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July 10, 2009

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

After all the visitors and celebrations we had last week, it feels kind of quiet around here this week. The whole family was down for the holiday. Lara, Greg and the girls came down on the 1st and then Leslie came with Ashtin and Paige on the 2nd (Jason had to work), just in time to celebrate birthdays for Greg and me. Everyone was here for a total of five days and I am still recuperating. Dave caught a cold from someone (there is always someone either getting a cold or just getting over a cold) and he managed to pick up the bug. It's so hard to stay away from those little darlings even with runny noses! I haven't been feeling very good all week (a bladder infection) and so on Monday we both went to the doctor and got prescriptions for whatever ailed us! Dave is feeling better - I'm still under the weather.

We had bought a Wii computer game last week just before our guests arrived and that kept the granddaughters pretty busy when they weren't down at the beach. Ashtin really knows her way around those games and she had us all nicknamed (I am G-ma and Dave is G-dad) with our own little icons! We bowled, boxed, golfed, and played baseball. Then when they got tired of that they did the fitness routines. I think Ashtin was so sore from playing all these games that she was feeling it by the time she left!

We put the steamboat in the Manzanita 4th of July parade again this year. We still haven't had it in the water, so we didn't have to worry about cleaning the oil and barnacles off the hull, but we still had to get it polished up from its long winter's nap. A lot of brass polishing and boat washing and the kids tackled the Suburban so it would look nice while it was towing us in the parade. Greg not only did most of the washing, but he drew the short straw and was our driver in the parade. It's an important job, but whoever is doing it misses the fun of being in the boat. He did enjoy it though, because he said he could hear all the comments people were making about the boat as he drove by. People are all looking at the boat and not at him so it was almost like eavesdropping! Anyway, a big thank-you to Greg! It was a little foggy this year and when the jets flew over the main street prior to the start of the parade, we could hear them but couldn't see them because of the low clouds. As usual, the granddaughters threw candy to everyone (we ran out AGAIN) and Dave blew the steam whistle. He fires up the boiler just so he'll have steam for the whistle. Everyone always gets a kick out of that, and I know he does too!

Ashtin (our "nearly" 10 year old granddaughter) is in 4-H and has entered her pigs that she has raised in the fair. So we will be heading to Salem to the Marion County Fair to see her show one of her pigs this afternoon. Leslie called the other day and told me that they were giving the pigs a bath and while they were, she had one of those "what am I doing?" moments. She said she never thought that she would ever see the day when she would be scrubbing the ham hocks on a pig! She needs to get a life! Anyway, they got the pig to the fair and it weighed in at 275 pounds. That is the absolute maximum weight for the auction, so the pigs are on a diet for the next couple of days!

Paige (Ashtin's younger sister) is still gathering eggs from her four chickens. She sold me a dozen last week. A couple of the eggs were double yokers and one was a triple yoker. I told her that I really got a bargain on that dozen eggs. Dave and I were talking about that and neither of us could ever remember three yolks in one egg. It may not be rare, but we never saw one before!

Jadyn (our 6 year old granddaughter) finally lost her tooth! It was pretty wiggly while she was down here but wouldn't let anyone pull it out for her. Especially Granddad, who offered to use his Leatherman pliers! She waited until she was safely back at home and let her Dad gently pull it out. No sooner was it out than Grandma and Granddad got a phone call to announce the occasion!

And just one more note about Jaysa. A lot of you are still asking about her. It's like nothing was ever wrong! She's running and playing with her sisters and cousins and only once in a while winces when someone hits her incision. Otherwise, she's the same old Jaysa! We still can't let her run by without giving her a special hug though.

I won't bore you anymore about the granddaughters. They are the best so what more can I say.

I spent the morning yesterday working with the Parks Committee group doing a little gardening at the waterfront park. We try to spend a couple hours a week keeping the parks looking good. I didn't get any pictures from yesterday, but a couple of weeks ago, a few of us gathered to paint the little train station in the middle of town. Someone just sent me the picture, so I thought I'd share that this week.

We'll be in Salem and Silverton Friday and Saturday. We are expecting company on Sunday so I will be busy preparing for that. On Monday afternoon, we will hitch up the steamboat and head 4 hours south to Siltcoos Lake for three days as we are having a mini steam meet with friends. We're looking for 5 or 6 boats and maybe 20 people. I hope to have pictures.