Tuesday July 28- From heat and humidity to rain today. We had an appointment at the vets to get the dogs there rabies shots. They are always really quick there. We also got Belle some of her expensive dog food there. The price stayed the same but the amount of food went down.....go figure. Since the weather was crappy and it was Tuesday we went to the movie. There is one theater that has a special on ticket prices on Tuesdays...$5.00. We went and saw the movie Southpaw, I liked it but am still having a problem skipping the popcorn. We made a few stops before heading back home, its still sprinkling out.
Wednesday July 29- Had a big day planned today. Jeff got up really early and went into town to pick up the kids. We are taking a road trip. First we fixed some breakfast before loading up our stuff. We packed a picnic lunch and headed to the Maquoketa Caves State Park. We had never been and the kids haven't been either. We were all excited about our new adventure. Maquoketa Caves is one or Iowa's most unique state parks.Caves, limestone outcroppings and rugged bluffs provide opportunities for visitors to explore. A beautiful trail system links the caves, scenic features and park facilities while providing an exciting hiking experience. The paths were fairly easy to follow. The views were especially nice. Jeff and I were both surprised by how special this place was. There are 14 caves with varying levels of accessibility. Some can be explored by walking. Dancehall Cave has a concrete walkways and a lighting system. Some caves are only accessible by crawling. We skipped those crawling caves....maybe next time.
Jeff, Ashton, Hailey and I all really enjoyed our hike. Some of the paths were a bit muddy but we avoided the big mud. We climbed stairs, slid down some muddy paths, climbed up some rocks and jumped over some creeks. We didn't really know what to expect when we went but next time we will come more prepared for the adventure. Hailey got a bit tired at the end but she was a trooper and finished it up.
Everyone was getting tired and hungry so we made our way back to the picnic area and washed up. We got our food out of the truck and had a nice picnic lunch. The weather was perfect. It was sunny and warm but not too hot.
Ashton and Jeff went back down to the first cave and took another look after lunch but Hailey and I stayed back. We cleaned up our muddy shoes and got in the truck for the ride home. I thought for sure the kids would fall asleep but they decided to pick at each other on the way home. When we got home we unloaded and then took a walk up to the playground here at the campground. Hailey spotted the playground equipment as we were leaving the caves and we told her we would go to ours when we got home and she didn't forget. Come to find our Hailey never liked the swings before. Papa put her on and pushed her easy and then we couldn't get her off.
Ashton on the other hand was not afraid of the swings, we couldn't keep him in the swings. He preferred leaping out of the swings after getting them going really good. That boy is definitely all boy. He scares us sometimes.
After the park we took them back home but not before stopping and getting pizza for supper. The kids were very happy we stopped. Hailey told us that this was the most awesome pizza place. She thanked us over and over. Both kids thanked us for the trip to the caves as well. While we were on the path Hailey looked up and said thank you for bringing us here...its really awesome. Well that made the trip worthwhile. What a great day. We had a great time with the kids, we were outside, did some exercising, and made us a great memory......
Thursday July 30- Well after that busy day yesterday running we decided to stay put today. I did the usual cleaning, laundry and went for a walk. It was such a pretty day I decided to ride my bike to the beach. The rest of the day we didn't do to much. Maybe resting up from yesterday. We skipped Ashton's hockey practice tonight. We usually go every time.
Friday July 31- Wow a really nice day today. My walk this morning was particularly nice. It seemed the birds were singing extra loud. When I got back I helped Jeff with the A.C. unit in the bedroom. It seemed kinda loud last night. We took it apart and cleaned it. Sometimes some of the foil inside comes loose and it gets spit out. Katie and the kids were coming out to the beach today. I went down early to get some quiet time before everyone came.
It was a fun day, the sky was blue, the sun was shining, the water was warm and everyone had a great day. When it came time to leave Hailey was going with her other grandma and Ashton was gonna stay with us. He forgot his overnight bag so he had to go back in. Katie's mom took him in and brought him back out. We all went to bed fairly early because we have another BIG day planned tomorrow.....Fish-O-Rama..more about that tomorrow.
Saturday August 1- We got up very early today, around 5 a.m. We wanted to be in Cedar Rapids by 6 a.m. Today is the Fish-O-Rama. You pay to fish and they tag fish for prizes. We have talked about going for years and Ashton brought it up and everything just worked out this time. You can't fish til 7 a.m. but you need to get a spot. Its really busy and crazy there. People get in line the night before to get a spot. We didn't even consider that. We arrived found a place to park, unloaded our chairs and fishing stuff and waited for the count down to cast off.
