Unexpected week of fun!

After a weekend of hanging out with friends i was ready to do a hike and get back to work. Things changed a little. Last Monday I woke early to hike The Grand Canyon with my buddy Lynn. We went 2 hours down to Phantom Ranch and the Colorado River. An hour lunch while soaking the feet in the cool Angel Creek. Then a 5 hour hike out. An excellent, fast, tough, 17 miles on Monday. Not bad for no prep hikes. Lynn was an animal and could have ran if I wasn't with him. After driving home Monday night and sleeping great all night, I woke up, unable to walk like a normal human. My calves were KILLING! I was not able to return to work Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday due to this ailment. By Friday I had done enough Yoga and other stretching to move like normal so I went to Holly's boot camp with her and had no issues.
My other buddy Nick wanted to go cat fishing. So we loaded the kayak on "The Super Pickle", packed some other gear and headed out to Canyon Lake where we spent the night fishing. Nick hauled in 4 nice cats, with the biggest being 23 inches.
A great week all in all!





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Our 13th Year Anniversary Party

I know, I know, I don't look like I've been married for 13 years. I like to follow that one up with "I don't look like I've had 5 kids either!" BTW (by the way) Holly doesn't either.
So here we are married, raising kids, growing up, and happy as can be.
I took Holly camping, and yes I know she deserves more than a campout but she just wanted a lot of time to chat and I just wanted... to build a fire.
In addition to camping we decided to live barefoot for the rest of our lives, like the Dual Survivor hippy. See pics below






We had breakfast burritos


We went on a hike, and decided to wear shoes again for the rest of our lives.





And yes, we did chat

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Fossil Springs

I have discovered many Arizona "Gems" over the years.  I have come to know that Arizona has a few more things to offer than barren desert, cactus, and a the big ditch. Fossil Springs is an oasis in the desert. As the temperatures cooked us for the last two weeks, we devised a plan to escape the inferno and went camping up the mountain near Strawberry. We broke away for a short trip on Saturday to enjoy the cool waters of Fossil Springs. Our Adventure Beast (Ford Excursion) took us down the narrow road that hangs over the cliffs edge the entire drive down the canyon, so we could take the shorter hike on the creek side trail with our 5 hooligans. We were also accompanied on our adventure by our Queen Creek friends The Ethingtons and my brother and sister in-law Jamie & Jennifer.

I did not jump off this waterfall... this time. I did not want any of the drunk people (standing around watching jumpers) to attempt to jump in and save my life.

Adventure Boy on rope swing

Re: Toby. It's in his blood to love adventure. We've bread him this way.  

In July we had a family reunion in the White Mountains of Arizona. The theme was to enjoy the small town and small town activities we did as kids. It's hard to let kids do what you did as a kid. However, I'm glad I was there with my kids to see how much fun they had!

Investing in good times and great kids

I sold our boat yesterday.  Calm down. Get control of your emotions and let me explain.

I want to preface this with FACT that you can't put a price on all the experience, memories and patients our boat kindly named "Hole in the Water" has afforded our family. Memories that will last a lifetime for our kids, friends and other boaters who have had to put up with her over the last 2 summers. Admittedly, I only got a fraction of the $1,000,000 asking price.

We raise our kids with adventure in mind. Constantly forcing them out of their box and comfort zone. And us out of ours. It build confidence. It builds character. It builds trust.

So by now your asking "then why sell out?"
To put it simple, our boating season is wrapping up this year as school has started for the kids, and we won't have the opportunity to go boating next year because..........

Were planning a 9 week super adventure for next summer!

Were planning to travel around the good ol' USA for 9 weeks in our Excursion, visiting family, friends, and once again shoving our kids (and ourselves) outside our box.

Were buying this "Truck top tent" for the Excursion.

To be able to afford a trip like this, were not going to be able to stay in hotels, eat out 3x a day, etc. So with our boat money were buying a truck top tent and other supplies needed for our journey that will again build character, confidence and.... you get the point.

Let us know what you think!

Reunion: an adventure success (click photo's for better clarity)

Many wonder what makes a family reunion successful. I have a list. #1) No lost limbs, bleeding that we can't stop, or death of a reunion attendee. #2) and a close second, attendees continue to "like" each other's facebook status on a regular basis when it's all said and done. #3) I will leave #3 up to you.



We celebrated this guy's 80th (not a typo) Birthday. He is a co-founder of The Allen Lemoyne Caldwell family. And he draws quite a crowd.

We did some adventuresome activities for 60+ (not a typo) people (all direct descendants of Mary Jean & Lemoyne)



We did some biking.



A 10 mile ride like we did as kids everyday to school and back



We played in the creek like we did as kids



We joked around like kids



We made fun of each other like we did when we were kids



We horsed around...



We talked like we never did as kids



And when its all said and done



We call it a great time and shine on.



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Salt River Recreation

Every year, as per tradition, my family along with my in-laws (Hunts of Mesa) and who ever else expresses interest, spend the day on the lower Salt River. Don't get this part of the river confused with the "boobie" salt river. We enter the waters a couple miles down stream from the shenanigans.
We jump in with various floatation devices (kayaks, tubes, etc.) and float 4 miles down to Granite Reef, stopping half way to have a picnic and throw rocks.


