A log about those Silly Folks and their Escapades

This past weekend was Zachary’s 1st Birthday Party. His actual birth date is November 10th; which is the same date as my Mother’s birth date, she passed away in 1972 – “The Circle of Life”.

Saturday morning we picked up GGPa and GGMa and headed to Kelowna. Even though it was very windy it was a nice drive down, however there was snow on the hillsides all around.

All Zach’s grandparents and family were there, so along with local friends of Jeff and Lindsay it was a very busy house. We think the total was around 25 people. Little Zachary looked a little overwhelmed at times, but as always he was a trooper and hung in as long as he could before needing a nap.

Jeff and Lindsay organized a buffet lunch for all the guests. Afterwards, presents were opened; with help from Sage and Conrad.

Happy Birthday was sung and then Cake was served. Zachary loved the cake and kept shoveling it in his mouth.

The formal birthday party wrapped up around 4 p.m. and then it was just family around; some stayed for dinner and others headed off to their hotel rooms for the night.

Early in the evening after a family dinner we headed off to our hotel with GGPa and GGMa. We wanted to be rested up for a busy morning of visiting before heading home on Sunday afternoon.

Family that was there included Bob & Susan (Lindsay Dad & Step-Mom), Jackie and Doug (Lindsay’s Mom and Step-Dad), Rhianna and Ava (Lindsay’s Sister and Niece), Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad, GGPa and GGMa and of course Brenda and I.

The attached pictures are a random assortment of family and general photos taken before, during and after the party.

Sage and Conrad (and their parents) arrived on Saturday morning for Thanksgiving. It was so good to see them……….. they are growing so fast and change every-time we see them.

After lunch the girls headed to Aberdeen Mall and to Claire’s for some accessories shopping and then off to Value Village for Halloween Costumes. Meanwhile the boys were off to Walmart and Costco to pick up goodies for the Princeton Exhibition Association Halloween Party and then off to KMS Tools to stock up on tools.

Before Thanksgiving dinner Kevin and Conrad assembled a bit of the HO Scale Train stuff Kevin found on Kijiji. I picked it up earlier in the week and they got a pretty good selection of train supplies for $40. While they worked on this downstairs project Sage did her most favorite thing, which is watching television.

Sunday morning was time for Sage to get snugly in our bed while Conrad had a bit of breakfast……….. he is such a skinny little guy that his tummy gets pretty hungry after a good nights sleep.

Also on Sunday GGPa and GGMa came over for breakfast. They really enjoy seeing their grandchildren and great grandchildren. The grandchildren look pretty happy to see them as well..

After breakfast GGPa and GGMa headed home and we went for a walk over to Lloyd George School so they could wear off some energy on the school ground equipment.

All this exercise makes you hungry and here is Sage recharging her batteries with a bowl of Sherbert.

Before they headed home Princeton they all went swimming up at the Canada Games Pool. What a great way to spend Thanksgiving.

Hello everyone………… it’s Zachary the Ultimate Orphan reporting, this time from my home in Kelowna.

My Mom and Dad are headed off to the 2011 USA Ultimate Northwest Regionals in Burlington WA. for the weekend. So my Namma and Pops drove down from Kamloops to look after Willow and I for the weekend.

My Dad is playing on a Team called FIGJAM; I’m not sure what that stands for and I am probably too young to want to hear it. Dad’s team has a good chance this weekend and they are hoping to finish 1st or 2nd because if they do they will qualify fora spot at the USA 2011 Ultimate Championships which are being held in Florida. I really hope they do well as I would love to go to Florida and see Disney World. My Mom’s team is Wildrose from Calgary and I understand they don’t have a very good chance as the competition in their division is very tough……. but you never know what can happen. I’m sure my Namma and Pops will keep me informed throughout the weekend with regular updates from the tournament web site.

Just before they left on Friday morning my Mom Skyped with her Gido and Baba in Toronto. It was so good to see them and as they are so far away I don’t get to see them often and they were so surprised how fast I am growing, how strong I am and everything I am learning at my age.

Since Namma and Pops last looked after me I have learned to feed myself with a spoon and I think that I am doing a pretty good job. Oh, they think I am kinda messy, but a guy has to learn these things some time.

Actually my Namma helps out quite a bit which I don’t mind.My Pops says that my Mom and Dad’s good friend Heather from Toronto who is an Environmental Engineer would declare me and the area around my chair an Environmental Waste Site. Heather was pretty sick recently but she is getting better each day, I hope these pictures put a smile on her face and cheer her up. Get better soon Heather – Love Zachary!

