Finally!!!!

Do you see that? No, I'm not talking about the majestic bald eagle - you see those all the time in Oregon - I'm talking about the not-a-cloud-in-that-bright-blue-sky that has been much more elusive in this neck of the woods. =) (And yes, while the bald eagle population has definitely "soared" around here, I was exaggerating that you can spot them all the time - hence the pictures....)


So, what's to be done on a Saturday this outstanding in Oregon? Well, of course, for our family that means take the boat out. And out with us this time were five fantastic college students - Will, Julie, Kaela - and Ryan and Sarah. Ryan has been out before on our boat, with an all-boy crew, but his girlfriend, Sarah, had yet to come aboard.


The guys had some outstanding runs, with some nice air, but unfortunately, both of them took some hard hits. In fact, we were pretty concerned with one spill that Will took - wondering if we'd need to call the day short for a trip to the ER for a potential concussion. He assures us he is "good-to-go", but we are thinking that maybe he'll need to start borrowing Ryan's helmet from here on out.....


I tried to balance the pics out by selecting those that showed some "skill-set" with those that just show joy in their faces. (And in selecting, I'm talking about the 502 pictures that Kaela just uploaded, taken with our camera....)

However, with Julie's run, this one demonstrated one of the lesser "intense" poses she had. She's a definite "concentrater" when doing her skills.... particularly while doing her one-handed surf-sessions on the wake. (Her specialty!)

And, as for me, the picture selection pretty much came down to which image was most flattering.... forget trying to capture skill!

While waiting for his turn on the intertube, Brayden cozied with me.......moments like these are extremely sentimental to me right now given his eminent graduation into middle school.....

Okay, on to the intertube runs. Let's just say, John tried to adjust each ride to the desires of those riding - whether that be a smooth run for Mikayla - or a "knock your socks off" (or I guess, "throw your bodies off") ride for the guys. What I love most though, is the major abundance of smiles in these shots......










Huge kudos to John who ran the boat so well today. Also worth noting in this picture, is the images you can actually see in the reflection of his sunglasses. I was quite fascinated by how great the picture quality was to capture all that!

A final shot of the group at the end of the day. While I think everyone will survive their "ride" injuries, the reports I've been getting is that the real boat issues everyone is suffering from is the sun exposure. It's hard not to get a little greedy when we've been cooped inside for so long..... I hate to be self-centered, but I'm thankful our family fared pretty well as far as this is concerned, but I know Will and Julie are slathering on the Aloe tonight!

Sunburn or not, I think the whole group would agree that it was all worth it - and what a phenomenal way to start the summer!