2006 Almanor Day 4

For years, Tomasin and I have taken a boat out in the morning with some combination of our kids. This has changed over the last two years. He upgraded his boat last year and now it is the boat of choice of all the older kids who are wakeboarding; everyone wants to go out on his boat. Additionally, Tomasin has been getting up earlier and going out with Chris and David. As a result, I have spent a lot more time on the Wallen's and Hunter's boat.

For the third morning in row, I got up and ran four miles. Afterwards, Jack, Drew and I went out on the Wallen's boat with John and Jill. Jack originally was going to try the double skis again, but "changed his mind." I drove the boat while Jill single skied. Drew also took a turn on a single ski.

I have been very tentative about the idea of water skiing this year. I have been struggling with my back and was worried that skiing would make it worse. I gave it a try today, skiing behind Hunter's boat with his Kidder. Although I missed a couple of starts at the beginning, I eventually worked out the bugs and had a great ski.

When we got back to the dock, Drew took Jack out for a long spin on one of the waverunners. Jack and I then went with Tomasin to look for the best place to buy gas on the lake.

When we got back, Jack and I headed to the store. It was my night to make dinner for 22 people. We went into town and did a big shop. My plan for dinner was to make a couple of big salads, some pasta and barbecue some chicken. I spent the rest of the day putting together the salads, getting the chicken ready and then cooking everything. I had a lot of help at the barbecue from Tomasin and Drew. I also made margarita's for everyone before dinner. It took me until almost 10:00 p.m. to get everything cleaned up and get Jack in bed.

A large group including Jill, Becky, Kyle, Carol, Drew, Robbie, Tomasin, Connor and Hunter took the boat to Plumas Pines to play 21 aces. I got Danny and David to babysit Jack and drove around the Lake to meet them.

I lasted until about midnight and then headed back to the cabins. When I got back to the cabins, Bachman and Geselbracht just got there. They had riden motorcycles up the Feather River Canyon. Wallen, Bachman, Geselbracht and I sat and visited until 1:45 a.m. At this point, the group returned from Plumas Pines. I finally crashed a little after 2:00 a.m.