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August 7, 2009

IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!

Okay, those of you who sneak an early look know that it really isn't Friday! I have to fudge by one day this week. We're leaving Thursday at noon for the Northwest Steam Society's annual steam meet in Blaine, Washington and I knew that I wouldn't have time to post as usual on Friday.

Leanna's son and daughter-in-law - along with two of their sons - were busy all last week helping Leanna with her house. They worked from morning til night and finally got everything done and left on Saturday morning for their home in Denver. Leanna's place looks great and all their hard work was worth it. We finally got them to stop long enough to take a steamboat ride on Friday night. We weren't out long, but we did go up to Waterfront Park in downtown Wheeler. It was an interesting trip up there because we let both the boys steer the boat! We always like to do that when we have kids on board because it's a big deal for them. Then after we get back, Dave prints up honorary steamboat captain certificates from the computer and gives one to each of the kids. There must be dozens of those certificates in various places around the world!

I had cooked for everyone all week and so by the weekend, I was ready for some down time and a grandma fix with my own grandkids. I hadn't seen the girls for a few weeks and I needed some hugs. On Saturday afternoon, we decided to drive into Silverton and spend the night with Leslie and her family. What were we thinking? We left the cool coast of 70 degrees for the hot valley temperature that was well into the 90's. Luckily, our daughter has this swimming pool and we watched everyone (even the dogs) cool off. It really is comical to see the dogs waiting impatiently for a chance to get into the pool. After the kids have been in there for a while, they open the gate and those Retrievers hit the water 15 feet out! We tried to get a picture, but they're just to darned fast! Lara and her family came down to Leslie's on Sunday and so we got to see all the granddaughters. All the girls know how to swim except the baby, and she isn't afraid of the water. They had a great time in the pool. What a joy. Since we don't really get a chance to see the girls all that often this time of year, it's amazing to us to watch what they can do in the water. We sort of expect it from Ashtin and Paige, simply because they LIVE in their pool in the summer. But watching Jadyn and Jaysa running fearlessly off the diving board and landing in a perfect cannonball really is a lot of fun. Jaysa still uses a life jacket, but both have been taking swimming lessons and it's paying off. All the girls literally wore themselves out and had to be reluctantly hauled out of the pool at the end of the day. As a side note...we found out this weekend that 7-year-old Paige saved a kid's life in their pool last month. For some reason he went to the bottom and was in trouble. Jason saw it happen and was about to dive in when Paige calmly rolled off her air mattress and swam down, grabbed the kid and hauled him back to the surface. Then she calmly went back to her air mattress! All in a day's work, I guess. Anyway, we had a nice weekend and when we headed back Sunday afternoon, it was 96 in Silverton and it was 63 down here when we got home.

We pulled the steamboat out of the water Monday afternoon. It takes three of us to get it up on the trailer...two to keep it lined up straight, and a third to work the winch. We didn't do too bad, we only had to re-float it one extra time to get it straight enough on the trailer to make it home. Our friend Ray usually comes down and helps with that nasty little job. He's done it enough that both he and I know what we have to do to get the job done right. Dave and Ray steam to the Wheeler City dock when they pass by our house Dave gives a toot and I jump in the car and meet them there to help out. Once we got her home we were busy all week getting her cleaned up for the meet in Blaine. We washed and polished brass all week. Dave discovered we were nearly out of fuel, so he spent most of the day Wednesday running back and forth between here and the gas station buying fuel in 5-gallon cans. Between fuel for the boat, the Suburban and the propane we need...well, let's just say the filling station was glad to see us! I bet we made their quota for the week all by ourselves! It will take us a couple days to reach Blaine pulling the boat so that is why we left on Thursday. After the meet, there will be a mini meet on Lake Whatcom in Bellingham on Monday. We've heard a lot about the lake and have never been there, so that's on our itinerary as well. We've been offered a place to stay at a cabin on the lake. It'll be primitive, but it ought to be fun. We plan to get back home on Tuesday or Wednesday, so I should be back on my regular posting schedule next week.