Hanging Out With My Granddaughter

I stayed with the car while J went into the baggage area.  Then she came out carrying my granddaughter who then ran to me and gave me a great big, long hug.  As I've posted before, not ever having met any of my own grandparents, I didn't realize what I was missing.  We have lots planned for her visit. 

Today we tried out the new bicycle trailer.  Last year we borrowed the kind that's like a stroller attached to the back of a bike.  This time I got a bike off Craigslist that attaches to my seat stem.  I told her she can't fall asleep this time - she's got to keep her hands on the handle bars and feet on the peddles. She hasn't mastered riding a bike on her own and I was completely sure how this was going to work out.  

But as soon as I started pedaling, everything was just fine.  She was totally delighted.  We got to Campbell Creek and stopped on the bridge to check for salmon.  

Here's the bike with the trailer attached under the seat.  We did eventually have some problems because it wasn't attached tightly enough.  No danger of it coming off, but it twisted to left and I'd here, "I'm sideways" and we'd stop and and adjust it.  

I hadn't seen any salmon yet this summer, but there they were today.   I don't have a polarizing filter on my little camera - I don't think I can even put a filter on it.  But there are six or seven reddish shapes under the water above the white water around the rocks.  They were easier to see in the original and you might do better if you click on the picture, or just check the picture below.   It was like they were daring each other to be the first to try to break through. We waited about five minutes - which is like an hour for a four year old - and then we rode on.

At the next bridge the fish were easier to see.  

If you start in the lower left corner and look up toward the middle along the plants, you should see the reddish shapes in the water.  By this time though, the attachment was getting looser and the trailer was shifting more frequently, so we turned back and went to the playground by Lake Otis.  Kids playgrounds have gotten much more interesting and much safer over the years and she had a great time exploring.  This playground also has one of those community library boxes and she got some books and we read a while.  

By then, the trailer was getting looser so we walked the bikes home.  I need to tighten it better.  But we made some lunch and ate on the deck.  Z has a little sprayer and is spraying everything with water.  I had thought she might find the crossword puzzle interesting.  Her vocabulary is big enough that she'd get some of it.  After I filled in a few, she wanted the pen, and to my surprise wrote in the letters.  It was slow and they weren't always facing the right direction, but she did do it.  I can read them anyway, but I know what she was trying to write.  Like 10 down is GRAB. I had to tell her the letters.

I'd show you some playground pictures, and I wouldn't have cut off the rest of the bike in the first picture, but grandchild pictures are off limits.  Which is fine.  There are some strange people lurking out there - none of my regular readers, of course.  Well, maybe a few.  Here's a picture of the bike trailer when I bought it.