Dads turn to post...

Tina is at work today. The girls are asleep. I don't want to clean the kitchen. I have already looked at my usual forums and sites. It's only 10:00. I figured I could blog for a bit!

I have been keeping an eye out for something that could take the whole family on fun adventures, while providing the excitement and fun that Tina and I are used to. I determined that a toyota 4runner would do the trick. I was out doing an appraisal, and in the guys driveway sat a busted ol' 1990 4runner. It hadn't been registered in 5 years. I offered him $100, he said he wanted more around $500, so I gave $150 :) We towed it home, hooked up the jumper cables and she fired right up. It was only running on 3.5 of the 6 cylinders, but it ran good enough to beat up, right?

For memorial day we went on a trip to 5 mile pass, and ran the rattlesnake and constrictor trails. (rated a 3+ of 5) We had a great time, and the girls slept through most of it.
For Tina's birthday we took the fifth wheel and 4runner and went camping for 3 days up American Fork Canyon. We went on the Forest lake trail (rated 5 of 5) and nearly put the 4runner on it's side. We saw a lot of beautiful views and wildlife. The girls also enjoyed this trip a lot.

After the forest lake trail Tina decide we needed a lift. I thought it would be more reasonable to buy something that already had a lift and not spend the money on the 4runner we had. Being that I have been rather rough on the 4runner- a few dents, bent bumper, and a missing exhaust (thanks to a large rock in the river crossing behind us in above picture) I decided it was time to move on. I sold the 4runner for $575. and started looking of the next family toy. I found it!

This is a '96 Jeep Cherokee. I paid a whopping $333 for it. It is equipped with a 4" lift and 31" rock crawler tires. It did not run due to a major electrical problem that could not be found by the previous owners. I spent a couple hours researching and chasing wires, until I found a corroded electrical connection to the ignition module. One $.02 butt connector later and problem solved. It has the 4.0 high output 6 cylinder motor, and it runs great.

I wanted to see it's flexibility (as it will be used for climbing over rocks). This is 23", and there is a bit more to go as well. I think it should fit our wants well enough, and if not we could get a bigger lift!

The next problem I have to solve is that our 5th wheel trailer is too long to pull the jeep behind it on another trailer, so in order to pull doubles I have to get a new 5th wheel. Bummer.

As a direct result of having kids I have had to get a 4 door truck, a jeep, and a new 5th wheel. I should have had kids a long time ago!

The girls are great. Just this week they have started sitting up on their own. They both are learning to use their vocal cords and like to talk a lot (they obviously get it from their mother).