It wasn't exactly an early birthday present, but I'd been
wanting to take the Kirby grandkids up to our old property
for a long, long time. When Judy and I moved four years ago,
Evan was only 5 and Claire was 7. Ryan was 3 -- but he was
in China -- and that's another story!
So with the kids out of school and springlike weather (on the
last day of winter), Judy and I picked them up and took them
on a "ramble" at the old place. Claire and Evan still had vivid
memories of many times there, but for Ryan everything was
brand new. As we roamed the five acres, he asked, "This was
all yours?" I answered, "It's all YOURs, too!"
We started at a huge magnolia tree right on the edge of our
remaining property. But now there a ladder which
allows them to scale the huge, high branches. Those branches
once sheltered them when we pushed them around in strollers!
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| Watching big sis Claire climb it gives Ryan his motivation. |
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| Clear the way-- Evan wants to get to the top, too! |
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| Claire had to descend about 15 feet to get in this picture. She went as high as one possibly could. The branches are sturdy and well-spaced, but almost too big for easy gripping. |
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| Like Jennifer and Amanda a generation before them, these three are no strangers to treetops. |
When all had climbed down, we headed for the stream
and its multiple waterfalls. Claire and Evan remembered
when we could drive Judy's Tacoma within a short distance
of the stream. But though the walk was longer, there
was plenty to see along the way, including these flowers.
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| At the stream, Claire demonstrates to Ryan how she and Evan used to "fish" for these plastic rings with hockey sticks. |
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| Quite a haul, Claire! |
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| Ryan was successful, but thought it was pretty easy. On to other pursuits. |
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| This is one of several bridges that criss-cross the stream. I salvaged it from an old bridge from the SFL Nature Trail. |
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| Ryan is waiting for one of the hoops that Evan is floating down the stream. Evan had the bright idea of using his hockey stick to make "waves" to hasten the hoop's journey to Ryan. |
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| Ryan takes in the panorama of bridges, waterfalls, and islands. |
After a good long time at the stream we headed to
the old tree house, which I built in 2015, two months
before I had my first knee replacement. Ryan is
examining the pulley system for sending "shipments"
or "mail" from the basement to the top floor.
Ryan shows his mastery of the delivery system.
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| Ryan relaxes on the upper deck bench seat. Beside his foot you'll see the old vacuum cleaner hose that is part of our "intercom" system. |
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| It may not equal what Tarzan or the Swiss Family Robinson had, but for Evan and Ryan it's enough. |
Claire had already gone to our trapeze swing.
Ryan found it to be a lot of fun when he arrived there.
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| I had raised the bar a while back, so I needed to lift Ryan up. No problem. |
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| Claire is so tall she had to pull her legs up, but it was no less fun. |
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| You can create your own acrobatic act on this swing, spinning and swirling as you wish. |
I was so impressed with Ryan's strength, agility,
and endurance.
Claire creates a free-style program of her own.
Claire demonstrates the skills of rappelling.
Yep, the rope is still strong enough!
If the rope supports Claire, then Ryan can count on it, too!
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| Ah, the great outdoors! |
We made one last visit to the tree house before
time to head home. Hi Grandma!
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| Judy snapped this memory shot for me. |
We weren't taking the kids to their home-- it was
back to our house-- for my second birthday celebration.
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| It took me two tries to blow out two candles (a large 6 and 7). That can't be good! |
One of the kids said "Raise your hand if you love Grandpa!"
Boy, did this response make me feel special!
My "real" birthday would be the next day,
but it wouldn't top this day.
So in 33 years, when I'm 100, Ryan will be 40.
That's hard to imagine, but I'm looking forward to it!
