Brayden in July

I am now 5 months old and look at my 2 new teeth.

I'm all dressed up in big boy clothes and ready to go somewhere, but Mommy says we have nowhere to go today. I think I am happy about that as I DON'T like getting in my car seat.

 I have discovered the 'baby" in the mirror. He is pretty funny and makes me smile and giggle. My Grammy really loves this picture.

 Just hangin' out like the big guys. My Papa likes this picture the best. Grammy says to notice my crossed feet. For some reason she thinks it's pretty cute that I do this all the time.

Log #2

Skeet brought some firewood and topped it off with a log to put on his lot as a boat bumper.

These boys figure things out pretty well. Dump the firewood, but keep the log on the truck. It sounds like a good trick, but it worked for them. Kind of like pulling the table cloth out from under the dishes, only in this case the log was chained down to the truck, which helped immensely.

Once again they are challenged with how top get the log where they want it without dumping it right into the river and having it float away. I should have learned by now never to doubt these guys as they manage to figure everything out. One, two, three...

DUMP! And look at that log balance right there as if they do this all the time.

They pulled a little and pushed a little and over the bank it went and stopped right where they wanted it to. The rest of the project will wait until the next trip to the river.

Around Camp

Jan decided that the old plants we had hanging by the club house were looking a little sad, and they definitely were. So, we went into Longview and did some shopping and refreshed the baskets. We put pink fuchsias in them for now, but thought it would be fun to change the flowers with the seasons.

 Rosemary is always working on her stitchery. During this trip she was making some darling Southwest design kitchen towels. Jan was knitting a scarf and some dish clothes, and I was crocheting hats. It's always so fun to sit around and stitch and visit. Some would call that a "Stitch and XXXXX" session.

Evening around the campfire...

 with a beautiful sunset to end the day.

Storage Building

There is a BIG project going on at our Cowlitz Campground. It was decided that we needed more storage in the shed for miscellaneous things. The discussion about this could have started when we got a bigger lawn mower and more room was needed to maneuver it in and out of the building. So, the boys got to work...

 and as you can see it takes the whole "village" to complete the task. I think they actually all enjoyed it very much.

They needed to dig up some of the floor where is sloped to the old entry. Ron got to work with the jack hammer and Norm helped haul it away. Poor Norm. He came to the Cowlitz for a fishing trip and got roped into working on the building.

 John is cutting a line in the floor indicating the area that needs to be cut out.

 Dig little Jack Hammer dig!!!

Fishing in July

Ron and Norm fishing on the Cowlitz River

Skeet and Ron with their "Catch of the Day"

Every day is a great day if you get to go fishing, but today Norm and Ron had an amazing day fishing

It may not look like it, but these really are happy, happy boys!

As always we process the fish quickly. The fish are bled right after they are caught and placed in the cool fish box. As soon as the day of fishing is over the rest of the fish is cleaned, vacuum packed and placed in the freezer.

Ron's Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday to you,

Happy Birthday Dear Ron,

Happy Birthday to you.

Brad is trying to get the candles lit, but the dinner time breeze is making it next to impossible.

Make a wish and blow QUICK!!!

A piece for you and a piece for you and a...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RON!!!!

Sheral and Keith are getting a chuckle out of the card they gave Ron. I was pretty cute.

Birds at the Cowlitz

So, what are the boys watching? They spotted an Eagle across the river that had a fish it was trying to carry away. Not much luck with that trick, but he did nibble on it for quite awhile.

He never did get that fish off the ground.

 There were not quite as many geese around as earlier in the Spring, but we still saw them daily.

The wild geese seem to have accepted this white one as part of their family. We saw the same tnhing in Idaho, but the witd geese were constantly chasing the white one away. I am told that the white one can't fly as it is tame, so it has to paddle back jup river, while it's friends fly.

As soon as I put the finch feeder out they were there. Hungry little boys and girls.

This Eagle likes this perch and sits there often. He has a great view of the river.

As close as I can tell this is a type of Blue Jay.

Goldfinch

A

Randy and Beth visit the River

Randy came to fish with Ron for a few days and Beth joined us for the weekend. Randy was "THE" fisherman while he was here as he was the only one that caught any fish. Look at the smile on his face.

He who catches them must clean them, but what fun he had.

Randy brought some steamers from in front of his house. Oh, yes, he does live in an amazing location!

Randy is cooking his Bun deJour and Ron and Beth are enjoying eating theirs.

This was our new cooking technique to try. We had seen on YouTube that you can take an ear of corn right from the garden and put it in the microwave for 4 minutes. Then cut the bottom off just about where the bottom row of kernels are. Now hold the top of the ear where the silk comes out and shake or squeeze until the ear falls out. The best part is that it comes out silk FREE!!! No more cleaning ears of corn and trying to get all that silk off. For each ear of corn put 4 minutes on the timer. 2 ears = 8 minutes and etc. Hurray, what a discovery!!!!

After dining on fresh corn on the cob, steamers, and Bun deJours, Ron took Beth and Randy for a boat ride so Beth could see the river and some of the areas where the boys fish. It was a beautiful evening for this.

We were at the river in time to participate in the Toledo "Cheese Days" celebration. Now keep in mind that this is a small town. Only about 730 people live here. However, this celebration is BIG. It's a 4 day event that includes a coloring contest, Toast to the Big Cheese, Golf Tournament, Tennis Tournament, Stuffed Potato Bar, Frog Jumping Contest, Bingo, Pancake Breakfast, Cheddar Challenge run/walk, Kid's Fun Fest, Quilt Show, Car Show, Railroad Exhibit, Free Cheese Sandwiches, Barbecue, Auction, Pizza Eating Contest, Reno Night, Men's and Women's Soccer Games, Midnight Dance, Horseshoe Tournament, Cheesecake by the slice, and to top it off they closed one of the downtown streets for a concert by Mark Chestnutt. Phew, what an accomplishment for this little town.

As you look at the pictures of the parade notice how many people have come out for this event. Usually when we are in town, and yes there is a little town, we seldom see any people on the streets. We talked to some of the locals and were told that people come from all over to participate in the different events. Oh, and this was a long parade. A couple hours if not more. Hurray for the small towns.