Fall Is Here

Monday September 21- We knew we had to get up early so our inner alarm clock took over. We both were up before our 5:30 a.m. alarm went off. Since the dogs weren't around less things to take care of. We were on our way to Seth's at 6:15 a.m. We couldn't have ordered any better weather. This trip is courtesy of our son Seth and his wife Katie. We went just for the fun. We drove to our hotel which is within walking distance of the United Center. We grabbed a taxi and went downtown for a bit of shopping. Seth took us to the new Blackhawks Store. We didn't buy anything but did get this cool picture. We did some walking around downtown. It was great because the weather was so nice. I got to go to Garrett's Popcorn Store, now that's my kind of shopping. They have the best caramel corn ever.

Were went for lunch at PF Chang's......the kids love that place we had the lettuce wraps which were good we just aren't sure what was in it. We got a taxi back to the hotel and regrouped and took off for the United Center. It was a nice walk. Made a stop at Billy Goat's, a bar that is a tradition in Chicago.

If any of you watch Saturday night live you might recognize this. They did a sketch about this place cheeseburger, cheeseburger, pepsi, pepsi no coke. We just had drinks and then we continued to the United Center.  We are on our way to the Chicago Blackhawks training camp. They have activities across from the United Center. They also have live music, games and lots to look at. First I noticed the Oscar Mayer Weiner mobile.....I love that, so had to get a picture of that.

Then we saw the Planter's Nut Mobile, have never seen that before. Along with that was Mr. Peanut, who can pass a up picture with him....not us.






















Then Katie and I noticed something that peaked both of our attention...It was those clear orbs that you get in and run. You know like you are a gerbil. We both ran over to see if we could do it. I noticed that most everyone in line was a kid, but then a grown up jumped in so we knew we were going to get our turn. It was pretty funny, that's for sure.

Well it was getting late and we needed to get in line. When you get your tickets, which cost $5.00 its general admission. We got in line and luckily the doors opened early, before the scheduled 5 o'clock.






















The draw to get there early is to get good seats and the first 10,000 get a Jonathan Toew's bobble head. Well good news we all got our bobble heads. Seth got us some really good seats. Then he told me the bad news, all the players I know aren't going to be playing. That was a little disappointing but it still was very exciting and fun.

The building was really full of excitement and everyone was ready to see there Blackhawks. They do everything like its a real game. I told my son since the team just split into 2 teams that we probably wouldn't see a fight. That was wrong, I guess the guys are still competing for positions, and are really working for them. We did see a fight and it was a good one.

After the 3 periods, they ended it up with a 5 minute 3 on 3 play. That was really exciting. After all the festivities we walked back to our hotel. We did make another stop at Billy Goat's. This time we had a sandwich, we shared a double hamborger which was really tastee. We decided to treat ourselves. We continued back to our hotel. Let me tell you after all that walking that was the most comfortable bed ever. What a fun day.


Tuesday September 22- We both slept really good. Jeff wasn't sure how he would sleep. He has gotten used to his bed and wasn't sure how the bed would be. It was wonderful. We got dressed and walked across the street to Eggperience. It was a really good restaurant. The food was super good, the help was very helpful and polite. To top it off the coffee....so good. We finished up and went back to load up and head toward home. We had to stop at Total Hockey to get everyone's skates sharpened. Then we stopped at an outlet mall. We did a little shopping and came on home. We talked to the kids for awhile then we had to go by and pick up the dogs at Justin's. You would think we had been gone for a month. It's nice to be missed. We really had a wonderful time with Seth and Katie. It's good to be home. Funny how that rig feels so comfortable to us. It's home.

Wednesday September 23- It felt good to sleep in our own bed.  We found out that Ashton will be skating out with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders for there opening game on Saturday. That's exciting because we had been looking forward to the game anyway. Now its going to be extra special. Good news all around. We went in to town today to pick up some tickets. There is a concert coming that we want to see. It's going to be in the Paramount Theater which is something special to see. The concert is The Fab Four, a tribute band of the Beatles. We made a few stops before heading back. It's so easy to piddle a day away.

