We're Number One!

The drive to Lincoln City on Friday afternoon was interesting - rain, sleet, and snow, but it wasn't cold enough for any of it to stick so the roads were clear. I had a good murder mystery on CD so the drive passed very quickly. The house that the middle school kids were retreating in was on Devil's Lake and had a great view with a big deck all along the back of the house. Nick said there was two inches of snow in the morning and the leaders ambushed them with snowballs after getting them to line up for a group picture! The Oregon coast doesn't get snow very often so they were very excited to experience it there. I was very glad to hear that Nick had made it all the way there without becoming carsick. Last year he became a legend in his own time after snacking on Funyuns and Mt. Dew, becoming carsick, and sharing his recently consumed snacks all over the van.....As I was sitting in the parking lot just before they left, I saw Nick stick his head out a window and pretend to be sick, so I assume he was planning ahead, practicing the right way to do it.

When Nick got in the car to return home, he anounced he'd had three hours of sleep the previous night and promptly passed out, so I enjoyed the book again most of the way home. He came straight into the house, fell on the couch and went to sleep again. By the time I got him up and we were ready to head for the big championship game, we were a little later than we wanted to be. About a half mile down the road, Will wondered if he had turned off the espresso maker. I could hardly believe it. Will never does things like that, but I've certainly done my share. So I enjoyed the feeling of superiority in spite of being a bit annoyed as we turned around and went back. (It was turned off.) However, down the road a little farther was a very recent accident with a pickup on each side of the road. We had an eerie feeling that perhaps we had just been removed from harm's way. We pulled over several times for emergency vehicles on the way in, but fortunately made it to the game with a little time to spare.

We only had 7 players there so I was especially glad we were able to get Nick back. These boys once again played fantastic basketball. I abandoned my usual well-modulated polite encouragement and yelled and cheered with the loudest of them. They led the entire game and won 53-32. Nick had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Galen, Anisa, Duane and Brendan came to lend their support. Cousin Rick and Joan were on the other side cheering for their friend Cody Gerig. (Hopefully they cheered a little for Nick too!) It was great fun.


When all the congratulating and awarding was over, Nick was in a hurry to get back to his friends at the coast. We took the time to stop for some food at an A&W, and were fortunate enough to be seated next to three teenage girls wearing matching t-shirts that said "Bachelorette" across the back. Now to backtrack, after Wednesday night's game, while we were eating dinner and perhaps I managed to have a few food/drink mishaps (but no choking), Will gave Nick some advice about what kind of girl to choose when he's ready to find a wife. Here it is: "You'll want to choose someone no higher than a 7 on the Ditzy Scale. That way she'll always be fun, but she won't totally drive you crazy." Very interesting. Anyway, after eavesdropping on these "Bachelorette's" a little, Nick observed that one of them was a 10 on the Ditzy Scale. So if you ever hear the men of this house share a rating of a female, please be aware it's not the usual shallow judgment of physical attributes. We go way beyond the surface around here.

While discussing where to spend the night, I told Will that Mallorie said there was an extra room at the house where all the kids were staying. Wouldn't it be great to stay there, hang out with Nick and save money at the same time? Nick was pretty alarmed at that idea, and argued very persuasively that we wouldn't enjoy it at all because they stay up really late and are very loud, so we allowed ourselves to be talked out of it. But I suggested maybe it would be fun if we came over for breakfast because we know they have great meals there. He passionately talked us out of that too. Could it be that he enjoys a weekend away from parents as much as the parents enjoy a weekend away from kids?

We found ourselves a room at the Sea Gypsy with a great ocean view. I sat in the car while Will went in to register us. He came back to the car and said with a wicked chuckle, "She asked if I wanted a room on the second or third floor. I told her I'm with a young one tonight, she can make it to the third floor." He wasn't sure exactly where the room was though because the girl was a "Gothic mumbler". But we found it easily anyway!

The next morning - see the snow on the hill on the right?

Then as luck would have it, we were walking in the beautiful sunshine on the beach the next day when I noticed a group of kids and was about to remark on the crazy kid wearing shorts and no shirt. Hmm, he has hair just like Nick's. Oh, it IS Nick! Will thought we should just keep walking and leave him alone. But first I had to get a picture with my zoom lens so I could prove to him that we'd been doing surveillance on him. As I was getting the picture set up, they noticed us so I quickly snapped the picture and we turned and ran away as fast and a far as we could (for at least 30 seconds.) So the picture didn't turn out very well, but it reminded me of one of those pictures you see in the tabloids where they spy on celebrities and get blurry pictures, so I want to share it anyway.

We ran into them in the parking lot as they were leaving and we were heading to lunch. We offered to take Nick to Mo's with us and then return him to the group, but amazingly he once again declined our offer. I thought of my brother Mr. Iced Tea Forever back there in landlocked Indiana as we sat here in Utopia enjoying our clam chowder (although much less of it than Mr. ITF would have ingested!)

So, a very fun weekend. We called our wonderful brother/Uncle Galen and wished him a Happy Birthday tonight. He informed me he has reached the age that our Grandpa Troyer was when he was killed in a car wreck - 57. Here's to a safe, happy year and many more!