Hello September

Monday September 3- Well today was horrible. Not a good way to end this rainy, wet holiday weekend. It was either raining, really gray or storming. I stayed in all day. The campers had a hard time trying to get packed up between the rain. The hummingbirds really liked the rainy weather. The day was a long one. I did get some quilting done. I might finish this quilt yet. In the afternoon Jeff went in to Justin's house to play guitar. I stayed here. Around 4:30 I started seeing weather warning on TV. I went outside to look and I spotted this big black cloud. Before I knew it I heard the sirens. I grabbed both pups, and my important stuff. I went to the shower house. I stayed there and watched the weather come and go. The worst of it went just west of us. We lucked out again. I think there were 4 or 5 tornado's that touched down in the area.

 

Tuesday September  4- Well at least it's not raining. It is super hot and humid though.  It is Justin and Molly's 2 year wedding anniversary. Since I stayed in all day yesterday today I thought I would run some errands in town. I wanted to get some stuff for Ashton's birthday cake. I also went and picked up a pie at Kathy's Pie's. We are taking that over tomorrow for his birthday. The cake will be later for his party. After getting everything I needed I headed back and stayed there the rest of the day.

Wednesday September 5- It's Ashton's 13th birthday today. I gave him an early call to sing Happy Birthday. I can't believe he is a teenager. Jeff and I headed to Coralville. They have a Trader Joe's we like to shop at. It was raining at the park and I think it followed us there. It just poured. First Jeff wanted to go to the Mall to look for speakers for the car at Best Buy. Well after finally finding someone that knew something, they told him that to put back speakers it would require quite a bit of work. So for now I think we will skip that. We drove home in pouring rain. After supper we went in to take Ashton his birthday pie. Well I guess he is a teenager. he didn't want us to sing or get any pictures. Oh boy.....This is the only blurry picture I got.

Thursday September 6-Today I went in to our church, I"m watching 3 year olds while there mother's are at a bible study. I haven't done that in a while. Our group was really good. It was fun watching them. I made a stop at the store before heading back. Jeff went down to the apple tree in our camp loop and brought back enough for a batch of apple crisp. That's what I did this afternoon. It was very tastee.


Friday September 7- Today the sky had cleared and the rain had stopped. I didn't stay around here to enjoy it though. I took a rode trip to Keokuk. I'm going to help my sister have a garage sale. Well as I was heading north the rain started. Oh boy....it just wouldn't stop either. When I got to town I took in my broken necklace to get it fixed. After dropping it off I went to my sister's. I kept checking the radar. The rain just wouldn't quit. We headed over to her old house to set things up. Since the weather wouldn't cooperate we set up the tables in the garage and basement. She had marked everything. She needed me to help set things up. We got everything set up nice and waited for our customers. We had some brave shoppers but not what we had hoped for. When I left there I went to spend the night at my friend Judy's house. We had supper and sat around and watched a movie. Oh the rain never did stop.

Saturday September 8- Another day in Keokuk. When I got up I was so excited because it wasn't raining. I packed up my stuff and headed to the sale. When I arrived it started sprinkling. We had some shoppers but again not what we had expected. The good news is everything is marked and set up. So she can have another sale in a month or so. This time it will be a lot easier. I picked up my fixed necklace and headed back to Palo around noon. When I got home I made a cake for the Ashton's party. Then Jeff and I went to dinner at The General Store in Stone City. Jeff had read online that there is a band playing at 6 that he wanted to hear. We ordered our supper and my burger and fries were cold. Jeff got a pizza and his was cold too. Not very impressed. Then Jeff went to see if the band was playing outside....he asked the waitress but she didn't know. She said maybe outside? Jeff went outside to see and didn't see anything going on. We decided to just leave. We were both very disappointed.

Sunday September 9-Oh my when I woke up it was wonderful out there. The sky was blue, sun was shining, temperature has dropped and so has the humidity. Jeff and I were greeters today at church. Then Jeff left to go play paintball for Ashton's birthday. I stayed but made my way out there after church. I couldn't leave earlier because I had told someone I would help out at the welcome center after church. When I arrived at the paintball field there was plenty left to watch. It was hard to get pictures but here are a few.

