How I spent my Labor Day weekend

All our kids, three spouses, and three grandkids under one roof—fun times!

I took Friday afternoon off to do some fishing with Clarke and Derek. (Dan stayed home to study and Shawn had to work.) We fished on Henry’s Fork just north of Ashton. It was a beautiful day and we could see the Teton Range in the distance. We all caught trout but none large enough to keep. [They have to be over 16 inches.] Clarke waded in too deep and filled his hip waders. I waded out to rescue him and filled my boots as well. There were several times when we thought we’d both be swimming. The stupid thing is I had two pairs of chest waders in the truck but didn’t think the water was deep enough to warrant them.

On Saturday we all had a nice day in Yellowstone NP. I borrowed the Council’s 15-passenger van so we could all ride together. We left about two hours later than I wanted to and that put us behind schedule. The kids were amazingly good and we saw waterfowl, elk, and buffalo, but no bears. We cabin camped at Island Park Scout Camp. Nancy brought frozen lasagna for dinner. Frozen lasagna? Oh well. The boys built a campfire and we did the Smores thing until bedtime.

There was a big windstorm over the weekend (nothing unusual for eastern Idaho) and the wind split another large branch off the big elm tree in our backyard. This time the branch fell onto the house. Fortunately it landed on the chimney and not the roof. I spent Labor Day afternoon cutting the tree limbs off the house. They were large enough to do serious damage so I strung up a belay system with climbing ropes and pulleys and had Clarke and Dan belay the limbs safely down. When I finally cut the main limb off the tree the weight of the falling limb took them both for a ride.

Labor Day in Idaho means State Fair time and that means Tiger Ears. I ran the Tiger Ear booth on Sunday from 5:PM, and Nancy, Clarke, Dan, Amanda, and Derek worked in the booth from 7:PM to 10:30 when we closed. On Labor Day Nancy and Sarah worked in the Tiger Ear booth from 2:PM to 5:PM and I ran the booth from 5:PM to close. I got home about midnight both nights. Making and selling Tiger Ears is a crazy way to make money for the Council but it is worth all the time and effort. It’s fun too!