About US

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This the story of our journey, Into Something Good, going Somewhere Over the Rainbow, and trying to Hold Onto Our Dreams. How we got on the way to becoming HALF time RVers! Our Ford 350 super duty diesel truck is our horses, we call it the Beast . Our 2008 34'7" 3 slide Cedar Creek Silverback fifth wheel is our Prairie Schooner Wagon,we call it the Bear. Just like the first RVers, the Pioneers of Yesteryear traveling around the country searching for a rich full filling life! Come along with us for the ride and read about our triumphs and mishaps along the way! About to be Part time RVers in a Cedar Creek Silverback 2008, 34'7", 3 slide 5th wheel, which is our Prairie Schooner Wagon, and a 2006 Ford 350 super duty 1 ton diesel truck is our horses, or oxen, only we have to feed it diesel instead of grass, and oats, which costs a lot more! Retired Air Force empty nesters off to see the good ole USA! Favorite Quote: "Life is a Blank Canvas, Made For Me to Add the Colors" Goal: I am trying to add as many colors as I can to my life!

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Been Awhile...

Hi Guys:
   Sorry it has been awhile since I last wrote. Due to complications from Celebrex, I have been too tired to be on the computer. It brought all of my Congestive Heart Failure symptoms back. The side effects were not good! I filled up with fluid, I'm talking serious weight gain from the fluid, I could only get into 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of jeans, and really big shirts. I couldn't figure out why I was gaining weight when I wasn't eating any different! Then too, I had shortness of breath, I couldn't walk up the street without getting out of breath, and then there was the devastating tiredness I felt, I had no energy whatsoever. I just didn't feel like being on the computer, or doing anything. All of these are symptoms of Heart Failure. The only thing that had changed was the Celebrex in my medications. So I went and read the side effects and sure enough they all were listed. Now the doctor knew I had Heart Failure, so why would she put me on this? I was diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure in December of 2000, and I was really sick. My heart was only working at 10%!  My heart  function was up to 55 % in 2003 and 60% is considered normal, so I was considered to be pretty close to normal. I quit taking the Celebrex and called my arthritis doctor, it took her 2 days to get back to me! I had to increase my Lasix to get rid of the water weight, and fluid around my heart. I can now get into most of my clothes again after 3 weeks. She said usually Motrin would do that before Celebrex would cause those symptoms, well I have been on Motrin for several years for my arthritis, and never had anything like that.  It is a good thing that I recognized the symptoms, and knew what to do or I would have ended up in the hospital. I never want to feel like that again! I am still fighting the debilitating tiredness, and shortness of breath a little bit, but I am better! Needless to say, I was not very happy with the doctor since I haven't had any symptoms with my heart failure since 2003! I am still diagnosed with CHF, but it was considered medically controlled. This was a very scary reminder that I am still very likely to have the symptoms of it. I'll just have to be vigilant in monitoring myself more often. After not having any symptoms of congestive heart failure for 10 years, I guess I got really lax about monitoring myself. It was a really bad scare that I don't want to go through again, and it brought back really bad memories of when I was first diagnosed with heart failure, and how helpless, and alone I felt then. I didn't tell a lot of people I met about my heart failure because I didn't want to be treated so fragile. People do have a tendency to treat you different when they find out you have something like this. I worked really hard to be normal in every way so people wouldn't notice. Only a select few of my really close friends knew about my heart failure until a few years ago. I wasn't ashamed of it, I just didn't want to feel different and like I couldn't keep up with everyone else. I think it was because of going from a very active person running a day care to someone who wasn't allowed to do anything. It doesn't bother me anymore who knows about it now, as long as they don't treat me different and try to do everything for me! Well, just wanted to let you know why I hadn't done a blog for so long, and I am now ready to change the subject, cos I am better!

Trips:
   Now that I am feeling better we are planning several trips. I hope to make the reservations this week. I'll keep you posted on what they are.  The 3 older Grand Girls start school this coming Wednesday, and they are all actually excited about it! Little Miss Charli's 3rd birthday party is a week from today! She is so excited about it! Well I think I am going to get off of here and get this posted, so until next time, see ya's...

Friday, August 2, 2013

Home Tomorrow!

Home Tomorrow:
   Well it has been a nice relaxing week, and it is off to home tomorrow we go! We really haven't done all that much except sit around and catch up on our reading. The weather has been cool, rainy, and not very conducive to sitting outside most of the days we have been here. However, that has been okay with us. The first 2 days I don't think we even left the fiver, we were that tired. The sun seems to be peeking out today so maybe we'll be able to sit outside for a while this afternoon. I'm sure that will please the dogs, they get bored sitting in the trailer all day. They have still been very good this camping trip though!

Weird Weather:
   This has been a really weird week weather wise.  I don't think it got out of the 70's up here all week. I'm talking low 70's too. We may have got to sit outside about 3 days of the 7 we were here. The rest of the time it was rainy or windy with a chill in the air. It was 64 degrees this am, and it was supposed to get down to 58 degrees last night. All I know is I woke up at around 5 a.m. and I was freezing. So guess who turned the furnace on? In August?!?! I would never have believed that if someone else had told me it would be cool enough on the 2nd of August to run the furnace in the early morning! I left thermostat on 65, and it still came on a few times before I got up at 8:30 a.m. and I never did go back to sleep. I just laid there and played games on my Kindle. Would of been nice if I could have went back to sleep. This has been the most mixed up Spring and Summer that I ever remember, as far as the weather is concerned. Makes me wonder what Fall and Winter are gonna be like, and I am not looking forward to either one if this Summer is anything to go by!

Ready to Roll:
   Well it is time for me to get the inside of the fiver ready to roll, so I'd best get at it. For all you non RVers, that means I have to make sure everything is stowed away so nothing moves around while we are moving down the road.  One time we forgot to strap the door on our little extra fridge and when we got to the campground the door was open and all the stuff from the fridge was all over the floor! So we have learned by experience, and some of them are not good experiences either! So I'll be seein' ya's...

   

Monday, July 29, 2013

MIA For A Week

MIA:
   Our Mifi failed, and I could not get online. Yesterday we got a new one, and now we are back in business. I about went nuts without internet. Not that I had time to use it, because running around after a toddler at the lake is anything but relaxing! Haha! I was so frazzled we decided to spend another week here at Indian Lake. LOL! Not used to having a little one around 24/7 anymore.

Camping With Charli:
   Charli did just great on her first camping trip, and I'd have to say she loved it! She loved being outside all the time and swimming. She did well potty training and really only had one accident, and that was mostly my fault. We were going to Wally World, and I put her in a diaper over her panties. Then she had a glass of tea, and before we left I gave her a sipper cup to take in the truck with her.  We were gone for over 3 hours. When I got her out of her car seat, she was soaked clear up her back, she had  flooded everything. Note to self, no more tea, when going any where in the truck.  Her poor car seat was sopping wet too!  Needless to say she had to have clean everything, and a bath. Other than that she did great with potty training. I just hope our son and his wife are keeping up on it! Otherwise I may be having a big hissey fit when I get home! My back was sure sore from lifting her onto the toilet, and into her car seat every time she had to go potty or we went anywhere. So that is the reason for the extra week of R & R up here at the lake.  We changed campsites and are now away from the lake and at a campsite with trees. It has sun and shade and is very serene and relaxing. The pooches are enjoying the grass, and the shade too. Today is the first day we even did anything, all weekend we just vegetated in the fiver. We finally set up our site today, tablecloth, out door rug, and my little cook center outside.

Cool Fall Like Weather:
   We have had very cool nights and yesterday was a high of 66 degrees, cloudy, and windy. It was downright chilly outside, and we didn't go outside much. We went to Bellefontaine, Ohio yesterday because our Mifi was due for an upgrade, and we were tired of fighting with the old one. The new one is 4 g and is so much faster than the old one. The difference is amazing!    The high today is 73 so far with mixed clouds, light wind, and sun. So when the sun is out it is nice, and when the clouds are overhead it has a bit of a chill in the air. We sat outside for a couple of hours with the dogs, and let them play. Then we came inside so I could get a blog post done. I really felt bad cos I hadn't been able to get online and post one.

