The End Of Summer

Monday September 5- We are starting this week off with a bang...it's Ashton's 11th birthday. I got up and made cupcakes since the first batch I had to pitch. My nephew, his wife and boy came out to see where we stay all summer. They are visiting from California. There flight doesn't leave until later this afternoon. We invited them to join us at Ashton's party. I got some cupcakes frosted up and we headed in to celebrate a special day indeed. Ashton was excited that his cousin from California could join in on the party. I think he enjoyed his party and his pie from Kathy's Pies. He just told everyone this year he wanted cash and boy did he get just that. After visiting and having a late lunch with leftover's from the rehearsal dinner we got to the gifts. Ashton had a great time opening them up. He got plenty of cash.

After gifts we moved on to the sweet part of the party....cupcakes, ice cream, and pie, not your usual birthday but it turned out great regardless. I know he is 11 but a birthday just isn't complete without a happy birthday song.

After eating we stuck around for a little bit, but Jeff needed to get his suit back, from the wedding. On the way home I just felt exhausted. When we got back I did nothing. I think this busy week has caught up with me. I"m done.


Tuesday September 6- I knew one thing I wasn't going any where today. It's super hot and humid, but it's windy. I needed to catch up on laundry. I stayed inside and cleaned out drawers and closets. I have had so much stuff crammed in the cabinets and it was time to clean out. We need to get ready to travel. I also got busy downloading my pictures. I have a lot with all that's been going on.




Wednesday September 7- Woke up today to rain. It rained on and off all day. I have been trying to catch up on things that I have ignored. Jeff went to his friend's Lenny. They played guitar. I hung back. I'm still trying to get rested up. It seems so boring now. I need to find my normal again.


Thursday September 8-It was supper foggy this morning. We had lots of rain last night. This morning the hummingbirds are going crazy. I think this must be getting ready to head south...we aren't far behind you.

Jeff went and got a ladder at the shop, we are trying to fix the awning. After about an hour of working Jeff figured we need to order more parts. So we will work on it later. We had a lot of campers come in asking questions. I can't believe it's almost the weekend again.


Friday September 9- Another cloudy morning but I decided to get a walk in today. I haven't been on a good walk for a while.  Funny thing on this walk, all the critters are out. It's like all the critters came out to see me.

We went in town to get Hailey and take her to gymnastics. It's a make up date. It poured down rain.

Jeff and I went to supper at Panera our new favorite spot to eat. While we were in there it poured down rain again. Next stop we went to a Preseason Roughrider hockey game. Again it poured down rain.

It was fun to be back at the stable but...we didn't play very well. We got smoked..


Saturday September 10- Had a cold front come through last night....it feels like Fall. We had some errands to run. Needed to fill up our propane. We have used more than usual because it's been so hot and humid here this summer. We only have 30 amp service. We couldn't turn off the a.c. to heat the water so we had to use gas. We also picked up a few groceries before heading home. Had the whole afternoon open so I started sewing blocks together. Time to get a quilt together for Fall quilting.


Sunday September 11- Who can possibly say that date out loud without remembering that horrible day.  It changed things forever. Justin and Molly left for there honeymoon today. Seth took them to the airport. They were a little nervous about traveling on this day. They are going to Grand Cayman, its a beautiful destination. When we traveled to scuba dive it was one of our favorite spots. We are hoping they have wonderful weather and a great time. It feels like Fall today, we can feel the change in the weather. Both of us are ready for some cooler weather. I sat at the sewing machine today and did some sewing.


Monday September 12- A new week, started going through things outside. We have to store some of our things at the kids this year. I was putting away our beach chairs. They had been sitting outside for awhile. I was cleaning them off before putting them back in the rig. I looked inside the back pouch and spotted something kind of weird. It was a lizard of some kind. I'm wondering if we brought it back with us from Florida. I showed it to the park ranger and he had never seen one of them here.

We took it to our grandson. He has an aquarium that used to house hermit crabs which have since passed away. He has been asking us to bring him a lizard home. Needless to say he was thrilled.


Tuesday September 13- Rainy rainy rainy, last night and in to the morning. Since the weather is wet we decided to take advantage of the Tuesday specials at the movie theater. We went and watched Sully. Both of us liked it. More sewing. We went to watch the Roughriders again in a scrimmage.

The company was great but the game....not so much another loss.


