Jetting along

On Sunday I went back to the river after church.  Mark and Andy were already there.  It was such a beautiful sunny day, Andy asked me to take a ride on the jet ski while Mark started a fire so they could cook dinner.

You could just tell Andy was excited and yet worried...he knew he could not fool around.  He needed to keep his mama safe!

You could see, he started out calmly...

Then he got a little silly and started doing donuts.

I figured out, if I hung onto his life jacket, I wouldn't go tumbling into the water...

It sounded like a great idea, but later they told me that they usually fell off along with the passengers...no biggie!

Guess I should be thankful that I didn't get too wet, or maybe HE  should be thankful that I didn't get too wet!

It's 6:20 AM, the sun is shining and it's 51 degrees out there?  Wazzup wit dat?

It's summer again!!!!!!!!!!!

Jet skis, bicycles and of course unicycles.  All part of the Manfred summer. 

Last Saturday morning, Mark and I were sitting at the river when he got a call from Andy, my middle son. 

In celebration of the completion of another segment of the Rails to Trails, a group of 30 bicycles and 2 unicycles rode from Butler, our home town, to Freeport which is just across the river from Schenley, our river home.

Freeport has a great riverside park with a gazebo and they were there to have a pizza lunch.

Mark and I jumped on the jet ski to zip over to say hi.

This is what you see when you ride behind Mark on a jet ski!

 

The gang was at the gazebo, waiting for their pizza.

Andy and friends came down to the shore to greet us.

Andy(far right) and Dave (orange shirt) not only rode their unicycles to Freeport and back, but when they got back home, they kept riding until they rode a total of 50 miles that day!  Oh, to be young again!

This morning when we woke up...

I had to tell Linda that it was time to go home. She was NOT a happy camper...

I keep telling her that we always spend Saturday night at home, in our own beds so that waking up for early service on Sunday is not so hard.

Didn't matter. She was still not happy...

Want to see that again?

No, I didn't think so...

Last night we had company for dinner!

Yeah, him...Hubby Dearest! Our first dinner guest!

While dinner was cooking, Mark took the jet ski out on a solo ride, but after dinner, we jumped on for a sunset cruise. It's my favorite time of day to be out on the river!

We went down under the Freeport bridge...

Past the house that looks like a castle:

Down around the island where the house boats dock so the children can play on the sand bar...

And back again!


As we passed Freeport, they were having a concert in the gazebo in the park..Mark didn't want to get too close, there were so many boats there. This photo isn't very good. I wish you could see it better...it looked so neat, kind of like a scene out of The Music Man!







And after ice cream, we sent Mark home for the night. He's always up and in his office about 5:30 AM on Saturday mornings to catch up on paperwork. We certainly didn't want him waking us that early to head home!

So now, after sweeping and dusting and getting things ready for next week, Linda and I are heading home.

See you there!

View from where I sit...

This evening, this is what it looked like from my seat behind hubby on the jet ski.

Earlier, we sat around this:
We're taking a no-kids, no-dog break from reality...
Back tomorrow, with June, I promise!
Miss me?

I've got pieces of April...

Ah, finally! The winter seemed to drag on and on, then suddenly it's April, the sun is shining, the birds are singing...

And the dogs are...lovin' their daddy! It's rare for Mark to sit down without one of the big dogs near, but recently, Winnie wants to be part of the act! She doesn't care where she sits, frequently it's on Bill's head, just as long as she's there!

And then came Easter! The weather had been so balmy, the grass was growing overtime! When we got to my mother's house on Easter day, she asked Andy and Tony to cut her grass.

First Andy

And then Tony...

And then both of them...I think Mom is going to direct traffic!

do you get the idea that they are planning something? You bet! All over Dad's clean car!

Of course, April means it's time to mosey on to the town ...

(note...as of June 30, 2009, the population was 54)

To get on the jet ski to help put the docks in the water!
Mark will use any excuse to get on a jet ski!
I found out it's not all that much fun, you have to be very careful!
Although once you've delivered a section of the dock to the men who will bolt them together, it's time to play, just a little...
Of course, when the kids heard that the docks were in the water...first Andy and Kailyn
And then Tony and Morgan
Came to walk down to the river
Where Tony and Morgan hit golf balls out onto the water

In April, we also decided that it was time for the motor home to go...to find another family. It was kind of sad. She took us to all kinds of places...But she did clean up pretty good! She found a nice family who promised her trips to Montana! Oh, don't feel sad, we found something else, bigger and better that meets our needs at the river than this gal...she was never intended to sit still for seasons at a time!

Andy invited us to tag along, a prime photo-op, he called it, while he and his friends did some 'jeepin' or off roading.

What that means is that you take your cameras and either ride in, or follow Jeeps or other 4-wheel vehicles that go where motorized vehicles could not or should not go. Example 1: I am riding in the front seat of Andy's Jeep Cherokee. This is my view:
At some point, Andy told me that to get the best photos, I should get out and walk up the hill. I did. He drove:
What you will see are several Jeeps, in much better condition than your first car, doing things that are physically impossible. Such as Brent's predicament:

It's a chance to see, and photograph the undersides of vehicles while they are still upright!
And you take photos of them doing this in case they break something and can never do this again!

Sometimes, the things you do require much thought...

And laughter...and good natured ribbing...But all in all, they are best of friends, each keeps the phone number of the other's favorite towing company on speed dial!

Whew...all that hiking made me tired. That's it for April...See you here tomorrow for May?

Good...you bring the popcorn!

Jan

Wow...If August was busy, what was September?

Awesome!

We started with Andy's birthday:
Celebrated after a long day on the river, of course! Just look at the sun kissed faces. Andy and Tony's birthdays are only five days apart. Both were due on August 23, but neither bothered to show up that day. Tony's birthday is August 26 and Andy was born on September 1 (which, appropriately, was labor day that year).

The family gathered to celebrate the end of summer

Those who didn't want to brave the wiggly dock stayed on shore and watched the fun:
They tried to teach Kailyn to water ski:
That didn't work out that well, but wow! That kid took to knee boarding like a duck to water!
She loved it! Of course, skill building was not without mishaps. This is my favorite picture of Kailyn and the knee board:
She was such a good sport! She took all the teasing in stride, and I know some of those landings had to hurt, but she didn't complain to us (maybe to Andy??)!

Andy was unstoppable. He kept trying new things and getting stronger and braver:
Tony shocked us more than anyone...he started on two skis, but quickly graduated to one:
Although we should be humble, we have some pretty great kids...and buying the jet ski was as wise a decision as buying a travel trailer was when they were small. Here we are, twenty years later, still having a good time together and ending our days around a camp fire!

Another activity was helping Andy and Kailyn get their rental house ready to move in:
Michael and Catherine were the first guests:
Michael brought the traditional bread and ???? Good grief, my mind is blank! You can fill in the blanks!
There was work to be done. The guys painted ceilings...
While Kailyn made the kitchen her own!
There were so excited, but wow, was this a tough one on Mom!

By the end of the month, the leaves started changing colors...There were subtle signs that it might almost be close to time to call it a summer and to arrange to take the jet ski out of the water...Some people caught on faster than others...Every family has one, right?


Hey, be sure you come back for October, tomorrow! I'm so excited to see you!