Tehya:
   Tehya had a good time once she made some new friends with the kids about 6 sites away. Until then I think she was a little bored. They were here until Thursday, so it worked out pretty good since we took the girls home on Friday. I think she could make friends anywhere she goes! After the kids left on Thursday, Tehya found a Monarch butterfly that had been in an accident. It was missing a wing and on further study I saw that it's abdomen was also missing. She said, " I'm going to take care of it, and not let it die and then I'll release it once it is well.". I had to be the bearer of bad news, and tell her it couldn't live missing half of it's body. She was crushed, and sobbed her little heart out. I told her that by taking care of it she could make what time it had left comfortable
and it would know love. She decided to name it Love.

   Here is the picture of her with Love.------------------->

 She is such a soft hearted little girl, and was so sad about the butterfly. I really felt bad for her, and it is a hard lesson for a child to learn that every animal or insect cannot be saved no matter how much they are loved. She was holding the butterfly, and it fluttered it's wings one last time. I told her it was thanking her for taking care of it and that it was time to let it go to heaven. She cried for quite awhile, and then asked if she could take it home to bury it under her Mom's Butterfly bush, so it would be happy. I told her I thought that was a great idea, and so we fixed a bowl with a lid and put some flowers and grass in it and she took Love home. Unfortunately she didn't have any better time when she got home. Her Mom had to tell her that one of her Hermit crabs died on Thursday too. So Love, the Monarch, and her Hermit crab, Gigi are resting under the Butterfly bush waiting at Rainbow Bridge. Her Mom told me they got her another Hermit crab, but sometimes she is still sad about Love and Gigi. Bless her heart, I hope she will always care about animals and all living things.

I think this post has caught you all up to date on our doings so far this second week of camping, so this is a good place to say: See Ya's...


Saturday, July 20, 2013

Two Hour Shopping Trip Turns Into Almost 7 Hour Trip!!!!!!'

Long Shopping Trip:
   My friend Sue and I were making a trip to Wally World and Meijer's today. We left around 12:30 p.m.She needed to stop at her credit union, and then we were going to go to the stores, and have lunch. So she  got out of the car at the credit union, and said "I'm going to turn it off because I don't want it to overheat." I said, "fine." Turns out that was a big mistake! When she got back in and turned the key, nothing happened! After several tries and nothing she said she was going to call her son. He was at work, so she called her daughter in law. Amy came over and was going to jump the battery with her jumper cables. Then when she opened up the hood, they couldn't find her battery! Lol! I don't know what kind of car she had, and she knows how to use the cables to jump a car, but they looked for a good 10 minutes and still couldn't find it. So Amy decided to ask this other lady if she could jump the battery for us. Well that wasn't a problem, so she did, and guess what happened, nothing again! So we thanked her, and she went on her way. Amy said she would take us home so Sue could get her other car, and then she would call Triple A.  Then she said never mind, she would take us up to Sue's son's work. We got there, and then he said," well why didn't you just go buy a battery?" Come on ya got 3 women here, and we don't know nothin' about diagnosing what is wrong with a car! We finally had a good laugh about the fact that we couldn't find the battery in Amy's car. When she asked her hubby, he said, " I think it is under one of the seats", but he wasn't sure which without the owners manual! I have never heard of that before. So we ended up at Wal Mart and he got a battery, then we went back and he installed it for his Mom. It started right up! He looked on the battery, and it said 2006! So I guess it was due! Everything was just like a comedy of errors today. Long story short we eventually got to the stores but several hours later! Lol! First we decided we needed lunch, so we stopped at Fricker's, and had a salad. Also because we had such a traumatic afternoon, lol, we each had a beer! Haha! Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it! Lol! After eating and having our beer we were finally able to laugh about it and continue on with our shopping! We finally got home at 7p.m. this evening! I didn't get anything done in the fiver today, or packed for our trip on Monday, but it sure was an interesting afternoon!

Sour Lemons, or Lemonade:
   I guess the reason I went through the whole story was this: when something like that happens do you grumble, and get mad, or do you see the humor in a situation?  Granted, Sue wasn't planning on spending an extra $100.00 on a new battery, and it wasn't so funny while it was happening, but we could see the humor in it! It wasn't worth getting all mad and depressed  about it and we had a good laugh. So we had a little of both today, a few sour lemons, and then some lemonade, or in our case a beer! Hehe! For the most part in was a fun adventure, even though it took a long time to explain! The way it happened each step was funny, and I'm sure I probably left out some key parts. But, maybe it was one of those moments that you had to be there to get the gist of it, but in the end we had a good time and a few laughs about it too. All I could think about while all this was going on was the theme song to Gilligan's Island, where they went out for a 2 hour tour! Haha! Mike said he was about ready to start calling places. I did try to call him to tell him to go ahead and eat, but his phone didn't get the call.

Tomorrow:
   Now tomorrow I will have to work double time to get caught up since I was gone all afternoon today. I still need to figure out some kind of a menu, and get groceries, and the fiver is still a mess from the sleepover last weekend! I need to get some laundry done too. Let's face it, I'm gonna be running around like a chicken with it's head cut off!! It was just too hot this week to work out there in the fiver with no air. I hope it won't be so hot and humid since it rained today, and I can get out there tomorrow and then get stuff packed. Most everything is is still in there except for the food we lost, so I hope it won't take too long! Well this is gonna be a wrap for now. So I'll see ya's...

Thursday, July 18, 2013

We're Having A Heat Wave!

Heat Wave:
   After all the posts I complained about cold weather this Winter and Spring I will not complain about it being very warm! We hit 91 today!  I'm lovin' it as long as I have AC! We were out in the heat yesterday, and it was pretty intense, and energy draining. But, I'm of the mind that I'd rather have this than cold. Tonight I had to go out and water all my hanging baskets and potted plants on the patio, they were very droopy and wilted from the heat. For some reason while I was out there, the mosquitoes were starving, and seemed to think they should make a meal out of me! Ouch! I wasn't liking that at all. Lol! To this day I have never figured out the purpose for mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, flies, and roaches! I certainly can't see that they do any good for the earth, or us humans. The first 4 cause misery with their bites to mankind, and roaches are just disgusting and gross! They're even worse than spiders, which I don't like, and don't want to be intimate with. At least I can see that most spiders do some good, and eat other bugs. As long as they don't get close to me I can co-exist with spiders. If they don't want to get cozy with me, I'm fine with them. If they get to close, they're gonna be a DEAD spider!  Cos, I got a shoe, and I'm not afraid to use it! Haha!

Plans:
   We're talking about August, and making plans for some traveling! When we come back from Indian Lake next Friday,  we're going to be going to a few places just the 2 of us and the dogs in August.  I am looking forward to getting away for a while. Where do you like to go in the summer to cool off? Unfortunately we won't be going too far. If I had my pick, I'd love to go back up to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan. We were stationed up in Sault St Marie, when we first got married, and Mike was in the Air Force. I never liked the Winter up there, we had snow up to the window sills from October to April! That is probably when I started hating Winter! Anyway, the Summer up there was usually nice. That is, as long as you slathered yourself with mosquito repellent. I swear the mosquitoes were about as big as the humming birds are here! Lol! If one of them got ya, you almost needed a blood transfusion! haha! No, I'm just kidding you! If you have never been up there it is a real experience, and one that I'd love to repeat. In the summer that is! The scenery was so pure and green, of course I can't say what it is like now, but I'd love to go up there for about 2 to 3 weeks sometime to find out.   
   I know one thing, I think that is when I developed my fear of long bridges! The Mackinac bridge that connects lower Michigan to the Upper Peninsula terrifies me! You can feel it swaying when it is windy, and it is always windy on that lake. Every time we came home for a visit, when we were stationed up there, Mike would have to stop the car a couple of miles before we got to the bridge. Then I would lay down in the back seat, and close my eyes, so I couldn't see how high up I was, and how much water there was under the bridge. It wasn't too bad if I couldn't see it, but I could still feel the bridge swaying. I imagine I would have to do something like that again, or at least keep my eyes shut the whole time we were on the bridge. That doesn't stop me from wanting to go back though.  That is one place that is on the list to go to next summer.
   So back to next month, I think we're going to go to Alum Creek state park for a week near Columbus. We can visit with Mike's Mom while were there. Then maybe to a little campground in Lancaster, Ohio for a week, and we'll be close enough to visit with my parents then in Circleville, Ohio. Then we'll head up to Berlin, Ohio, and Amish country.  That is for August. Then in September we hope to go somewhere for our Anniversary. We haven't got that far in the plans yet, and we have to start making reservations for the August trips first. I should probably get started on the reservations next weekend, just to be sure we can get in. So I imagine you'll be hearing about that as we narrow the down the time.

