Family, Fun, Laughter

Day 23, Wednesdat, July 2

Curt and I started out this morning sitting way out in the yard on lawnchairs, aiming our iPads up into the sky and staring upward. Why, you might ask? There's an airstrip that ends just 1 mile from Ross and Lorna's house. At different times of day the most interesting planes, jets, helicopters, etc. are taking off and landing. Since we've been here we've seen loads of F-15's, private luxury Gulf Stream jets, and even a huge cargo jet (C-130, I think), which did touch-and-go's all afternoon yesterday. Since the military jets are fairly predictable, we decided to set up and photograph them during their morning exercises today. Curt was set to video them and I was prepared for still shots. We thought you might like to see some of these guys pretty close up. We were all set up when we heard the first engines fire. We aimed our iPads and waited....and waited....and gradually the sound faded away. Two minutes later the same thing happened with the second plane. Foiled! Today they took off in the opposite direction! But we'll try again tomorrow morning. It's pretty impressive, and definitely photo-worthy, to be so close to the airstrip when these big guys take off and land.

Lots of talk on the TV, and concern in the community this afternoon, about an oncoming storm. We battened down all the hatches, brought everything in from outdoors, zipped up the camper, and waited. Just before the storm was about to hit, in came Patty, Curt's sister, and her best friend Carol. Suddenly the storm was old news. We had our own excitement indoors. Since we haven't seen Patty and Carol in over 25 years, there was a LOT of catching up to do! And in a family of born storytellers, there were lots of memories to rehash. The  stories and laughter flowed nonstop from 3 pm to 11 pm. 

L to R: Patty, Curt, Carol

In the meantime, Ross and Lorna's eldest daughter, Kirsten, and her husband, Alan, arrived. That just added more fuel to the fire, and more stories and laughter. As it turned out, we did have a storm, but not nearly as severe as predicted. I only noticed a few flashes of lightning, however, with all the action inside.

L to R: Kirsten, Patty and Carol

I haven't mentioned Emma yet, because until today she has kept a pretty low profile. But today she must have finally decided that Curt and I might not be a threat after all...and she started following me around the house. Emma is the most mellow, sweet tempered cat I've seen. And I think we're going to be able to make friends now. For all you cat lovers, check out these glamor shots:

It was manicure time for Emma tonight...one of the chores Kirsten and Alan do when they come to visit:

And Emma is just fine with it...as long as she gets her kitty treats the moment her claws are trimmed.

Now everyone's sawing logs, tuckered out from all the visiting. But I have a feeling that the stories and memories will resume bright and early tomorrow, so I'd better rest up for that, too!

Oh, by the way, it was the auto-correct feature on my iPad, not my spelling, that transformed my dinner description last night from crepes to creeps. Curt and I had a big laugh today when he discovered that on my blog! There are probably lots of other things we haven't caught, so enjoy them as you find them. Gotta love auto-correct; it can create the most interesting visuals!