My son got my wife and I back into mountain biking. All three of us have Intense Tracer Pro's, my wife and I have the Push ACS3 coil internals. Lately as we get older, we have been rocking the Giant Trance E+2s. Some call it cheating, I call it fun.
I just picked up an entry level mountain bike, mainly to put around on with my kids (7 & 5) but I might dip my toe into some singletrack and see how I like it.
GT Aggressor Pro from Dick's Sporting Goods
Rode it about 5 miles yesterday, mostly paved walking path and a little bit of dirt trail. it did pretty well.