Charli:
   Today I had Miss Charlotte (Charli) from 8:30 a.m. to about 4 p.m. She went potty 3 times, what a good girl! I took her picture with her stickers, and she was so proud of herself! Tomorrow will be an early day starting at 5:45 in the a.m. Hopefully she'll do the same for me tomorrow. I asked my son when I was watering the flowers, if she had went potty for him. He said no every time he asked her, she said she didn't have to go! What! I'm going to have to have a serious talk with that boy! Of course she doesn't want to go, it interferes with what she is doing. I told him you don't ask, you just put her on the potty, no choice for her!  I then told him that he is undoing all that I accomplish with her during the day if he doesn't just put her on the potty, and not ask if she wants to go. Grrr! She'll be 3 next month, and she can do it, she's just lazy, and so are they! I've been trying to get them to potty train her for months!  I hope I'm not fighting an uphill battle. I plan on her being pretty much potty trained when we come back from the lake next Friday. I hope I don't have to train them to finish training her! Lol! 

Well guys, I think I am about out of words for tonight. So hang in there. Ya'll, tomorrow is Friday! So I'll be seein' ya's ...


Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Sleepover, Sammy Update, and Today!

Sleepover:
   We had fun on the Sunday night sleepover, but it sure was hot and humid! We can't use the AC in the fiver in the driveway, it trips the circuit breaker every time!  So it didn't cool off until about 3 a.m. How do I know that, you ask, well I was still up! We started watching movies at about 9 p.m. Sunday night and they were both chick flicks. We started out with Roger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella. The one with Lesley Ann Warren in it. The girls had never seen it, so they watched it to appease me.  There was a bit of grumbling about all the singing, the costumes, and they agreed that the step sisters really were ugly!  Haha! They weren't too impressed with all the singing, but they liked the story. The only one they had seen was the cartoon one.  When it was over Kara said,  "Gma there are sure no Prince's like that nowadays!" I told her that's why it was called a fairy tale! Lol! We do all like romantic movies. Then Kara had brought the new Footloose movie. I hadn't seen it, so we watched that. It was pretty good, but I still liked the first one better.  I couldn't find my copy so we could watch it, next time I will get it from the library, cos Kara wanted to see the original one, too.  It pretty much followed the first one, with a few minor exceptions.  Now to the burning question, who fell asleep first? Well Miss Tehya fell asleep about midnight. Kara, Autumn and I were joking and laughing and she woke up about 1:30 a.m. She is usually the last one to fall asleep! We finally went to bed about an hour later. So I was still reading at 3 a.m. and that answers the question how I knew when it cooled down! Lol! Needless to say when my alarm went off at 8 a.m. I didn't want to get up! Charli was coming out at 8:30, so I had to whether I wanted to or not! I brought her into the house and let the girls sleep. Eventually they all three straggled in, at various times, still in their pj's.

Sammy Update:
   Sammy the blue front Amazon is doing well! He had his beak trimmed, his toenails and wings clipped and had a shower. He wasn't impressed with anything but the shower, that he loved! Sammy was always mean and tried to bite us, and would never come out of his cage for us. Their daughter just stuck her hand in his cage and he stepped right up on her arm! She cuddled with him under her chin for quite a while. I would have thought he would have went for her jugular vein! I was amazed when Steve called me and told me about it! It just goes to show you, that sometimes it takes someone new for them to bond with you. Maybe he sensed that we weren't his forever owners, just caregivers until he got well. He said that Sammy was making himself at home and had roast beef and mashed potatoes with them when they had supper! I think he must have been in heaven, and loved it! I hope he continues to do well and be loved, and that his story has a happy ever after ending!!!!!

Today:
   Today I got Miss Charli at 5:45 a.m. and then Autumn and Tehya came about 7:30.  Chari was a very big girl and went potty 3 times for me, on the potty chair that is, today. Each time after she went she got 3 M & M's. Then she would ask me if I was happy? That was so cute and of course I told her I was and that she was a very good girl. She is going to be a little people person I think, but only if she likes it too! She can be very stubborn, and she gets that from both of her parents, so she got a double dose! Haha! We really didn't go outside today since it was so warm. Mommy came and got Charli after lunch and then Tehya, Autumn and I went to Dollar General to get a couple of things. My cheater glasses broke and I had to get a new pair. It is terrible getting old. I have a perfectly good pair of prescription glasses, but they are bifocals, and I get dizzy if I try to walk in them and I can't read in bed with them. In order for me to read with them in bed, I have to have my neck at an unnatural angle. It makes me get a crick in my neck and then my neck is sore the next day, so that is why I use the magnifying glasses.
   Tomorrow I have to start making my list for the trip with Charli and Tehya. I have to start getting ready, or else I'll forget something! I want to have things in the fiver by Sunday night, or else I'll forget something! Then we will leave on next Monday!

Goodnight:
   Jake is saying "Good night, pretty boy, so I think I will put this post to bed too. Ya'll take care and be safe traveling, and I'll be seein' Ya's...

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Yesterday, and Today

Yesterday:
   Most of yesterday was spent relaxing and waiting on a  phone call. At about 1:30 p.m. we got the phone call and left to meet Steve. He was going to take the bird that we had taken care of to the vet and then to his new family. They run a bird sanctuary and adopt birds directly into new homes instead of keeping them and housing them in a building. Sammy is a blue front Amazon parrot, and we took him to try to get him healthy when he was in danger of dying. He wasn't being fed but about once or twice a week. The people didn't want him. I wish people would research animals before they get a pet. Parrots live a long time, Amazons if well taken care of can live upwards of 30 years or more. My Amazon, Jake is at least 20 years old. Our Cockatoo, Paco is about 20 also and he could live up to 50 to 60 years if well taken care of. I don't understand why people think of pets as a throw away or, a give away item when they get tired of them. Anyway, back to Sammy, when we took him we didn't think he would live more than a week, he was very emaciated and weak. We put him in our living room to keep him away from our birds, in case he had something that was catching. Also, we could watch him and see if and what he ate. He literally attacked any food you put in front of him. From then on he ate regularly and filled back out nicely. He would beg for our food every time we ate, and we gave him anything he wanted, except things that were bad for him. Things like chocolate, avocado's, and apple seeds can kill a bird. He was still very aggressive with us but he started talking again. Finally after a couple of months we put him in the same room with our birds. It was funny, because he and Jake would try to out talk each other, so we had a lot of laughs with them doing that. Jake has been really quiet today, no doubt he misses Sammy. We simply didn't  have room in our 35' fifth wheel for 3 birds and 2 dogs. It wasn't that we couldn't take care of another bird, but the room factor and I believe that if you have a pet it should be with you, not sitting home alone with just someone stopping by every day to make sure it has food and water. Besides that, Sammy is a cool bird and he deserves to be the center of attention in a house. I hope he adapts to his new home quickly, and I will be kept informed of the results of his vet visit and his progress in his new home. I hope it will be a win win situation all the way around. Mike will meet Steve tomorrow to pick up our travel cage from him. Sammy has a very nice cage that went with him, but it was about 5 ft tall, and had to be laid down to transported. So that's why he was in our travel cage. We knew we couldn't keep him when we took him, due to our lifestyle of part time Rving. Not to mention we didn't think he was going to live at the time, he truly must have just needed food and love. So no, we didn't desert him, he was never meant to be our bird. We were just temporary care givers, and we were lucky that he lived. So I really hope this story has a happy ending! Sammy deserves one, he overcame great odds just to live.

