IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
We had a great weekend with the girls and granddaughters surprising Dave for his birthday. They all came down just to be with him on his special day. I had made chicken and dumplings, corn-on-the cob and chocolate pie. Lara brought her dad's favorite, lemon meringue pie so we had plenty of food. It made his day very special to have all his "girls" spoiling him for the day, as if he doesn't always get attention when they are around!
Sunday, our special guests Stan and Laura Mushaw arrived to spend some time with us before they head back to Virginia on Friday. We took them up to Astoria on Labor Day and we started our day by riding the trolley. We made sure our friend Bob Miller was working and got in on the first run of the day. As I mentioned when we first rode the trolley last month, Bob is a former radio guy from Portland and his narration while driving the trolley is very entertaining. Stan and Laura said that was a highlight of their visit. We got off the trolley at the Columbia River Maritime Museum and spent a couple of hours on that fascinating tour. We also took in the view from the Astoria Column. We topped it off by having dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Columbia River. It was a glorious day.
On Tuesday Stan and Laura ventured out by themselves and headed up north once again to visit Fort Clatsop. This is where Lewis and Clark spent time after they arrived from their journey across the West. There is a lot of history around these parts and they enjoyed learning all about it and seeing it first-hand. They ventured out on Wednesday to take in the beaches and Pacific Ocean one more time. The Pacific is so different from the Atlantic which they are used to. They were able to visit most of the scenic beaches between here and Astoria, so they really had a good cross-section of what we have to offer here on the north coast. I think they saw Sunset Beach, Seaside, Cannon Beach, Hug Point and Manzanita. Luckily, the weather turned out pretty good. We had some showers and clouds in the morning but the afternoons were bright and sunny.
We were all guests of Des and Donna for burgers on the wharf before Stan and Laura said their good-bys. We really do owe them a huge debt because they're the ones that hosted us for a month at their home when we visited Washington D. C. a few years ago. It was so good to see them again and we're so glad that they made it out to see us. I only wished we lived closer so we could see each other more often.
After our guests left, we headed into Silverton to meet Ashtin for our annual birthday celebration. Each year on their birthdays, I make a point to treat each grandgirl to a shopping trip and something special at Red Robin. As they get older, it becomes more difficult to schedule time around their birthday, and Ashtin - at 17 - was almost impossible to pin down. So we scheduled some time when we were coming into town to watch her play soccer. She managed to get out of class early and Dave & I drove her to her favorite shop at Aries Apparel. She's always tough to shop for, and Thursday was no exception. She left the shop with one t-shirt. That was it! Oh well, we had a good time and she was happy. We got lucky in that the shop right next to Aries is a Red Robin, so all we had to do is walk over there for burgers and shakes. We were on a time schedule, so that worked out well for all of us. I usually take the girls shopping by myself, but since G-Dad was hanging around, we let him get in on the action too.
As I said, the main reason for going into town yesterday was to watch Ashtin and Paige play soccer. They are on the same team so it is really fun to see them playing together. Paige plays forward/striker and Ashtin is on the defense. These photos show each of them doing what they do best - Ashtin defending the goal so that the player she was guarding didn't get anywhere near the goal and Paige scoring a goal. In the first picture, she's about to shoot and in the second, the ball is in the net! Silverton won the game 4-0 and we had a great time watching the girls play. We're already checking our calendar to see when we can get down there again!
Now that all the company has come and gone, it is time to get back into that old routine again. I have to get my garden to bed for the winter and do some last minute weeding and pruning before the rains and winds arrive. Then it will be time to curl up with a good book and watch all the weather action from inside.