Oregon 2018

I’m on my way home from a great ten days with our granddaughter Avery in Oregon while her parents were gone. Our daughter Andrea turned 40 years old, so a little vacation is a reward for her and Tim.

As for me, I get to spend time with Avery. And what a time we had!

When I got there, we sat down and went through the things we needed to do and put them on a schedule. Did I say she was Andrea’s daughter? Yes, indeed! We made the list, and as we did each thing, I marked them off. But some we revisited at another time.

Who among you has done those arcade games where you try to get a stuffed animal out of the machine with the “claw?” I remember those games and they never worked; you never got what you were going after. But Avery has a system that does work. She even has it figured out when the different arcades are restocked so that there would be more animals and easier to get.

The cool thing is that she gets all these stuffed animals and then takes them to a charity to give to those kids that don’t have the opportunity to play with the claw. So, the first day we went to one place and they had not restocked so off we went to another place that had.

Now the fun was watching her start the lever and then going on each side of the machine and figuring out if the “claw” was in the right place. After careful analysis, she would wait until the last few seconds to lower the “claw” and retrieve her prize.

What a hoot to watch. She was so exacting.

We spent a lot of the time at the pool, which was great since there was a heat warning each day I was there. Folks in Oregon are not used to 95-98 degrees and I thought it was very thoughtful of them to order that weather for me.

I was hoping for what they are used to which is cool nights and semi-warm days. But that was not what we had until today as I was leaving. It was 56 degrees and temperatures would be around 85.

We also went to a farm where she and a friend got to pet and feed the goats and sheep and then mine for gold or gemstones. Then the real reason we went – to get ice cream.

In the evening I learned about The Incredibles and Hotel Transylvania so I could catch up on the movies we would see in the next two days. I’m so glad we watched it at home so I knew what was going on. Very cute movies – grandma’s time to catch up.

We also watched “Jumanji,” another way for Grandma to catch up. The movie makes you realize how thinking positively gives you positive results and working together defeats everything.

Monday is restocking day, so back to the “claw” saga and more for the charity. Avery taught her friend how to make the claw work in her favor.

My last day was a trip to the baseball park to watch Eugene’s farm team, The Emeralds, play ball. Avery had won the tickets since she had read all the books for her grade and had a field pass. Because we didn’t come earlier, we had the bleacher seats in the 97-degree heat, but we got autographs since we were allowed on the field to get them and be a part of the team.

We watched the game until it was way too hot, and went back to the house. We must have been a good luck charm for a team that has not done well this year because they won that game.

Since we were up really late, we slept in. But I still got up early enough to edit the Coaching Hour transcription. We are transcribing them and putting them up on the Knowledge Vault. Check out the new transcriptions in the next week or so. That way you can listen and read the newest things going on in OSP.

Enjoy!