Crazy, crazy, crazy!

This weekend Aaron's brother Rob & his wife Amanda came to visit along with their new baby Mason (he is SOOOO cute!).
We always have so much fun hanging out with them, & it was the same this time as well. We had a lot of fun activities planned: quad riding for the guys, pedicures for the girls, card games ect. All was going well and according to plan until part way through the guys quad trip. Here is a description of the trip that Aaron wrote:

It was the best of trips, it was the worst of trips......

Rob and I were given the opportunity to head out on the first adult-only quad trip ever. It started as the best quad day I've ever seen. An early start led to perfect weather, no dust, excellent trails, and almost no one else out. We rode up the summit after doing a bit of shooting. The quads were covered in the plentiful mud as we had spent the previous 4 hours playing in mud and climbing hills.
After videos and some of the finest scenery I've ever seen, we started heading back towards the car along a trail I'd been on once before. It started out as a quad trail, challenging, but doable. As the runoff and increased foliage made it tough, I assumed we were on the right trail. By the time I figured out that we were not on the right trail, there was no turning back. A couple of motorcycle guys came by, shocked that we were on this trail as it is only moderately passable by motorcycle, and not possible on quad according to conventional wisdom. As, according to them we only had a few hairy areas left, we pressed on. The going was incredibly steep (laterally) as we eeked along the sides of a continual drop-off. We rode rarely and used two guys to hold the quads on the trail. We would have loved to turn around, but going back would have been worse than going on. Fairly intense prayer was involved. As we worked our way around what we found out later to be the last tough spot, rob offered me a hand twice to get the first quad (mine) past. I declined, and as I was squeezing it past a turn about 20 inches wide with a sheer rock wall on the high side and a 50 foot drop-off on the low side, the rear axle slid out, and it started to fall. I had to make a split second decision of trying to hold it and going with it or just letting it go. The right decision left the quad careening over the edge, tumbling over and over, and smashing hard into the ground below. Both shocked, Rob and I climbed down to the quad, flipped it over, and, to our amazement, it started right up. The backpack full of supplies and electronics (more valuable than the quad, money wise) were completely undamaged. We marked the spot with the GPS, took the key, and I'll try to get the quad out once the river comes down. no trail, but I'll see if it can be done. We double teamed the second quad and got it down the trail, back to the car, grateful to be there at all. Luckily, our wives are quite patient and were happy to have us home in one piece. We are both incredibly sore, but happy to be home safe.

Lessons learned:
1. Hondas are indestructible.
2. We were blessed
3. Equipment is replaceable, people are not. Let it go.
4. Turn around early, even if the terrain is within your capability. The next hill may not be, and you may not be able to turn around later.
5. Make sure you are with the best of people. Your equipment and life may be in their hands. Luckily I had chosen well.
6. Verizon service is outstanding. we had coverage where we had no business having coverage. Having a cell phone charger on Brian's quad was handy.

Best wishes to all, and thanks to the wives for being so understanding on our being delayed....

The end of Aaron's scary story.

So, yeah, other than that MINOR (sarcasm) accident it was a great weekend! Amanda & I went to a farmer's market while the boys were gone (& we were able to test out my "new" Craigslist double stroller! YAY!):


& still got our pedicures (which were heavenly) after they got back:

& we came home to the guys having cleaned the house & made dinner!! They even had a candle lit (probably 'cause they wanted to play with fire.....).