Namma and Pop have been keeping me very busy. We have gone for lots of walks and other adventures. Namma says that Pops and I can’t go by ourselves since I am such a “Chick Magnet” she thinks Pops will just get in trouble with all the cute ladies that want to talk to me.

Before going out in the sun Namma tries to put lots of sunscreen on me and I wiggle around quite a bit.

Pops says it reminds him of the Greased Pig Contest from the local Fall Fair.

Lately I have been climbing over everyone and everything. I climb the stairs, I climb over Namma, I climb up the Sofa and the most fun is when I climb into my foam toy box.

After a busy day of climbing I get pretty tired, but it’s what I need to do and then I sleep all night long.

This past weekend we spent in Princeton. We arrived on Friday afternoon just in time to walk down to the bus stop to meet Sage after school. From there we headed over to D.Q. for a pre-dinner ice cream treat. Then it was back home via the “Zig-Zag Trail” for a great family dinner with lots of time to spend with Sage and Conrad.

First thing Saturday morning Sage headed off to a friends for a fashion birthday party and a sleep over and Kevin and Tamara headed off to Penticton and Peachland to celebrate their 2nd anniversary which is actually on Sunday. So, this meant we had Conrad to entertain and keep busy. A basic observation is that one 3 1/2yr old can keep two 50+ adults busy for the whole day.

We had prepared a few projects ahead of time and Conrad really enjoyed them. Most of them involved activities that kept him busy and challenged his mind and manual dexterity.

After a busy Saturday morning we had some quiet time watching a movie; although he would not admit it Conrad had a snooze which was good to recharge his batteries.

Sunday morning it was time to head home but before that we had a little more grand-kid fun time with Conrad and then it was time to pick up Sage from her sleepover. Just before we left we took some pictures outside…………… aren’t they the cutest?

Hi, my name is Zachary, I am an “Ultimate” Orphan.

Oh! I know my Mommy and Daddy love me lots and I love them lots too; but I also know they love to play Ultimate, so sometimes I become an Orphan.

This weekend I am staying with Namma and Pops while Dad and Mom play in the Kamloops Tournament called “Big Thirst”. The team they are playing on is called “Pure Syrup” and they did really well last year and won the tournament.

Sometimes I get to go to the Ultimate field and watch or sleep while Mom and Dad play and sometimes I get passed around our ultimate friends so my Dad and Mom can play together. They are really good players and work well togther so teams like them to be on the field at the same time during a crucial point in the game.

My Dad is a “Handler” and my Mom is a “Cutter”; mostly she is a mid-field “Cutter”; but I know she can also play “Deep End Strike” if she wanted.

My Mom and Dad’s friend; I call her Aunty Jill, is staying with us this weekend at Namma and Pops, she also plays as a “Cutter” or a “Deep End Strike”.

So between my Dad and Mom and Aunty Jill I expect that there will be a lot of plays that go;” Up Field Pass, Up Field Pass, Swing Back, Cut Over and End Zone Score”, or something like that.

We haven’t talked about it but they may use a “Horizontal Stack” or a “Split Stack”. Actually I’m hoping that they get a “Callahan” this weekend……. those are the most fun to watch.

I love spending time with Namma and Pops. On Saturday morning we went to the Kamloops Farmers Market and met GGMa and GGPa. It was fun to see them, but I got tired fairly quickly and there were so many people that I was a little overwhelmed and we didn’t stay that long. But we picked up some fresh corn for dinner and some fresh peaches for a fruit salad, I can’t wait to taste everything.

Hopefully Mom & Dad’s team, “Pure Syrup” does well and has a successful Ultimate weekend, that way Mom and Dad and I can talk about all the great plays  in the car all the way to our next big adventure.

Unusual title……….. but darn true.

Sunday one of our home circulation fans sounded like it was about to fail. We are having a bit of a heat wave here in Kamloops so lots of air movement is the key to keeping cool.

Anyway, when I turned on the upstairs fan in the morning it did not start spinning right away on low speed and you could hear the windings growling as they were trying to get the blades moving. It fired up okay on high speed and then ran fine on low speed but I just don’t want to take a chance of the windings stopping and then it dead short and potentially causing a fire.

The fan was one that my Mom bought when I was about 12 years old, so that would be about 45 years ago. I am sure my sisters and brothers will remember it well. Over the years I have taken the grill off and washed it, cleaned the blades and blown the build up of air dust out of the electric motor. But besides that it’s been trouble free every year for the last 45 hot Kamloops Summers.

