Regatta

Today was G's last day of rowing camp and they had a regatta.  Jim, Drew, Kayla and Bug went to watch the event.  But there was a little issue....

Rain

BAIL!

They got in a little metal boat to go out on the lake to watch the race -- but unfortunately, the coach that was driving the boat forgot to put the plug in the boat so it started to take on water right away!  At first they just thought it was an old boat with some leaks...but then it got so much water in it that a wave came and they were within a centimeter from going over!

Jim took a knife out of his pocket and they cut open water bottles in the boat and used them to bail out the boat.  So while all the other boats were watching the races, their boat was way behind bailing!

Then when they finally got going, lightening started!

Then the rain came!

We're on a boat!!! (before it took on water)

Boat House

K, G and Bug

What a crazy day!  Grace was glad they were there but knew something was up when they were left behind!

New Shoes

Check out my cute new sandals!

Doggie Body Surfing

While Grace was surfing this weekend, Jim and I took Hops to the beach and let her play fetch in the waves.  Waves were generally pretty small but she did get caught up in this one big one!  It looks scarier than it really was.

Repair

This is some very important work -- Grace is repairing Hops' bear.  Hops chews holes in it....or....removes a limb and then Grace adds more stuffing and repairs it.  It is the bear that never dies!

Oh Henry

I am in love with this little fuzz ball and have not even met him yet!

I texted Uncle B today and told him a gift was in the mail for Henry and he asked if it was a bow tie "because Henry could totally pull off a bow tie.  He is very dapper!" 

So true!

Rowing

Grace is in a rowing camp this week.  She is learning all the terminology and gear and is out in the boat each day.  It is a super cool experience.

Earthquakes vs Man U

Last week we went to an Earthquakes vs Manchester United game at the new Avaya Stadium.  We met my brother and nephew there.  What a thrill it was - it was a great game and such a cool stadium.

Welcome Henry

Welcome to the Family, Oh Henry!  This is my brother's new labradoodle pup!  He is only 8 weeks old and such a baby!

Puppy Play Date

Heather is out of town so I went to get Molly this morning for a play date.  These two have so much fun together!

And....she is back!

Grace was formally released by her neurologist and brain rehab specialist!  That means she can play sports again.  However, she is in pretty bad physical shape from being off for 6 months so it will take some time to get up to speed.  That's good because the docs want her to ramp up slowly.

She has been running with Hops and started back to soccer last nite. 

Unfortunately her soccer team disbanded because there were not enough players who wanted to continue to play.  So she is moving to another team in the same organization.  It is a coach she knows who was the manager coach of the coach she had on the last team.  So she knows him and he knows her and he is fired up that she is back -- he loves her "height, speed and shot".  On her last team, she had mostly played defense and goalie but on this team they want her to play forward.  It should be a fun experience.  The only thing I told her coach is that she cannot play goalie anymore - the risk is too great.

And next week she tries out rowing.  So hopefully that will help get her back into shape too.

Movie Review - Trainwreck

One word - HILARIOUS!

Another word - RACY!

Cookie Throw Down

We had the chocolate chip cookie throw down and I did not win... as expected.  But my entry did create a buzz because it was an "albino chocolate chip cookie"!

We had eight entries and my friend Diane won!   There were about 25 tasters/voters.  All good fun!

That's Isihi in background bitter that he came in 2nd place!

Chip Chip Hooray

Chip Chip Hooray Cookies

1 1/2 cups of softened butter (3 sticks)

1 1/4 cups white sugar

2 large egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Beat ingredients above until light and fluffy.

Add 2 1/2 cups of flour in half cup increments.

Add 1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips (use the regular Lays chips (thin ones), nothing special or fancy.

Add a bag of milk chocolate chips

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet.  Flatten balls using the bottom of a glass sprayed with pam and dipped in sugar. 

Bake 350 for 10 to 12 minutes.  I cook them right to 10 minutes and like the way they turn out.  They are not brown like normal choc chip cookies but are white like a sugar cookie.  Cool on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and remove.

Boys on the Boat - book review

I just finished the book, "The Boys on the Boat".  It is a story about a hodge podge group of rowers from the University of Washington who, against all odds, went to the 1936 Olympics and won a gold medal!

Super interesting book from the perspective of the details of the sport of rowing, human strength against adversity, the history of  Nazi Germany and the Depression era in the US.  It is well worth the time to read it. 

