that is down the street from us. That was our mini training ride for the full-day we spent at Tamarack Resort in McCall.
Things have started out great-this last weekend we had D's little brother and his beautiful wife visit us for a few days. They drove all the way from the central coast of California to spend some time with us before we head off to South America. We had such a great time with them, here are some highlights:
We started out by taking Heather and Jon to Big City Cafe for breakfast. This is one of D's and my favorite spots in Boise. The pastries are delicious, as is the coffee, and the breakfast offerings are huge. After breakfast, we were able to take Jon and Heather to the Boise Farmer's Market. Though it can't really be compared to the farmer's markets available in California, there is still a lot to see. We wandered through the booths, took advantage of the free samples and put our people watching skills to work. Most of all, we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather!
Later that night, D and I took the mini Richert's 
to a costume party some of our creative and fun-loving friends were having. We had a great time putting our costumes together, Heather and I were sporting Lee Press-On Nails and temporary tattoo's, and I would post a picture if I wasn't so embarrassed about what we all looked like. I will give you a picture of the part as a whole though, and then you can get an idea of the kind of fun that was to be had. It was great to introduce H & J to our friends, they fit right in and even joined some of the party competitions. Heather's burping abilities allowed them to take one of the most coveted prizes home, the garden gnome. Jon wouldn't eat the live fish though and they missed out on the Bon Jovi Mirror. Maybe next time.
to a costume party some of our creative and fun-loving friends were having. We had a great time putting our costumes together, Heather and I were sporting Lee Press-On Nails and temporary tattoo's, and I would post a picture if I wasn't so embarrassed about what we all looked like. I will give you a picture of the part as a whole though, and then you can get an idea of the kind of fun that was to be had. It was great to introduce H & J to our friends, they fit right in and even joined some of the party competitions. Heather's burping abilities allowed them to take one of the most coveted prizes home, the garden gnome. Jon wouldn't eat the live fish though and they missed out on the Bon Jovi Mirror. Maybe next time. 
The Richert clan also did a lot of biking while we were all together. Jon and Heather brought their mountain bikes and we made sure they got a lot of use out of them. Our first ride was to the military reserve, where my very favorite trail can be found. We spent a good part of the afternoon playing up there and then Dave and Jon made a trip to the jump park that is down the street from us. That was our mini training ride for the full-day we spent at Tamarack Resort in McCall. It was a very rainy day, but that seemed to make the riding even 
more fun. I had stayed pretty mud free until my bike slipped from under me on an open area of the trail. I knew I was going down about thirty seconds before it happened, so I did my best to enjoy the slimy slide. Thankfully, I was riding by myself at the time so there were no witnesses to my superman mud slide. I thought I was as covered as you could be, but it was nothing compared to what the Richert Boy's found themselves in. Here they are after Heather and I had already cleaned up.
more fun. I had stayed pretty mud free until my bike slipped from under me on an open area of the trail. I knew I was going down about thirty seconds before it happened, so I did my best to enjoy the slimy slide. Thankfully, I was riding by myself at the time so there were no witnesses to my superman mud slide. I thought I was as covered as you could be, but it was nothing compared to what the Richert Boy's found themselves in. Here they are after Heather and I had already cleaned up. 
Monday, Jon, Heather, and I did a recovery ride at Seaman's Gulch while Dave was at work. The ride was pretty low-key, which suited Heather and I just fine. Jon and Dave did another ride around Table Rock later that night. Crazy boys! Heather and I left them to it and spent the evening at Java catching up on reading and conversation.
We ended the Richert Weekend Extravaganza on Tuesday with a bike ride to Barber Park for a picinic. It was fun to ride along the Greenbelt and be able to share all of the hidden treasures of Boise with D's family. We keep trying to convince them to move here (they would be such great house renters!) but they seem to think they will miss the ocean. Oh well, we will have to be satisfied with their visits. Next time, we will see them in Ecuador!