Swimming, Swiss Style

Aaaah, bliss. Dad & Mom are enjoying a few days in Leukerbad Switzerland. This hot springs is nestled high in the alps - once you survive the death defying bus ride up the mountain, you never want to leave. You feel like you are "in" a postcard. There is a large pool indoors, connected to the outside lower one - you just swim thru a vinyl strip curtain and you are outside! We were in the upper pool one evening, the silhouetted snow covered Alps surrounding us, and a group of men began yodeling under the fountain. Goosebumps I tell you - it was incredible. One of those moments that are seared in the memory.

Another unique experience . . . one portion of a route to/from this area is only accessible by train. So, you drive your car onto the train and sit in darkness as it takes you through a gigantic tunnel (think it takes about 15 minutes). Underneath the Alps? No way? Yeah Yeah, Oiu Oiu, Ja! Ja!

This is called Rambling . . .

With 4 swimmers in our house, we have a heaping basket of swim goggles. Maren was reorganizing her swim bag tonight and explaining to me just how important goggles are to competitive swimmers. She mentioned that once at a swim meet, she was on the starting blocks and just before the whistle blew, she realized that her goggles were upside down. She didn't have time to fix them and consequently swam poorly in the race. I replied, "You didn't do that bad." She shook her head slightly, gave me a look like "get a clue" and said, "Mom" - I got 11th place. Do you have any idea what color the ribbon is for 11th place? (Paused for emphasis, thinking I would know this) It's brown, MOM - the ribbon for 11th place is brown. Apparently the brown 11th place ribbon is beyond disgusting.

In other news - I noticed Maren was wearing one of Sten's tshirts to bed. When I casually asked her what the deal was, she said it was because she likes the smell of him. He smells good, so says she.

Unlike the dog who has apparently been frolicking in cow poop. Sheesh! I guess we'll have to dress Danner in one of Sten's shirts to see if we can get him smelling any better.

For the record, Sten recently won 1st place in a mechanical skills competition at the local community college. 3 cheers to Sten! Him's a smart feller and a good smeller to boot.

Get your FIREWORKS HERE!

4th of July means peddling fireworks on behalf of the swim club. The kids always enjoy getting dressed up for the occasion.

Our Marketing Team

A slow moment allows for a quick snooze

Quick Coast trip

After the auction we headed for Lincoln City as the girls had a swim meet today. Not wanting to spend big bucks on a motel (as we would only be inhabiting the dive for a few hours) I chose an inexpensive motel, a little nervous about what would await us. We were impressed and highly recommend this motel - Inn at Wecoma. It was extremely clean, the beds were comfortable, complimentary breakfast was provided and there is a pool. Our room was 77.00, but a suite that sleeps 8 was only 104.00!

Show us how it's done, Milah!

Happily smothered by the girlies

I guess Maren's hoping she'll grow into her swim cap

We even enjoyed a rare sunny day on the Oregon Coast.

Go Mare Go!!

Spring Fever

Sten "Weld"ing. Sten got another treasure at the transfer station yesterday - a partial go cart to add to his other other partial go-cart, which will ideally make a whole go cart. Vrrooom!

Milah has officially been given the head mower's position, and Sten was all too eager to give it up. It's sure strange how this "fun" job becomes "work" in just a few months. We bought this mower used about 12 years ago, and it has mowed thousands of acres - it's not a beauty, but it keeps going and going and going -

Meanwhile, Maren is at swimming lessons - always with a big grin