Thursday September 24- Today was free pancake day at Perkins. They give you free pancakes and ask that you donate to a children's fund. Well we can do that. The pancakes were good as usual.


Friday September 25-Big weekend.....Judy is coming up to join us. She got up here before noon. Her and I went shopping. We used to do that quite a bit. We went to one of our favorite places, Tanger Outlets in Willimsburg. We found some really good bargains we couldn't live without. We came back home and fixed some supper. Then we went into Cedar Rapids to meet everyone at the movie theater. We went to see Everest in 3-D. The movie was really good the theater was really not. What's with the cleaning people? The just don't take care of the place. That will be the last time we go there. There are plenty of really nice theaters around here. We will be using them. Another thing was the amount of money they charged. It was an expensive movie. We usually attend the movie at a discounted time. Not only is it a better deal the place is usually not as busy. But we had great company. It was a real fun day and night.

Saturday September 25- After cleaning the shower house Jeff had a great campfire going. We sat outside and enjoyed our coffee. It is another great fall day, cooler temperatures and blue sky.

Judy and I went on a nice long walk to the other side of the park. We really just enjoyed the day outside. We had lunch here. Then we went to town, we had a hockey game to attend. The home opener of the Roughriders. We left early to get some supper and I was called that my new glasses were in. We picked up my glasses, ate and then headed to the Stable...(ice arena). Ashton was really excited about being able to skate out with the players. We were excited to watch him.

He had quite the cheering section to watch him. I think we had 10 people there. The place was really full and the excitement was electric. It was a great game to watch and the Rough Riders pulled out a victory. One of the best games we have been to.

After the victory they let people on the ice to skate with the players. Ashton wanted to do that so we watched for a little while. Another thing they do here to bring in the families.






















What a great night....had all my family there and my best friend. A really fun time. These games I will miss when we head south.



Sunday September 27- All of us here were slow to get started. Jeff made us another campfire to enjoy. We watched the campers start to pull out. Judy and I took another walk, a great day for that. When we got back we looked through pictures that Judy brought up. She had 2 grandkids graduate this year and I told her I would make them scrapbooks if she would get the pictures. I don't know I love to look at pictures, she had some old ones of us too. We have shared a lot of memories together. We were just sitting outside and I got a message on phone. A friend of Jeff and I's is traveling back from Minnesota and wanted to know if they could stop by for a visit. So of course we said yes. Judy left for home at about 3 o'clock, her usual time. We did some cleaning up and before we knew it her comes Robert and Diane Fairchild and his mother. It was nice to see them, it had been awhile. We sat and caught up with each others lives. He just retired about 3 months ago. They couldn't stay too long but it was sure nice of them to think of us. After they left we just had some supper and relaxed. Our sons both called to tell us about there hockey game. Seth had a couple goals and Justin got his first goal. We had thought about going to the game but since Robert had called we thought we could catch the next one. What a crazy busy weekend....it was super fun!!


Monday September 28- We both slept in a bit today. Monday's are kind of our cleaning days. We do some extra cleaning at the shower house. I got my walk in. I had to get some new tennis shoes because I wore my last ones out. We both got ready to go into Cedar Rapids. Jeff has a doctor appointment with an eyes, ears, nose and throat doctor. He has been having a lot of nose bleeds for no reason. Someone told him that you can get cauterized. So we went in to a new doctor. Again we were pleasantly surprised. They were friendly, prompt, and took care of the problem without any hassles. Next I went back to try and get my new glasses adjusted. There is definitely a problem. At first I was getting perturbed, they acted like I was crazy. Then they did some adjusting to get the angle right. They are no line bifocals but I have had them for years. I don't remember this problem with the other ones, just the first pair. Well I think they are better but I will wear them a bit to make sure. It's been really perfect Fall weather here. I needed to give Belle a haircut so I got that done today. We had to gather up stuff because tomorrow the road across the dam will be closed because they need to get a crane in there to replace a huge valve. They are in the process of draining the lake about 12 feet for some shore line restoration. The previous valve had froze up. We are spending the day in at the kids house.


