Jul 25 - whew !

What a day !  Everyone was out on the water for much of it, using kayaks and tubes/floats as well as an inflatable boat.  David and Vanda floated out there, anchored and David has the sunburn to prove it, a half-body sunburn on the right-hand side of his body.  Jeffrey pulled Zoe, then Emma and Zoe, then Sara, then Sara and Matthew -- kayak tethered to kayak then kayak to tube.  Cassie was in in the middle of the action of course, fetching her ball. 

Toys littered the beach, big toys and little toys.  Matthew waded with his life jacket on, waded until he floated, holding a paddle.  Late in the day I took the girls -- Lauren, Emma, Zoe and Sara -- for a boat ride to the dam.  It was rough and we got pounded on the way back, much to the delight of Emma and Lauren, Zoe not so much.

It was the end of an era - I took down the big satellite dish.  Jeffrey noticed the inscription in the concrete (my Dad dated all concrete work as well as the dock) -- 1989.  I remember seeing the bill for the satellite installation when I was going through my Dad's stuff.  It was expensive.  Nothing useful is on those satellites any more.  A few years ago I hooked up all the electronics and painstakingly went through every channel on every satellite, finding only one that was still analog.  Most of those satellites are now retired, eventually in decaying orbits, space junk. 

David and I looked at it, determined that the medium sized ladder would get me up there.  I brought out the ladder, climbed up and pondered how best to do this.  Typical of me, I couldn't resist getting my destructive nature underway ....

From the front, I removed the horn or LNB, thinking that it was heavy.  Nope.  A little electronics and a big plastic cover.  It was supported by four aluminum struts.  From the back, only four bolts held the big aluminum dish to the heavy gauge steel frame.  I tied a rope to stop it from falling then removed the bolts and then Jeffrey helped me lower it so that it didn't drop on the Xplornet dish -- that would have been a disaster.  Now I don't have to worry about the thing catching the wind one day and bringing it all down.  Jason has volunteered his truck to get it to the dump.  It's wider than the truck - probably 8 feet - I just might cut it up first.

We had sausages for dinner, bratwurst and chorizo.   Broccoli and mashed sweet potatoes completed the picture.  I believe that Sandy is planning fish for tonight. 

After dinner - it was now getting close to 9pm - Sandy and I sat with Jason and Lorraine in the gazebo for a few minutes before clearing the floor for Lauren and Emma who were going to sleep out there.  I blew up the blow-up beds and made popcorn for them and we left the house outside lights on.  I suspect that they came in, because I see the popcorn on the counter and the house lights were turned off ... wait, perhaps it's light enough for me to see out there ... yes, sleeping bags are still out there but they are empty.  I see the flashlight here in the kitchen too.  I guess I'll hear that story once they're up.

With very little prompting, Lauren did a great job cleaning up the toys, pulling the kayaks up, gathering everything else into the basket.  We were talking about how good she was and Jason commented that she'd turned out well.   She's been a great help for Sandy, grocery shopping, shopping for Matthew's birthday, making his cake and helping with housework.

... and the day was done, with many more ahead of us.  The weather looks like it's going to be great all week.

Onward !