You will also note that the grill cover holes are large enough for a young child to get his or her fingers inside so that they could possibly touch the fan blades; definitely does not meet CSA kid proof standards of today. However at last count none of my siblings, or our own two boys or nieces and nephews have lost the ends of any fingers.

So this got me to thinking. What can you say that you could buy today and expect to be using 45 years later?

Certainly not a circulation fan to keep you cool in a hot Kamloops summer. If you get 10 years out of a new fan consider yourself lucky.

It’s definitely not a computer. Those are outdated 45 days after you purchase them.

Not golf clubs, unless you are an antique collector. Technology on those changes almost as fast as computers.

For some it may be a car? But that is quite unlikely, unless you are a very serious car collector.

Perhaps a Grandfather or Grandmother Clock or a Dining Room Table or a Painting. You know something that will be in the family for years?

Our expectations have changed and we have become a throwaway society!

So it’s a sad goodbye to our reliable and trusted fan after 45 years.

On Wednesday of last week we met Kevin, Tamara, Sage and Conrad in Merritt for dinner. After dinner we headed back to Kamloops with Sage and Conrad so they could have a summer vacation with Pops and Namma.

We survived the first night with only a little bit of separation anxiety; that is Brenda and I having our free time to ourselves……. ha! ha!

Thursday morning we headed to the B.C. Wildlife Park, this is always popular with the grand-kids. The newest display was the baby grizzly bears, the B.C. Day Weekend was the first time they were to be on display to the public. Another highlight was the Birds of Prey Show. Sage got to help feed the Barn Owl. She held a button that rang a buzzer and when instructed pushed the button and the owl flew to the sound and would find the  meat that the trainer put on a wooden post.

They really enjoy seeing the animals, experiencing the many attraction at the park and most of all riding the Miniature Train or for Sage having ice cream at the Blue Heron Cafe.

After the wildlife park we headed to Prince Charles Park and the Wading Pool. It is so much fun, as the water is warm, there is lots to do and lots of other kids to play with.

It was hard to get them to leave at 5:00 p.m. however all the other families were headed home for dinner so that made it a little easier. Everyone slept well after a very busy day.

Friday was opening day for the movie “Smurfs 2”. So after a morning spent at Riverside Park playing on the playground equipment and then at the beach, we headed off to the Cineplex Odeon. Brenda (deserves a medal for this one) took both kids to the movie which gave me a chance to get caught up on some other stuff.

After the movie it was off to Aberdeen Mall for shopping at Claires and for Conrad and Pops to ride the escalator 147 times and the elevator 52 times. He gets quite bossy when he is at the elevator controls and people aren’t moving in or out fast enough!

After dinner it was off to Music in the Park and more playground and beach time.

Saturday was going to be a very busy day. First we had a surprise of a train ride on the Kamloops Heritage Steam Train 2141.

We arrived at the station about 45 minutes early and got in the line up so we could get the correct side of the outdoor rail-car. Once we boarded a few minutes later the train ride started and took it’s regular route out to the CN Junction and then back to the Old CP Station. As we neared the CP Station the train received mail that train robbers were in the area and sure enough we went a little further and the tracks were blocked and out of the trees came three banks robbers firing their guns. They stopped the train and got aboard looking for gold. This was very exciting for the kids.

What a great morning.

After the train we headed to Riverside Park for a picnic with GGMa and GGPa. Once lunch was eaten Sage and Conrad headed for the water to make new friends and get as wet as possible.

A couple hours later we headed home, got changed and Conrad and I went over to Tom Ecclestone’s house to look at his garden train(s). Tom and Paulette have done an amazing job of setting up a very extensive train display in their back yard. 2 different layouts, many switches, bridges, waterfalls, etc…………. it was almost too much for Conrad to absorb, but he was totally enthralled.

Tom had set up Thomas the Tank Engine and Percy the Engine on the upper track and Conrad was wide eyed as he watched these two speed around the track and villages. Then their grandson Aiden got the lower track going with an old fashioned steam train complete with bell, whistle and steam sound…….. well that was just too much for Conrad, he kept running back and forth making sure everything was running correctly and all was working as it should be; when it didn’t he made sure everyone knew there was a problem.