Tuesday September 29- Up early to get out of here before 7:30 a.m. They are suppose to start the job. We headed to Seth's house. I had stuff I could do there. I used there washer and dryer. Then I got the kid's Christmas presents wrapped and hid. Jeff was gonna wash the truck and change the oil. It was rainy to start. We went for breakfast but that wasn't a good idea. It was a mom and pop place and they didn't have anything even halfway healthy. We learned that we will have to stay with what we know. When we got back from breakfast the weather has cleared up. Jeff got busy changing the oil and I worked on the blog. I had let it get away from me and had a lot of catching up to do. When the kids got home Jeff helped them put in a request for a vacation with the time share we had passed on to them. Jeff used to take care of all that and the kids weren't sure how to take care of that. We had received a phone call from the park manager telling us that the road will be closed again tomorrow. It seems they didn't  get the job done. When we got back we let the campers know what was going on.



Wednesday September 30- It was really cold this morning it got down in the 40's last night, its slow to warm up. Since it was so cool out I worked inside on purging our stuff. I went through drawers and closets. We usually do that before we take off. We also have a very special occasion coming up. Our grand daughter is turning 5 on October 6th. Her party is on the 4th. I need to draw her cake out. She is a hard one to pick out what she wants. She keeps changing her mind. We think we have her pinned down with a decision. I got that done today. We also walked down to see what was going on with the work.























They have had wonderful weather to work in. I think they underestimated the size of the job. We went in to watch Hailey at her tumbling class, again a phone call that they hadn't finished the job. The road will be closed again tomorrow. It is closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. After that traffic can use the road. We had fun at Hailey's class, she is really into it and is very serious.























After class we gathered up Hailey's stuff because she was coming home with us. Mom and Dad have a job fair tomorrow so instead of picking her up from daycare tomorrow, we would get her for the whole day. She's fun to have around. She wanted grammy to paint her toes. She wanted papa to play memory and old maid with her. All very easy requests. We even got a couple potholders made.























Thursday October 1- Wow, cant believe its October already. Hailey and I went for a walk. She seems to notice everything around her. Another perfect day for a walk, and the company I had was wonderful.






















The day seemed to really fly by. We had to go back to town because we needed to get Ashton to his hockey practice. They were still working on the road and it looks like tomorrow they will finally finish it up. We got Ashton a bite to eat before going to the rink. He did really well. I think his listening skills are improving. He used to have a big problem with that. We are very proud of him.























After practice we took them home. When there parents got home we took off for ours.



Friday October 2- I went for a walk this morning and I noticed something in the water....it looked like a shark but I know that isn't so. It's a muskie hunting for food.

After my walk I got busy making Hailey's birthday cake. I cut them out then I freeze them. It's easier to frost that way. I had a few issues but I think it will be OK. We had vegetable soup for supper. I love Fall for that reason. We are going in to a Hockey game tonight. We left early to go to the Pioneer Coop. Jeff needs to stock up on a few items before we leave. He's gotten use to some special things he's afraid he wont be able to find them in the south. We met Seth, Justin and Molly at the ice rink. We found our seats. The place is not at all full like last week. We think everyone is out watching Friday night football. It was Ricochet's birthday tonight. He is the mascot. We got a picture with him.

The crowd was a bit small but the game was very big. I never saw so many penalty's. They had 2 people get ejected. There were lots of goals by the roughriders....yeah! They won 6-1.

Another great night with the family. Another victory for the Roughriders!!!!!


