Longshanks

The End of Summer Blitz

Last week everyone tried their best to get one last hurrah in before the start of the school year. It was a wild week, but we had a great time.

Tuesday night the MPA program at the U hosted a welcome back party. I figured that since I have been in the program for a year now, I should probably introduce Kate to some of the people I go to school with. Up to now she had no verification that I was even in school. Now that she has met my cohorts, there will be no more accusations that the money I spend on tuition is actually supporting my mistress…

Anyway, the party was held at the mill in the Tracy Aviary. The food wasn’t spectacular, but the kids had a great time exploring the aviary. The two highlights were the bald eagles and the bird that pooped right in front of the kids.

Thursday night we attended St. Mark’s Hospital’s summer party. And they know how to throw a party. The park was filled with blow up slides and bounce houses for the kids. They also had booths with games where the kids could win little trinkets. Kate got there before I did, and the moment I arrived Whitney begged me to come watch her battle her friend Lucas. She had already beaten him, and wanted me to see the rematch. As you will see from the video, it didn’t go as she had planned. The battle between Patrick and Samantha also ended badly for both of them, when they clonked heads. The party also featured a mini-golf course, and Bean found herself in heaven. Her golf methods look more like shuffle board than anything else. Kate and Whit also had a great time on the rock wall.

The party was catered by famous Dave’s, which was great. It has been a long time since I last enjoyed their Devil’s Spit barbecue sauce. I also ate cotton candy for the first time in years (I only got one little tuft of it before someone who will not be named [Pat] got a hold of it). We didn’t think we would be there very long, but I felt bad when Kate dropped off Lucas at nearly 10:00. The hospital had a host of prizes to raffle, and they ended up doing it by flashlight. I was hoping that Kate would win the Wii, but she ended up with a car wash and detail, which would come in handy after the weekend.

Friday I took the day off so we could get one camping trip in. We tried earlier in the summer, but got rained out. Getting the campsite was somewhat of an odyssey. The sites at Tanner’s Flat that could be reserved were all booked. The rest of the sites are first-come, first-served. The web site says that you can get there to get on the list as early as 6AM. I raced up the canyon and got to the check in ten minutes early, only to find that the web site is wrong. They open at 7. So after waiting for an hour, the host came out and informed me, to my delight, that he had sites available. However, since I was not expecting to get a site right away, but being added to a list, I had no cash. He agreed to hold my spot while I went to get cash. After finding an ATM I learned the hard way that my debit card expired at the end of July (see how often I use it?) After going all the way home for a check I was able to secure the camp site. The extra effort was worth it. The site was great.

Because it was a Shirley camp trip, we had to have a hike. Stretch spotted a waterfall from the road, and we decided to tackle it. Little Cottonwood is a culinary watershed, so you can’t just tromp through the creek, and we had no bridge to get across. We found a fallen log and used it to cross over. There was no trail, so we picked our way through the brush. It was steep, and at times we were simply pulling ourselves up with branches. Dad, Shared and I were working pretty hard, and I decided that I need my head examined for letting Patrick come. But he was a trooper. Side note: Patrick was told to pack his own clothes and ‘forgot’ to pack skivvies. And because his pants are usually halfway down, I spent most of the hike with his bum in my face. We all ended up with scratches on our arms and legs from the hike, but he’s the only one who got them on his rump.

The waterfalls were amazing, and we’ve already decided to go back next year and continue up to the source.

Samantha and Whitney had a great time playing cards with Kat and Shared. I don’t know if Kat and Shared enjoyed it as much, but they pretended to.

The camp trip wouldn’t be complete without my bread pudding and banana boats. I also brought a bag of Rhodes Rolls and made Navajo tacos for dinner on Friday and scones for dessert. As usual, we ate like kings and ate way too much.