Jeff caught one right away but it didn't have a tag on it. The cool thing was it was an albino catfish. Ashton thought that was really neat. Jeff had another bite and let Ashton bring it in. Then all of the sudden all the fish quit biting. So it was pretty boring. They had other activities for kids. Ashton found some boys he knew from school and he ran with them. He did a casting contest and some other things. The good news was it wasn't smoking hot out. We even had a lot of shade. We decided to head out around 1. It went today til 5 o'clock. Ashton is trying to talk Papa into coming back tomorrow... we'll see. When we got home we were kinda tired then we saw a cool thing roll into the campground. A motor home pulling what looked like a miniature paddle wheel boat. We went over to check it out and its a puppet stage. The people are from California and travel around to the fairs and put on shows. You don't see that everyday.
Well, we told Ashton if you are going to catch fish you need to know how to clean them. So Papa gave him his first lesson on cleaning a fish. He even got to help some. He thought it was pretty neat.
We had another full day and Ashton talked Papa into going back tomorrow. I'm going stay back this time. We put in a movie after supper and Ashton fell asleep real fast.
Sunday August 2- Ashton and Papa got up early again. I got up too but I stayed back and they headed in to try there luck. I cleaned the shower house and went for a walk. The guys were back by 11 o'clock. No luck with a prize fish but someone gave them a couple more fish to clean. They didn't catch any today. I made them brunch when they got back. Then Seth came and picked up Ashton. Boy it got really quiet around here with him gone. All the campers left to so it was extra quiet.
Monday August 3- Joan had someone bring up the power washer to the shower house. We told her we would power wash the floors. Our shower house is very old and the concrete floors get pretty dirty even if you do mop. Jeff said it would take about 30 minutes, boy was he wrong. 3 hours later we were done. Seth and Katie invited us to supper tonight. Jeff decided to smoke the fish so he could share with Ashton. Ashton got bored while he was home today and called his Nana to come get him so he missed the fish he helped clean. While there Jeff fixed there kitchen faucet. Then we all rewarded ourselves with Orange Leaf....our favorite frozen yogurt place. After we headed back home and called it a day.
Tuesday August 4- Another really nice day. We heard a plane this morning so we went out to check it out. There was a crop dusting plane buzzing around. They are kinda neat to watch.
The rest of the day consisted of doing what needed to be done. We aren't on a permanent vacation you know. We still have work to be done.
Wednesday August 5- We had the usual things to do but after that we both got up on the roof of the rig and did some cleaning. We cleaned the covers of the vents and the covers on the A.C. Those magic erasers work really good on them. They looked almost like new. Jeff found a few spots that needed attention with the caulk gun. Next he wants to start the wash and wax process, probably next week.
Thursday August 6- It was pretty today, so after cleaning and walking I went to the beach. I got down there early and when I arrived there was only 1 other adult there. It didn't take long for others to arrive. I don't mind the people but I do mind stupid people that bring there kids and don't watch them. It is posted that there is no lifeguard. When you bring little kids that can't swim and don't put a life jacket on them and sit in the sand visiting not watching the kids it aggravates me. I couldn't take it, made me nervous and I didn't even know them. We went in tonight to watch Ashton practice tonight. They weren't on the ice they usually use. They were on the practice ice. After leaving there we stopped to see Justin and Molly. They have been out of town and we haven't seen them for awhile. That's it for this Thursday.
Friday August 7- It looked a bit rainy today, we each got short walks in but the sky looked pretty threatening so we didn't walk too far from the camper. Well what to do? It's rainy so its a movie day. Jeff stopped for lunch at Firehouse Subs, his favorite sandwich shop.Then we went to the show. This time we saw Selfless. It was showing at the Collins Road Theater so we get popcorn. They have real butter instead of that fake stuff. The movie was good and with popcorn it made it even better. When we got out of there it had started to clear up. I was happy cause my best friend is coming up for the weekend. After supper Jeff started a fire. I sat outside and waited for Judy to arrive. We sat by the fire and talked the night away. That's one thing we never run out of conversation.
Saturday August 8- Well the weather man was wrong again. It was suppose to be sunny and warm. It wasn't, it was rainy. We did get to go for a walk before it started. So guess what we did? A movie. This time we saw Max. A family movie about a dog. It was good. Took Judy to the 1/2 price book store and found some more deals on movies. So in case it rains again we will have it covered. We like to go there. The movies we got were only $1.00. Cant go wrong with that. You can give them away when you're done. We came home sat outside a bit cause the rain had stopped. Then we got cleaned up and headed into Cedar Rapids for supper at White Star. It was good but better the last time we ate there. We also hung around there cause Justin was playing there at 9 o'clock.
We stuck around til about 11 or 11:30. The place was hopping and the music was good. It was raining again. It was raining pretty good. That's why we stayed so long we though it would quit but not so much.
It was a fun evening out. We made our way home and called it a night.
Sunday August 9- Morning came quick because of our late night. It rained all night long. It did clear off though. Judy and I went for a walk. Its nice because we used to go for walks when we lived in Keokuk. We got back and just sat outside and enjoyed the day. Judy left around 3:30, so did most of our campers. It was quiet. The weekend went really fast. It was great fun to hang out with my bestie. Well til next time........
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