Saturday October 3- Oh boy its really cold this morning. After checking the shower house I came back and worked on the blog. We decided to go to town. Jeff has been waiting for the movie the Martian, and its finally here so here we go. Went for lunch first at Hurricanes. At the hockey game last night they handed out coupons, $10.00 off of $30.00. Our lunch started off a little scarey but  when the food arrived our concerns were put to rest. Jeff had the mahi mahi tacos, I had a crispy chicken sandwich with homemade potatoe chips. All was excellent. We splurged with dessert. They had a salted caramel cheesecake. YUM that was really good. After eating we went to the movie theatre. This time we went to the Galaxy Theater, a lot cleaner. This was another 3-D moviIe. It was really awesome. Both of us liked the show. We came home and I got busy frosting Hailey's birthday cake and cupcakes. She picked a Shopkins cake, for any of you with young girls you will know what this is. She is just crazy about these things. I spent about 4 hours frosting the cake. I cleaned up the mess and headed to bed.


Sunday October 4-It's party day...I made us brunch before we went in.  The party started at 1 o'clock but we went in a little early.

When we arrived the kids weren't there yet because they had stayed at there other grandparents house. I put the cake up on the counter thinking it was safe there. When nana and papa Ron showed up he decided to accidently put his hand in the cake.....needless to say I was a bit upset but I bit my tongue. I think I was the only one upset about it. Hailey didn't even notice so that's all that matters. The weather was a bit cloudy and cool. We were outside visiting. Then it was time to open presents. Hailey is so fun to watch open gifts because she absolutely loves every gift she gets.























After she opened all her gifts she wanted cake and ice cream. So we lit the candles and sang her Happy Birthday...I still cant believe she is 5. The cake, cupcakes and ice cream was very yummy.























After the cake everyone took part in playing Ashton's new game....pie face. I didn't participate but lots of others did. Pretty funny to watch that's for sure.






















Everyone had to do some cleaning up, but they had fun. We left the party and stopped to pick up Jeff's prescription. Jeff had put a turkey breast in the crock pot this morning so when we walked in the door we could smell our yummy supper. It tasted as good as it smelled.





















 Happy Happy 5th  Birthday Hailey Marlin......you always put a smile on our faces...we love you more!!

The End of Summer

 

Monday September 7- Its Labor Day, and the end to a real busy fun weekend. We got a little rain last night and it looks like it could rain some more this morning. We had to get up early and head to Seth and Katie's, they along with Justin and Molly are playing in a golf tournament. I just hope they stay dry......they did. We got to spend the day with our two favorite kiddos. Jeff and Ashton got started putting together the Wright Brothers Flyer that we got him for his birthday. Well they said easy assembly but it wasn't all that easy. It took them a little while but they got it done.

 

 After finishing the plane everyone was hungry, we decided to go for a late breakfast at Perkins. We all got breakfast except Hailey, she went with a cheeseburger and fries.

 





Well after being entertained during our brunch, we finished up and headed back to the kids home. Around lunch time Seth and Katie got home so we went home then. Justin and Molly came out for dinner. Jeff made them some salmon on the grill. We showed them the lodge we rented for their rehearsal dinner next year. They thought it would work good. After they went home we sat down and relaxed. That was one busy weekend.

Tuesday September 8- After all the excitement I was a bit slow to start. I went up and gave my shower house some extra cleaning. Went to Walmart to get some supplies. Took a quick look in the clearance isle. Jeff saw an easy bake oven. I wanted to get Hailey that for Christmas so we picked that up. We like to get all the Christmas for the kids bought and wrapped before we leave for warmer temps. After getting lunch we took advantage of the Tuesday special at the movie theater. This time we saw A Walk In The Woods. Jeff and I both really liked this one. Again we skipped the popcorn its so hard to get that out of the routine...I love movie popcorn. Its still kinda warm but the temperatures are dropping a little.

