Hot and Bothered

MISTY MORNING: Our heatwave continued today. It really didn't cool down much overnight, unfortunately.

We had the pleasure of company for breakfast (Grandma and Grandpa and the kids' biggest brother Rick). After G&G headed south toward home, the kids and I started taking care of some business. Specifically, there are some parched plants around these parts.

I watered the green roof, our blueberries, and CJ's from-a-seed apple tree. Then, I turned the hose over to CJ, who carefully watered the tomatoes (well, only ONE tomato so far), the (pepperless) pepper plants, the strawberry-less strawberry plants and some straggly looking cilantro.

CJ and Annabelle also watered each other, of course. And Kirby, the hot dog, got a misting, too.

Some P.E. action also took place in the alley. We played "monkey in the middle" (keep away) with a wet, spongy ball. (CeeJ and Bee need lots more practice playing catch.) And the Moon Shoes, Razor scooters and Hippity Hop all got a workout, as well.

Afterward, the three of us walked to the south end of the alley to pick some blackberries so we can make another cobbler. I pointed out to the kids there were some very low-growing ones, and soon CJ was sitting in the alley picking 'em.
NEW TASTE SENSATION: This morning, out of nowhere, CJ asked me to put peanut butter on his chocolate chip cookie.

Certainly he's not the first or only one to think of combining chocolate and peanut butter (Reese's springs immediately to mind), but in my 44 years I've never heard that peanut-butter slathered cookie request from him or anyone else before. Interesting.

He gobbled the whole thing down. Later today he said his inspiration was he'd been thinking about peanut butter toast, and when I offered him a cookie, he thought to put peanut butter on it.

CHOPPY WATERS: It has been a couple of weeks since the Explorer I took its maiden voyage. Since it was so hot and sunny today, it seemed like a good time to get back into the drink, so to speak.

Here's our boat going across the Fremont Bridge
This time we put in at a boat ramp near the west end of the University of Washington campus instead of the one near the Ballard Bridge as we had last time. We were thinking that by putting in down there, we'd have less trolling time at 7 knots, and that we'd see some new sights.

Our boat trip started to take a turn for the worse almost as soon as we shoved off from the dock. It was tight quarters there - not a wide waterway leading to open waters, lined by expensive boats on both sides. Making matters worse, there was a stead stream of Ride the Duck boats rolling on into the water at the dock. (By steady stream, I mean one every minute.) To make matters even "worser," I'm not sure what was going on, but Christian was having a hard time steering the boat. A really hard time. As in we-actually-hit-another-boat (at very low speed) hard time.

Mercifully, we eventually made it out to Lake Union, but I was already feeling uneasy after our rough start. So we get out to the lake and it's really too hot within just a few minutes. It's like we're sitting in a convertible in rush hour traffic. The solution would have been to go faster, to get some air moving by our faces and some water spraying around us, but Christian said the boat motor was maxed out. I don't know what was up with that - we were going nowhere near as fast as we'd topped out at on our maiden voyage. So that was unpleasant.

And then, once we got to the canal under the Montlake Bridge things got really interesting. I don't know if it was the lack of our speed and/or the lack of steering control, but we were bobbing like crazy and going sideways a good portion of the time. That's not a very good feeling.

Then we finally get out to Lake Union, where it's also choppy. So choppy, in fact, that I look over to my left and see, at about 60 yards away, the bottom of a boat. You shouldn't see the bottom of a boat unless you're under water or it's in a dry dock. I point it out to Christian and we were the first onto the scene. There, we found a pair of young women both wearing life vests (smart!). They were bobbing along side their sailboat which was laying on its side. They couldn't right it by themselves, no way. Too much of the sail was under water, creating too much drag.

While we could have pulled them from the water if they were in distress, they weren't. Beyond that, we were of no real help to them, because we had no anchor (and no way to stay put next to them (with the wonky steering) that would have allowed me or Christian to get in the water and try to help them get the boat upright. We looked around and saw two other boats (all bigger and better equipped)quickly making their way toward the capsized boat, so we pulled away to allow those boats to get close. Also, a police boat was making its way over.
We bobbed and spun around Lake Washington a bit. We had a nice view of Husky Stadium and the floating (520) bridge, but before long we made our way back toward the dock. As we approached, we could see it was rush hour there. We had to idle our engine and wait. And wait. And wait. In the heat. With the engine fumes. I was quite ill by the time we finally got to pull up, and CJ and I were both talking about never going boating again.

In happier news, Annabelle took a few photos while waiting on the dock. Here's a self portrait. ...

(You can see our boat over her right shoulder.)PINATA PROJECT: Today, for our arts and crafts edification, we got started on a pinata project. We hope to craft a fully operational Death Star. ...

OK, well not FULLY operational. But at least one that looks good, and has real lights, how 'bout that?

I went and bought some inflatable punch balls this morning, as I needed an orb that was perfectly round and a standard balloon shape simply wouldn't do.

The kids helped tear paper strips and mix the papier mache goo. Annabelle helped apply some strips. CJ would have none of it - he really can't stand the feel of the clingy paste on his hands. Can't say that I blame him.

The first shell went well. After it was done, I set the bowl holding the orb outside, in the shade, to dry.

When we got back from boating, I was horrified to find that (I'm guessing due to the heat) the punch ball had expanded and it was now misshapen. In fact, it was shaped pretty much exactly like a standard balloon, which is exactly what I don't want. So back to the drawing board for us. Sigh.

KING OF KONG: I mentioned last week that CJ was looking forward to meeting Steve Wiebe this weekend. Wiebe, a Redmond, WA resident, is a living legend among gamers, having held the world records for the Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr. arcade games. While most world class gamers play in obscurity, Wiebe gained fame when a documentary "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" chronicled his trials and tribulations.

Christian, CJ and Kennedy went to Big Time Brewery, not exactly knowing what to expect. That said, I do know that what went down exceeded their wildest expectations! CJ was literally jumping for joy at meeting him.

Christian said as soon as they got there, Wiebe came over and introduced himself.

CJ asked Steve a few questions - for instance, if he's played "Donkey Kong Math." Wiebe hasn't, which is a bit ironic, I thought, since he's a math teacher!

CJ got LOTS of time and attention from the King of Kong and at one point, the two of them even played a two-player Donkey Kong game together. Talk about CJ's dream come true!

Steve gave CJ some valuable tips and, of course, CJ had some tips to share with him, as well. And CJ told Wiebe that he likes to do "ROM hacks." That amused Wiebe, who said he's never attempted such a thing.

To add the cherry on top of their great experience, the guys even won the raffle (autographs and a "Team Wiebe" t-shirt). Oh, and later that night, Christian got a nice note from Steve Wiebe via Facebook saying how nice it was to meet him and CJ and how he looks forward to seeing CJ's future world records.

Christian took a lot of great shots to capture the event. This one's my favorite.

It was a day CJ will remember will remember for the rest of his life.