Chocolate Chip Throwdown

I am entered in a chocolate chip cookie throw down tomorrow at work.  The gal who has held the championship in the Legal Department has left the company so the door is open for a new champion!  I am not sure how many will be entered but I am guessing at least 6.  My cookies are very unusual so I don't expect to win but I thought it would be fun to enter something different.  I have a secret ingredient -- potato chips!

I will keep you posted.

New Pup?

My bro and family are thinking about getting a labradoodle pup.  No decision has been made yet but they went and looked and picked out a couple favorites - at the top of the list a male pup (being held by Sam) called Oh Henry!

Stay tuned!

PS - I am READY to be an Auntie to a new pup!

Too Much Fun

The dogs were exhausted after Cherry.  Above is Daisy sleeping on the deck the morning after we got back.  Below is Hops in the truck on our way back to the Bay Area.

Oh Deer!

Uncle Richard sent Jim an archery deer target for his 50th birthday.  We have not even shot an arrow at it yet and are already having fun with it!  It is awesome for picture taking and for chasing Hops around the house.

Someone is watching you Ahi!

Last Nite at Cherry

We went fishing in the evening on our last day at Cherry.  It was a quiet cool nite on the lake.  Hops LOVES to fish.  She watches your pole and waits for you to pull up a fish and then she tries to catch it when you throw it back in the water!

Looking for the fish!

Daisy was DONE - time to go home!

Rock Jumping

Here a couple videos of rock jumping at Cherry.

Lake Eleanor

Hikers

Right behind our camping site on Cherry

New signs since the fire

You can see fire damage on the hills straight ahead

While at Cherry we went for a hike to Eleanor to check out the fire damage.  It was a trip to see that 400 yards behind our camping spot had total devastation and there were whole hills around Eleanor that were burned to the ground.  Some of the trails were almost grown over from weeds - from both the fire and the lack of people using the trails.

You can see the burn damage on the hill to the right.

Cherry Lake July 2015

The morning we left

We just returned from our annual week long boat camping trip at Cherry.  This year the crowd was small:  me, Jim, Grace, Drew, Amanda, Ahi, Daisy, Hops, Jeremy, Mad Dog, Tina, Marty and Murray.

The morning we left it was raining, which is nice since it was not super hot.  We hit our first hiccup about 5 miles out of town when we lost a cover on the trailer that covers the bearings.  It slowed us about 45 minutes while Drew, Amanda and Jeremy headed back into town to find a replacement.  Luckily the local auto supply store had one and a guy was there early and sold it to Drew before they even opened.

Camp all set up.

Our camping spot was the location right down from the point acorss from the island.  We chose this spot because it had a nice flat beach for Daisy Mae who is an old lady and can't manage steep hills anymore.  Unfortunately that meant a long walk to camp

The kitchen and the fire pit

Once we were set up, we spent some time fishing.  We found a place that was swarming with blue gill and quickly dubbed it "Wicked Blue Gill" after the tv show "Wicked Tuna".

Jim started practicing with his new drone.  He got some great shots of the camping site and the late that I will post later.  We even tried to use it to look into an eagle's nest but we didn't get it high enough.  But it was fun watching big hawks fly in to check it out.

The pup LOVED the trip!

We played a lot of games - Wizard, Nibs and Farkle.  Maddie and Tina won the world championship Nibs game over Chris and Drew.

Amanda's first blue gill

On the second day the sun came out and it started to steadily warm up until it was about 90 the day we left.  Memorable events of the week included:

• A visit from Chris' coworker, Allison, and her family.
• A big oak tree falling over on the beach while Jim and I were taking a walk on the beach in the evening and the rest of the crowd was playing cards!
• Jeremy getting sick :-(
• A hike to Lake Eleanor.
• Fried rice!

Grace for a brief moment when she was not reading a book!

Jeremy - out cold!

Everyone helped make dinner

Fell asleep next to the shovel and TP!

Allison's son Matthew and the teepee he made

Allison's son, Jacob

Allison's husband and Jacob

A cave down by the creek

Mad Dog, Amanda, Drew and Jeremy - washing their hair

Farkle on the boat

Fishing in the evening

The pup at the end of a long week of fun

My sweet Daisy Mae

At the end of the lake near the Magic Fishing Hole - which is now a small creek

Sisters fetching together