Swimming at Grandma's

My parents got a new pool this summer and the kids have been having a lot of fun playing in it.  Because of the drought I haven't been filling up our little pool, so it's been nice to have access to this fun, much bigger pool then ours.  

Green Beans, Tow Trucks, & Train Rides

 Yesterday was quite an eventful day.  We started our day with the last day of swim lessons.  After we got the kids washed and dressed, we got ready to go up to Tony's work.  Margie and Lloyd came over to our house to pick us up.  Some went up with Tony in his car and the rest in Margie's van.

We got some lunch at Jerimiah's, and it was super yummy, as usual.  After lunch we went to the cannery and Tony got changed before taking us around to see the equipment.  Tony kept getting called away to help with problems, so we did some of the tour ourselves.  Since we've been going for ten years, I felt like I was pretty qualified to be our pretend tour guide.  Tony does a much better job, and we were glad when he was able to come back to us.

After our tour Tony needed to get back to work so we headed for home.  We got to Layton without any problems until we saw a piece of metal that was in the road.  It was moving around, and we couldn't swerve to miss it, so it went right in the middle under her van.  I was hopeful that the metal piece wasn't too big that we could just drive right over it and it would miss hitting the bottom of the van.  I was wrong.  It bounced around the bottom of the van and hit the oil pan and we were losing oil and starting to smoke under the van.  

Margie was already in the right-hand lane, so luckily, she was able to get over to the shoulder quickly without any problems.  We got over on an extra wide shoulder that was on a bridge to an on ramp.  Margie got out and quickly saw that it was indeed the oil that leaked all over the road and all over her car.  We knew we couldn't turn the car back on to get off the freeway or even to have the AC run, so we rolled down the windows and quickly figured out who to call.

Lloyd called Honda and got a tow truck coming.  The next step was figuring out how we were going to get all seven of us back home.  We looked at getting an Uber but quickly found that they couldn't get us all in one vehicle.  The tow truck driver said he can take two people with him, so we then only needed to get me and the kids home.  We knew an Uber driver probably wouldn't pick us up on the freeway, so I took the kids over the railing, and we walked off the freeway to the nearest restaurant so that I could order us an Uber.

Once in the restaurant I found that there were no Ubers that were available that would fit us.  I started to freak out a little bit worried about how I was going to get my family of five home from Layton.  I called Lloyd and Margie to see if they were still on the freeway with the tow truck and they were still there.  The tow truck driver said that he got permission from his boss to let us all ride in the van on his tow truck.  He didn't think it was a good idea to take us all the way to Murray because it was so hot in the van.  So, he was kind enough to take us to the Front Runner train station.  

So, the kids and I went back up to the freeway (I did get us some water from the restaurant while we were figuring out what we were doing - that was amazing).  We got into the van, buckled up and went for a little ride.  I sat in the driver's seat and the kids all sat in the back.  Josh was really worried at first and wanted to ride in the tow truck, but he quickly calmed down once we started going.  I figured we were all in this together, so we needed to all be in the van together.  

The ride on the tow truck was pretty hot.  We did have the front windows open, but not the back ones.  The driver told the kids not to wave to people or put their hands out the windows.  Nothing that would draw attention to the fact that people were in the van.  It was also pretty bumpy.  But we didn't feel unsafe.  We were very grateful to have a ride for all of us to the Front Runner station.

Once we got to the station, he lowered us down off the truck and we all got out.  Margie decided to come with us on Front Runner, so I wasn't by myself with the kids again and Lloyd went with the tow truck to the Honda dealership in Murray.  We got our tickets and then had to wait about 15 minutes for the train to come.  

The train was nice and cool, and we were very thankful for that.  We were all very hot. It was in the high 90's and we were feeling it.  We all really enjoyed the train ride, and we made an adventure out of our situation.  We got out at the Murray station and then Margie called Lloyd to see if he had a loaner car from the dealership.  They were all out of loaner cars, so Lloyd was trying to get a rental van.  Since he was still trying to get a vehicle, I called my dad to see if he could come get us and take us to Margie's house.  Thankfully he came quickly, and we all piled into his car to go to Margie's house.

Once at Margie's we all had some water before getting in her truck and having her take us home.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get home from Layton, but we were thankful that we were able to get home.  We turned the swamp cooler on high and I started getting the kids some dinner.  Even though it sucked to hit that metal piece that hurt the bottom of the van, we were still very blessed with the outcome.  It really could have been much worse, and we are truly blessed.

Random Summer Fun

We've been having some good times this summer.  The second to last day of swim school, a girl in Tyler's class gave him a note with her phone number.  He's a cutie and the girls are noticing.  

Tyler, Josh. and Tony were able to go to a Bee's game with the young men and Elders in our ward.  They all had a good time. 

My dad helped the young women in my ward with driving them to the stake center in his 57 Chevy for girl's camp.  It was fun to see all the girls dressed up and excited to ride in the old cars.

Swim Lessons

Oregon 2021 - Day 9 & 10: Coos Bay to Boise & Boise to Home to Celebrate Independence Day

We decided to drive all the way to Boise from Coos Bay on Saturday.  The drive was smooth and we stopped in Sisters to eat lunch.  After lunch we made our way to Boise.  We checked into our hotel and were happy to find out that the pool was open and available for us to go swimming.  We were all excited about that.  We had a good time swimming, even though the pool was pretty busy.  

The next day we drove home without any problems.  We got home and unloaded the car and got unpacked.  After that we went to Tony's parents for dinner.  Koda was very excited to have us back.  After dinner we came home and the kids did pop-its in the front yard.  That was all the fireworks that we did for the 4th of July.  We did end up watching all the fireworks that were set off around our house once it got dark.  It was a different way to celebrate Independence Day, but we were thankful to be home in the good ole US of A.

Oregon 2021 - Day 8: Cape Arago and Crab Feast

After checking out the crabbing and then eating some lunch we headed up to Cape Arago.  It was beautiful and fun, but we only saw one sea lion on the rocks.  Still we always love going to Cape Arago. 

We then went back to the warehouse and had our crab feast.  Dad got some take and bake pizzas that we started baking to go with the crab.  I tried to do two pizzas at once and ended up burning the sides of one that then started a fire in the oven.  That wasn't good.  Luckily it only ruined that one pizza and we were able to continue baking the other pizzas.  We all had plenty to eat and enjoyed each others company on our last night in Oregon.

Oregon 2021 - Day 8: Crabbing

 

Oregon 2021 - Day 7: Shops & Another Hike Over Bastendorff

 We always stop at the jam shop on the way back from the Rogue.  The kids love to sit on the bear and see what good finds we can find.

After we got back to the cottage, Josh wanted to go on the hike that we went on the day he was sick.  So, Megan, Tony, and I took Josh up the road to the trailhead.  He really liked that hike and was glad that he was able to do it.  He really felt bad that he missed out on things the day he was sick.  He liked the hike and wants to do it again next year.