 There were a few other people in there group. Now these other people had there own equipment and it was a lot more powerful. So the guys ended up with some battle scars. Ashton had a wonderful time and that's all that counts. As we were leaving we spotted some horses next door. So the kids thought that was pretty neat too.

We came home and got the cake. Then we went over to Seth and Katie's. The cake, not my best creation but he wasn't that in to it this year. Katie made chicken noodles then we had cake. I guess this is what his birthday's will be like from now on.

Monday September 10-Oh I had a big to do list waiting for me. So I planned on staying here for the day. Right after we woke up I get a phone call from Seth. He was having a problem with there hot water heater. The pilot went out and they couldn't get it lit. He wanted Jeff to go over and take a look. So he did that, it is a gas hot water heater which he isn't used to. He got it lit and it was heating but then went out again. Jeff tried again and it wouldn't light but then there was a big poof. So he decided to let then call some one. He ran some errands, washed the car and came back. I stayed back and did a whole lot of laundry. I also had lots of cleaning to do. We were also busy with lots of camper questions. It seems with the good weather comes lots of campers. We had supper then went to Seth and Katie's. Ashton has hockey tryouts and we are riding with Seth to watch. We got Ashton dropped off to get ready and we went to the Mellow Mushroom to get a drink and play Bingo. Monday is Bingo night and it's free, with prizes. We didn't win but still fun.

We made it over to the ice to watch all the hockey action. It was fun to watch him back on the ice.

Tuesday September 11- Today was dog day for me. First I gave Miss Ruby a bath. Then Belle got a haircut. She is so patient with me. We have a full camp ground so we did some visiting. Boy does the day fly by when you do that. We had to go in to town at 3 to watch Ashton's first football game of the season. It was a good game with the Taft tigers coming away with the win. Ashton is on that team. He is not very serious about football but his good friend is so he plays. It also helps him to get in shape for hockey.

After the game we went to Culver's for supper, then home and called it a day.


Wednesday September 12- It is another nice day but we are expecting the temperatures to rise. When I say rise I mean it's going to feel like summer again. Jeff got some more waxing done. I started the process of cleaning out stuff and getting rid of what we don't travel with. I also do a check on the pantry stuff, checking dates and getting rid of what is outdated. Justin gave us a call to see if Jeff wanted to come over and play guitar. Well of course he said yes. I went over to play with Madyn. She is such a busy little girl. She has a new trick...she is sooooo big!

Thursday September 13- Today I cut the binding for my quilt. I finally finished the quilting part of it. So after cutting and sewing the binding on, I finally finished this quilt. I think I have been working on it for 2 years on and off. So I was very happy to get this one done.

I had to go in and pick up Hailey at school to take her to gymnastics. I stayed around a little to watch her. She is working hard and improving everyday. very proud of her.

Friday September 14- Getting ready for the weekend. We are full up and the campground is hopping. Seth called to see if  Hailey could spend the night. We said yes. We went to pick her up and go get pizza. After eating we headed over to the ice arena to watch the Roughriders. It is the first preseason game. Admission is free and we are ready for some hockey. We didn't think Seth and Katie was coming but they showed up and joined us. The Roughriders had a bad start but Seth found out later that there starters were sitting out. They haven't finished there rooster yet so still battling for positions. We left early because Hailey was really tired. She was asleep right after we started driving home. Made a quick stop at the store for stuff for breakfast. Hailey didn't even wake up.

Let's Go Riders!!!

Saturday September 15- It is so hot and humid. Getting really tired of this weather. I"m kind of over summer. Sissy wanted pancakes for breakfast, so that's what we did. Her and papa went out early to play track ball before it got too hot. Then she spotted a frog under the camper. Her and papa got busy catching the frog....success.

It got so hot that we had to move indoors. So Jeff and Hailey got out the games. They played don't break the ice, jenga, and they even got the Wii out. We made supper and ate before we took Hailey home. Then we went to a show Wellstrung was playing. It was actually a motorcycle rally, we didn't know what to expect. When we arrived we were so out of place. We watched for a bit and then called it a night.

Sunday September 16- It is hot hot hot. We went to church and when we got home we still had a lot of campers here. We had a group of 8 sites that are staying over. Then we have all the guys that are working in the area too. We had such a busy weekend that I wasn't doing much today. When Hailey was here yesterday we looked at quilt patterns and cake ideas for her. So since I was going to be inside, I started cutting fabric for her new quilt. I have to have it finished for Christmas. We stayed in where it is cool. Did I mention that we are ready for Fall?....we are.

