GETC

The annual Guy Enriques Team Camp at Kelso High School is about volleyball, but they also have other activities such as the team talent show. The RA Long volleyball team performed to a Pit Bull song and wore bald wigs. They ended up taking 2nd place out of 12 performers! In this pic, Jillian is standing up third from the left, and Bridget is standing up far right.

They also called players up by position to dance. Jillian joined the setters:

... and Bridget joined the outside hitters:

Here's a couple more bonus pics from the main performance:

Living the Best Life!

Looks pretty good to me-Anna (the cat) and Cookie keeping Tor company while he watches cartoons while eating out of a half-gallon ice cream container. Then later he has me (Grannie) defend him while he shoots baskets and dunks on the kitchen basketball hoop. (Actually-good exercise. But I'm getting too easy.)

 

Waterskiing

Tor got up on waterskiis (briefly) for the first time today. Uncle Kevin and Aunt Julie were on their boat on Mayfield Lake, and invited us along. Tor got a quick lesson from Uncle Kevin, then jumped into the cool water. The first attempt was close, but Tor got up on the second attempt for a couple seconds (see pic) before having a spectacular crash.

That was the end of waterskiing. Tor was more inclined to do some diving catches into the water off Uncle Kevin's throws.

Baby Grant

Little cousin Grant Robert (or G-Bob) was born on July 24, and Cale and Erika brought him home today. Jillian, Tor and Dad went up to CR to see and hold him (Bridget and Mom were at a horse show).

G-Bob is a very chill baby - he slept the entire time we were there.

Papa Bob's New Ride

Jillian got to take Tor out for a spin in Papa Bob's new Honda ATV. It's a nice smooth ride, and goes pretty fast. Should be fun!

Mint Valley Golf Course

We finished our tour of local golf courses at our "home" course of Mint Valley. This time we played 18 holes and rented power carts (since we had some old gift cards to use up). Cousin Cale joined us once again.

Tor drove the new, updated power carts most of the time:

Skyline Golf Course

Or, as we call it, the "Mountain Goat Course", due to the crazy steep hills. Skyline was our 4th course on the tour, and certainly had some of the most difficult holes. Tor did manage to pull out a par on a Par 3, and a bogey on a Par 4.

Tor's school friend and basketball teammate Keegan joined us, along with cousins Cale.

We had gone to the $1 movie (Kung Fu Panda 4) with Keegan beforehand, along with playing some Nintendo Switch 2 and grabbing a McDonalds Happy Meal on the way.

Riverside Golf Club

Our third course on the tour was at Riverside Golf Club in Chehalis, a public course with some challenging holes. We were joined by Uncle Kevin and Cousin Cale for the front 9 (they continued on to the back 9).

Tor's new goal(s) is either a par on a Par 4, a birdie on a Par 3, or two pars on the Par 3s. He came close on one of the Par 4s, scoring a bogey.

Pine Crest Golf Course

Tor, Dad and Cale played at Pine Crest Golf Course in Salmon Creek on Sunday. It's a Par 3 layout, and we played for our own score this time. Tor came up big on the 132 yard 3rd hole, making par and earning a new iron!

It's now the "5 golf courses in 6 days" tour, after we skipped Saturday to work at splitting firewood.

The Gathering

Jillian and Bridget departed from PDX on Thursday night to fly to New Orleans for the 2025 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) Youth Conference, known as The Gathering. They went with Pastor Eli and his wife Jennifer, along with the youth group from the sister church in Ridgefield. They'll be there for 1 week, going to the Superdome each day for breakout sessions and performances. Here's a couple pics sent our way:

Lewis River Golf Course

Tor, Dad and cousin Cale went to the Lewis River Golf Course this morning, as part of our "5 golf courses in 5 days" tour. We played a best ball scramble, and ended with +2 for 9 holes.

Tor's goal for this tour is to make a par on any hole. He came close on a par 4 with 2 long strokes with his driver and hybrid. His reward will be a new 9-iron.

Bridget & Handsome

Bridget had a photo shoot with Handsome yesterday, getting some very nice pics together. Here's a sampler:

Sprinkler Fun

After the movie, we brought Kenny and Rory to our house to play. The only way to be outside in the 90+ F heat was to play in the water, so we got out the sprinkler and a bunch of water squirters, and filled up some buckets with warm water. Our own kids got into the act and soaked each other. Kenny and Rory spent most of their time playing in the buckets.

Jillian brought out the car washing supplies to clean up the Hyundai, and K & R helped out:

Eventually, we all got worn out and had to head inside for a nap.

Paw Patrol Movie

The kids took Kenny and Rory to the Regal Cinemas to watch a $1 showing of the Paw Patrol movie. There were lots of other little kids there, too. K & R liked the movie, but they were also pretty wiggly. We managed to make it all the way through with the help of a big bag of M&Ms and some Tootsie Roll lollipops.

Pool Party

Tor and Dad cooled off in Ms. Beck's pool in Kelso, along with cousins Emmy, Josie and Hattie, and Mr. Pollock's kids George and Charlie. (It was a Kalama teacher get-together.)

K & R in CR

The kids came up to Castle Rock to work, and got the added bonus of seeing Kenny and Rory, who were with Aunt Julie for the day.

Tube Float

Our final day in Eastern Washington / Idaho was spent on a tube float down a portion of the Spokane River. It had a nice mix of rapids and calm stretches. Occasionally, all of us would be able to float together:

But when it was rapids-time, we were on our own:

The water was pretty cold, and only Tor made the (brief) jump into the water, which he instantly regretted. The total time was just over 2 hours, just long enough for a couple sunburns.

Game Night

Grandma Cindy had a whole host of games lined up for everyone to play, including golf tic-tac-toe:

... sponge relay:

... and Solo cup relay:

Parasailing

Thanks to a generous donation from Papa Ken, Jillian and Bridget were presented with the opportunity to go parasailing over Lake Coeur d'Alene, and they agreed to go together (Tor might try it another time).

Mom went along in the boat as an "observer", and was able to take pics and video.

The wind was over 15 mph, which meant they went flying around the bend and out of sight of the rest of the family (oh well :( ), but Mom was able to provide commentary. They flew 800' out, so pretty far up, but the girls said it wasn't scary. This is what it looked like from the boat:

It was a dry take-off and landing (all on the boat), but the captain did drop them down briefly to wet their toes:

Jillian took along Jacob's GoPro knockoff to take some video. The girls said they were surprised how quiet it was up there ... they said they could just chat the whole time.

When asked, they said they'd do it again!

Ice Creamery

Dad had ordered the 5-scooper earlier in the day, and struggled to finish it before it melted. We finished our stay at Silverwood with a stop at the Ice Creamery, where scoops are at least twice the normal size.

Paratrooper

No trip would be complete without a ride on one of our favorites: Paratrooper.

Mom and Dad chilled together, while Tor enjoyed a solo ride.