Lumberjack Championships

On Friday we went out for a boat ride. Henry still fits (snugly) into his life jacket from last year, but he doesn't much like wearing it. In this photo he had fallen asleep to the hum of the motor.
That afternoon Will and Sandy showed up, made a quick walleye dinner and then we all hustled out to Hayward for the Lumberjack Championships. Aside from some crowded and treacherous bleachers, it was a pretty fun time. Here are a few select moments:
Henry with some mascot guy that we only saw this one time...
The crazy speed climbers. You can't tell from this photo, but two of those poles are 60' high and the other two are 90'! They hustled up there and then practically free-fell back down. The rule is that they have to touch the pole with their feet at least every 15' on the way down, so it wasn't a complete free fall....

Here we are in the stands.
This was actually the second night. This competition is called springboard chopping. They start on the ground, chop a spot to stick their board in, hoist themselves up and then stand on the board for the next chop. They move it up twice until they can chop the top of the log off. They do all of this in a manner of seconds. It's pretty incredible. The crazy thing is- as far as we could tell- they were not wearing steel-toed shoes! It doesn't seem as crazy for this competition, but when they do the one where they stand on the log and chop down into it- I know I would want some serious protection!
Finally, here are Pete, Sandy, Henry and I trying out the events. Aren't we good?