Bye Bye August

Monday August 13- Starting the week off with cleaning. I like to give the shower house a good cleaning after the weekend. After that I came home and got busy here. Besides cleaning I got my table runner pinned together and ready for quilting. I won't get around to that for a while yet. After lunch Jeff and I went to pick up Ashton and Hailey. We met Seth at the movie theater. We all went to see the movie "The Meg". It was pretty much what we expected, the kids really liked it. Ashton went home, Sissy came with us.

Tuesday August 14- Got up and Hailey was still sleeping. I took Ruby for a walk and checked on the shower house. When Hailey woke up she wanted pancakes for breakfast. Then we had to get her ready for a special gymnastics thing. They are working on there floor routines for competition. While she was there I ran errands and got my laundry done. I made sure I was there for at least half of her practice. I took her home and got her and Ashton lunch, got my laundry folded and headed home.


Wednesday August 15- Today we had to take our car to the chevy dealership to get the oil changed and the tires rotated. Normally Jeff would do this on his own but, it was included with the car. So we drove to Vanhorn Chevrolet. They where really nice there. They also did a update on something. They had a Tesla there so we got to take a closer look at that. Boy are they different and expensive. After we left, we made a trip to the Cedar Ridge Distillery. We wanted to check it out because of all the good things we have heard.

We were very impressed with what we saw and think we will be coming back soon. After touring that place we went for lunch at Panera before heading home. After we got home it wasn't long before Seth dropped off Hailey to spend the night. Her mom has been out of town all week and Hailey's daycare lady was off. I filled in. We had supper and Hailey and I went for a walk. We got caught in the rain. She and Papa went out after the rain to look for frogs....no luck. We had some one give us some Chinese lanterns, thought since everything was wet and no wind we would send one up. Thought Hailey would get a kick out of it.  We did that but even with all the rain it still made Jeff really nervous.

After we watched it float away Hailey says "that was lame". So much with impressing her.

Thursday August 16- Woke up to rainy weather. It didn't take long for Hailey to order breakfast. So I got busy with that. Then we went to the shower house to clean, she likes to help. Well to our surprise there were 2 little frogs in the showers. Well she went to grab one and it jumped so then we needed papa. I don't touch frogs. So papa came up caught the first one, but the other one was dead. We spent the rest of the day doing fun stuff. We painted nails, played games, colored and played track ball. Hailey has improved with that and loved playing.

Seth came and got her at 4ish. We had supper and then saw Jan and Jerry pull in. This is my best friend Judy's sister. They are talking about full timeing in about a year. They have lots of questions and seem to be very excited.


Friday August 17- It rained to start the day off. I stopped by Jan and Jerry's site on my way back from the shower house. Jeff joined us and we had coffee and visited. We had to go inside because more rain. They came over for a drink and then they left the park for a  wedding rehearsal. Jeff  left to go to a gig. The Palo House Band played at a wedding. I stayed home keeping an eye on things here.


Saturday August 18- We had coffee at Jan and Jerry's, he even made Jeff a breakfast sandwich. We also made plans for the rest of the day. We went in to pick up Ashton. He is going to stay the night with us. We can't hardly get him out here these days. He's getting bigger and prefers his friends. While in town Seth wanted us to come with him to the dive store. He and Katie are going to get certified in scuba. We came home and watched a movie. Then we got stuff ready for supper.
Jan and Jerry had the wedding today but came back right after and joined us for a happy hour, then dinner and bags.

Oh yeah Ashton was nice enough to get us a fire too. Jan and Ashton had quite a game of bags going on. Ashton came out victorious. It was exciting to watch. We had a great time. Our dinner was completely delicious too. Jeff grilled his kabobs. They were a hit.

Sunday August 19- We had another busy day. We took Jan, Jerry and Ashton to church with us. Then after an awesome message and worship we dropped Ashton off at home. We went to the Cedar Ridge Distillery for lunch. It was really good. We got a brick oven pizza which was good. They have quite an interesting menu. They also have a Sunday brunch available. Friday nights they have a hog roast. We want to try that sometime. After eating we moved outside to enjoy the entertainment.  It wasn't hot out because it was overcast. So sitting outside was really nice. We had another great day.

