Granddaughter Emily’s birthday on July 15 coincided with the opening of the final Harry Potter movie. Grandpa and I thought that going into Portland to watch the movie in 3-D would be a treat so we picked up tickets long ago for the show. We left here at 9:30PM with Emily and a group of her friends(her mom was thankfully with us too). We drove the almost-two-hours to the theater in a van that Gretchen had borrowed from a friend. When we arrived there were lines and lines of people waiting to get into the theater. Our tickets were for one of the early after midnight showings, so after checking the lines and discovering no spot for us we walked into the theater and Bill convinced them to let us in. The show was great and needs at least another viewing or two to catch everything that was happening on screen.
We did not get home after dropping off most of Emily’s friends, and picking up our car at the Brill’s, until 5AM. Bill and I both slept in quite late in the morning as we needed to be bright and cheery in the late afternoon for the family Birthday celebration. Most of the Brill side of the family showed up and we enjoyed a nice dinner with them while sitting by their fire outside… well, until the rains came again. Today had been one of the first dry days in awhile and it just could not stay dry all day here. Finally late in the evening Doug’s sister and family made it thru the traffic and arrived.
By then there was enough water falling from the sky that the festivities had moved inside.
Emily received her specially decorated cake with not quite enough candles (yet!) to be a fire hazard, maybe in a few more years.
The cake and ice cream was enjoyed by all the children and the adults as well.
A sleepy Emily then opened her gifts. The big box contained a fancy hanging light from her sister. The blue globe was actually constructed by Alexa as well. All in all it was a fun – although very long – day and hopefully one that brought joy to one of our special granddaughters.
Last Wednesday we got the keys to our first house in 15 years. It is a nice older home near the downtown area of Tillamook and, although it is not very large, it sure seems spacious compared to Lanikai - which we have called home for the last 15 years.
Living on the boat that long has left us with little furniture (or even household items) but some came with the house, and a big shopping trip to the local Fred Meyer’s gave us more of the essentials.
After two nights sleeping on the floor, Bill purchased the material and constructed a bed platform for our new mattress. We bought one of the “memory foam” mattresses and so far we think it is great.
The inside is quite livable now and we have started work on the outside. Bill spent two long and hard days removing a large wheelchair ramp to the back door that blocked the direct passage from the workshop from the house. Now we are digging fence post holes to separate out two stalls of the three stall carport so that we have an outdoor undercover sitting area. It rains enough here that the cover will be nice. The car can still be under cover in the third stall.
Saturday July 2 there was a big Fourth of July celebration on the beach at Pacific City. We drove down about 4:30 in the afternoon and stayed until after dark, letting off fireworks and watching others do the same. It was a grand time and we enjoyed the beer from the local Pelican Bbrewery as we watched the children play in the sand.
There seemed to be no official fireworks display, but the larger fireworks were sent up at several spots along the beach.
Wednesday already so time to let everyone know what we have been up to this past week.
The Brill’s have gotten started on projects as the rain here in Tillamook has cut back (not gone but much less) and there have even been some sunny days.
The dogs and cats now have a door of their own to come and go.
Jacob did his first lawn mowing both the large front and large back lawns were cut by him last week.
Doug has been building a zip line for the children’s enjoyment and big progress has been made on that project. It is now almost ready to install the wire.
The small back porch/laundry room’s floor was repaired and much dry rotted wood removed then the door was sealed off. This will allow the room to be converted into a pantry with the washer and dryer and the space used much more efficiently.
Another ongoing project is the adding of yet more faucets for irrigation. The trench is now dug and we even managed to find the existing pipe running to the chicken house to attach into. Hopefully today or tomorrow the pipes will be laid and the hole buried.
Bill and I are still in the paper stage of our “new” home purchase but all may finish next week and we will have our own place to live in when we visit in Tillamook.
Friday was a beautiful day here in Tillamook and out on the ocean. I went out halibut fishing with Doug and Nicolas and it was a lucky day. Nicolas hooked 6 fish while jigging off the bottom. Only one of them got away, but three were very small and were sent back swimming to do some more growing. Nicolas brought in the first of the keepers and it brought a big smile to his face. He also hooked the ‘big one’ but it was very large and took Doug over 2 hours to get him onboard. It also took the efforts of all three of us to raise the anchor, reel in the fish and finally follow the fish with the boat. Doug did succeed at getting the 60 lb. whopper on board and we enjoyed fresh fish tacos for dinner that night.
Doug, with the two fish and the cleaned product. Gretchen and I froze most of the meat and there was still plenty for dinner.
Saturday we celebrated Father’s Day at the Brill’s. Doug used his new barbeque to cook up the last of last year’s tuna along with potatoes, zucchini and special stuffed peppers. Doug and Gretchen had some friends over to enjoy the occasion.
We all enjoyed the food, eating a bit more than necessary as there was plenty. It was delicious although this batch of stuffed peppers were rather picante.
Sunday Bill and I went over to Ginger’s house for a lasagna dinner. Bill spent a bit of special time with Mauricio while Ginger and I went clothes shopping. We had an enjoyable time in the store and returned in plenty of time to get the meal fixed.
Ginger is an early-to-bed person so we returned to the Brill’s in time to enjoy a wine with Doug. All in all it was a very nice, fun weekend.
