Cooling off with Afternoon Swim at Rob's place

The water was a perfect 91 degrees and crystal clear. Everybody met at Rob's place for a cooling afternoon dip and popcicles in the pool. Dad (AKA Grandpa) took a break from the fun to clean the minerals off the tile. Uncle Reggie impressed 4 yr old Audrey by playing with the water rings with her. Audrey loves bobbing in the water with her cousin Kylee.

Avery Loves to Get Grandpa

They have these new type of water/pool squirt guns. If you fill it right you can shoot water 15, maybe even 20 feet away. Avery (who is 5 years old ) loves those water guns. He and Grandpa shoot water at each other from across the pool and laugh and shout and have a ball. Avery has gotten REALLY good and has aim as good ( or sometimes better then ) as Grandpa. He has also started doing Grandpa's little sneak attack trick. I was lucky enought to catch a shot of him filling his tube with water while under water so he could "pop" up and surprize Grandpa. Look at the joy on this little guy's face as he sucks water into his tube. Such Joy occurs rarely in life.

Tile Backsplash

This weekend I have moved stuff away from the corner area of the laundry room to get that painted - while Reg is doing the big stuff. He is putting in a tile backsplash on our new counters. Because there are so many wall plugs ( which I love ) he has to do a lot of tile cutting. It's a subway style tile with the colors of the desert 0 matches the counter very well. It is still over 100 degrees here and VERY hot on the side porch where Reg goes to cut the tile.

Heres 1/2 of the kitchen counter done

Well, there was a problem with measurements. The measurement guy Robert totally forgot to put down the counter by the frigerator and, although he measured the 2 cabinets on the hallway side and remarked to me on the over 25 inches and the space was not straight, somehow on the diagrams sent to the counter maker he put down the standard 24 1/2 inch size ??? So they will have remake the correct counters and come back to finish. BUT - I will have a working kitchen sink - YEA YEA YEA !!! I can get the silverware drawer set up. No more need for the folding table so I can now get my printer set up. I may not be able to completely finish but most of the kitchen will be done. The installer really liked the IKEA farm sink - and I took a picture of him taking a picture of it. We got really lucky. The installer has years of experience and did a great job plus he didn't mind that I asked a lot of questions. He liked that Reg and I had taken out all the drawers to get him lots of room.

Grandpa's After Knee surgery look

Here's Reg all bandaged up and propped in his Lazy Boy the day after his Knee surgery. He hasn't watched this much TV in years. He even watched Law and Order!

Ceiling Fans to Kool Us Off

Reg put up 2 ceiling fans ( with remote control boxes of course for his Lazy Boy Command Center - chuckle here please ) in the living room family room area and another ceiling fan over our bed. this will really help us to keep cool this summer - and we found fans that really go well with that 1940ish San Diego Beach House kind of look. Thank you Reggie and Robbie for helping Dad out lately. He is now back to snuff but the almost 2 weeks when he couldn't do much drove him crazy.

House is Getting Spiffy Looking

Reg and I have been cleaning and clearing, triming and sweeping, washing doors and cleaning windows, watering trees and plants. The outside is starting to look good. But - we now have the 100 degree plus days so any more outside work will have to wait.

May 26 Sydney Graduates HS

Miss Sydnee Vallelunga ( our oldest Grandaughter ) graduated from Skyline High School on Thursday evening. There were over 800 kids in her class. The ceremony was on the football field and it was packed - standing room only by 10 minutes before the start of the program. It was over 100 degrees but after the sun set it cooled down a bit. All those kids were in those long gowns and hats - they must have been roasting, although it was probably cooler on the grass. My camera isn't great for dusk pictures but with my telephoto lens I got a shot of Syd walking to her assigned row for seating ( see picture of the 5 people walking on field, Sydney is the middle gal ). Sydnee got a 2 year tuition scholarship to Mesa Community Colleges and received honors for her volunteer hours. She also is an "A" student and has had a part time job the whole school year. She is one really sensational girl !
We got to the school early enough to get lower seats but Sydney's Dad got way up high in the stands so he could get really good pictures. Reg was recovering from knee surgery so we didn't think we could make it up that high. Look at the view of the Mountains looking eastward from the stands. What a beautiful place to hold the graduation. The green robes added to the lush look of the green grass field of graduates.

Great Deal

There are some great bargains in our community of Sunrise Village right now. These pictures are of a place 3 doors down foom us that has been reduced to only 14,900. It is 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, fully furnished and looks great inside. It is being sold by the bank because the deceased owner had a small mortgage on it. It does need a new hot water heater and air conditioner unit - both are working but very old. also it looks like it needs a new roof but the roof has not leaked yet. In the summer are the best bargains - before the Winter Visitors get down here and gobble them up.