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.