Today:
   Today is Sunday, and tonight is sleepover at Gma's! We girls are going to move to the fifth wheel tonight. Even though it is just in the driveway, we've had many sleepovers like this and lot's of fun!  We haven't done this all summer so I thought it would be fun to just spend time and reconnect with all my girls! Charli will be joining us in the morning at about 8 a.m. to be in the fiver for a while before we leave a week from tomorrow for Indian lake.  I want to have Charli spend time with me, and Tehya in the fifth wheel so she will be used to it when we go. I think if we spend a little bit of time everyday in the fiver, before we go she'll be used to being in there, and not think anything of it. At least that is my thinking, and the plan, wish me luck! Lol I may need it! I am going to grill hamburgers for dinner tonight, for Mike and I, the girls will eat before they come over at about 7- 7:30 ish. Then let the fun begin! I have all their favorite snacks, drinks etc... I plan to spoil them, and we're gonna have snacks and watch dvd's all evening! So who do you think will be the first to crash? Me, Kara, Autumn, or Tehya? I'll tell ya tomorrow! Haha!

Done:
   I am gonna call this post done, and go finish some unfun stuff, like dishes, and things like that...  See even Grand ma's have to do chores before they can have fun too! So I'll tell ya what happened with the sleepover tomorrow! I just know you can't wait! Haha! It's all about the memories, I want them to remember all the crazy fun things we did, and smile when they think about it! So until tomorrow, See ya's...

Friday, July 12, 2013

I'ts been a Quick Week For Us!

Week:
   This week flew by for us. When ya have kids everyday, but one, ya don't get much done. That is okay with me though, because one day they'll be grown up enough, and won't need to stay with Gma and Gpa. I'll take it while I can get it, cause everything else can wait, nothing is more important right now. I can already see it happening with Kara. She is always busy with her friends now that she is 13.  It is a quick Hi and Bye when she is over with her Dad. It makes me a little sad. On the other hand I can see it is good for them to grow as a person and be with friends. It is a good / bad feeling for me. I am proud of them growing up, but I still want them to be little. It seems like just yesterday they were babies. But, as our 9 year old Grand Daughter, Tehya told us, " Life Goes On"! That doesn't mean that I don't miss and cherish all the times they were with us. It will just be different now that they are getting older.

Next Month:
   In August we're going to be making some plans to go on a few trips. We both want to go back to Holmes county in Amish country here in Ohio. We stay in a campground in Berlin, Ohio right in the heart of Amish country. It is so peaceful up there! Then we are going to be spending a week at Alum creek state park in Columbus, and where ever else strikes our fancy.  We really haven't been able to go very many places this year, and we have a serious case of hitch itch. It will be easier to go places after school starts in August, cos only Charli will need a sitter then. I enjoy Fall rving too, cos it is still warm during the days and good sleeping weather at night.
   Now that our dogs have had their first maiden rv trip and did pretty well, we can do more trips without worrying so much about how they're going to act. They didn't totally embarrass us the the last time. In fact I thought they were pretty good, and I don't think we provided too much campground comedy for the other Rvers! Lol! We hope not any way! Haha!
   I'd love to plan a Winter trip, say maybe February through the middle of April. Somewhere warm, if there is such a place left!  That will depend whether or not the lawsuit from our 2011 accident is settled by then. We have to have a court date by November, so we couldn't go anywhere before January or February, and not at all if it isn't settled. That was the reason we paid the other truck off in October of 2011 so we'd have extra money to play with in our full timing budget. Then Bam! no more truck, thanks to a person running a red light in November at  the rate of at least 55 mph. So that kind put a stop to our full time plans as we had to buy another truck, and then got a hefty payment to go along with it! So we've been stuck and have just been doing summer trips since then in Ohio, and around the neighboring states.

Stay Tuned:
   So please stay tuned to see what kind of plans we can make, and if we can get any reservations confirmed for August. I really would like to go to Hocking Hills state park here in Ohio, too.  So we'll be talking about places we want to go for a visit, the next few months. So until then, I'll be seein' ya's ...
   

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

More Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rain:
   We had a big downpour this afternoon about 3:00 p.m. We had thunder and lightening and the electric was off for about 20 to 30 minutes.  We didn't have the bad stuff like the people up north got. It sounded pretty bad. Mike just told me that there is NO rain predicted for the next 10 days. I wonder how accurate that will end up being? I'm beginning to think we live in the tropics, we seem to be getting rain every afternoon. Lol!
I saw a pic on FB tonight that had 2 cats under an umbrella, the caption said, "Noah called, he'll be picking us up in 10 minutes" I thought that was cute!!! It seems like that's how much rain we have been getting here though. Do ya think someone should start building an ark?

Doctor Appointment:
   I had an appointment to get my prescriptions renewed today, so off we went with Autumn and Tehya in tow. My Doctor has  been reassigned to a new base, so I have to wait for a new one to be assigned to me, or I can request one if I know their name. Gosh, the pharmacy at Wright Patterson Air Force Base was packed, and we didn't get out of there for about an hour. Poor girls, had to wait all that time. They were good though, they shared, and took turns with their Game Boy, and my Kindle. So at least they kept themselves occupied with a few minimal little spats, you know how it is with siblings! Lol! One minute they love each other, and the next they can't stand each other. Lol!

Tomorrow:
   We are going to take 2 of our parrots to a day care tomorrow, to show the kids. They are interested in learning about them and their care. I will try to get some pictures of the birds and the kids. Our Amazon parrot Jake will be in his travel cage, and Paco, our Mollucan cockatoo will be on a T stand. Paco the kids will be able to pet, but Jake doesn't like to be handled by strangers. I hope Jake will at least be a good boy and talk for the kids. So wish us luck! We have to clip Paco's wings and toenails this evening, but we can usually just hold him instead of wrapping him in a towel like we have to do with the Amazon. Jake tends to resent it and he will bite! Amazons tend to be like grumpy old men, if they don't like something they let you know or they bite you! Pretty much if you have an Amazon parrot you can expect to be bitten at any given time. It's just their nature. Most times Jake just wants to play though and doesn't bite hard, with us anyway. I wouldn't trust him with kids though. Paco is a big baby though and loves attention and being petted.

All:
   Well I think that is gonna be all for tonight! I have to get the dogs in their crates so we can get the birds ready to go in the morning. I'll  be seein' ya's...






Tuesday, July 9, 2013

It's Been A Busy Two Days!!!!!!!!

Monday:
   Monday I had Charli and Tehya and Autumn here. Charl left about 2:30 p.m. Autumn had to leave at 1:00 p.m. to go swimming with a friend,  and get ready for Cheer Camp in the evening. That left Tehya and Me, and Grandpa. So armed with Tehya's school supply list we headed to Dollar General to get some of her school supplies.  Grandpa probably took a nap! Haha! We started buying the three girl's their school supplies a few years ago, just to help out their parents. Wow, some of the things on the list are just ridiculous, and they aren't cheap any more. It costs a lot of $ for school supplies now. With everything they have to have, along with the community supplies, it costs us between $45.00 and $65.00 every year times three for us. It is only going to get worse if the school levy doesn't pass this year! The community supplies are disinfecting wipes, tissues, Ziploc bags, hand sanitizer, etc... I wonder how much of the other stuff ends up being community? Like they each have to have 48 pencils! I might have used that many the whole school year in high school. I  don't understand why they need that many pencils at the beginning of the school year, unless they are expected to share them. Fourth graders now need ear buds also, for the computer time they get. Some of the teachers are down right picky about the things on the list. Only a certain kind of stuff will do. Only plastic folders, with brads and pockets in red, blue, green, and yellow only. A protractor, in clear only, no colors! That was really hard to find! Then a calculator, Texas Instruments brand, T I-34 II for a 7th grader, we couldn't find that specific one, so we didn't get one! We went to Wal Mart and got the rest of Tehya's supplies, and all of Autumn's supplies today, except the calculator! Why do they need 4 - 3 ring 2 inch binders, plus 50 clear sheet protectors, and 30 dividers, per child in 7th grade? Those 4, 3 ring  2 inch binders are $5.97 EACH! Just plain solid colors, not even fancy ones, which are even more a $ a piece! Needless to say I'm a little ticked about all this extra stuff !! Don't get me wrong, we'd do anything we could to help our Grand Daughters, and we do, and it's not their fault the schools say they need all this stuff. Thank goodness their other Grandma buys their book bags and lunch boxes every year! I haven't even seen Kara's list yet, so we still have to get her supplies! If we had to do it all we'd be broke! Then after all that expense, they have school pictures taken a couple of weeks after school starts! They are so expensive too, for $20.00 you usually only get 4 of the 3 X 4 pictures and about 6 wallet size pictures. Sorry, I didn't mean to go on a rant, but this is getting so ridiculous!!!! Okay, I need to take a big breath and release it and let the stress go. Lol! It might go quicker with a couple of glasses of wine! Haha! 

