Things to pass time at Scout Camp

Water Basket Ball

I found a new roll for an old hoop. I was going to throw it away. Thanks to my buddy Greg, we drilled some new holes in the pole that the standard attaches to, and BANG and new hoop. Good gor the little guys, and raises up for the big guys.

Look at Luke in the two photos. He just stalks the game. Hoping for a chance to steal the ball, and every now and then the ball gets close enough and off he goes running with the ball kids chasing him.

The High Dive

Yes We Feed Him

Handsome Luke

Family buddy, Suzi's running pal, guard dog, pool guard, ball retriever, "some dog is walking by" notifier, raccoon late night spotter, left over eater, work around the house buddy, Sunday family walk reminder, and "good boy."

I'm not sure how he knows it's Sunday, maybe the church clothes that he had seen earlier in the day, but he knows on Sunday evening we all go for a walk together and he doesn't let up with the barking until someone gets the leash. I think it's amazing. When Suzi puts on her running clothes he gets excited, and I get that, but the Sunday thing amazes me. Smart dog.

Painful and Funny.

I remembered this clip for some reason today. I think it was "passes it to the man, shoots it, and boom goes the dynamite." That popped into my head. Had to share it with you.

Georgia to Dad

G: WHAT ARE YOU DOING! D: What do you mean? G: The Peanut butter doesn't go in the fridge! ......it goes in THE cupboard. D: Sorry, guess I wasn't paying attention. G: It's okay, but the jelly does go in the fridge. D: Thanks.

Suzi has said on more than one occasion, "it's a good thing we have Georgia. If I were to die she'd know how to run the house."

Suzi and The Kids Day at the Lake

Suzi Loves The Farmers Market

This has to one of Suzi's top ten reasons to live in Lodi. All summer long on Thursday nights there is a party down town. Suzi gets all of her favorite foods, and she runs into all the people she knows.

Going to the mall in Utah was unbearable with Suzi. At least 45 minutes of the trip would be spent talking to 3 old friends of hers we would run into while we were there.

That is what the farmers market is, but it's not as bad here because I seem to know who all the friends are here. Or with a little explanation, "that's Sam's friend Jack's mom." That helps me to be a little more patient. I sort of know them

In Utah it was her friend from Jr. High who she hadn't seen in 20 years. (Don't do the math on that. I don't care if it's correct or not. That's not the point. Focus.) I just didn't feel like catching up with them Forgive me please.

What's a trip to the farmers market without some kind of treat.

Look! Behind Georgia, the lady with the brown pants. That's Judy Bogren, one of Suzi's friends. She was in Suzi's Primary Presidency. Just making the point that friends of Suzi's are eevvverrryyywhheerreee.....I didn't choose this photo for that reason, I just happened to notice that just now.

The food down town is a fun part of it too. Come hungry lots to eat.
Just the girls, Mom, and I this trip. Live Music is playing most of the night too. You can here it up and down the street. Makes for a fun atmosphere.
Rosewood there on the left is a tasty place to eat downtown. Suzi and I like it. Next time you visit well have to pick up dinner there.

Patrick Is Off To Scout Camp

He left early this morning, and he's gone for five days! I think I can hear Suzi up stairs crying.

His camp is out in the middle of NO WHERE! Camp Navarro. It looks like a beautiful camp. I'll be up to visit him when I'm working in the area later this week. I'll be working the Northern coast of California maybe an hour an half away from where he is at.

He's about 4 1/2 hour from Lodi. The drive in is horrible. It will make people who don't get car sick, car sick. Over an hour of turning back and forth. No straight roads. Ups and downs. Ugh make me sick to think about it. These aren't 35 mph turns these are 5-15 mph turns, and top speed on any part of the road would be 30 mph.

That camp is in the woods. It's the kind of woods that when I get in out in them I get a little uneasy. Great big tall Redwoods. Dark, and cold under their shadows. Big foot, or a mountain lion following me around.

Lighthouse

Our Trip To Santa Cruz

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We partied hard, and got home late. Love it.

Where is Patrick?

Santa Cruz

Suzi has her own blog!

I can't believe it either! I put the links to a few of the blogs I read often there on the left. Just click on their names and away you go.

Keeping Up With Patrick

An Old Play Gound Toy (Cont.)

We would load up on rocks at the edge of the bridge. We would fill up our shirts with rocks. Once we would get out to the middle my friend Brian and I would sit down on the steel grate and drop rocks off the edge. We would usually pick a target below in the river and aim for it. First one to hit it would have bragging rights for the long walk home. In the beginning it would take loads of rocks to hit the target. As we became better bombardiers we could strike the target more often. It was a long way up. The distance to the ground is about 4 seconds.



















Just those two wires to keep you on the bridge.
I like this picture. It has a dizzying feel to it. See that rock sticking out of the river near the top of the picture in the sun. We all aimed for that rock, and nobody hit it.
I was surprised that none of the kids were afraid to walk out to the middle. When I brought Suzi out here when we were dating she came no where close to the middle and it took a half hour to get her as far as I did.

When I was a teenager I use to run across this bridge everyday to go work at my grandpa Jim's door shop. I would get home at 4, run for about a half hour, and work until he closed at 5. The faster I got there the sooner I could clock in, however looking back it I could probably only shave off a couple of minutes off my run by sprinting as fast as I did. If I had really thought about the fact that he was only paying me $2 and hour I might not have ran as hard as I did.
Grandma paid much better.

An Old Play Gound Toy

When I was a little guy about Sam's age (10) my friend Brian and I discovered a great place to spend an afternoon.

It's about 2-3 miles from my mom's house on the rail road tracks that have since been pull up. We use to walk down to the bridge to throw rocks off of it, wander down to the creek below and play in that, or take or rods fish. Always hours of fun.
The first couple of times I walked out to the middle of the bridge those gaps between the ties seems miles apart.














The gaps can be very wide at points and a three year old would have no problem fitting through.
Maybe eve a 12 year old could fit though. It still gives me a little bit of an uneasy feeling as I walked out there this past weekend. Mostly because I was worried about the kids. I took two at a time out to the middle. One in each hand if need be.

The Train Bridge

Good times.

BB guns, buddies, and motorcycles at grandma D's. Can't have much more fun than that can you?

Water Girl

Yes I told her we have automatic sprinklers. She just loves to water them by hand.