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.

Ivie's 3rd Birthday Party

On Saturday, Carol and I left the island and headed to Cornelius for Ivie Rose's 3rd Birthday party. It was a gorgeous day - Tracie had the pool out for the kids and goodies out for the adults.

This is what happens when TeaLee says she doesn't like her picture taken anymore : )

Kallie Bug drawing with sidewalk chalk - then asked me to take a picture of it. Love that!
fun times in the pool

Logan loved the pool!

so did Ivie!

yummy cake

this is what happens when we sing to Ivie Rose

and this is what happens when I ask her to say 'cheese'

presents!!

We love you Ivie Rose - Happy 3rd Birthday!!

Walden Island Day 53, 54 & 55

We headed back up to the lake on Friday. And, we actually left before noon! We had a few stops to make though, so we didn't arrive at our planned time. Oh well...it's always there waiting for us. : ) Carol hadn't seen The Shed since her last visit in June 2008. A LOT of changes since then!!

a new sign my Momma got me "Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder" - love it!

a new Relay sign I got for The Shed too - and a flying pig (in the left corner)

after getting everything unloaded & organized, I was off to the hammock!
Moxie likes the hammock too
finally...time for a fire
Moxie likes to be covered up when it's cold out : )

We got up early on Saturday (well, earlier than we usually do at the lake) so we could get to work. I needed to leave by 1pm to go back in to town for Ivie Rose's 3rd bday party, and had lots to do.

First things first...burn those piles! Look Jason, I did it!

Jamie had a lot (150) holes to drill with his new Mag Drill

Carol and I didn't get back from Oregon until around 7:30pm. Jamie had gotten all of the holes drilled and was even making us some dinner.

We weren't as eager to get up early on Sunday. We watched a movie and relaxed a bit before heading out to work on the boat house again. I burned another pile before heading down to help Jamie dig out around the boat house. We had to dig out between each post another 15" - NOT fun in that muck! Because the water level is still dropping, we'll have to wait to screw in the bottom two boards for a month or so.

looks like the first hole wasn't as deep as it needed to be

more digging

I'm not sure why I was smiling, I wasn't having fun.

I wouldn't usually post such a flattering picture of myself, but I'm not in many photos - working.

Carol helping Jamie as he screws in the boards

The first wall is almost done!

We did get the first wall completed, and it looks great!! I had already packed up my camera, so I'll have to show a 'final' picture of the first wall later.