Before leaving Tom took us to his garage which is completely filled with trains, tracks, villages, mountain displays, tunnels, bridges, etc……….. truly amazing. Conrad and I were overwhelemd with everything; what a great display and true commitment to a hobby of a lifetime.

Sunday we planned to make it a little quieter. So after a quick visit to Walmart to pick up some clothes for the kids we came home had a quick bite to eat and then headed off to Prince Charles Park and the wading pool. GGMa and GGPa met us there and we had a good visit.

After the park it was back home and some backyard fun with the canoe and water hoses. Both kids were pretty tired at the end of the day and slept very well on their last night.

Monday we headed to Merritt to meet their Dad and Mom and have a picnic in Merritt’s Rotary Park. Jeff, Lindsay and Zachary also made it over from Kelowna; Zachary got passed around so much he must have felt like an Ultimate Frisbee.

It was the end to a great summer vacation for Sage and Conrad and it was a  great family gathering.

Well on Wednesday there was no way I was going to miss being a Caddie, so I had decided right after Monday’s experience I was going to get to the golf course extra early for the Wednesday Pr0-Am. When I was originally contacted I was told to be at the golf coure by 5:30 a.m., however I set the alarm for 3:45 a.m. and arrived at the course at 4:15 a.m. and even arriving that early I was number 5 on the list of Caddies. The one thing I forgot was my camera; oh well, I was here for the experience.

The Wednesday Pro-Am is not optional for the pro players. If it is requested by the tournament organizers and sponsors they are required to play in order to play on Thursday and Friday which gives them a chance to make the cut for Saturday and Sunday.

At about 6:00 a.m. the Caddiemaster arrived and he started assigning caddies to golfers bags I was in the first group and was assigned to Marc N. who was from Toronto and was the director of sales for Samsung and Bell Canada. After Marc had breakfast we headed over to the driving range. The range balls were lined up in large buckets – ProV1, ProV1x, Srixon, Callaway, Bridgestone, Nike….. all the major name brand golf balls and all of them were brand new. From there we headed to the practise pitching/sand trap green and then over to the practise putting green.

Brenda was watching Global T.V. morning news and she said she saw me in the background. Shortly after 7:00 a.m. we headed to the first tee and to meet the other players, get our Caddie Bibs and meet our Pro player who was Anthony Kim. Fortunately Marc had a camera and gratefully forwarded the attached pictures.

Anthony was very friendly, easy going and it was a lot of fun to be with this foursome. Right at the start he offered to help the amateurs with their golf game, especially with reading the greens and making putts.

Anthony’s caddie was his college roommate Brodie. He asked me where I was from and I said a small town in the interior he had probably never heard of; when I said Kamloops, he said he lived in Kamloops for a couple years. His brother owns a landscaping business in town. Small world isn’t it?

Anthony said that the Shaughnessy course conditions were as tough as anything they had played on this PGA Tour season, even tougher than the British Open. What made Shaughnessy so difficult was the narrow fairways, the course length, the exceptionally deep rough and the very small greens. On one green he putted the ball and it seemed to run across the green forever. I asked him how the greens and the speed compared to The Masters, he kind of chuckled and said Augusta fairways are as fast and as manicured as the Shaughnessy greens and the greens at Augusta are twice as fast.

The round went fairly quickly and our group ended up at -9 under par. After turning in the Caddie Bib to the caddiemaster he asked if I wanted to go out for a second round. I said, why not I am here now and would probably not get this chance again.

In the afternoon round my amateur player was Lindsay H. who is V.P. and C.F.O. for a gold company in Vancouver. He made the round relaxed and enjoyable. Our playing pro was Brian Gay and his caddie was Kip Henley. Brian was friendly and very accommodating to all the fans, however he is very focused when it is time to hit the ball.

Kip was very easy going and readily offered advice to the playing amateurs and to the other caddies. Kip was the winner of Big Break II – Las Vegas; he really made the afternoon round a lot of fun. The team finished at -5 so not quite as good as the morning group.

So, what a day and what an experience and I will do it again when the Canadian Open gets back to the west coast.

Right after Whistler Brenda and I headed to Vancouver for a few days. The main reason for the visit was so that I could Caddie for an amateur player in the Pro-Am events as part of the RBC Canadian Open at Shaughnessy Golf and Country Club.

