BBQ at the Flaherty's

A friend (from w-a-y back) Paul was in town with his wife and kids. We all met up at Dylona's house for a BBQ.

pool time

balloon fights
ahhh...misters...

Jason making dinner

Nikki & TeaLee

yummy ice cream

Jamie tickling Kallie

I think TeaLee has something on her mind!

playing on the slide

and a pillow fight with Uncle Jamie

a beautiful dress for Kylah - from TeaLee

We had a great time - thanks again!!

Jamie & Jeff - Part 2

A few things I forgot...

Jamie took the point & shoot Nikon (not my big one) with him to take pictures of their road trip. He did pretty well - taking pictures everywhere they went! He even set up the camera with the timer a few times to get pictures of them both - I was impressed! They were excited to show me all of their pictures and explain things to me when they got home. : )

There were also a couple of videos on the camera too...

This is Jamie jumping into the river

this one is a video that Jamie took of Crater Lake

Walden Island 60, 61 & 62

Jeff is an early riser...and was ready for Jamie to get up on Friday morning and go to the lake.

Jeff brought 'gear' for the lake
ready for the water!

Moxie was ready too!

KC and Steven invited us over for dinner on Saturday night. (Which was lucky for the boys, because I later realized that I had forgotten their hamburger patties.) Our other neighbors, Neil & Marilyn, came along too and brought YUMMY home-made mango margaritas. We had a great time.

Marilyn, Me & KC

Jeff snuck in to the hot tub - a little sore after a full day of tubing

Jeff had to leave on Sunday evening. We ran home to take showers, went out to Henry's for a few drinks and snacks and then took him to the airport.

Jamie & Jeff

Well...I'm pretty far behind on the blog. I'm going attempt to catch back up!

One of Jamie's closest friends, Jeff, flew in from Maryland to visit us. This was his first trip out to Oregon - he, of course, loved it!

On Tuesday, the boys left for a road trip. They intended to visit the Redwood National Forest, Hwy 101 and Crater Lake. They were going to rent Harley's for the ride, but decided to drive Jamie's car instead. They had stops along the way and they seemed to have a great time.

Along the way, they saw people jumping from rocks. They thought that was a great idea and something they had to do. Boys...

They were supposed to be home on Friday, but decided to come home on Thursday night. We took Jeff to dinner at Portland City Grill then walked around a bit downtown.

We left for the lake early Friday morning.

July 4th Fireworks

I brought my tripod to the lake with me so that I could get some photos of the July 4th Fireworks. We watched the neighbors shoot them off over the lake.

About 20 minutes in to the teenagers shooting off fireworks, Jamie had to move our floaties - the fireworks were being shot just over the top of them. We realized the next day that one of the floaties had a small hold in it. A small patch and all was well.

Walden Island 56, 57, 58 & 59

We spent the July 4th weekend (Friday thru Monday) at the lake...relaxing. It was so nice to swim, read, eat a lot and just relax! We did do a few odds & ends, but mostly we enjoyed the lake and the neighbors.

I cleaned out the garage and resorted it

Makena, of course, read as much as she could!
Carol - relaxing by the water

On Saturday there was another small service for Lorraine. Her birthday was on the 3rd and KC (her daughter - our neighbor) told me that she loved to celebrate the 4th of July. A prayer was said, a toast to Lorraine was made and then her ashes were placed into the lake by family.

Then Gene (Lorraine's husband - KC's dad - another one of our neighbors on the island) told us a story about Lorraine and placed the remainder of her ashes on the beach that she made.

We finally blew up our new floaties and anchored them in the water. One of them is just a single with a sunshade (Jamie bought it for me last year when I hurt my ankle), one of them is a 6 person with a mesh center and the third is a trampoline. We don't have a ladder for the trampoline yet, so we have to jump from one tube to the other. It's all fun! : )

Jamie likes the hammock too - and Moxie must have needed a nap

Jamie hung up a small rack I bought to hang the pots & pans

We came home Monday night as Carol had a flight out very early Tuesday morning. Jamie's friend from Maryland, Jeff, came in Tuesday afternoon. They immediately left for The Redwood Forest and Crater Lake...their photos to follow.

Couple 'a things

Just a few things I don't understand...

1. Why men wear sweatpants that have the elastic band at the bottom - the pants don't even go to their ankles and it's looks even more stupid.

2. And then why do those same men decide to wear socks and sandles (bad enough) with their elastic sweatpants (making it even worse). I'm assuming they are single men - NO woman/partner would let them out of the house like that!

3. Why they make mini-skirts in double digit sizes. I'm an overweight person and realize that this is just wrong...why can't everyone else?

4. Why do some women still get out of the car and leave their children in it to run into the store. HELLLOOO!?! Geee...good thing you grabbed your purse...that's got all the valuable stuff in it right?

5. Why is it that we forget the little things that make us smile? Like watering my plants with the hose and having my dog chase the water because she thinks it's fun. Or making faces at the kid in front of you at the grocery store line.

6. Why does good beer have so many calories??

7. Why does "good" anything have so many calories for that matter??!!

8. Why oh why can't people drive the speed limit?!? I know I've mentioned this several times and I'm beginning to thinks it's one of my biggest pet peeves.

That's all for today...

Good Things #14

An article I read this morning that I wanted to share.

Fireworks contribute to storm drain gunk

Until recently, I had never thought much about storm drains. I'd considered them about as much as I had considered the color of my mail carrier's socks, which is to say, not at all.
But thanks to the Clean Rivers and Streams Coalition, I'm now aware the drains empty right into our rivers and streams.

There's no stop at a waste-water treatment plant for the water to freshen up. So if people leave out dog poop or wash their car or change their oil or fertilize their yard and it runs into the streets, the storm drains fast track it all into the rivers.

The coalition is always trying to find new ways to remind people to take care of the drains. Thus this week's caution about fireworks.

"We're not saying we don't want people to have fun - of course we do," said Karen DeBaker, communications supervisor for Clean Water Services, which treats wastewater in the Tualatin River watershed. "We want them to be smart about it. There's debris left over afterward and that runs into our rivers and streams via the storm drain."

Traditionally, fireworks, flares and other pyrotechnics have contained potassium perchlorate, which provides the oxygen all that stuff needs to burn.

But perchlorate is a pollutant. And there are plastics in fireworks too. The big worry is that those things will hurt our waterways.

A short Q&A with DeBaker:

Q: Should people chase down their fireworks to collect the debris?
A: No, but pick up anything on the ground around your house or apartment.

Q: What about our cars? How do we wash them if we're not supposed to let soapy water run into the street?
A: It's best to go to a car wash, but with people trying to save money right now, that's not realistic for everyone. The next best thing is to drive the car onto the lawn and wash it there.

Q: But won't that kill the grass?
A: It shouldn't. If it does, it's definitely not a good chemical to send into storm drains.

Makena Jade

Makena wanted to get a hair cut, so we were off to see Tracie at beauty school! Makena has a picture picked out and when Tracie was finished; Makena said that it was even better than the picture.

After the hair cut, Makena asked if I would take her to Claire's for some hair bows. She also found a pair of glasses, that she 'just had to have'. We then decided to go to the library, take some pictures and the park and then head to the Tuesday Farmer's Market.

I do love that she has her own personality! That's my Makena Jade.