Well that is about all I can write today, I think it has rained about 8 of the last 12 days, we had a real downpour while the girls and I were out shopping. Thank goodness it had stopped and the sun was out for a bit when we were ready to leave. As soon as you walked out of the store though, the humidity smacked you right in the face. I think it was actually more humid after the rain than before. Okay it's time for me to fix dinner so I'll get this posted, and I'll see ya's ...




Sunday, July 7, 2013

Sunday July 7th, 2013

Sunday:
   Well today has been a lazy day for me. I really haven't done very much. I should have walked the dogs but I didn't. Today when I got up, my fingers were all swelled and throbbing , along with the rest of my joints. I don't know if it is the medicine change or all the rain. Even my toe joints hurt today. My fingers feel like fat sausages, and I can't move my rings  up and down over my knuckles. So I don't know how long this blog post will be today. What ever it is is ain't good. Lol!  We'll see how much typing I can do. 

I got my ice cream maker (electric) out and tried a new recipe. I am to lazy to crank ice cream and we don't eat that much anyway. My freezer only makes about a quart. The little taste I had tasted good, so we'll see how it tastes after a few hours in the freezer. The ice cream maker freezes it most of the way and then it finishes setting up in the freezer of the fridge. So that is tonight's dessert. If this recipe is good then I want to make some fresh strawberry ice cream. I have made vanilla and butter pecan in the ice cream freezer and they were really good.

Saturday:
   Yesterday was an all day rain event here. We took a drive, (yes, in the rain) over to Mike's Sister's house. Their Mom was at her house. We thought we'd drive over to see her, it is about a 45  minute drive. Her birthday is next Sunday so we went to see her and visit for a while. We knew we wouldn't make it down to Columbus next weekend for her birthday so we visited this weekend. It rained on us until late afternoon when we started home. Then we had a break until we got home, it started  again, and rained most of the night. I don't see how we could still have a drought shortage from last year with all the rain we have had this year.

Friday:
   Friday was pretty quiet here, except for all the fire crackers still being let off. I think our neighbors must have spent a small fortune on them, cos they have been doing them for the last week and a half! I will be glad when they are all gone. It is getting old after a week. Yeah, I know I am being a party pooper! Haha!

Tomorrow:
   Tomorrow I have Miss Charli at 5:45 a.m. and then Autumn and Tehya at about 7:30a.m. So it will be a busy day, and I am hoping it doesn't rain all day! It would be nice to be able to be outside part of the day with the girls. Maybe a picnic?

Short:
   Sorry this is gonna be short today due to my fingers throbbing, I will try to make it up to you in the next post.  Let's hope it is from the rain and not the medicine change, cos if it is the medicine change I want my Motrin back! Lol! I got used to my joints not hurting all the time, and I didn't miss it at all. Okay enough belly aching for now, lets hope it feels better tomorrow. So I'll be seeing ya's...  

Thursday, July 4, 2013

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July:
   I want to wish everyone a very Happy 4th! As we celebrate Independence Day, I would wish that everyone Thank a member of our Armed Forces! They are the reason we are all free and we have the rights that we do today! Lot's of men and women made the ultimate sacrifice so that we could be a Free Nation. My only plea this day is that God, can you please  BLESS AMERICA AGAIN!  We sure need it! Some of the freedoms that we have are in jeopardy. Too many things are tried in the court of public opinion instead of the courts. Some people are deemed "guilty" before all the facts are known. Character assassination is running rampant in the news. By the way, I hate watching the news at any time, because of all the sensationalism. It is like they have to make it horrible or make it sound worse than it is so people will watch it. As they use to say way back on the old TV show, Dragnet "Just the facts please" that is all I want to hear then I can form my own opinion on the subject. Of course we all know that would be boring to some people, and then they wouldn't watch. That is why I read the news on the computer, they don't always give just the facts, but it is better than listening to someone report the news, and blow it up all out of proportion. Wow, talk about a rant! I didn't intend to write about that. I intended to just write about the 4th of July. So I'll get down off my soapbox now, before I fall. Lol!  So I'll just say I hope Everyone has a Safe and Happy 4th of July, or better yet, Happy Independence Day To ALL!

Weather:
   The weather sure isn't cooperating for all the 4th of July cook outs this year. Last year on the 4th we had a temp of 98 degrees, this year it is in the 70's and rainy. As a matter of fact, it is supposed to rain almost all of next week. What I can't figure out, is why everyone still says we need the rain! It seems to me like all it has done is rain this Spring and Summer. At least it has a lot of the time, and the temps have been under what they usually are too! I sure hope the weather is good when we take Charli and Tehya up to the lake in a couple of weeks. I'm afraid it still won't be warm enough to swim for the girls. I guess time will tell, but I sure hate to be stuck in the fiver with 2 kids and 2 dogs in the rain. 

Well it is time to get ready for the rainy cookout so I need to get this posted. So while all of you, and my family try to dodge the rain drops this year, even if it does rain on your Parade, I hope you have a Great 4th Of July!  I hope you allget to enjoy some FIREWORKS somewhere even if it is just on TV! 

Happy Independence Day

Home of the FREE
Land of the BRAVE
Long may our flag WAVE
To our ARMED FORCES
Thank You for making it SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see I was playing with some of the colors here on blogspot! Until next time, See Ya's...


Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Doctor Appointment

Doctor Appointment:
   Today I had a Doctor appointment with my arthritis specialist. It appears that I am doing well on the Plaquenell. I have no swelling in the joints of my hands and only a little pain. None of the horrible constant throbbing  that I was having. She is going to leave me on this dose until Winter and then see if I need more once it gets cold.  She is trying to wean me off of Motrin also. I have probably been on it for about 20 years for the inflammation of my arthritis. So she has put me on  Naprosyn, ( I think the brand name is called Alieve) for pain, and regular Tylonol for mild pain. All in all I think she was pleased with my progress and labs. She urged me to make an appointment with my Cardiologist though. So as soon as I get a new Doctor in Internal Medicine I will have to do that. I think I need a consult for that. 

Grocery Shopping:
   After we were done with the Doctor, we had to get some groceries because of all the food we lost in the fiver when the electric went out. So we can check that off the list now. So it has been a pretty good day. 

Charli:
   On the 22nd of July we have reservations to take Charli on her first ever camping trip!  We are taking Tehya too, so Charli has someone to sleep with. She is afraid to sleep alone right now for some reason. We only have a queen size bed in our fiver so there isn't enough room for her to sleep with us, like she does in our king size bed at home. I hope that she will do fine with Tehya. We are only staying 4 nights, I figured that would be long enough for her to be away from Mommy and Daddy. We'll see how she does, I am praying that we don't end up having to take her home early. The dogs are also going to be rounding out the party. I hope they do as well this time as they did last time. After that we may try to plan some trips with just us and the dogs. I would have liked to have gotten an earlier start this Spring on traveling, bt the weather hasn't cooperated very much this Spring and Summer. We would like to go back to Amish Country in Holmes county, Ohio and maybe a few other places. So we'll have to start doing some planning. We usually try to be at home on the 4th of July because every where is so crowded. We may go down to Alum Creek State Park around Columbus, for a few days soon if we can get the spot we want. 

