Grandkid Summer Part II: Kinnera

This was our adopted granddaughter’s first time to stay on the farm without her parents. (We adopted her as our granddaughter when she was adopted as a baby by our friends John and Hazel.) Hazel was spending the week in Lincoln, Nebraska, at the National Artistic Roller Skating Championships. Hazel skated as a teenager in Portland and was, from all reports, quite good. But she had not skated for many years because of health issues, among other things. In March, when the family moved to the Seattle area, and after Hazel’s health returned, she began skating again at a rink in Auburn, Washington, where she had skated as a teen with some fine coaches while preparing for competitions. I wrote earlier about her qualifying for the Regional Championships in Portland this spring and my trip there to watch her skate. http://lindafink.blogspot.com/2012/06/birding-gardening-roller-skating.html At Regionals, Hazel qualified for Nationals and, after much hard work preparing, away she went.

So several mornings during Kinnera’s stay, we rose very early (Nebraska is two hours later than we are) to watch the livestream of her mom’s skating competitions. Hazel did very, very well in this, her first national competition, bringing home the bronze medal in Novice Women’s Figures and a 4^th place in the highly competitive Womens’ Masters’ Solo Dance. Kinnera was bursting with pride and excitement. I taped some of Hazel's skating off the computer screen. To watch, go to www.youtube.com and search for Hazel Inman. There are five videos.

The first day of Kinnera’s visit was the only one before the arrival of two more grandkids. Steve and Munazza and their sons Kestrel, 5, and Cedrus, 3, drove in Sunday night from California. Kinnera fell in love with the boys and they with her. We all went to the beach one day so I could climb The Thumb again and check on my last viable Road's End area nest of Black Oystercatchers. Kinnera climbed with me while the others played in the sand. Later, we returned to the beach so she could play in the sand and waves, too. (I went back up The Thumb for more futile BLOY chick searching.)

Above, Kinnera on top of The Thumb. Below, she is negotiating Steve's maze, a Fink beach tradition.

Below, she braves the icy waters of the Pacific with Johnny and Kestrel. Then plays in the sand with Kestrel.

Like Ian, Kinnera enjoyed ferrying us around in the electric golf cart at the farm. Here we are on our way back from playing by Agency Creek, Kinnera driving with Steve as co-pilot, Kestrel and Cedrus the happy passengers.

Besides Kestrel and Cedrus, Kinnera's real love at the farm was the dogs. McCoy and Shirley adored her. Shirley had destroyed the Puppy Bumper (bulky padded collar) that keeps her from squeezing through fences, so she frequently had to be put back into the field with llamas and sheep. That became Kinnera's job as Shirley would follow her anywhere.

When all the kids took turns splitting wood with Grandpa Johnny's wood splitter, Kinnera held Shirley's ears to protect them from the noise while the others were splitting. After all, everyone else was wearing ear protectors. When it was Kinnera's turn at the noisy machine, and no longer available for petting, Shirley left. (How I managed to not get a photo of Kinnera with the big white dog McCoy is a mystery.)

On Friday all the troops except me went to Mt. St. Helens visitor’s center… I hiked to Cliff Creek Falls on Cascade Head to check on another BLOY nest… with better results than at The Thumb. The chick was still alive and well. The Calif. contingent continued onward to the Seattle area to visit long-time friends while Johnny and Kinnera returned to the farm. Or tried to. The van broke down in McMinnville and I picked them up there.

On Sunday, I drove Kinnera to her Aunt Mari’s home in Lake Oswego. Hazel was to arrive that night by plane from Nebraska. Here’s hoping Kinnera stays with us again… maybe during next year’s National Roller Skating Championships!