 

Wednesday September 9- Well its cooled off more, just about perfect out there. I took advantage of the weather and went for a long walk. Jeff finished up the cleaning on the outside of the truck. I also did a little cleaning inside. Since it was so nice I even gave the dogs a bath outside. They didn't care for that too much. We had an early supper and went in to watch Hailey tumble. She gets so excited for the class and she really pays close attention to the instructions. Its really fun to watch.

 

That was a good way to end the day. Its always good when you can spend time with your grandkids.

 

 

Thursday September 10- Another real pretty day. On my way to clean the shower house I spotted a rainbow. The funny thing was it hadn't even rained. Little did I know that was to come later. I went on my walk and as I was finishing up it started to sprinkle. I had to pick up the pace. It just sprinkled a little. I cleaned out some cabinets while the weather was wet. It cleared up and we went outside to work on our to do list. Jeff brought in the slides so he could wax above them. I waxed under the front cap. I washed the RV tire covers and my bike. Jeff greased the shackles. We both felt like we accomplished some important tasks today. We had supper and then went in to watch the grandson at hockey practice. He is really getting good and his listening skills are improving too.

 

 

Friday September 11- It just doesn't matter how much time passes, that date always brings back very horrible images. It is a very beautiful day out today. The sky's are blue with lots of very white fluffy clouds. Jeff made us a campfire this morning to sit and enjoy our coffee with. A funny thing happened today....well Jeff thought it was funny. We were talking to our neighbors, I was standing under the edge of there awning. A big gust of wind came and a whole bunch of water that was in there awning came down right on my head. Everyone thought it was funny....I thought it was cold. It almost seemed like someone was up there and dumped a 5 gallon bucket of water on me. Since it was so breezy I went ahead and did the laundry. After supper we headed into the ice rink because Ashton is having tryouts for the traveling hockey team.We thought he did good but the tryouts continue tomorrow. I am sure he had the biggest support system there. He had 12 people there cheering him on...silently because you couldn't yell.  It's hard for me to be quiet.

 

 

Saturday September 12- Started off with cleaning the shower house. I try to get up there early before all the campers wake up. I walked and made some kettle corn for later. We headed back to the ice rink to watch the second part of try outs. Ashton did a good job again. They won't find out the results until next week. Went over to Seth and Katie's to watch the Iowa Hawkeye's play Iowa State.  The Hawkeye's weren't really playing that good and so we left at half time to head home. We brought Ashton home with us to stay over night. We actually got to finish watching the game at home and after halftime they looked a lot better and they won!!! 31-17.
After the game Ashton wanted to try out his fire starter so Papa helped him. He did a good job and they made FIRE!!

 

 

 The rest of they evening we just relaxed and watched some T.V.

Sunday September 13- It was a bit cool this morning. Ashton and Jeff started us a morning fire.  We had a fire log and that worked real wel. It was a perfect fire to sit and drink coffee by.

 

 

 The fire was so perfect we decided to be a bit crazy and have marshmallows for a morning snack. Ashton figured out who the best marshmallow cook is.....Grammy.

 

 

 

 We watched as everyone started pulling out. We got Ashton's Wright Brothers Flyer out and sent it on its maiden voyage. It took awhile to figure it out but the wind picked up so we put it away.

 

 

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 We hung around the campsite. Jeff showed Ashton some knots to tie and after a few tries he caught on pretty quick. Jeff got Ashton's new fishing pole rigged up and gave Ashton some tackle to put in his new tackle box. They took the bikes and rode over to try and fish a little. They weren't gone very long and came back. Ashton had a headache. We ended up taking him back home a bit early cause he headache got worse. We had supper and called it a day.


Monday September 14-I got an early phone call this morning. It was Seth, Ashton is still not feeling well. I'm going in and spending the day there. I packed up and got some things to keep me busy for the day and headed to town. I did get my laundry done. It was a long day there. I decided to go get the scrapbooks that I have stored there and take a look. That was a fun, I haven't looked at them for 3 years. I came home as soon as Seth got home from work.