Well that is about all I have for today, So I'll see ya tomorrow, on the 4th of July! Won't be nothing much going on here, just relaxing listing to the rain, but more about that tomorrow!  So until then Happy Birthday, America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See Ya's...

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Yesterday Was A Bust

Yesterday:
   I watched Charli from 10:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. which is usually lots of fun. However, I don't recommend babysitting with a migraine to anyone.
  I didn't get much sleep the night before, and I think that's why I had the migraine. Someone, wonder who, decided to read most of the night after I had went to sleep, and I woke up at 3:30 a.m. with the light still on, and couldn't go back to sleep.  So I was up and grouchy the rest of the night. Now don't get me wrong, I used to do the same thing to Mike, when he was working mind you! Sometimes it's just hard to put a good book down! It doesn't usually bother me, but for some reason this time it did. Most of the time, I go to sleep with the light on when Mike is reading and I sleep all night, no matter what time he turns out the light. Does that make me a bigot for being angry at him for something that I myself have been guilty of doing? I guess it does. Anyway, I felt like day of the walking dead yesterday. Lol! 
   Poor Charli, we did a lot of quiet activities, like reading with her, coloring, etc...  It is really hard to keep a active 2 1/2 year old child quiet, and then she looks at you with those big deep blue eyes, and a big smile and says songs?  That is my cue that she wants to sing songs. I just don't have it in me to tell her no, when I am the one that taught her the songs in the first place. I know she really enjoys doing all the motions for them. She knows Gma always sings songs with her. So we had to sing the Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Ten Little Indians, If You're Happy and You Know It, etc... needless to say they were expedited quieted versions because of my migraine, but we did sing them! After that I fixed her lunch and then it was nap time. I laid down with her and thought I'd try to catch up on some of my sleep. Didn't happen!  As I have said before, I can't sleep during the day unless I'm really sick. So during Charli's nap I just read after I tried to go to sleep for half an hour. Charli was really good so it was easy watching her, even though I wasn't feeling so good. I was relieved when our son came over and got her. I hope she wasn't too bored, I'll make it up to her on Friday!
   Then I just sort of sat in my recliner and became a couch/chair potato. No television, no laptop, etc... so that's why you didn't get a blog yesterday as I had planned on writing one.  I just read on my Kindle for the rest of the evening. Mike felt bad I know, and went out and got sandwiches for dinner, bless his heart. I did feel a little better after I ate, and the headache was pretty much gone by bedtime. I slept all night and didn't wake up last night. I just know that you, and Mike are really happy to know that! Haha! Well I know at least Mike is, it's not a good thing to be around me when I'm grouchy, just ask him. After almost 41 years of marriage, (will be in September) he knows me very well. Haha!  He always tries his best to make me happy! If not for my sake, at least for his sake! Lol! He knows that if I'm not happy he's not gonna be! Haha!  All kidding aside, he really always tries to keep me happy, he's always been like that! I know that I am lucky, and I really do appreciate everything he does for me, whether he knows it or not.


Today:
   So today is a new, better day than yesterday, and I need to find something to keep me busy. I can't just vegetate in my chair all day, like I did yesterday evening. Over the weekend, I got the fridge in the fiver cleaned out, and washed it out with vinegar and Dawn. Now it smells good again. Mike again, came to my rescue, and took pity on me. He threw out all the food for me so I wouldn't get sick from the smell. So the rest was easy for me. Thank You Mike! Anyway, I know I have to do dishes, and clean the bathroom, and then there is my least favorite thing to do dust. Which around here seems to be never ending.I don't know why this area or this house is so dusty.
   I know if my Grand Daughter Tehya, was over here she'd do it for me! For a small nominal fee that is. Haha! She is a very enterprising 9 year old, and she does a good job. She is always asking if there is anything she can do to make some money. I know she'll be a good worker when she grows up. She says she wants to make lots of money, so she can own a pet rescue when she grows up. Gotta give her credit for that, she knows that they are desperately needed. Of course, the fact that she loves animals doesn't hurt either! She has a very good heart, and I hope that each one of our Grand Daughters are able to realize all their dreams. Okay, I sort of got off track, so now you know that I hate the common menial task of dusting for some reason. It isn't the act of doing it, so much as that it has to be repeated so often I think. I like doing more creative things so that must be the reason. Maybe I should just draw pictures in the dust! Lol! 
   Well I really do have to get busy, doing the menial tasks, so I can find something fun to do! What fun things do you do when all the chores are done? So, I'll be right back here at this keyboard in the very near future. Until then, see ya's...




Saturday, June 29, 2013

Lazy Dayz !

Lazy:
   As the title of this blog suggests, I am guilty! I haven't done anything much of all since Thursday night, and I'll get to that in a bit. First to tell ya what has happened in the fiver.

Fiver:
   You know how after ya get back from a trip, and you're tired, well I figured I would get the food and stuff we use all the time moved back into the house this weekend. We only took essentials out when we got home, like meds, toothbrushes and toothpaste, a few clothes, and of course our laptops etc... we just plugged the fiver into power and made trips back and forth when we needed anything. I know lazy, right? We probably had made enough trips to remove everything that we don't have doubles of already. Well unknown to us nature had other ideas. There was a storm the other night and the power went off and came right back on. well I'm sure you can guess what happened next! Our big fridge in the fiver didn't come back on. I still had quite a bit of food in there that I had to bring into the house. I always take more than we need, especially when the girls are with us. I lost all of it!  I didn't need anything for dinner Thursday night. I went to dinner with a friend of mine, and to a concert. Mike got himself a sub from Subway on his way home from his Doctor appointments on Thursday. So yesterday eve, I went out to the fiver to get things for dinner. When I walked into a fiver I noticed a "smell" and then I noticed that the temp light was flashing "60" on the fridge. No wonder it smelled, 60 degrees in a fridge is not a good thing! I opened the door and it about knocked me down. Then I looked into the freezer, and everything was thawed, and mushy, it also smelled bad too. I hurried and shut the doors and got Mike. He got it back on for me, and I figured I can clean it out after it is frozen again easier. So guess what I will be doing today. Yuck, I am not looking forward to it! At least with things cold it will not smell so bad. I hope! Wish me luck, I have a feeling I'm gonna need it, I don't have a very high tolerance for bad smells, I tend to get sick at my stomach. Okay I'm sure you'll hear more about this in the next post, so lets move onto a better subject.

Dinner and a Concert:
   My friend Sue and I had tickets for a concert in Kettering, Ohio at the Fraze Outdoor Pavilion on Thursday eve. We decided to have dinner first at the Longhorn Steak House, I had a $50.00 gift card from our son, from Christmas, and Mike wasn't interested in going. So we had a good dinner, and then we went to the Fraze. We had tickets to see Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone, none other than Herman himself, from the original group from the 60's! That's the 1960's for you youngsters who don't know any groups from the British Invasion, and I'm not talking about the war for Independence's Invasion! Haha! Herman's Hermits has been my band since I was 13. Sue had never seen them, so it was a first for her! I have seen and met Herman / Peter Noone many times, and each time is a thrill for me. He is so very gracious, and very good to his fans, and fan club members! I am proud to tell you that I am a Lifetime Fan Club member of the Noonatics! He calls us Noonatics cause it rhymes with Lunatics, and we are all a bit crazy! Peter puts on a great show, and if you have never seen Herman's Hermits starring Peter Noone I highly recommend them, of course I am a bit prejudiced after all these years! Haha! Peter hasn't lost his voice like some of the older bands have. So he still sounds the same as all of the records I still have! Except his voice isn't scratchy like my old records! For those of you who are young, records are what came before cd's and cassette tapes and there were even 8 track tapes. You had to have a record player to play them on and they were made of vinyl and were big discs. As Herman says "Everything was bigger in the 60's"! Anyway Sue had a good time, she enjoyed the singing and loved Peter's jokes. We had a lot of fun! I was sorry when it was over. I didn't see very many other Noonatics there this time. It might have been because it was on a Thursday night instead of a weekend night. So I missed seeing a lot of my friends. There's always the next time, and Sue said she'd like to go again too!