We had to cut it short and head back because Jan and Jerry needed to head home. So we brought them back to pack up and hit the road. We had a fun weekend.

Monday August 20- Woke up to more rain. It stopped long enough to get the dogs out. It rained on and off most of the day. I got my inside work done. I defrosted the freezer. Our ice maker hasn't been working. It was froze up. So defrosting fixed that. Yesterday Jeff closed the closet door and broke it so that was our next project.......success. This was the second time to fix this. The first time the glue came loose at the top, this time it was the bottom. The good news is this time we got it together a lot quicker.

To make my afternoon exciting I gave Miss Ruby her bath. That was my Monday.


Tuesday August 21- Jeff got an invite to come play guitar at Lenny's today. I took him down, dropped him off and then went to town to run some errands. I did the dreaded Walmart run and a few other stops. I wanted to get some paint to make a sign for our door on the rig. On my way back I picked up Jeff and took him home. We had an early dinner. Then we went over to see Miss Maddyn. When we arrived we were surprised to see she has finally sprouted 2 teeth. We had fun playing with her. She is getting quite mobile. So fun to watch her grow and change.

Wednesday August 22- Big day today.....it is the last day of summer vacation. We picked up the kids and went for breakfast at Perkins. We all had a great breakfast and was very full. It took a while to get our food so they gave us extra.

Next stop the putt putt golf range. Everyone came ready to play. It was a beautiful day out. When we pulled up we noticed a lot of people had the same idea...Went inside picked our putters and which color of ball we wanted and hit the course. Everyone was ready to play.

We had a great time. Papa and Ashton had the best scores with Hailey and I bringing up the rear. We all had fun though so that's what matters most. After we took Ashton home to take care of the dogs. Hailey wanted to come home with us. We are going back in to have dinner with them tonight so we brought her home. I got her to put her hair in a bun and she liked it. We met Seth and Katie at there house and drove to Solon, Iowa. There is a brewery, restaurant they really like there. The Big Grove Brewery. Seth was going on and on about there tater tot casserole. We arrived and sat at a table outside. Seth and Katie new exactly what they were getting. Jeff and I needed to study the menu a bit more. Everyone placed there order. All the food was really good along with service. Jeff tried the tater tot casserole and liked it. My favorite thing was the parm fries. So good. They are also known for there wings and mac and cheese. We all left full and happy.

I'm sure the kids are ready and excited about starting school tomorrow.......not.


Thursday August 23- Today was a laid back day. I got started painting on my door sign. I will past pictures when it's done. The park is really quiet. Back to school is today.

Can't you see the excitement here. Ashton is going in to 8th grade and Hailey is in 2nd. Can't believe how fast they are growing up.

Friday August 24- Boy did it rain last night. We can really tell that the lake in filling up. The day was kind of crappy most of the day. We decided to get our running done today. The temperatures really dropped. It was only in the mid 60's today. It was cloudy and breezy too. So when I got home I made chili and cupcakes. Something about cooler weather makes me feel like baking. After supper my best friend Judy arrived. She is spending the weekend here. It's been over a month since she's been up. We had lots of catching up to tend too.

Saturday August 25-After a late night Miss Ruby was nice enough to let us sleep in a little. We hung around outside until it got too hot. We jumped up from yesterday's mid 60's to upper 80's with humidity. 

We had an early supper and went in to town. First stop was Sam's to get some chips and Judy had a small list. Then we went to the farmers market. Once a year they have a Market After Dark. It is a pretty big deal with lots and lots of people. Not only that it is smoking hot. First we watched some music. Elizabeth Von Presley...not my favorite but others seemed to like her.

We decided the lines for drinks were so long Jeff said lets go to a bar. During this the bars would give you a to go cup. That only lasted until 11 o'clock. So we went to the Rock Bar for a drink.

We thought we would wonder back out when Seth, Katie and the kids showed up. I saw that they were here and texted her. She said they were coming down. Well at this bar they have a bull you can ride. Well we got to watch Seth, Katie and Ashton give it a go. That was quite entertaining.

