July 2022

The dog finally got fully vaccinated and we started taking him out even more.  We explored a local boat launch, kayaked at the old Teton Dam site and floated a section of the Henry's Fork.  At the old Teton Dam site Ezra caught a fish from his kayak.  Unfortunately Jim had forgotten to finish setting up his reel, and he had to pull the fish in by hand.  

Everest seems to like being "captain" of the kayak

We came home from our trip to the old Teton Dam to get ready for a Chukars game and dinner sponsored by our church.  We had a big thunder storm come through and it poured rain.  The game got canceled so we took a walk after the rain stopped and then had a family movie night.

Jim used the holiday weekend to work on a project he had wanted to do for a while.  The fence closing in our side yard is towards the back of our house, making it mostly front yard.  He moved it towards the front of our house (about 12 feet) and also made a gate on that side so that we have gates accessing our backyard on both sides. So before my kitchen window looked out into the front yard and now my kitchen window looks out into the backyard.  There is a tree right there for shade and we have used our hammocks out there as a great place to read.  It has been a nice transformation. 

The day before Independence Day our church had an outdoor service and potluck lunch afterwards.  The kids played games and had a good time.  There was a huge illegal firework display two doors down from us that night.  Our kids went outside to watch and the dog didn't seem to mind it from inside but outside was too much for him.  On Independence Day we went to the parade and watched from our friend's house.  We made a flag pizza on the BBQ and a flag dessert pizza too.    After walking the dog around 9pm, Jim and the boys walked down to a good viewing spot for the big firework display and I stayed home cleaning up while the dog slept.

 We floated a section of the Henry's Fork with our friends, the Waltons.  It was a pretty slow float, and because of a head wind we had to paddle some just to get anywhere and ended up using a dog leash to attach Elliott to Jim so that he wouldn't get left behind.  Jim and Ezra got to go fishing with some friends too.  They caught both kokanee and trout.

We got a pass that gives us access to lots of different activities in Idaho called the Get Out pass.  So far we have used it to go Rock Climbing, 2 different trampoline parks, and the Museum of Idaho.  The Rock Climbing place wasn't air conditioned and was pretty hot.  We went with a group of friends and the 12 and up crowd (myself included) got a lesson on belaying.  My boys had a late breakfast and didn't want to eat lunch before we started.  Ezra was having a ton of fun and climbing all over the place.  All of a sudden he got "tired" and couldn't move.  I realized how hot and hungry he must be and tried to get him over to the water.  He was super lethargic and once he got a drink he started throwing up all over.  That put an end to his fun for the day.  He felt much better after eating a banana given to him by the guy at the rock climbing gym and getting some food from our cooler.  

Genghis Khan is the big traveling display at our museum right now

We also had VBS at our church.  I helped with crafts for the 4-7 years olds.  Elliott did the adventure track and Ezra did the science track.  Emmett came a couple nights to help me out.  We had some "advanced" crafts like making cement stepping stones with handprints and tie-dye socks and the more help the better with those.  The last night was a celebration dinner.  Ezra and I missed it to take the dog to his first puppy training class, but Emmett, Jim, and Elliott went and enjoyed it.

We have been trying to walk the dog twice a day and I have been doing that with him most days.  So most days we get in just over three miles.  We tend to walk along a canal that borders our neighborhood and get to watch the progress of barley and potato fields.  We are looking forward to learning more about how to train Everest in our puppy class, especially teaching him to walk on a loose leash and not pull, especially as he keeps getting bigger.  Surprisingly Everest hasn't really destroyed anything.  We keep pretty close tabs on him.  He does like to dig stuff out of cracks in cement which is annoying and he sometimes rips up the grass.  He's gotten ahold of our stuff some, but has gotten caught before he does any damage.  He was trying to chew some of our furniture, but we sprayed a mixture of vinegar and water on whatever he was chewing and it seems to have stopped him.  He doesn't bother with untying shoes much anymore.  He loves to get rocks in his mouth to play with, chew wood (both sticks and leftover wood Jim gives him from projects).  He also likes playing tug of war with a rope.  Sometimes he will fetch a few times in a row, but it doesn't seem to be extremely motivating to him.

On our way to our first puppy training class

Jim took Ezra and Elliott to a fundraiser hosted by a local RC Airplane club.  They paid to shoot paintballs at RC airplanes and saw some interesting flying objects (an RC pterodactyl and surfboard).

Shooting paintballs at RC airplanes