Well I have put off the fridge in the fiver as long as I can, so I'd best get to it, it is always better to get unpleasant things over fast instead of sitting and thinking about them! So I'll see ya's... Tomorrow

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Last Week Wrap Up and Good Friends!!!

Yesterday:
   First of all let me tell ya about yesterday because I don't want to have to keep playin' catch up with the days.  Yesterday was very busy with the youngest 3 of our Grand Daughters. Charli came first, and then Autumn and Tehya arrived not too long after. Then at 1 p.m. I left Charli with Grandpa and the two older ones went with me to get my hair done. They were good and we went to Walmart and had lunch at McDonald's. I got a potty seat for Charli, so when she is here I can put her on it to help get her potty trained. Of course, now I have to get some stickers and some treats for her. I'm not above using bribery, I used it the whole 17 years I did day care and I never had a problem with potty training any of them. They were always so proud of their stickers and loved their gummy bears. Lol! Okay on to last week.

Last Week In A Nutshell:
   Last Monday Mike took the girls home after we moved to our new campsite. They worked hard helping us get the fiver set back up after we moved! Mike made the trip back home and then the trip back to the lake an hour each way. 
   While he was at home he took Jamie our son, to the doctor.  Jamie had another back surgery on June 13 for another ruptured disc in his back. I felt bad because we weren't there, but we couldn't change our reservations for the trip. He came through it with flying colors, but had to go back to the Doc for a check up, and prescription for pain medicine. The Doc told him that the rupture of the disc was worse than the MRI showed. After he got inside and had to shave more of the disc off than he had planned to. He said that eventually he would have to fuse that disc too, but the insurance would not pay for a fusion before the disc had been shaved to see if that worked first. Go figure, they'd rather pay for 2 surgeries! So Mike got back to the lake about 5:30 p.m. and he left at noon! Needless to say he was wiped out! Most of the rest of the week we just spent unwinding and relaxing, except for Thursday.

Thursday:
   On Thursday 2 very good friends from our Air Force days came up to the lake for an all day visit. We have known Ron and Gloria for 35 years!  Our sons were born a week apart! So Gloria and I had a bond and Mike and Ron were Air Force buddies. It was good to just sit and talk about old times, our kids, and how our lives are now. It was a very relaxing day and we topped it off by grilling steaks and having baked potatoes and salad with cheesecake for desert. Gloria brought a very good salad with Olive Garden dressing that I'm now addicted to!  None of us could finish the steaks I had gotten at Sam's, they were huge! Of course we had to have some wine with them too! So it was a good meal, and a good day reconnecting with good friends! I hope we can do it again before summer is over!
   The rest of the time we just spent relaxing, and sitting outside in the perfect weather. There was a breeze and it was sunny until Sunday evening and a storm rolled in. You could see the storm coming from across the lake.  It reached us in about a half hour. I wished I'd taken some pics, I love stormy looking skies. By the time it got to us the wind was gusting and it was pretty dark at about 7:30 p.m. The rain hit with the wind and lightening and thunder. The wind was blowing so hard that the rain was coming off the slide toppers and blowing right into the window beside my chair. It was pretty neat to watch, I like watching storms as long as they're not real violent. Of course, while the storm was going on we couldn't even see the shoreline or the water in the lake, and we were only about 50 yards away from it! We were just socked in with solid gray. It rained really hard for about a half hour to 45 minutes and then it was over. Then on Monday we finished packing up and left. It was so hot that day when we got home I had a dirt ring around my neck from sweat while we were getting the Bear (fiver) hooked up to the Beast ( truck).
I took this pic of the Beast and the Bear together ready to roll after we got them hooked up. So there is the promised pic, see I eventually remembered to take it! Haha!  So that was our week by ourselves with the dogs and a bit of company, at the Indian Lake State Park in Lakeview, Ohio.

Okay this post can now go down in the annals of history, cos it's a done deal, so until next time, see ya's...


Monday, June 24, 2013

Home Again!

Home:
   We are home and I am so glad to have my fast internet back. The Verizon MiFi 3 G was so slow that I just gave up on it! I will be glad when we get our 4 G back again.  So only one blog in 2 weeks, and couldn't tell ya anything we were doin'. It was so frustrating! I don't know what happened the day it let me post all those pics of the girls and the trip to Ohio Caverns. I sure wasn't able to get on after that. Must have been a good day or something.

Dogs:
   Bella and Lilly have passed their first camping trip with flying colors! I was so worried, and afraid they were going to behave like little monsters. Maybe it was the fact that I told them there was a kennel near Indian Lake, and if they were bad they would have to go there for the rest of the time. Haha! No, I doubt that they even understood what I told them, but they were sure on their best behavior! Of course once we got home the good behavior went right out the window! Lol! That is until I got the remote for the shock collars out of my purse! Then they were like oh no she found it! Anyway, I was really impressed with them. Of course most of the time they were outside so that helped, but they were even good in the fiver.
   I'll tell ya one thing I didn't like was using those plastic coated tie out cables, they were forever tangled up, and boy can those suckers burn you if they get tangled around your legs! First I was trying to hold them when a person went by walking their dog, I ended up with 2 big blisters on my fingers when they pulled the cable through my fingers. Then they got tangled around Mike's foot when they were playing, and he got a burn on his ankle. Next I went to grab their collars and missed when another dog went by, and they pulled me down when they wrapped around my leg. So not only do I have bruises on both knees, but I have a 2 and a half inch burn on my foot from the plastic around the cable. It gets really hot when it is pulled around your skin! After that I didn't try to grab their collars anymore I just zapped them! I should of done that the first time! They weren't being mean, they just wanted to play. Anyway, it looks terrible, and is still very red and sore. I have been putting Bactine and triple antibiotic ointment on it. I don't know what we'll use next time.

Tomorrow:
   I have to be up by 5:45 a.m. tomorrow morning, Charli is going to be here until noon, and Autumn and Tehya will be here about 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. So I am jumping right back into watching the Grand Girls. Then at 1:00 p.m. I have an appointment to get my hair done. So busy day tomorrow. I will tell ya the rest of what went on tomorrow cos I have to get some sleep. So I'll see ya's...

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Finally Back On Internet, Was MIA for a Week!

Internet Problems:
   We were back in the trees on our last site and our MiFi couldn't get a signal. This new site is out in the open and we are getting a signal just fine. I'll have to remember that when I make reservations next time! 

Grand Daughters:
   Our 3 Grand Daughters are now home. I'm afraid we didn't pick a very good week for them to come up to Indian Lake camping. It was cold and rainy most of this past week and they only went swimming about 3 times. The water was really cold and I only ventured in with them once. We tried to find things to do so they didn't get bored. We did some crafts, and yesterday, we took them to Ohio Caverns. I think they really enjoyed that. 
                                           Tehya ^
                                              Kara  ^


                                           Autumn ^

Ohio Caverns:
   The Ohio Caverns are located 4 miles East of West Liberty, Ohio on State Route 245. If you have never seen it and are not claustrophobic it is really something to see! Grandpa stayed topside because he is really claustrophobic and it wouldn't be a good place for him to be. It is the largest and most beautiful of all Ohio caves. It has crystal white stalactite and stalagmite formations that are very beautiful. They offer two different tours, one is the historic tour, which tells how the caverns were made and about the farm they were found on and the people who lived there and the history of the caverns. The other tour has the most stalactites and stalagmites and the most beautiful colors. We took the historic tour, you go down 48 steps underground. The temperature in the caverns is a constant 54 degrees year round. The air inside the caverns is always fresh, and cool. Now bear in mind that I have knee replacements in both knees, and I had no trouble doing the tour. Going down the steps was not a problem and walking the paths through the caverns was not a problem. However the 32 steps up to the top to get out of the caverns seemed like 132 steps. I made it all the way up the steps but boy was I out of breath when I got there. I had to sit for a while before walking to the truck. It showed me how out of shape I really am!
Here are just a few of the pics I took on the tour, if you are one of my Facebook friends you can see the whole album on there.  As you can see it is quite colorful. There are much more colors and crystals on the other tour. If there is a next time I want to take them on the other tour, but I will have to work up to 
that one because it is longer 
and has more steps. There is a lot of signatures from between the 1800's through the 1920's when people were allowed to go tour the caverns on their own. They were given an oil lantern and left  to go through
the caverns on their own.  At the end of the day the farmer who owned the land counted the lanterns. If any were missing he went down after the people. Can you imaging if the lantern blew out? They turned out the lights for about a minute on the tour, and you couldn't even see your hand in front of your face! I think it would be very scary to have had your lantern go out. There is a small baseball bat sized stalagmite that is estimated to be about 600 years old. How do you estimate a stalagmite you ask? Well they tracked the rate of growth for one year, then they measured how tall it is and finally you multiply the height by the rate of growth for one year. Then that gives you the approximate age  of it. The are very slow growing too.

