A Lot Of Stuff

A lot has happened since the last real update. Father's Day has come and gone. Grandma B was here for a visit. While she was here Anne played in Hoopfest in Spokane. Then, as mentioned, the computer broke down. It got fixed a little faster than expected. Then I had to catch up on a bunch of online and general computer stuff. Then I had to finish re-reading the Harry Potter books to prepare for the new and last book. Which of course I had to read, too.

So last things first. No spoilers for Deathly Hallows will follow. I will just say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was a very good and fitting ending to the series. I'm a little sad that I won't have any new Harry Potter books to look forward to. At least there are still two movies left to anticipate. And boy will Deathly Hallows be something to see!

On Father's Day I played golf in the morning. I played as badly as I normally do. I don't have high hopes that I will ever be good at golf. I don't play enough (that was the first time this year that I've played). But I have a good time going out with Mark and usually Kyle and having fun.

When I got home I got to spend the rest of the day with my two best women.



Sydney and I danced around. And I got a hug and kiss, too.



Spokane Hoopfest is apparently the largest three-on-three basketball tournament in the country. This was our first year of going to it. Anne played on a co-ed team with our friend Mark.



Anne started out on the sidelines cheering on the team. Standing next to her over there are Paul and Christy. Anne works with Christy. And Paul is Christy's husband and works at the hospital, too. You can see Mark there on the right side of the picture in the white shirt, black shorts and black and white shoes.



Once Anne got in the game she played well. She did make the basket on that shot.

Hoopfest is played as a round robin tournament. There are all sorts of categories and thousands upon thousands of people play in it. Each team is guaranteed at least three games. If you lose your first two you go to the losers bracket and play until you lose (or win the losers bracket).

As it happened they lost their first game. I believe it was at 11:00 am. The next game wasn't until 4:30 PM. Sydney, Grandma B and I were there for support and to cheer but we weren't real keen on sticking around that long for the next game. It was crowded, the food places in the park had at least a 30 minute wait in line and it was hot. There was lots of walking involved and Grandma B wasn't up to it. I can't say I was, either. (Sydney was riding in the stroller.)

So the three of us left shortly after the first game. They then won their second game. Most of the third games get played on Sunday but by luck Anne's third game was played on Saturday a couple hours later at 6:30 PM. They ended up losing it. That was actually good. It means they got their quota of three games in and were done on the first day. Anne didn't have to go back on Sunday. (Neither did Mark or his family because Mark's son Caden's team did almost the exact same thing. They won and then lost the next two. All three games were on Saturday so they didn't have to play on Sunday.)

Sydney loved having Grandma B here. They played and played and played. Sydney wanted practically nothing to do with Mommy or Daddy while Grandma B was here.

One morning after breakfast Sydney pulled Grandma B out to the front room to play while I cleaned up. When I finished I stepped into the dining room. Sydney came over and pushed me back into the kitchen, pointed at me and said, "there!" I asked if I could come play and she pointed at me and said (loudly), "No!"

I waited a few minutes and tried to go out to the front room from the other direction. When she saw me Sydney once again pointed and loudly said, "There!" So I went back into the living room and took a snooze on the sofa while Sydney and Grandma B played.



Sydney started playing Hide And Seek with Grandma B. (Sydney calls it Peek-A-Boo usually with me.) With Grandma B she would "hide" in the corner where the two sofas meet. She would frequently squeeze herself up near the window.



Now when she plays this with me she usually just goes and squats down at the end of the coffee table, right in the middle of the room. It's not much for hiding. Coaxing to try to get her to hide some place different (after she's hidden there three or four times in a row) usually gets her upset for some reason, though I've managed to succeed once or twice.

In other news we're starting to plan our next vacation. I get ten days of vacation per year. Anne gets more than that. She earns time off as she works. The more she works the more time off she gets. Anyway, I usually split my vacation time to a week in the fall and a week in the winter. Working at a resort where spring and summer are the high seasons doesn't give much opportunity for vacations during those times.

This year - or next, actually - we're thinking of taking two weeks all at one time in February. Right now the front runner for destination is San Diego. We obviously would like somewhere that is somewhat warm but are concerned with travel times. Sydney did great on the flights to and from Michigan last year but she was still quite young. In February she will be two months shy of three. We would like a nice, easy and hopefully short flight. (Alaska/Horizon has a non-stop from Spokane to San Diego that takes just over two and a half hours.)

Looking for a somewhat warm destination doesn't leave a lot of options. February is San Diego's rainy season, but the highs are around 66F on average from what I looked up. Compared to winter here that's plenty warm. There are also lots of attractions there including the obvious Zoo, Wild Life Park and Sea World.

I have an online acquaintance who lives in San Diego. He has already given me a good list of many other attractions in San Diego to consider.

For those of you in Las Vegas and Michigan concerned that we're not considering a visit to you don't forget that 2008 means 20th high school reunions for both of us. It's possible we'll be seeing all of you for those. (Though it's been longer since we've been to Vegas - since we moved seven years ago - so if the reunions conflict we will be going to Vegas over Michigan.)

I think that's all for now. I'll leave you with a picture of Sydney and her friend Mary Jane on a play date. They obviously decided that reading a book together would be a lot of fun.