Wednesday September 14- Today was a busy day for me. It was a beauty of a day. I was busy packing stuff to take with me. I'm spending the next 5 nights at Seth and Katie's house. I will be watching Ashton and Hailey. I also get to doggy sit there dog Noodles, plus Justin and Molly's 2 dogs Bella and Barkley. We thought it would be best if I went in to town while Jeff stayed here to watch the campground and our dogs. The kids are both in school now and if I stayed out at the campground I would be running in to town constantly. I knew it would be a completely different schedule then I'm used to. I got over there around 2 in the afternoon. Seth and Katie left for Chicago. Flying out in the morning to Toronto and the World Cup of Hockey. I walked over to get Hailey from school. Her school it literally right behind there house. Ashton is in middle school now so his school is a bike ride away. I had Katie write down there schedules so I didn't get them to school late. I was waiting for Ashton to get home. Finally at 4 o'clock I called Seth to see what time Ashton should be home. His school is out at 5 til 3...I was getting worried. Right after I got off the phone he walks in the door with a funny look on his face. I asked what happened. He wrecked his bike again. I think he almost got hit by a truck. I know it scared him you could tell by the look on his face. The scab under his eye was from a previous wreck. The road rash on his forehead was from today. Needless to say I will be taking him to school the rest of my stay.

Thursday September 15- Oh boy what a night, a strange bed with 3 dogs in it. The dogs weren't used to this bed either and didn't sleep all that well. I had to set an alarm to make sure everyone got to school on time. The kids did really good getting up and getting ready. I took Ashton to school, came home and later walked Hailey to school. She is super excited about being in kindergarten. I had some errands to run. I came back and started cleaning the kids room. The day flew by and it was time to go get Ashton. Then Hailey, she needed to go to gymnastics. Jeff came in to stay with Ashton. We had a big day at gymnastics today. Hailey did her back handspring today. She was super excited and I was able to get a video to share with Mom and Dad. It was a busy day and when the kids went to bed so did I.


Friday September 16-Another restless night. We got up and got all the dogs fed, the kids fed and took Ashton to school. Hailey came with me to Justin's, there dogs ran out of food. Then I stopped at the store before taking Hailey to school. Boy there is a reason old people don't have kids. When I got back I put supper in the crock pot. The day went really fast today because the kids both get out early on Friday's. When I got home Hailey helped me make brownies for dessert. She is a good helper. Jeff came in and joined us for supper. We even got to play outside with the kids.

Saturday September 17- No alarm this morning......I still got up early because of all the dogs. We had breakfast. We went out to the campground so I could help Jeff with repairing the awning. Think we got it this time. Then the kids and I went to Menards to get some paint rollers. I'm going to paint the kids living room. We made pizza for supper. Then I painted around all the doors, windows and wood work. The day went by fast. These kids are wearing me out.





















Sunday September 18- The kids got up and everyone got ready for church. Ashton and Hailey both wanted to go. Jeff and I were greeting, so the kids kind of helped. Hailey decided to attend Sunday School. When we picker her up she loved it. It was vision Sunday today. They changed the name of the church. It went from River Of Life Ministries to River Of Live Church. They celebrated with cupcakes, and they were some of the best we had ever had.

We fixed brunch when we got home. Jeff went to check on our dogs at home. I did some painting. We took the kids out for a early supper at The Texas Roadhouse. Jeff and I had tickets to Bryan Adams concert tonight so Katie's mom came in to watch the kids so we could go. Funny story about that. We had bought tickets 30 years ago to see him, Justin got sick and we couldn't go so we were excited about it this time. We weren't disappointed...he was great. There wasn't many people there but the show was awesome. I forgot about all the songs he sings. I even remembered the words...so did everyone else.




















After the show Jeff took me back to Seth and Katie's, the kids are asleep, Marilyn and I sat up and talked. She stayed overnight too.


Monday September 19-  I got up early to get the kids up and ready for school. Marilyn took Ashton to school this morning, and both of us walked Hailey over to her school. Marilyn headed home then and I got started painting the walls in the living room. I had it all prepped so I just had to roll the paint on the walls...the easy part. I got a call from Justin. He got home last night. He told me about his adventure. It sounded like they really had a great time. It didn't seem that long and Seth and Katie were home. They got home around around 2:30. Jeff had gone to pick up Ashton. When he got home we loaded up my stuff and headed out. I think I'm going to need a few days to get rested up. I'm glad I was able to watch the kids, it was a different kind of routine but they are only little for a short time. When you are around them a lot you get lots of little funny memories, I'm a lucky gal, I have awesome grandkids.

Busy Busy Busy 2 Weeks

Monday August 22-Well its kind of like the last day of summer...vacation that is. Hailey was with us today, but tomorrow she starts kindergarten. She is very excited. We went for a walk and she kept telling me how excited she was for school. We walked up around the second campground loop and came back then we went in to town to take Hailey to gymnastics.  Jeff and Ashton went to the Y but it was closed for maintenance. Jeff came back washed the truck and he went with us to gymnastics.





















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, we officially have another daughter...yeah we are so happy for both of them. Now its time to party. Bring on the food, fun, and celebration. Now I will show just a few pictures of the reception. It was great fun. The food was good, the band was great and fun was had by one and all.

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.