Friday, August 28, 2009

Lake Powell 2

To recap: We have driven away two houseboats, and now have the cove to ourselves. Sweet! Over the next two days numerous houseboat-mooring scouts come by, but we do not get neighbors until Thursday. The total number of people we scare off: 6.

Because Vienna had a soccer tournament, she and Marilyn do not come down until Monday. Zane and Zane go to get them. As they come back on the boat, Zane (my Zane) yells, "What do you have on the floor of the closet?" I yell, "What closet?" because we have several in our house. Apparently under the assumption that a repetition will provide a different answer, Zane says, "What do you have on the floor of the closet?" The scenario repeats. Finally, I say, "In our room I had some clothes for Alaska." Well, Marilyn brings the happy news that a pipe in our backyard has burst and flooded our basement and bedroom. And closet. Not good. Fortunately, a neighbor noticed it and called Zane's office, who called Zane's brother who was still in town, who turned off the water and pulled up our carpet and put out fans and rescued various personal items and whose wife did ALL the laundry that was on the floor. I love you Lance and Breklyn!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Lake Powell

So. When last we left our intrepid travelers, they had braved the obstacles of flat tires and locked cars. Finally, they have arrived at their destination, just to board a boat and sail to a new destination.

We found a nice little cove off a main-ish channel with two other boats in it. I confess, I was a little worried that one of them would be a PARTY BOAT with loud music, drunken laughter, and jumping into the water late into the night. I like to sleep at night. Apparently, though, the other boats liked to sleep at night too, because the next morning BOTH boats came over to talk to us. One asked how long we would be there (a week), and one artlessly asked if we didn't want a beach for all our kids. No. Both other boats left by the next day, one pulling out by lunchtime that day.

The funny thing is, we were actually pretty quiet all night long. I mean, yes, with sixteen kids there were some wakeups in the night, but not many. I think the real problem was the early morning. We were quiet until 7:00 am, and not too bad until probably 7:30, but then, yes, we were awake. But geez, the sun is up! How can you sleep until 9:00 (really, nine?) at Lake Powell? Well, you can't sleep until 9:00 at Lake Powell if the boat next to you has sixteen kids, I guess. Well, we drove them away to another place, hopefully one where they could sleep to their heart's content.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

August in Review

I know I haven't blogged for most of August, but I have a good excuse. Well, excuses.
1. Getting ready for two trips on consecutive weeks.
2. Going to Lake Powell with the Froerers.
3. Going to Alaska with the Buyses 15 hours after getting home from Lake Powell.
4. Cleaning up after two trips and one flood.
5. Being tired from aforementioned activities.
6. Starting school (I'm substituting for a teacher on maternity leave for three weeks) one day after returning from Alaska.

See? Not much time for blogging. I will, however, reward your patience by beginning What You Missed.

Lake Powell, that land of sun and...water. The Imprinted Canyons. We drove down with Zane Sr., the better to not pay for gas. Yes! We also caravaned with The Babcocks and the Greens (Liz and Victoria, et. al.). Upon arrival in Spanish Fork for breakfast, we discovered a flat tire on the Green's boat trailer, and Zane Sr. locked his keys in his car. No!

One hour later...

We are on the road again! Now, making it to our houseboat by 2:00, the drop dead time, is in jeopardy. We drive fast. We arrive at 1:45. Whew! Loading the boat goes according to plan. No one falls in the water and drowns (this is true all week), and there are very few tears. Not even from the grownups. By 4:00, we are sailing away to find a good spot for our week-long adventure. Both engines work, to everyone's surprise, and they even usually shift. It's going to be a good week.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

So...Tired

This has been a busy week. Hence the no updates. Just about every spare naptime minute I've been painting the outside of our house. Green. Also, painting my hands, arms, feet, and, unfortunately, hair. Green also. Oh, and fingernails. Green. The front of my house is done, except the trim, and so far I've used almost 5 gallons of paint, which is a little more (about twice as much) as I planned.

Today I also found a daycare center for Tiny. I went to a few, but this one is clean, being remodeled, close to Zane's office, and the woman who runs it seems to know both her kids and her stuff. Best of all: they have tiny, tiny chairs, just the size of Tiny. She sat in one while I went out to look at the playground, then got up and played with toys. Without knowing I was missing. I hate this place! The woman who runs it was extremely organized and had a list of all the things I need to bring (blanket, change of clothes, diapers, wipes) and a list of all the food groups the kids get at every meal and snack.

Sabrina also got her second set of year pictures today. She liked this place better (Gingerbread Photo), and we even got a smile or two. No annoying RRRRRRRRRs up in the dog whistle range. Still, she did a have a little stranger danger. When I get back from my world traveling in two weeks, I'll have the Sears pictures (no smile, amazing face) and the 3, 6, 9, and 12 month panel. Baby's a year old!