Springtime In Iowa

Monday April 30- Well it's the end to another month. We usually are just arriving here, but we have already gotten settled in. The weather in Iowa is crazy..... this year has been really crazy. Today it is cool to start but it warmed up fairly fast. It was the wind that was ridiculous. When we have days like this I get into a cleaning mode. I go through cabinets and closets and clean them up. Toss our what we haven't used. It's amazing how your stuff seems to multiply. The good news is that it is starting to green up.

Tuesday May 1- Today it looks like rain. When I went out first thing in the morning I saw a huge full moon. What was special about today was I saw my first hummingbird today. I made sure to tell him to tell all his friends that the buffet is open. I can't wait for all his friends to show up. Since it did turn out to be a rainy day we went to town. Jeff went to a movie and I went to do some shopping. I got all the stuff I need to finish up Seth's t-shirt quilt. I just need to get to it. I picked Jeff up after the movie and we went to a furniture store. We are still looking for a new couch. It is really hard because not many places have the size we need. We have lots of things to deal with. We want it to fit when the slides are closed. Then we have to be able to get it in the door which is smaller than a normal door. Well Jeff went in here and thought he found one. When we went back, that one was sold so we did some more checking on the sizes and it looks like it will work. We will just have to order it. We didn't want that light of a color anyway. Before heading home we had one more stop to make, went to the Paramount to get tickets for a show. My friend Judy will be up that weekend so we got an extra for her. It should be a good time. To finish off this evening we met up with some friends, Janie and John Dean. We met them at Quinton's for dinner. They were full time Rvers but last year they stayed the winter in Cedar Rapids. We caught up with them. It was a nice evening.


Wednesday May 2- Again calling for more rain today. Last night we had a lot. When we went outside this morning we had a mess. With all the work they have done here we have lots of mud. Every time you walk on the rug outside the mud just comes up through it. Jeff took it up and moved it over were the grass was so he could hose it off. Then before anchoring it back down we put tarps under it. That really helped. I have been getting in a habit of taking Miss Ruby for a walk in the morning. With all the rain we have been getting we have to watch out for all the night crawlers. They are everywhere. It poured rain most all of the evening. The bad storms went south of us.


Thursday May 3- Today on the weather front we had serious fog. We have been cleaning the shower house up on the second camp loop until the host arrives. It is helping me to get my steps in. I walk up to clean it and then again to check on it later in the day. Jeff and I went back in to the furniture store to order the hide a bed. It will take 6 to 8 weeks for it to get here but that's ok we have waited this long. We made a couple stops at the grocery stores, also went to Billy Sims BBQ to get some meat for sandwiches. Jeff went in to Palo tonight to play guitar. We are watching the weather again, storms are heading our way again.

Friday May 4- Cleaned the shower house and took Ruby for a walk. When I walked by the host spot the first time nobody there. When I came back around there was Wanda. She just arrived. I stopped in to welcome her then let her get back to unpacking. Jeff helped her get her water hooked up. It seems her water isn't turned on because there is a problem with it. We have extra hose so she could hook up to another one. After we got her all set up we headed in to Seth and Katie's. We are picking up Hailey. She wants to stay over night. We had to take the truck in so we could grab her bike. We brought her back and first we made supper. After that she kept us super busy. We played games, colored, rode bikes and she even help me make some chex party mix.

Saturday May 5- Today was another busy day. Hailey had up doing something all day. We made breakfast to start. She helped me clean the shower house. Then we played inside and outside. We rode our bikes, played all the games we had, trac ball, we made a pot holder, back on the bikes, to the play ground and back. We had to go over to Justin and Molly's tonight to babysit. Hailey wanted to come to help. As I was getting ready Hailey had fell asleep watching cartoons. I guess we wore her out.

On our way to Justin's we stopped at got us a pizza at Roscoe's....it was really good. We arrived had our pizza and then we played with Maddyn. Hailey was right there to help me. She really had fun, we both did.

Sunday May 6- The host up on the second loop is now taking over her duties so  will have some free time. It's church day and we went over to pick up Ashton and Hailey. Went to church. After Jeff took his guitar to the guitar store to get something adjusted. The guitar tech wasn't in so we will have to bring it back another day.  We grabbed some lunch before taking the kids home. I brought the Easter egg stuff, so we had a late hunt. Justin, Molly and Maddyn came over too to look for eggs. It was really a nice day weather wise so that was good. Everyone found there eggs, and fun was had by all.

