4th of July

The weather was so so, but the river was wonderful, as we enjoyed a relaxing 4th of July. A few of Katie's friends came over from Portland and quickly made themselves at home.



Katie is keeping her eyes opened for a nice girl for Derek. Israel is just 9 months old and ready to take off running. She may look kinda young to you now Derek, but just wait a few years, at least til she gets hair.



A few of the locals stopped by to join our party. They have their own box of whole grain cereal in our pantry. I think today they were hoping for chips since it was a holiday. Too bad kids, if you want junk food you have to go to another dock.




This is Scappoose's version of a TALL ship. Actually this pirate ship is moored at our marina & this was the first time we saw it out on the channel. It is kinda fun to live somewhere that has a pirate ship parked around the block.




This one's for you Mitch. On Tuesday Mitch drove me all over Tacoma trying to find a grill for the houseboat. I just couldn't decide. I found this the next day at the only place we didn't go to. The selling point, no assembly required. I just took it out of the box, stood it up on its legs and viola, grill. I did have to install an adapter and then attach a propane tank. This picture is proof positive, that I did it all without blowing anything up.




After a very cloudy day, the sky cleared up on cue about 9:30 pm. We are right between the big displays put on by Vancouver and St. Helens. We couldn't see either one very well, but I'll take this view down the river on a summer's evening over fireworks anyday.