After all the bucking the kids headed home because Hailey was tired. Jeff, Judy and I wondered back out in to the chaos. Well we saw a new band setting up so we hung around to see how they sounded.  The band was from the quad cities and were called 10 of Soul. Boy are we glad we did. All 3 of us loved them. Not only were they great musicians but they knew how to get the crowd in to the performance as well. It was so fun!! Here are a few shots of them and us enjoying it.

We stayed almost to the end but since the beer selling was over we were getting some really happy people around. Time to go. We had a great time for sure.

Sunday August 26- Ruby let us sleep in again. Then we got up and ready for church. We stopped to get something for lunch before heading back. We got to sit outside and visit thanks to our awning. It kept sprinkling. Before we knew it, it was time for Judy to head home. Well another great weekend for us. Thanks to Judy for coming up, always a good time with her around.

Monday August 27- It's really wet out there. It cleared up and the heat and humidity arrived. The Griffey's stopped by to share there adventures out west in there new motor home. Sounds like they had a good time and like there new rig. I worked a little on the sign for our door today. I can't finish until I get some red paint. We took it easy most of the day.

Tuesday August 28- It looked nice out there so I decided to use our washer and do a load of laundry. I didn't take the time to check the radar. That was a mistake because the time it was done and ready to hang out weather had moved in. Lucky for us it moved out as fast as it arrived. Jeff started the dreaded job of waxing this rig. We watched the radar very closely because there are storms all around us.

Wednesday August 29- What a difference out there this morning. The humidity is gone and the sun is shining. Oh the temperatures are only going to be in the 70's. We went to town and did some shopping. Jeff was looking for a specific light bulb. Then we split he went to Best Buy and I went to the Mall. I also wanted to stop at Hobby Lobby to get my paint. Went to lunch before stopping at the store.

Thursday August 30- Another really nice day. This one we enjoyed at the park. I had tasks that needed to get done. I also sprayed some sealant on the sign. It was breezey so it dried really fast. I helped Jeff as we attached the sign to the door. I will have to touch it up later when it cools off. I think it looks really good.

Seth had called me earlier today to see if I could pick up Hailey from school and take her to gymnastics tonight. They have meetings today. So after lunch I went in to get her. She was surprised to see me. I stayed around and watched part of it. They picked her up when it was over. I didn't have to watch 2 1/2 hours. 

Friday August 31- Hung around the campground most of the day. It is a holiday weekend and the weather is looking to be horrible. They are calling for a lot of rain....a lot. It is suppose to get hot and humid again. We watched to see if the campers are going to show up. We had planned to go to Rock the Block so we watched the weather. We decided to go for it. Went over to Justin and Molly's. We all went together. The weather held off, we didn't get any rain while we were there. It got really windy around 7:30 so we left a bit early. It was really weird the whole night it was really cloudy. Then the sun started to come out but with the wind it felt like a storm brewing. The band we listened to was called Wooden Nickel Lottery. Very talented.

We enjoyed drinks and supper there. Our pizza was super good this time. When it got super windy we packed up to go. There were some sweet clouds showing up.

Saturday September 1- Another new month. Boy did it rain last night. It started about 1 a.m. and after it started we didn't get to sleep much. The thunder and lightning were crazy. We got out of bed and it was still raining. It just wouldn't stop. The rainfall amounts are crazy. It's pouring buckets. After a while it did clear for the afternoon. Everything is still so wet. We had made plans to meet Jan and Jerry for supper in Cedar Rapids at Bricks for a early supper. Then we moved the party to Dirty Shirley's to watch Wellstrung. When we arrived Seth was already there. Then Lenny and Dawn joined us for a bit as well. We had quite the group. The place was packed and it was a really good time.

We stayed til the show was over. They played from 6-9. We love those hours for a show. We took Justin home and then came home ourselves. Boy did we get a light show on the way home. The lightning was kind of scary.  More rain......

Sunday September 2- After the busy couple of nights today we went to church and came home. It was really a crappy day. Feeling bad for these campers. We stayed around here most of the day. We had to watch Miss Maddyn tonight. Justin and Molly had planned a dinner out to celebrate there anniversary. We drove over there in the pouring rain. I feel like I should build an ark. This rain is relentless.

Our bright spot in all this dreary rain.