Rob's Over the Hill Cake

I knew that we were going to be tired from being on the lake, so I had Sandy's Specialties from Cottonwood cater our dinner and make this fantastic "Over the Hill" cake for Rob.  I loved the way the cake turned out and the food and set up was outstanding!

There were 60 candles going up to the top of the cake and at the top it said on a tombstone "Here Lies Rob's Youth"  It seemed like it took forever to get all the candles lit....so many candles!

that it looked like the house was going to burn down!

Finally Rob was able to blow out the candles....with a little help from Jake and Tyler!

The last thing that I want to share about Rob's birthday was the idea that Jen gave me and that was getting a picture of Rob and having family sign their name and best wishes on the border and then have it hung in his office.  We finally got the picture hanging on the wall and I think it turned out pretty special!

Last Day Fun at Shasta Lake

Aunt Jenna and Ethan had a blast literally with the noodles.  They found you could blow through the tube and it could hit the other person in the face...

Note the close up of Ethan's face as Aunt Jenna splats him through the noodle!

Ethan and Tyler finally went for a tube ride behind the boat with Grandpa at the wheel....It slowly got faster and faster and the boys just had a thrilling ride - note their faces!

Looking through the churning waves...

What a blast...

Such joy

and excitement - they just didn't want it to end...

 But all too soon this part of the vacation had to come to an end...

Shasta Lake Day 2 Waterskis & Wakeboards

Rob's brother, Kris, came to the houseboat for a little bit of fun.  He went out on the boat and even waterskiied!  We really enjoyed having Kris come out to visit us.  He was alot of fun and was really a hit with the grandkids.  He even jumped off the houseboat!

Looking good, Kris :)

....making the cut...

Kate getting up on the wakeboard first try - wha-hoo!  Great job, Kater

Kate having fun on the wakeboard....

Fortunately for the wakeboarders and skiiers, the water was really nice and the weather wasn't too hot either.  It was just a comfortable three days...

Last pic of Kate on the Wakeboard - a job well done.  Kate's comment was that it was fun, but she got tired faster than she had when she worked at Bridge Bay....Looking good, Kate ~ certainly not something I would attempt!

Here comes Ryan on the Wakeboard...

Ryan getting ready to make a jump...

Steve's turn...Jumping Steve

Coming in for a landing

Closeup of Steve

Another jump...

...Catching some air...

Shasta Lake Day 2

Another fun day on the lake.  Steve giving Ethan a ride on the PWC and having lots of fun...

The new boat we got as a replacement for the boat that didn't work...

Rob, Ryan, Tyler and Chase docking on the houseboat

Summer and Bella going for a boat ride....

Notice the cool sunglasses for Summer and Bella :)

Geese hoping for a hand out from Shell - no luck

Jen took a picture of me on the houseboat - Thanks, Jen

needed to document that I was actually there!

Loved this picture of Chase and Ethan as they were getting ready to go for the first time on the tube.  Great consternation on those two faces....

Hey this is a lot of fun after all - no worries!

To pull the tube around we used the PWC and Rob sat backwards so that he could watch the boys and put up the flag if they should fall out...

Next pictures the wakeboarders & waterskier.

Shasta Lake Day 1

Well, excitement was to be had all around on our Shasta Lake Houseboat Trip to celebrate Rob's birthday.  Here's Rob riding on the PWC (personal watercraft) - not PricewaterhouseCoopers as I kept calling it!  It was really fun.  I even rode it and felt comfortable doing so.  I didn't go very fast, but it could definitely go fast.  Summer said she got it up to 55 mph and Rob probably got it even higher than that!

The grandkids (Ethan and Chase) having fun in the lake with Aunt Jenna...

When I took this picture I was thinking of being on a cruise ship and going up the winding staircase to the next deck...Bella is pointing that she wants to go up the stairs and if you look closely you'll see Summer and Steve out in the lake on the PWC...

Finally got Bella to smile....all I had to do was say "Candy"

Summer and Steve taking a ride on the PWC

Steve and Ethan trying to give us a PWC bath with the jet of water spraying out behind the boat!

As the crew were trying to get in their last few minutes on the boat and PWC, the boat broke and they ended up....

having to tow the boat back to the dock....the good thing was that they were able to get a better boat so in the end it turned out well...

60 for 60

Many of you have seen these pictures of Rob's adventure in bike riding, but I wanted to post them on my blog as well.  Rob decided to do a 60 mile bike ride with his grandchildren for his 60th birthday.  We have four grandchildren and he figured he could ride 15 miles with each one of them.  We started fairly early on a Saturday beginning at Discovery Park.  (Notice Rob is wearing the famous "Purple Jersey")...The First Leg of the ride was handled admirably by Chase.

The Second Leg Ethan took over.  Ethan had never ridden behind his grandpa on a big bike and he was a little nervous to start with, but once he got the hang of it, he went gang busters...and finished with a great time!

Bella's turn was the Third Leg of the bike ride.  Bella sat in a cart for 15 miles, feel asleep for part of the time and enjoyed a leisurely "jaunt" in the park...

The Last Leg is usually left for the strongest rider and that is why Tyler was chosen to be the last rider.  According to his grandpa, he pulled his weight and his grandpa's weight on some of the ride as Rob "hit the wall" with about five miles left in the 60 mile ride.

Thanks to Chase, Ethan, Bella and Tyler for helping grandpa achieve this goal.  He wanted to do this so much with his grandkids and he loved sharing this moment with each of you!

Grandpa definitely looks tired in this picture!!!

While Tyler and grandpa were riding the last leg of the bike ride, a conspiracy began to brew with the crew...

We had practiced a few times before Grandpa got there.  He was totally "clueless" about what we had planned and thought we were just going to get a picture and even let me move him into "position" (right by the pot of water!)  Then on the count of three....

ONE...

TWO... 

THREE!!!! 

 Rob got the obligatory, congratulatory water bath!  An achievement to always remember.  Congratulations on such a wonderful achievement, Rob - we are all proud of you!