Tuesday August 23- It's a big day today. Hailey is going to her first day of kindergarten at Coolidge. Ashton is going in 6th grade and it's his first day in a new school too. He is attending Taft Middle School. I'm sure Hailey is a bit more excited then her brother. It was a beauty of a day. I enjoyed a nice long walk and then sat outside in the sunshine for a while. It was a perfect day for that not to hot or windy but just right. Seth called to tell us he had a dozen fresh Krispy Kreme doughnuts for us. We went in to get them and see how school went for the kids. We stopped at Panera for supper, then home.
Wednesday August 24- It was a lazy day for me. I did make some apple crisp from the apples we got from a tree in our campground loop. It was extremely yummy. Then I got busy building a money cake for Ashton's birthday. I got the base made and everything figured out, now I just need the dollars to finish it off. I keep going over and over in my head about what I need for the rehearsal/wedding. I think I have everything ready just waiting to get started.
Thursday August 25- We have been really slow around here but today everyone is out here. Our walk in sites are full. We haven't been full on the walk in sites for quite awhile. Jeff and I finished weeding our drive and went to the store to get the rest of the stuff for Ashton's money cake. We also picked up the beer for the rehearsal. When we got back I got started on his cake. It turned out super cute. I hope that this makes up for me not making him a cake this year. I'm making cupcakes and he wanted a pie from Kathy's Pies.
Friday August 26-Today was about the last of the boring days. I spent some time microwaving tootsie rolls and forming them into hockey sticks. They looked kind of cute. Going to put them on Ashton's cupcakes along with a black M&M for the puck.
Saturday August 27- Boy is this place hopping, its really busy. It's kind of rainy too. Today my nephew and his wife are flying in to Cedar Rapids. They are coming for the wedding but are heading to Keokuk to visit family before heading back up here for the wedding. I thought it would be nice to surprise them and meet them there. I even made a welcome sign. I think they were surprised. I asked the boys to come and the wife/fiance and kids came too. What happened was really funny. When we arrived at the airport we found out that a couple of the boys friends were flying in as well. Turned out there were on the same flight so we surprised a bunch of people.
We all had a drink before everyone heading there own ways. See them in a week....
Sunday August 28-It was a beautiful day today. We had to leave early for church cause we are greeting today. It's our first time. I texted the kids inviting them to join us as usual. To my surprise Seth and the kids showed up. We had planned to attend a benefit lunch after church but the kids invited us to join them for breakfast at Perkins. We went with them instead. It was a great breakfast and I was so happy that they came to church....it just made my day. They had to shop for Ashton, he needed something to wear to the wedding. I relaxed the rest of the day....tomorrow starts a very busy week.
Monday August 29- This is the last week before the wedding. Today I start my great big list of to dos. First we headed to town with my very detailed grocery list. We visited Wal Mart, Aldis, and Hyvee. We got everything on the list. I really felt like I had accomplished something. When I got home that's when things got interesting. I had to find a place to put everything away. We have a big frig but I have it so full plus the extra frig in the basement. I had to go ahead and cut up the veggies so I could get everything in. After I got all that done It was time to pick Hailey up at school and take her to gymnastics.
Tuesday August 30- Jeff decided to get started on trying to fix the awning. He thought replacing the motor would be easy and take care of the problem , but neither was the case. It was not easy and it didn't fix it. He decided to do more research on the problem. Then Lenny showed up and visited with us about his vacation out west. Sounds like a wonderful time. Makes me want to go back out there. It as almost lunch time and getting hotter than blazes. I had planned to get started cleaning over at the pavilion. We are using it for the rehearsal and it's really dirty. Jeff said it was too hot, I decided I couldn't wait. It was so hot and I have to admit I was very overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start, but start is what I did. Since we volunteer Joan let us in early to give it a good cleaning. I worked for the whole afternoon but didn't get much done. I have lots more to do tomorrow.
Wednesday August 31-I put in some pork roasts in the crock pot last night. So I started off my day by pulling some pork and putting more roasts in for the next round. Then Jeff and I both went over to get more cleaning done. Jeff started working on the outside and I went inside. I got the nails/staples pulled out of the walls, the walls wiped down, the cobwebs removed, all the tables and benches wiped down. I swept the floor again and mopped. We also washed all the windows and doors, along with the sills and door jams. There was a lot to do. I even got an idea of how I'm going to set things up. We packed a lot of stuff over there. I also got the tables covered and I can see how it's going to look....getting excited now. Came home about 5 oclock. Still lots of stuff to do. Our campground's full.
