La Quinta, California: Our grandchildren had four days off from school for President's Day... but as things seem to go, Lisa had a work event Sunday and Lucile had a pom competition Saturday. Lenny and Leo drove out Friday. Leo fished in the lakes behind our house a lot of the day, and Saturday night the four of us bundled-up and went to the Firebirds v San Diego Gulls ice hockey game.
We purchased seats in the same area where we have previously viewed the games. Second row and no one in front of us for much of the match. Leo sat next to the penalty box and made friends with the box attendant - who happily gave Leo a Firebirds hockey puck after the game! I am not a big hockey fan, but it certainly is an exciting and fast-paced sport. When the players slam-up against the plexiglass it is actually frightening. A few seconds of action:
Leo was determined to snag a catfish from the pond. Obsessed! He had been to an outdoor store and purchased chicken hearts as bait. That did the trick and he landed two catfish over the weekend - one was a 6 pound monster. Catfish are so disgusting (to me). Of course, the fish from a pond on a golf course would not be safe to eat, so everything caught goes right back in the water.
Leo uses lures and will also use sliced deli meat from my refrigerator. Funny thing? The scent of the packaged (dried?) chicken hearts would not wash off from his hands, even after he showered and washed his hair. I told him to wash his hands with toothpaste. That didn't work. Then I had him wash his hands in a paste of baking soda and Dawn dishwashing soap. Bingo! That did the trick. (Dave then gave Leo a pair of rubber gloves to use while fishing.) Leo and Dave caught several species of fish throughout the long weekend, especially in the early evening when the golfers left the course and they could fish from any shore around the lakes.
Lisa and Lucy showed up Sunday night, after a very long drive. We had a bowl of soup and watched the (taped) Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary show. Can you believe this show started while we were in college? Amazing to see those old skits with the original cast. Ah, those were the days!
The EMU (Erb Memorial Union) is the student building on the University of Oregon campus. (The "fishbowl" cafeteria is home to the famed scene from Animal House where John Belushi pops a boiled egg from his mouth.) I remember the above show well. Instead of entering the stage from the side, Mr. Martin walked down the aisle from the back of the theater. He started harassing the audience, grabbing a student's backpack and chastising him about "how many polyesters had to die" so you could have this backpack? Of course there was an "arrow through the head" gig and some banjo strumming. But what Dave and I remember best is that Steve Martin invited the ENTIRE audience to walk a few blocks with him to the campus McDonald's for burgers. Can you imagine Steve Martin walking through campus with hundreds of kids following him at 10p? He was bantering and joking and teasing the entire stroll, but went total dead-pan when he entered the restaurant and ordered 200 Happy Meals... then quickly changed that order to one small french fry. Hilarious! What a fun night. PS: the above poster hangs in our garage and has been in every garage we have owned - for 47 years! Don't recall, but I bet I stole it from a bulletin board. The campus newspaper office (where I worked) was also in the EMU.
We took the kids to the Riverside County Fair/Date Festival on Monday. The big show in the evening was a Taylor Swift "Tribute" (impersonator?) band. A girl from Lucy's 5th grade class was also in town for the weekend, so Ellie and her family joined us. The kids spent hours on the rides, but left prior to the concert. Ellie came home with us and spent the night.
This is the only photo of Lucile on the blog today. Leo is in the front seat, Ellie (in red) and Lucy are in the back seat. All the other photos of Lucy are of her jumping from the 56° swimming pool to the 101° hot tub after dark. How many times can a Bubbe yell DON'T RUN??
My favorite part of a fair are the animals and talking to the 4-H kids. Always something to learn from a youngster at the fair. Many just show their animals, but many auction their animals (and buy another... and another).
Lucile "won" a goldfish at the fair. She didn't want a goldfish and had to listen to the story about when her mother "won" a goldfish at a school fair when she was about Lucile's age. That damn thing would not die and it ended up in a proper aquarium in Lisa's bathroom for EIGHT years. Lucy gave Gary the Goldfish to Leo and Leo gave Gary the Goldfish to another little boy who was admiring the fish. Another "catch and release" moment for Leo?
Everyone went home Tuesday afternoon and Dave and I immediately went to work getting ready for more guests! The roomies arrive this weekend.
Until my next update, I remain, your freshly laundered correspondent.
Sorry we missed Steve Martin! We had left Eugene by then and were married (children.)
Time to take Leo go fishing with your brother!