Shaughnessy G&C is a private golf club on SW Marine Drive and is definitely an “old time members style” club. It kind of reminded me of something out of the Movie “Caddieshack”. The grounds, the setting and the facilities are amazing and then add all of the organization and glitz associated with a PGA Tour event and it was remarkable to be part of it.
The original time I was given was to show up at was 9:30 a.m. on Monday morning, however I was excited to get there early. So, after parking my car in the designated lot at UBC I hopped on the shuttle bus and got to the entrance around 8:15 a.m. After going through security I arrived at the Caddie sign in area and was number 23 on the list. So, I felt I had a good chance of getting a bag to carry as there were 42 registered amateur players for Mondays Childrens Hospital  Pro-Am. The shotgun start was at 11:30 a.m. and nothing much happened till about 10:30 a.m. and then they started taking Caddies in groups of 5. A lot of amateurs players brought along their friends as Caddies so it looked like it was going to be close to see if I even got a bag to carry. Finally the last person signed in at 11:10 a.m. and they only needed 22 Caddies and I was number 23, so no luck today.
Well, I was “bummed out” and hung around for a bit more to see if anything else came up, but no luck, So, I decided to make the most of it and experience a PGA Tour event and walk around on the grounds, since I had a Caddie Grounds pass. Early on I headed over to the 10th tee box and there was a spot to stand next to a cedar shrub where you were about 10 ft. from where all the Pro’s were hitting their drives. I chatted up the team of volunteer officials there and told them my tale of woe about being number 23 of 22 Caddies and how I had come from Kamloops and didn’t get a bag, etc. etc.
Anyway, after walking a couple fairways I see the John Daly foursome coming up 8, so I watched them for a while and then headed to the 9th fairway to watch the players drives. After that I headed straight for the place I had scoped out on the 10th tee box. A few minutes later John Daly arrived and all of a sudden one of the caddies said to the volunteer official “please contact the Caddiemaster we need another Caddie as one of ours pulled his hamstring”. I immediately raised my hand said I’m number 23 and once I showed my Caddie credential pass I was allowed inside the ropes. I quickly introduced myself and before I knew it we were off down the 10th fairway.
Man………. what an experience! I was caddying for one of the principal owners of Richmond BMW, Infinity and Min-Cooper Auto.
Pete was a great guy and a pretty good golfer, his playing partners were the other dealership owners and they were very friendly and easy to get along with. They had paid $7500 for a threesome with all the monies going to BC Childrens Charity. John Daly was very friendly, easy to talk to and still hits the golf ball a looooonnnnngggg way. His pants are his trade mark and are provided by Loud Mouth Golf and they are colorful. Going down the 15th fairway I asked him if he had brought his guitar along and he said he hadn’t since he only plays Martin Guitars and they’re about $4000 and the airplane travel and humidity changes really messes them up.
The course was playing extremely tough for all the players. Especially the rough, it was 6″ to 7″ deep and you could lose a ball 3 feet off the fairway if it wasn’t for the excellent volunteer spotters. At one point John mentioned that probably 7 to 8 of the Pro’s would drop out after the 1st round just because of the course rough conditions.

The back nine went by extremely quick and it seemed like all of a sudden I was walking up the 18th fairway and the day was over. What a day……… more on the Wednesday Pro-Am in the next post.

This past weekend we got together with our group of Reunion Friends in Whistler B.C. it was year number 33, we first got together in Kamloops in1979. Reunion weekend is a very special time to reconnect with long time friends (you’ll notice I avoided using the term “old friends”). Unfortunately our good friend Ed H. from Portland was unable to join us as he is battling some health and personal issues, we really missed him. We do not know of any other group that have a similar friends reunion once a year. 

We found a Condo on VRBO in an area of Whistler called Montebello. The Condo was excellent and it was well located to Whistler Lower Village. There was a nearby walking trail that led directly to the village which took less than 10 minutes to be in the center of the action. It was where the Winter Olympic Celebration Plaza was located and it was being used this weekend for outdoor concerts that were part of Crankworks Bike Downhill.

Most years the hosts of the reunion plan an outing or event. However this year nothing in particular was planned. It was kind of nice as everyone did their own thing or we got together at different times as a group to head into the village for shopping or lunch. 6 of us did take advantage of a dry moment to go for a bike ride on some of the trails of Whistler. The picture was taken in Alta Lake Park.

Unfortunately the weather was not the best and even though it rained only occasionally the clouds and fog were low enough that it was not worth taking the Peak to Peak Gondola or to go on one of the many Zip Lines.

As with all reunions we brought too much food which meant we ate and drank too much, stayed up well beyond our regular bedtime and laughed till our sides hurt. Special friends and special times………. we are blessed!