Elisabeth's camera has been returned to her, PRAISE THE LORD!!!! Here we are shortly after we began our tour, before we all got dunked.
Sadly, as of today writing this post, I do not have a picture, but it will come.
Today was our last day celebrating Elisabeth and one of the gals, Atefeh, has a friend who goes white water rafting down the Wenatchee river and offered to take us for a tour. We met Mark in Cashmere, got suited up with gear and then headed a few miles out of town to where the boat was tied and began our journey. This time of year, the Wenatchee river is at a stage II or III for rapids, but the water level is low, so you do have to watch out for the rocks. We were on the river for about 45 minutes and then stopped for lunch and to move the raft around the small dam via a cart left by some generous person whom all the rafting tours use. I was sitting on the front right side of the raft chatting with some of the other gals in the raft when next thing I knew, I was over the side of the boat completely submerged under water. I swear I swallowed a few cups of water, so I come up sputtering, but I'm too far away from the boat already as I got caught up by the current. First reaction is to get the water out of my nose and then follow the advice Mark gave before we began the trip. I got my feet up and kept a hold of the paddle, only I started to lose my flip-flops. As I'm trying to get my shoes back on, my tail bone met a rock. So, I keep thinking feet up, butt up. I couldn't get my shoes back on, so I let them go bye-bye down the river, only I lost the paddle as well. Unfortunately, I had quite a ride down the river, because once everyone got back in the boat, the raft got stuck by a rock and once Mark got the boat free, they had to come get me. I wasn't feet first down the river like I should have been because I was more concerned about where the boat was, than my head hitting a rock. Not smart, but it is what it is. Well, I did finally get back in the raft and all the gals were so impressed about how calm I was floating down the river. I was starting to get cold and they didn't know that I was starting to freak out mainly because I was cold and my tail bone kept meeting rocks.
Amazingly enough, my sunglasses stayed on my head and I somehow didn't lose my headband. We continued down the river and low and behold, we find my stinking flip-flops and one of the lost paddles. My shoes were floating down a slight detour on the water, so we had to get out of the boat once again to get it over the rocks and back onto the main section of the river. Well, somehow, Crystal manages to stub her toe, but we continue on and later find the last wandering paddle. There was a nice soft gentle section where Elisabeth gets out her camera and Mark takes a group shot. I told Elisabeth I wanted that picture to use for my blog and she said she would email it to me tonight.
We make it back to Cashmere, unload all the gear and Mark takes Crystal and Kirsten back to get their cars so we can all go home. While waiting for the return of the vehicles, we all sit, chat, eat and use the restroom so once Crystal is back we can head back to Bellevue. Elisabeth needed to be back in town for a dinner hosted in her honor with the gals who were unable to come to Lake Chelan.
Anna and I were dropped off in Issaquah and it was so nice to be home and see my boys again. I think both Andy and Aaron grew while I was gone. I did enjoy my weekend away and hope that we can all go away again someday.
Update: I later received an email from Elisabeth stating she managed to leave her camera in the ladies restroom back in Cashmere, but God was awesome and the camera will be returned to Elisabeth by the end of the week, so once she emails pictures, I will be able to post our group picture of our great adventure down the Wentachee River.
No, this isn't a typo people. It was blasted hot today. Seattle has been in a heat wave this week and luckily we had been camping at Cama Beach, but today we had to come home to the heat. Amazingly, our upstairs was only 82 degrees and the basement was about 78 degrees. We will survive and pray for cooler weather to return.
This morning after a communal breakfast of eggs, sausage, pancakes and coffee, our crew set off to hike up to Cranberry Lake. The hike is about a mile to the lake and then a mile back to the cabins. The kids did a great job and discovered huckleberries along the trail. We stopped at the lake for drinks and snacks before heading back. The "lake" was basically a pond with quite a bit of vegetation growing in it.
I do have another keyboard on order since the ESC, F1, 2, and SHIFT keys are either broken or missing components in order to reattach to the keyboard. Oh well, makes life more interesting when you are trying to type.
Tonight we celebrated my friend, Sarah's new baby boy to be born next month. The dinner was Mexican themed and we had a dessert of chocolate fondue. Fondue seems to be a big attraction with some of my friends and I, and what better way to have some yummy chocolate and fruit. At the far left is the milk chocolate fountain and the dark chocolate is in the fondue pot to the right. We had a great evening of girl time and oohing and aahing over baby items once again.
Update 9.4.2010
About a week and a half ago, I received an email from the parent company of the beading and knitting emails I receive informing me of what they call a "hurt sale". They have too many books and supposedly some were not perfect, so they off load them for a discount. I purchased two beading books that I have been pining for and one knitting book all for less than $25. The receipt stated it would be 3-5 weeks before I received my order, so I was totally stoked when they showed up on my door step this evening. 
What a fantastic day! We hung out by the pool, got a boat ride from some nice guys and then topped off our evening with a barbecue down by the lake. Two of the gals went off somewhere else for dinner, but Anna, Crystal, Elisabeth, myself and Dana all had a wonderful dinner of kabobs, rice and asparagus. I enjoyed the time with my girlfriends today, and am so blessed by God to have such wonderful women to spend time with.
What a handsome little fellow! He's my handsome little guy too. This morning we went to the eye doctor once again to follow up on the eye patching. We have been patching his right eye in order to strengthen his left eye as he can not see small objects long distances. Unfortunately, the patching isn't working as well as it should and then next step is to try the eye drops that blur the good vision and make the bad eye work and strengthen. The bummer part about the drops is they cause light sensitivity and being the fact that it's summer, the doctor and I decided we would continue using the eye patch until his next appointment. I'm praying that the next three months of patching actually work and strengthen his left eye so that both eyes work together as they should. Andy has been such a trooper and I'm the one who's more frustrated about the whole thing, but I have to rely on God and His timing for my son.
Mike is the proud owner of a Yamaha V-Star motorcycle. He enjoys riding it when he can and mainly rides to work and back. Today, for the first time in over two years, I finally was able to get a ride. I dropped the boys off at grandma and grandpa's for some play time and Mike and I cruised around the plateau for about an hour. It was a lot of fun, but he needs a more comfy seat if he plans on taking me long distances. I hope we get to do more of this in the future.
Mr. Cool getting ready for the weekly trek to the Sammamish Farmers Market. Aaron just cracks me up. This summer he has decided to wear baseball caps, but on backwards. I bought the boys cheap sunglasses at Fred Meyer back in May when it started to warm up in hopes of attempting to protect some little eyes. He'll wear them for a while and then decide he's had enough. They may be too snug around his ears, but at least they do stay on. I heard a lot of complements on how cute he was this evening.
