The Last Summer Swim Party

When we saw the weather forecast for today was a high of 82 degrees, we sent out emails to the family inviting everyone to the Last Summer Swim Party. Katrina and her kids were the first to respond. When it hit 86 degrees, we knew the swim party was a success. Jane has started swimming without her water wings for a short time/distance, when someone is next to her in the shallow end of the pool. I think just about everyone is on pins and needles when swims without them, especially her private lifeguard right next to her! Grandpa likes being the lifeguard, but he says "It scares me to death!" Thank heavens, she willingly puts the water wings on after her short times without them so she can play in the deep end. She is such a fish and will swim in the pool for quite a long time, even if everyone else has left. She doesn't mind swimming by herself.

Tom is not about to be left out of the swimming accomplishments. He can "swim underwater" with his water wings on. It takes some maneuvering for him to get his face all the way in the water and get his feet up where they can kick the water's surface, but he can do it. In fact, he can do just about anything in the water if he has on his goggles. Mind you, these goggles have about the same success in keeping the water out of his eyes as they do in keeping the water in the goggles. His goggles are frequently half full of water - or half empty of air - depending on the perspective. He doesn't seem to mind, he just giggles and keeps swimming or jumping off the diving board by himself. He loves to go down the slide, but needs someone to go with him. Grandpa was the favorite one today. Listen closely to learn who Tom wanted to watch as he went down the slide (again). He definitely has confidence!

(I included Marla's dive so we could hear Tom's opinion about going down the slide.)

5k Foam Fest

I tried a different kind of 5k. It was a "foam fest" in Ogden. I think the following videos speak for themselves. The first two miles were up a big hill in 85 degree heat. Then we went down the hill and through a dozen or so "obstacles".

This first video is going through a "car wash". They told us not to breathe the bubbles. Tammy and I talked earlier about how the bubbles stick, she called it surfactant. Well, if you breathe them in, they definitely stick to your lungs. You were supposed to slide through this thing. I got half way through it and stopped sliding. So I am huffing and puffing bubbles, with no oxygen in sight. I climbed through this thing for maybe 30 seconds without being able to breathe any air in. I was not amused. I think my body language speaks for itself.

(New author) I tried to wash off the bubbles in the sprinkler, they were stinging my eyes and I couldn't breathe because my lungs were full of them. The sprinklers didn't help much! The next plastic thing I couldn't figure out what to do with it, so I just walked over it - the "Slip-N-Slide".

Another obstacle was the "tire bridge". I had to wait in line about 5 mins before I could start on this one. That was not enough time to get re-energized or to rest. It also was not enough time to figure out the best way to cross the Ogden River! By the end of the tires, I think I figured out the best way.

(I can't get the end to post here, so read it in the next post.)

Ogden 5k Foam Fest Ending

By now, I figure the end must be close. Yes, in fact it was! It was just like the song says, "Over the river and through the woods." Thankfully, there was a bridge I could just 'run' over and I didn't have to go all the way to Grandma's house for the race to end.

It had been about one hour since I started this 5k race. All I had left to do was hike about a quarter of a mile uphill, back to the car, change out of the wet clothes, and then we could head home. Yes, I was thrilled to do that because it meant I was DONE!

(Sorry about taking 2 posts for this. I couldn't get these pictures and text to load on the first post, so I just made the ending post separately. )

Nothing beats a good Utah fan!

Nothing beats a good Utah fan!

Since last summer, I've been trying to get a ceiling fan installed on the deck. Part of the problem was finding one I liked, at the price I liked, with the lights that I liked and that was rated for outdoor use. We finally found this one, and bought it earlier this month. I ran into some problems with the wiring, but finally have it all connected and it works.
I haven't convinced Gene that a fan will make a difference to the heat of the deck, but then he doesn't like fans, and I like them. Of course, it has been breezy today, so I could not demonstrate how nice it is with the fan moving the air - Mother Nature kept doing that today. I also finally got the electrical outlet wired and connected. On the ceiling, in the far northwest corner of the deck, one can see my new outlet. It even has a GFI outlet complete with the waterproof metal door in brown that matches the aluminum of the deck.

Finally, I got one of those bees in my bonnet finished!

Summer part II

These don't really have any theme. I just thought they were good pictures.

This is one of my favorite pictures. I'm not quite sure why this young man got so many pictures this summer, but with that smile, who can resist taking his picture so many times.

Grandma has to tell the "rest of the story" about this photo. Grandpa was just resting on the front lawn and visiting others who were sitting on the steps. Along came Smiley, eyed Grandpa up and down, and then sat down on the grass and turned onto his belly, just like Grandpa. He had to scoot forward on his belly so he could see how Grandpa had his arms, then he crossed his arms and kept falling forward onto his chin a couple of times before he figured out how to lean on crossed arms and keep his face off the grass, and with a little bit of dramatic flair, crossed his arms, leaned on his elbows, and turned to give Grandpa a great big smile. Grandma was so busy laughing and smiling at the whole effort that she almost missed taking the photo.

One of our favorite trips this summer was to go to a baptism.

We had a great day at the beach. I didn't know there were such good beaches that far north. There were some serious rip currents which was actually kind of fun. This is such a good picture of Ben with his hat and his book. If you were ask "Dash", I think he would tell you the water is cold.

We had a great get together in July with family in Little Cottonwood canyon. It had been a long time since we had gotten together. We had such a good time, we had another get together in August.

End of the summer

We started the summer going to Missouri. I am not sure what is going one here. Either Scott got hit with a pie or ...........................

I am not sure when this was taken, it must of been cold because they all have on coats..... it could of been in June when we had winter here. It is pretty indicative of what we did a lot of, eat, look at pictures, and enjoy family.

It was fun when people come to visit.

We spent way too much time at Leatherby's, but with kids like this, who could turn them down.

We had lots of fun in the new pool. We had some pretty cute kiddies in it.

Sometimes the place got rather busy. I think we had 26 in the pool this day before it started to rain. Tammy's family got together to celebrate her parents' 65th wedding anniversary.

The summer ended with a get together for a swim / BBQ. It was the first time all my siblings had been together for 10 years. My Dad came from Georgia to visit and it became a grand occasion. It was nice of David to fly back for the weekend.

Small but sure success

We finally got the pile of rock, dirt and junk removed and replaced with sod and sprinklers. It has only taken months and months to get this finished. It sure looks great. We finally have some grass, and hope it will take root and survive this summer. Now all we need is a chlorine generator, the autofill, the slide secured and plumbed with water, the walk on pool cover tray lids, made and mounted, and some sunshine, and THEN the pool will be ready for use. (We still use it, but it would be nice to have it completed.)