Concrete Canoe Contest , OSU at Fayetteville Arkansas

Fayetteville, Arkansas, April 17, 18, 2008
Hi everyone. It has been about 5 hours since I last posted. I have planted flowers, cleaned out the pantry from a friendly little critter that took up residence in the fall. We are pretty sure he is out of the picture now. That took all afternoon. I won't mention how many bags of trash I took out with "outdated" canned goods. So much for the afternoon.

We met Allen (now to be known as Jeremy) at the "Garden" on the campus of Arkansas University on Friday morning. It was a really cold day and overcast. Of course we came from 85 degree weather and I knew it would be cool on the water, I never dreamed it would feel like 40 degrees. Most of Jeremy's team had not come yet. While the canoe was on display in the park, each team had to carry their canoe to the swamp tank to test to see if the canoe would float. Jeremy had to recruit guys from other schools to help carry the boat. It weighs about 125 pounds and is delicate.

Into the tank for the swamp test. I was really surprised by the helpfulness of the other teams that were there and their interest in one another's projects.




When they place the boat in the tub, it must be submerged and then has 5 minutes to float to the top. As you can tell from the look on Jeremy's face, they had a problem. OSU's boat was not the only one that didn't float. For the water races, the teams are allowed to tape in Styrofoam to help keep the boat afloat if it takes on too much water and sinks.

The next part of the competition was a formal presentation in the afternoon, with power point and a verbal presentation. The fellow on the far left is Allen too, so that is why my Allen is Jeremy. The kids were really good to me when I would forget and say "Allen,...." They knew who I really meant. This part of the presentation talked about the "mixes and psc (or something like that that meant the strength of the concrete and the kind of things they used as filler to make the thing float (or not) . Jeremy and the guy, 2nd from the left did the presentation and the girl did the computer part.


The next morning, we all headed out to the lake north of town for the rowing part. It doesn't count as much in the competition but is really the most fun. The sun did come out and it warmed up for the day. It was really a very beautiful day for the water races.
Here are several of the other canoes. Allen and Jeremy (in the white hat) are rowing out for their two man sprint. They are visiting with the judges while they wait for the second boat to get in place.

Paddles in the air to start the race: Then it is On your mark, get set, GO!

Tired but proud, Allen and Jeremy Allen have placed 2nd in the two man sprint. (They don't know it yet, but will soon.
Several boats swapped during the races. The one above, made sure his team was safe on shore and then pulled the boat back out and through the finish line. They get points for finishing. The boat below never made it to the starting point.
Lunch was provided by U of A and we shared hot dogs, chips and hamburgers. This was pretty much all the orange we saw that day. There were two men who came by that live in Fayetteville and said they had graduated from OSU, and a softball player was there for a tournament across the parking lot. He came over for a few minutes too. We made friends with some parents from KSU, that was fun.
Ralph with Jeremy Allen and Allen, just before we took off to come home.
We stayed in a wonderful bed and breakfast that was ALL antiques. My mouth was watering. We also got to go to the Walton Fine Arts Center on Friday night and hear the Irish Chamber orchestra while Jeremy was at a dinner. It was a fun trip and I am so glad that we were able to go and support Jeremy on this project. He didn't have a large team in the club this year, so they were in a rebuilding phase with the club. The club didn't place in the top three or qualify for the nationals but I think Jeremy was pleased with how it all came out. What a wonderful learning opportunity for them as they prepare for engineering careers. Jeremy does have an internship that he will begin in OKC in a few weeks. We are excited for him, but I have to say that we probably now are really empty nester's.

Busy Not Going Anywhere: Again

A SIX WEEK OVERVIEW

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month since I have put anything up. We have been so busy ( as a friend said to me "you never go anywhere") not going anywhere.
Amanda, Nathan, Turner, Parker and Allen all came home for Easter. More pictures are below (after the Portland Pictures.) Once again, I have had trouble remembering how to move pictures on this, and I have spent way more time than I intended. My first weekend home in 6 weeks, and so much to do.) Ralph has gone to Springfield with the kids for a fireworks meeting and dinner so I have the whole day to myself- and I spend two hours on something that should only take 20 minutes- go figure.)




PORTLAND
Meeting Gwendolyn Edith Van Oostrum, a visit with Sam and their folks (Andy and Molly).



Miss Gwendolyn Edith Van Oostrum, March 1, 2008, 7 lbs 9 oz.

Andy, Molly, Sam and Gwen... at home relaxing. Yeah, right! with a 3 week old baby. :) Can you see the tiredness in their eyes? But oh so happy!



Ralph is holding Gwen. They were both sleeping but as I was getting the camera ready, Ralph woke up and sat up. We were at Pam and Marks' house (Molly's parents) for dinner that night. Don't you think the orange and pink go well together?
Pam had made a little Princess hat and Sam was just as cute as a button in it. He pranced around in the hat for about 20 minutes. Till he got tired and went on to something else. He is a handsome little guy. Sam we miss you!
At home Sam took a turn holding Gwen, although I am not sure he was all that interested in her at the moment. We watched lots of Elmo, who seems to be Sam's hero at the moment.
Andy and Molly's yard was so pretty. They have a terraced front yard, and I just couldn't resist taking a picture of the tulip and grape hyacinths.
A great picture of Ralph and Sam on the porch as we get ready to go to dinner.

We ate at a Portland "Mexican" restaruant. The guacamole was made out of asparagus. This is not the guacamole but one of the dishes. Portland is very health conscious about their food. It is not like our Mexican dishes at all. And the bourredo:



Molly was wonderful and let us hold Gwen the whole time we were there. Of course Sam, who doesn't come to me much picked the time I was holding Gwen (Ralph and I took turns) to ask me to read him a book. We managed, but it never occurred to me to hand off Gwen, but we did get a good Grandma picture.

EASTER WEEKEND WITH THE COLEMAN BOYS
We colored eggs and had a massive egg hunt. Ralph and Allen hid 360 plus eggs in the back yard. It took over 30 minutes for the boys to find them all. We laughed because, as you can see, many were in plain site.



And they had to find them all because Ralph had filled them with MONEY and a Van Oostrum NEVER walks past money.



Nathan's trophy is from one of his first dirt bike races. He was so proud, as am I.



I just love this picture of Ralph in the back yard. So I added it.




Allen is holding Daisy, Jimmy's dog. Allen is dogsitting until Amy and Jimmy can sell their house.
We are cat sitting for Dasha and Oxanna. Amy may not get the cats back. We are becoming very close. I finally put a towel next to my pillow, where they both sleep with me at night. They are a little "fuzzy".


JT ROTHROCK TURNS ONE
We went to Tulsa the week after we got back from Portland to celebrate JT's first birthday on April 6. Amy had a really nice family cook out in their back yard.


JT was a little stressed when we popped into the high chair and all the cousins gathered around him.
At first JT didn't want the cake but after a finger taste of the icing, he decided it would be worth a try. As you can see, HE LIKED IT! Happy first birthday, JT.

Well, now that I have gotten the hang of all of this, I am going to wait until tomorrow to post all about our trip to Fayetteville AR for Allen's concrete canoe contest. See you soon!