Tuesday September 15-I felt I had a lot to do today. I didn't do any cleaning in the shower house yesterday, Jeff did it for me. So after I cleaned there I came back and got started with some things here. I cleaned out the microwave, sinks and my favorite job defrosting the freezer. Jeff was busy outside, he replaced a switch on the back bigfoot. We have had some problems with it bringing the foot all the way up. Sometimes it works sometimes not.  Jeff then has been trying to figure out what I did to the computer....because I couldn't get the blog to work right. I'm not sure what I did but Jeff got it fixed. So now I have some serious catching up to do.


Wednesday September 16- Today was really nice out, warmer than usual but there is plenty of wind. Went in to get supplies. Soffee our weiner dog is having more medical issues. It looks like another vet visit is in the works. I took advantage of the apple tree in the campground and made some apple crisp. Boy was that good. Went in to watch Hailey at tumbling. She's so fun to watch. I used to do dance in my younger days.

 

 

 After tumbling we stopped at Justin's to get our mail. Then we headed back home.


Thursday September 17- It was a very rainy day. We called the vet this morning and they told us to bring Soffee in. They looked at her gave her some medicine and home we went. I get so scared every time she has those problems. I don't know what we can do to avoid it. She is 13 and looks very gray. We are very used to her being around. Them pets sometimes a real pain but don't know what I would do without them. It rained the whole day. I did some quilting and we did make it in to watch Ashton's hockey practice. He found out today that he made the team. He was so excited about the news and we are very proud.


Friday September 18- It was really a wet day today. I went to the eye doctor today. I got a pair od glasses ordered. The ones I'm wearing I have had for 3 years. My eye doctor is in Walmart so after my appointment we looked around and we found Ashton's Christmas gift. It rained all afternoon. I mean it poured rain. We met some friends at White Star Ale House downtown. Janie and John Dean, they are full time RVers too. Justin was playing at White Star tonight so after dinner we listened to them play. The rain just wouldn't quit. The show was good.

 

 Saturday September 19- We got up early and it came quick since we had a late night. The good news the rain had moved out and it was a beautiful day. Jeff's brother Fritz and his wife Shawn came up this morning. We met them at there hotel and went down to the farmers market. It's the last one of the season but the first one we made it to. The weather was perfect for that. Justin and Molly met us down there too. We didn't get much but it was fun to walk around and look. After we decided to go for lunch. We called Seth and Katie and they met us at Emil's Hideaway. Justin and Molly came too. We had a great lunch. Everyone had something different and all of us liked it. The best part was the dessert. Molly and I shared it and I cant even tell you what the name of the pie was but I can tell you it was super good.

 

 

 After lunch everyone went there own way. Fritz and Shawn came out to the campground and we visited first then made supper. The Hawkeyes wee playing a night game tonight. After supper we went in to Seth's and watch the game. The girls were upstairs helping Molly with the wedding guest list. The Hawkeye's won 27-24 with a 57 yard field goal with no time left. Yeah Hawkeye's!!


Sunday September 20-The park is still full but not for long. Fritz called us and they came out to the park. The weather was great again. We took a nice walk around the park. We made some chicken noodle soup for lunch and Jeff made Fritz some of his healthy bread pudding. It was nice to sit and visit with family. We took the dogs for a walk after our company left. Then we got the dogs stuff together and took them to Justin and Molly's. We are going to Chicago tomorrow and they get to doggy sit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 









Summer, with a dash of Fall

Monday August 24--Brrrrrr its a bit cool out there this morning and windy too. The sun came out and it was really a pretty day. It was a work day, I did my cleaning and Jeff worked on waxing the last side of the rig. I went in and got some groceries. It was the first day of school for the kids today.  We are expecting the campground to slow down. When it clears out here the hummingbirds seem to show up.






