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Backpacking Aravaipa

Above: Us driving back home. (We're this happy all the time though)

Just got back from an awesome backpacking trip with my lover Holly (aka Hot Wife). We went with our amigos Lynn & Cameo (random fact: We share the anniversary of September 11, 1998). 2 well spent days in Aravaipa Canyon.





We saw 5 other people, 2 Coues deer, some kind of white skunk and FIRE FLYS!




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A Little Indoor Recreation

So it's getting hot outside and we have no pool. We needed an indoor hobby. Best solution? Expand our horizons from Outdoor rec. to jamming the guitar! Toby's hip hop class is "rapping" up next week and he's now transitioning to the guitar. The younger girls are staying in dance and Tianne is doing some piano (looking for voice too). BTW we found the best guitar instructor ever (Gene Simmons!) jk.



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Making it count

Livin' the dream!

I love spending time with my boys (outdoors). We try to do a father & sons trip every year. We spent a little quality time at Roosevelt Lake this past weekend. 
We invited 9 friends to join us this year (2 came with their boys). We were glad Nick and Jason (not a couple) were able to make it with their boys. Picture it: fishing, camping, boating, swimming, eating, chilling, and glow sticks. We forgot the marshmallows :( and still had a good time! And that my friend, is how you measure success.

The biggest fish... of course

Grand Canyon Hike with the Kids

It has been said that any journey or great adventure begins with a single step. This I have found to be true. In my own experience, any journey or adventure is greatly intensified by adding children. I learned this by carrying an extra 15-20 lbs of "stuff" in my pack. I am so excited that my kids are starting to reach the age where they can make a meaningful contribution to our adventures.

Facts:
1) When you plan a Grand Canyon trip, reservations generally have to be made 3 months in advance. We planned this trip in January.
2) I worked 12 shifts in a row, up until the day before this trip. Therefore, I did not pay attention to the 90% chance of rain (at the bottom) and expectation of 6-12 inches of snow (on top) until the day before we left.
3) Craigslist is amazing. No need to ever cancel a trip because of in-climate weather. I found a 4 person backpacking tent (brand new), just 10 hours before we left on our trip.

Front from left: Toby 10, Tianne 12, Brian 13 (Mark's son), Mark
Back row: Me, Jamie (my brother)

We hiked down South Kaibab Trail and spent 2 nights at Bright Angel campground (next to Phantom Ranch). On the third day we hiked out on Bright Angel Trail.
Day 1. Overcast, windy, sprinkles
Day 2. Overcast, sprinkles, rain, and rain all night
Day 3. More rain, snow the last 4 miles out.

We Had a great time, despite the weather and long exhausting hikes. Mainly because we ate well, and caught a fish.

Look how happy we are at the end of our adventure.
See video below for slide show

Lucy the "Raging Ball of Fur"

Lucy is my daughters Christmas present and our family's best friend. She's a 5 month old "Aussiedoodle". LIKES: attention, treats, fetch, and tug of war. DISLIKES: people who do not complete her likes list.

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UNADVISEABLE!? Of coarse, because Thats How We Roll!

My brother-in-law, his cousin simply known as Steve, and I spent 4 days backpacking in the Grand Canyon's rugged back country in an area known as The Gems, named after the side canyons in the area (Ruby, Saphire, Turquoise, etc). This trip was highly discouraged by the park service. Partly because the road to the trail head (South Bass trail head) had recently received a lot of snow, was very muddy, and on a dry day usually requires a 4X4. Secondly, we planned our 50 mile death march in a 4 day trip (side note: Don't put 50 mile death march on the permit request, raises Red Flags). To get the permits to do the trip, the park service required us to sign additional wavers. The wavers were signed without hesitation. Thats just how we roll.

Left to right: Steve, Nate, R-Dub, not pictured Rex (our driver)

Last San Tan Hike for a bit

My 4 day back country Grand Canyon death march is next week. I have been doing P90X (im ripped) and various day hikes to prepare. Went mountain biking yesterday. I pulled 2 slugs in the bike trailer who kept yelling "faster! Faster!", then i crashed into a cactus and palo verde tree, racked myself on the handle bars and had to push the bike and trailer up out of the wash that we were stuck in. i still love them and yes it WAS their fault.
Today i set out to redeem recreation with a hike. I did 11.5 miles in 3.5 hours with a 40lb pack. My wife was nearly appalled with some funky odor when I got home. As I embraced her lovingly in my arms, I assured her that it was the smell of pure awesomeness.

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Dating My Girls

I thought it would be good to take my girls out on a date so they would know they are special. I have heard that there are several different love languages. I am admittedly a love language moron. However, we had a great time. I showed them love with quality food, time, gifts, entertainment, and of course yogurt jungle.

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Another day another hike

Hiked this afternoon in the San Tan Mountains. 5 miles round trip. Nice view overlooking the East Valley in this fine 70 degree weather.

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