Thursday September 1- I woke up at 3 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. I have so much going on in my head it won't rest. I got up at 5 and started on more BBQ pork. I'm getting really tired of the pork already. I mixed up some pecan tassie dough and put it in the frig. Then I rode my bike back over to get busy finishing up the decorating. I think it looks nice. Then I came home and made 2 batches of pecan tassies and more meat.
After I finished the pecan tassies of course more meat. I kept making it because I wasn't sure it was enough. I'm used to feeding 2 people not 35. I was doing a lot of guessing. I definitively wanted too much instead of not enough. Tonight Jeff and I had planned on going to an outdoor concert if the weather was good....and it was. So we cleaned up and headed in town for dinner and a concert. I've been wanting to eat at White Star for awhile. We haven't eaten there this year yet so we did and it wasn't the greatest. Next stop McGrath Theater, and Dwight Yoakum. We got our lawn seat tickets and headed in to find a spot. We had done this before so we got there early to get a good seat. Well they had a different seating arrangement this time. There is a big grassy area behind the assigned seats and this time you couldn't sit there. You had to sit way off to the side. They left it empty which really seemed strange to us. To the singer it looked like a big open spot. Oh well we just walked over and watched some. We aren't huge country music fans but have always liked him. He really put on a good show. The weather was perfect and it was a well welcomed break from everything.
Friday September 2- Today another work day. Jeff went golfing with both sons and I stayed here to finish up stuff. Today I did a lot of food prep. I cut up lots of veggies, lots of fruit for a fruit salad and made more cupcakes. I had an epic fail with one frosting so I had to toss it out and start over. I took over some of the chips, buns and drinks to the pavilion. I also did some last minute sweeping and wiping down. The good news is I think I'm done with the pork.
Saturday September 3- More cooking, I got up and noticed the cupcakes I made ahead for Ashton's birthday are ruined. I just about cried. So I had to pitch them. Next I got started making a giant batch of cheesy potatoes. I put together the dips, and the fruit salads and used Joan, the park rangers refrigerator to store them cause mine is full up. Then we took over the roasters and had everything set up to just keep warm.
I sure hope everything tastes as good as it looks. I'm really happy with how things turned out. I feel so much better having this part behind me. Now I need to get ready to go to the rehearsal. We made our way downtown and to the Paramount Theater. They had some of the stuff set up for the reception so I took a look at that...its so exciting. The rehearsal went off without a hitch.
After they said there practice I do's Jeff and I headed home to set out the cold stuff and open the chips, buns etc. We couldn't have gotten better weather. This place sits next to the lake and has lots of windows and sliding doors but no air conditioning. It was just right, not hot not cold. We really lucked out. Everyone started to arrive and I think they enjoyed themselves. What a big relief.....I'm so glad that's over.
Sunday September 4-It's the big day.....so excited!! A lot of the girls went down to the theater around 9 a.m. but I didn't go til noonish. I skipped the hair and make up thing. When I arrived the place was humming. Some of the girls had there hair and make up done but Molly, Hailey and Katie hadn't. They let Hailey get some make up...she was so excited. I'm glad I was there.
After all that work everyone looked beautiful. Then the pictures started...the guys had some taken before and so did the girls. They didn't see each other before the ceremony. Molly looked gorgeous. Hailey looked like a little princess.
After all the girl stuff we can't forget about the groom and his entourage. So I went downstairs to see how the fellows were doing. Justin seemed pretty calm, the guys seemed pretty happy.
Here are some pictures of our clan....Jeff, Seth, Justin and me....all ready to get the thing started. Went to look at the reception area. Boy everything looks so good. All the hard work really paid off.
OK the time has come......bring on the bride. We all got seated and was ready for the ceremony to begin. The music was nice the surroundings were awesome and it couldn't have gone any better. Well the bride and groom could have been a bit less nervous......
Well it was a great day for sure. We are blessed that's for sure. What a busy week but it was so worth it. We are happy people.
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