Happy Belated Father's Day:
   I want to wish my Poppy, my step Dad and Hubby Mike a Happy Father's Day, cos I couldn't since we had no internet then. So to them, and all Fathers out there here in person and in heaven Happy Father's Day!

Well I think I am up to date now, but I may have forgotten something, I'm not sure if I did I'll try to write about it tomorrow. So that's it for now until I see ya's next time...
   

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Swimming and Evening Storms

Yesterday:
   Yesterday we went swimming most of the afternoon until the girls got cold and wanted to go back to the fiver. Then as soon as we got back and changed they wanted to go right back to the beach. Sorry Girls, didn't happen. We sat around and played Everyword Crossing on my Kindle. They are all hooked on the game now! Lol ! It is kind of like Scrabble, but I don't mind because it is teaching them how to spell things. I have been told that they now all want a Kindle for Christmas.  Haha! After dinner we got everything put away because of the storms coming.

Storms:
   The storms forecast hit around 11:30 p.m. up here. We had put all the chairs under the trailer and taken the covers off the canopy frames. With the wind supposed to be so high we brought the slides in, you talk about cramped quarters, we had them!  There was a lot of complaining about no room, but I'd have rather them be safe. With the slides in the recliners touch the the couch, so 2 of the girls had to put their feet on the couch and one had to sleep on the couch.   Our bedroom slide was also pulled in but at least we had a bed to sleep on, if only I could have slept! This morning all I heard was , and I quote, " I never want to spend another night like that again" ! Better safe than sorry, Girls!  We had to take the dog cage down and put the dogs in the bathroom to sleep. They did really well though. I am thinking about letting them sleep in the bathroom the rest of the trip, cos the cage takes up so much room in the fiver. The dogs have been so good for this being their first time camping. I am pretty impressed with them!

Dinner:
   I promised the girls  ravioli and meatballs for dinner, so I am going to put that in the crock pot before we go wash some towels, and get showers. I love crock pot meals when we're camping. Nice and easy when using frozen ravioli and frozen meatballs, with spaghetti sauce.  It is something they all like and it takes minimal effort from me! Lol! 

Time to go:
   Well I will be talkin' to ya's later, so have a good day, and I hope everyone survived the storms last night with little or no damage. Take care ya'll !  Until next time see ya's...

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

First 24 Hours @ Indian Lake

Monday:
   We arrived at Indian Lake about 3:30 p.m. and got set up with no mishaps and no campground comedy. The dogs even behaved!  Wonders will never cease! The girls just had to get their swimsuits wet so they went to the beach and I sat and watched them. I wasn't about to get into that water it was COLD!  After the beach it started to rain, so we came in the fiver and I fixed pizzas for dinner, I never fix a very big meal on travel day and that suited the girls and Mike just fine! Me I'm not too fond of pizza, but I made do. For their first time camping, the dogs did really well, almost better than at home!

Tuesday:
   This morning I mixed up our one cup coffee makers, I got the coffee one and Mike got the one I use for tea. I had coffee flavored hot tea! Yuck, it tasted terrible! Autumn requested french toast for breakfast this a.m. before we even left home, so I honored her request. Ham and french toast was enjoyed by everyone, with leftovers for another morning. So tomorrow they can reheat french toast or have cereal, this chick isn't cooking. I'm going to sit back and enjoy my cuppa tea, now that I scrubbed the filter baskets.   After dishes were done, and things in the fiver straightened up we went to the beach. Even though we are close enough to walk to the beach from the campsite I drove the Beast, because my foot is hurting when I walk very far. Last year we always walked to and from the beach, and carried a chair, pulled a cooler, and a beach bag. I actually got into the water up to my waist, but it was still cool and not in a very good way!
I know this is short, but the girls are ready to go to bed and I am keeping them up. They are tired after swimming today. So I'll write more in the morning! See ya's...

Monday, June 10, 2013

Ready To Roll ?!!!!!!!!!!

Ready to Roll:
   Well it's Monday morning and here I sit with my cuppa  hot Tea.Check in time at the campground is 3 p.m. so we have some time. Not everything is in the fiver yet either! I thought I'd get the blog written before we go, now there's a novel idea! Haha! It is only an hour drive to Indian Lake  campground so it won't take too long to get there! I'll take lots of pics it is a very neat state park near Lima, Ohio. It is where the old Indian Lake Amusement  Park was too back in the 1960's. They had riots there in the 60's, and then they closed the park and tore the whole thing down. The only thing left from that time of the Amusement Park is the bridge over the canal that the old wooden roller coaster used. The lake itself is a nice lake and has lots of scenic areas. I once found a long branch on the beach that had the name Sacajawea etched into it. I brought it home and sanded it and varnished ti and we used it for a while as a walking stick. Now, I know it didn't really belong to Sacajawea, she was probably never anywhere Indian Lake. Lol, but I thought it was a neat little joke someone was trying to play on someone else, we still have it. The wood is pretty even if the name on it is a joke!  Indian Lake was built as a huge reservoir  and the water in the lake was used for the canal systems in northern Ohio. I don't know how they got the water to the canals, I guess I didn't pay much attention in Ohio History class. Haha! Or else I have forgotten all that stuff that was deemed important in school that ya never use after you get out of school! Lol! Mike to the rescue, it was used create a water supply for the Miami Canal here in Ohio before the turn of the century! This from a guy who once got an F in Ohio History! Haha! He Googled it for me! Hehe! Wow, I didn't know this was going to turn into a history lesson! Okay no more time for history lessons. Onward we go.

Finish Packing the Fiver:
   I have to get out to the fiver and rearrange things for  travel so nothing shifts while going down the road. Guess what? It is raining today too! Now won't that be fun to carry things out to the fiver in the rain? NOT! Haha! The girls won't be swimming today!  So anyway, on to packing the fiver. All that's left is our clothes and Mike's coffee maker, and a few minor things. So I'll be heading out, in the rain, to the fiver in a few. I guess the song by Herman's Hermits, "Don't Go Out Into the Rain You're Going to Melt" doesn't apply to me! Haha now I'll have that song stuck in my head all day!  Well, I know this is short, but I have to get busy or I won't have things ready when our son Jamie gets here to help hook up the fiver ( trailer) to the Beast ( the truck). He usually gives Mike directions when backing up and then they test the lights on the outside of the fiver etc... if everything isn't ready to take to the fiver I may get grounded! Haha!  Okay as we get ready to head out on our great journey of an hour to Indian Lake, I am thinking about all the new kinds of adventures the dogs are going to give us since this will be their first time camping. I think we should have had a trial run of  about 3 days before we attempted this adventure! I hope we don't live to regret this, I already told them (the dogs) and I'm sure they listened (not) that there is a kennel up at Indian Lake that they will go to if they are bad! Haha! Let's hope that they don't make fools of us while we're trying to get things set up, and did I mention we'll be doing that in the rain? Lol! Oh well I did get the rain poncho's. Haha! We'll see ya's this evening and I'm sure I'll have a few tales to tell ya! So until then, see ya's...