Between Ryan and Hayley, I have finally figured out how to get on our family blog and post something - so here goes.

My stories won't be as clever and cute and the other girls post, but you will at least know what it going on here with g'ma and papa.

Dad just called and both the old fishing boat and the SeaRay ski boat got sold today. He and Wes were fishing in the "GeeWhiz" beautiful new fishing boat, but were catching squat. We going to have the boathouse tweaked a little to house the new boat, and the future and upcoming party boat, and still keep the wave runner. We have a guy coming up with a plan. This guy is also going to put an overhang cover over the complete deck, and we will have fans, etc., so that should make sitting out there much more pleasant.

Two blog-worthy things have happened to me in the past few weeks, so I will share them. You probably have to be me to fully appreciate both.

First, a few weeks ago I opened a can of DelMonte spinach. I heated the entire can and began to eat it. After a few bites, something large and hard, unlike spinach, hit my tongue. I immediately spewed it out on to my plate. It made a little "thunk". I took a knife that was sitting there and started to part the green spinach away when - wings - yes, wings, popped out. I about died. Upon further inspection, it was a cooked flying beetle, a pretty large one. GROSS doesn't begin to cover it. Needless to say, that was it for me on canned spinach. UGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Second, last weekend I was taking care of Channing and Chloe while Ryan and Amber were on their cruise. To be a good grandma I took them to lunch at McDonald's so they could play on the playground. WELL - suffice it to say we became the McDonald's lunch time entertainment when Chloe (tiny little thing that she is) wormed her way up to the tippy top and furthest edge of what I now call "the gerbil tubes" and commenced to get seriously freaked-out and wouldn't/couldn't make herself move to get down. My first thoughts were of me at about the age of 7 when my brother Craig talked me in to climbing up a huge tree in a field near our house and when I got pretty far up there, I wouldn't/couldn't move from fear. Craig went home and got our dad. Dad came and tried EVERYTHING to get me down, and then the poor man just finally climbed the tree and somehow made it down with a sobbing little girl hanging on him. So, I tried the same thing - to talk Chloe down. NO WAY! So, next, I tried to get her to come down with Channing. NO WAY! You must also understand, that I could hear her but because those tubes are solid, I couldn't see her and she couldn't see me. She was getting hysterical by now. A little Asian man was there with his kid and said he could probably go up and just grab her and make her come down, but I thought Chloe might pass out with that one, so I declined the help. After a few moments of wondering how a too tall and chunky grandma of 59 was going to twist herself this way and that and start climbing up there, I just jumped in a tube and started. Oh My Gosh - those things are definitely made for little children. I honestly said a quick pray and had to keep going on faith - I was so hot and chlostophobic (I have no idea how to spell that) but I keep following the sound of "Grandma, help me". My heart was pounding. Finally I could tell I was getting close. It was probably only a couple of minutes but it seems hours. I could tell I was right under her, but I couldn't turn around. So, I put my hands up where I was sure she could see them, praying she would take my hands and I could pull her down. NO WAY! I just quickly and miraculously twisted my body (thank heaven I lost all that weight) so that I could barely stick my head up and she could see my eyes. When our eyes met she quit crying and starting that deep breathing thing we all do after sobbing. Then, finally, she moved toward me. I grabbed her and we hugged for a couple of minutes. We were both relieved. Coming back down was much easier than getting up. We were quite the talk of all the people in McDonald's. After exiting (which was probably not a minute too soon for them) we all came home, and all three of us had to have a nap. What a trauma.

By the way, I love ALL of your blogs! Let's get Velvet going.

Well - that's it for tonight. Love to all---MOM