We headed back and had a full weekend for sure.


Monday May 7- I started off my day with a good walk with Ruby we are gradually making our walks longer. It is a pretty nice day today. When I got back I washed the car and cleaned out the inside. It looks like a new one. Jeff waxed it after I finished. It is so small that he couldn't believe how fast he waxed it. It sure isn't like waxing that truck.

We had a bite for lunch then we went back in to town to get Jeff's guitar fixed. Then we went to a movie , Chappaquiddick at the Collins Road Theater, it was ok. Before coming back home we went over to Seth's house to pick up our mail. We received our check for our broken RV window. It took extra long, not because of the RV park. First the mail to get it to our post office box. Then our mailing service mailed it to Florida after Jeff emailed then the address we wanted it sent to. We had to call down there and have them forward it to Iowa. I guess that priority mail that we paid for really didn't pay off. Well we got it and that's what counts. The Yogi Bear Park in Nashville where nothing but nice to work with. They even invited us to enjoy our next stay on them.

Tuesday May 8- Today our walk proved to be pretty interesting. I spotted a bald eagle carrying a fish and it was fairly low. You could see just how big they really are. It is a nice day today so I spent some time outside watching the birds. It has been crazy at our site. I have hummingbird feeders out, a gold finch sock, a suet. and a bird feeder. I also have added a bowl of grape jelly for the orioles. I tried the grape jelly thing before but really didn't see many orioles. Well this year is different, they are just going crazy. I have had 6 on one bowl. I also have one stuck on my window. It's fun watching them fight for that one. Then I look up in the trees and have seen 8 or 9 up there waiting there turn. It's so fun to watch them. My grandma Dodie would be proud. I'm going to give you just a small look at what I have been watching.

Ok, Ok, Ok, I know I have become that crazy bird lady. I love watching them. After supper tonight we went in to Justin's to watch their wedding video. The guy that did that did a really good job. Way better than pictures.

Wednesday May 9-This morning I started off my day without my coffee, I had to fast for blood work. I did fix me a cup to take with so after I would have it to enjoy. The good thing about that, Kathy's Pies is right across the street. I went over and purchased a bayou goo. It is our favorite and it was really good. Jeff used the instant pot for supper, he made sirloin tips, they were really good.

Thursday May 10- Today we worked on the front door. We fixed it when we were in Florida, but it has bubbles in it. Jeff got some more glue and we tried our best to get them out. Like everything else we do it didn't go that smooth but after a while we thought it looked better. We will see after it dries. Later on in the day Lenny called and he came out and visited with Jeff before they went down to Palo for their weekly jam session.


Friday May 11- Today was my doctor appointment. Our old Doctor moved so we have a new one. I think I like her. She seems really informed and explains everything. I ended up getting a shingles shot. They have a new one out now that is way more effective. I still have to get a follow up booster in 2-6 months. After we got out of there we went to another movie. This time we went to The Galaxy 16. They are remodeling the whole theater. It's really nice. We had recliners in there. The movie we saw today was Tulley. It wasn't what we expected but still ok.

We came home and later on Seth brought Ashton out to spend the night. We fixed supper, and it was really getting cooler out there. We stayed in and played some games. It was looking like rain too.


Saturday May 12- It rained quite a bit last night and the temperatures really dropped. Jeff made biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Then since the weather didn't cooperate we stayed in. We played Yahtzee and the boys played wii. After lunch we loaded up the car along with Ruby and we took off for Keokuk. My nephew is graduating and his party is tonight. We left early so we had time to stop and see Fritz and Shawn, Jeff's brother and his wife. Seth, Katie and Hailey met us there. We left there and headed to the party. We stopped and dropped off Ruby with our old neighbors. Fred and Mary, they were going to watch Ruby. She used to watch our dogs when we lived across the street from them. We went to the party and visited with friends and family. Jake had quite a party. Congrats to him. We stayed til about 8:30. We had a 2 hour drive to get back. I drove back and driving in the dark isn't my favorite. We made it home and I'm glad we went.

Sunday May 13- Happy Mother's Day! We spent our day at church. Then home to relax the day away. I heard from both of my boys. The day was very gray and very gloomy.