EZ's Dad Turns 89!

Late last month Nick and I headed over to Black Mountain to celebrate my dad's 89th birthday. Linda and Gigi were in New York for a wedding, so Nick and I packed up to spend the weekend with my folks.  My dad always has a list of projects for us to assist him with, and this trip was no different. He recently acquired a large water storage tank, built a water pumping system and purchased several professional fire hoses (off ebay) and wanted Nick and I to test out his system. I got the enjoyable task of holding the 'working end' of the hose: 

 

Dad was worried about having enough pressure to push water through the hose, but as you can see, his pump was shooting a 2" stream of water a good 100 feet!

Linda is always washing her car, so I took the liberty of performing that task with a high power hose:

My dad is a master craftsman in so many areas. Here he is working with Nick doing some welding:

Nick looks larger here than 6'4" and dad smaller than 5'10 in this picture, but they both were enjoying working together on a welding project: 

Mom (Grammy as all the grandkids call her) has a new helper on Friday and Saturday. Valerie comes and assists Grammy with cooking and cleaning a couple days each week.  We are very pleased with Valerie's sweet care for Mom and we are very glad she is willing to help each week.

Mom, Dad, Nick and I took a ride to the top of the mountain where the county is installing a large radio tower for police, fire fighters, and emergency services use. Here Dad is bending some 3/4" rebar.  It is amazing the strength he has at 89!

Whenever we head to the mountain, Dad requests baby back ribs. Here he is enjoying his birthday dinner of ribs, corn and baked potato (we had already finished the shrimp cocktail) that Nick and I whipped up for him and Mom.

A good picture of Mom getting ready to enjoy Dad's birthday dinner:

i

Linda wanted us to document the dinner, and everything turned out great. The ribs from BJ's were super meaty and three or four ribs was a full portion:

I enjoy walking with my folks and especially with my mom. Walking is so good for both of us, we try to do it everyday when the weather permits.  On this day, it was threatening to rain, but we ventured out anyway and I picked a blossom from a mountain laurel for her.

The weekend went by far to fast (they always do) and we had to take a picture just prior to departure...it's a tradition. Here is the shot of PopPop, Grammy, and grandson Nick (and yes, Nick is that tall!). Nick and I are already planning a return trip sometime in June, and hopefully Linda can join us.  Many thanks to Dad and Mom for a great weekend!