Sunday, August 27, 2017

The Adventure Begins

Esther and I have the special opportunity to abandon our empty nest and be parents for a year.  Christina is the daughter of Esther's cousin Kjellaug who lives in Norway.  Christina will be living with us and attending high school here.  We are looking forward to having Christina in our lives and home this year.  Kjellaug and Christina arrived a week ago, and Kjellaug stayed for a week to help Christina get adjusted.  Unfortunately, Esther had to work during the days, but we packed the evening  and weekend with social engagements.  Fortunately, I did not have responsibilities for the week and was able to chauffeur the ladies to shopping and getting registered for school.  Christina jumped right into social life and tried out for a couple of sports, settling on swimming for the Fall.  We were the recipients of hosting the honored guests and were able to spend time with the Eides in Cle Elem, Anna in Tacoma, Markus and Steph in Seattle and the George Eide family in Lake Tapps.  The busy week ended with a good bye to Kjellaug.  We are excited for our 'parenting' adventure to begin.


Monday, August 14, 2017

Crescent Bar with the Eides

Mikal and Kay were on a mission this summer to get the Eide clan together for a camping trip.  Esther and I are no longer eager campers because of too many cold/wet experiences, so we were glad the decision was made to stay on the Columbia River.  Every one made it besides Kelsey and the Corvallis crowd.  Four dogs kept things interesting.  We had a great time with hot though sometimes windy weather. Mikal rented a ski boat which ended up being our entertainment for the weekend.   We packed just about everyone in including the dogs sometimes, and took long rides up and down the river; swimming, soaking, beaching on the sandbar and even a little wake boarding.  I had to swallow my sailors pride and admit that I enjoyed the motorboat.  The food was great and plentiful and Esther and I enjoyed the Sienna RV while everyone else was in tents.  The trip made a great ending to our summer as Esther started work and I started the summer institute on Monday.




Monday, August 07, 2017

New Old Floor

Ever since we discovered last year that our house's sub floor is tongue and groove 2x6, Esther has been itching to try a reclaimed wood floor in some of our house.  Last week we took the plunge and tore up the carpet, particle board and tar paper, sanded and oiled the distressed floor.  The project took about a week of full time work on both of our parts.  It was rewarding to do the project together and we are pleased with the results.



Tuesday, August 01, 2017

A hundred miles, a hundred miles

Esther and I set a goal for ourselves to walk one hundred miles together in one month. Though we had walked as many as 85 miles, we had yet to do one hundred.  We decided that July would need to be our month, since schedules and commitments would make it difficult in other months. We got a good start at the beginning of the month on our vacation to the national parks.  Yesterday was Esther's birthday and we took a hike to Glass Beach near Port Townsend and finished our month with a bang.  We ended the month with 114 miles, having walked every day of the month; the least being one mile and the most being seven and one half.  Our year to date total is 494 miles.