Day 38: Livy ski skims for the first time

Olivia poses on the boat.

I slept until ten and awoke in a panic. I went down the stairs to find Ivy waiting patiently for me. I took her outside and noticed Mr. Weaver’s truck was gone; and I had seen Beth and Olivia were up and out of their room when I got up. I assumed they had gone to town and let William and me sleep. I was worried Ivy had had no one let her out all morning long. Ivy did not seem stressed and after she finished, we went back inside, Olivia and Mrs. Weaver appeared, and reported Grandpa and Beth had gone to town grocery shopping. I got coffee and began to wake up. Ivy settled in on the floor and chewed on her bone. I was about to serve breakfast when Grandpa and Beth came home and we all enjoyed a ham and egg scramble. It filled everyone up.

The forecast for Monday was rain and I need to catch up on home stuff – bills and balancing the checkbook, but not in that order. Grandpa was working on his egg cards so we sat at the table and worked together. William and Olivia were in and out and Beth baked in the kitchen – rhubarb bread. I finally finished the balancing and needed to go to town to get a fast internet connection at the library. We can use the dial up service at the cottage but it is slow and long distance charges apply. I had updated the blog at the cottage; it took much longer for uploads and I needed a quicker connection.The library and a coffee shop offer free Wi-Fi and I really wanted a cup of coffee however, they closed at five and I arrived with only twenty-five minutes to work and drink my coffee. I needed at least an hour, so it was the library. Setting up at the library was quick and easy: and I was working when I heard a heavy downpour on the metal roof. It was loud, but sounded good. The cottage has a metal roof and the sound is soothing when it rains. I called Beth to check in and she told me it was pouring there, too. I caught up on e-mail and other tasks and packed up to go home. I stopped and got pizzas for dinner.

Everyone was happy with pizza for dinner. Beth made a salad and we ate at the table together. The weather had calmed and the lake was as smooth as glass. Beth wanted to go for a ride on the lake but Olivia wanted to go ski skimming. It is funny how a brand of a product will name an activity, but that is what ski skimming is. We had bought the ski skimmer several years ago and William learned to ski with it. A ski skimmer is a board with a ski handle attached to it. A towrope attaches the ski skimmer to the boat, much like a tube. To ride the ski skimmer the rider slips their feet into footholds, grabs the handle, and waits for the boat to pull them on ski skimmer out of the water. It is a training device for skiing and it helped William learn how to balance on the water. He began ski skimming when he was six and graduated to skis when he was eight or nine. Now he can ski, wakeboard, and kneeboard. We have tried to get Olivia on the ski skimmer but she has never had the courage to get up. We were surprised she wanted to go and told William to get the boat ready for skiing.  

Livy ski skims one handed - show off!
Livy skis around a turn - not bad for the first time
William skis outside the wake - one handed!

William was quick, with Olivia providing a helping hand, and the boat was ready. Beth would drive, I would be in the water to help Olivia, and William would be the spotter in the boat. He would also be the photographer. Olivia readied herself and we counted… ready, set, go. Beth gunned the boat and took off, Olivia almost got up and fell back and off. Beth circled back, I collected the towrope, and got Olivia ready to go again, she was determined to get up on the ski skimmer. We tried, again, and again – four times in all; each time Olivia got closer to ski skimming. Grandpa hollered from the deck, “ease her up – you’re goin’ to fast when you pull her up.” So, on the fifth try we took his advice. Olivia stepped on the ski skimmer, I steadied her, and Beth slowly eased the throttle up gently pulling Olivia through the water and she was up! I hooped and hollered. Olivia was up on the ski skimmer. She ski skimmed down, back, in front of the cottage, and back again. Grandpa went inside the cottage and got grandma so she could see. Olivia waved – going one-handed. After a long ride, she hopped off and swam back to me. She was so excited and wanted to get back on for another ride. However, it was William’s turn and we switched from ski skimming to skiing. Olivia and I got on the boat and watched as William skied. Ivy enjoyed the ride, too. After William’s ride, Olivia wanted to ski skim again, so we stopped and switched the towrope over and swapped skis for the ski skimmer. William stayed in the water and helped Olivia and I stayed on the boat. Olivia got up on her first try and we were off. She rode the ski skimmer for a long ride and we dropped her off in front of the cottage. William wanted to try to ski, again. He tried, but we ran out of daylight and pulled the boat in parking it for the night.

Ivy watches William and her ears are blowin' in the wind.

It was a great day and Olivia could not wait for Tuesday to ski skim again. We have Ely boat to put in the water and William wants to fish. It will be a busy day. But, it would all have to wait as we celebrated Olivia’s first full ski skimming ride. An exciting day finished and we all slept very well. Day 38 was done with more to come, could tomorrow be a million and six times better?

Thanks for visiting MtDC. How are YOU Making YOUR Days Count?