Tuesday August 25- It was a nice day after the wind died down. Joan the park manager called and said some of the hosts in the second loop are going to the appreciation picnic for the State Park volunteers. Since they are going Joan is going and driving. She invited us to come along. We thought we should go but we had already rsvp'd that we weren't coming. Joan said that didn't matter. Then I had to make something to take. Its about 2 hours away so I thought cookies would be the safest thing to take. So I got busy making some peanut butter cookies, only thing I had the ingredients for. It was still kinda below normal temperatures so we made chili for supper. After eating we went to town, we are going to the Brit Floyd concert and we had to get the tickets first. The concert was at the McGrath amphitheater, its an outdoor venue so I brought a blanket. We brought our own chairs and found a good place to sit. They have quite a light show so they had to wait for it to get a bit dark. The show was very good and loud. It was a late night for us. We were home by midnight. We needed to get to sleep cause we have an early morning tomorrow.

Wednesday August 26-We got up early because we were going to meet Joan, Sandy and Mary in town to go to the picnic. We needed to be heading in by 7:30. We met everyone at Menards and away we went. Off to Big Creek State Park which is just north of Des Moines. When we got there we rode around to see the park before we went to the shelter where the picnic was happening. Its pretty new and located close to the beach area. They just redid that whole area, really nice. They had some speeches and talked a bit. Finally they let us eat. After eating the vender there that runs the boating consession let us go out on a pontoon boat. That is  really a nice consession, they have pontoon boats, fishing boats, kayaks, stand up paddle boards, and bikes. That was really nice and Jeff was the driver. It really warmed up too.

After the boat ride we loaded up and headed for home. Boy it was hard to keep my eyes open. We were kinda concerned about the dogs cause they were home all day but they were fine. We didn't make it to Hailey's first tumbling class but Katie sent us some pictures.





















Thursday August 27- I got my walk in this morning and it was a great day for that. So nice I decided to do the laundry too. We decided to go to town and see the kids, went early to run a few errands. We got to hear about Hailey's tumbling and how Ashton is doing in school. We went to Ashton's hockey practice. Then we stopped by Justin's place. We visited with Justin and Molly for awhile then we headed home.



Friday August 28- Today looked like rain and the forecast says all day....rain. We knew we weren't going to hang around here all day. We thought about taking in a movie. Since we are going in town thought about looking for some wallpaper. Both of us don't like the backsplash we put up and want to replace it. I thought some vinyl wallpaper might be a good option. We did that at our old home and both liked it. So we left early and stopped at Sherwin Williams and looked at some books. We brought a book home to see if anything would work. Then we went for lunch before the movie. Jeff liked the HuHot so well the last time he wanted me to try. It looked really good but it still wasn't my favorite.

Next we went to the movie, went and saw Paper Towns. The movie was only so so but the popcorn was 2 thumbs up. We stopped by Seth's house cause he said his garage door wasn't working. Jeff wanted to make sure it wasn't something he could fix before they called someone. On our way home it just started pouring rain. When we got home the rain stopped so we unloaded everything. The rain started up again and with the campground full for the weekend we started having electrical issues. Lots of breakers being tripped. The rain just kept falling, the rest of the night.


Saturday August 29- Kind of and exciting day. I met Molly to go try on wedding dresses. We went to Hopes Bridal in a big pink barn. Molly's mom and friend came too. It was something. She looked so pretty in all the dresses. I took lots of pictures but can't post them just yet. After trying on quite a few she found the one.... It is so pretty. We looked at some bridesmaid dresses too while we were there. While I was away Jeff had some issues at the campground. He blamed it on the neighbors, said they had a black cloud. We met them last year and are very nice folks. Dan and Laura camped right behind us and we had a good time visiting with them. Seth called and asked if we could meet them at Best Buy. They are getting a new TV and wanted us to deliver it. They paid us with pizza.




Sunday August 30- It was a cloudy morning, we did some visiting with Dan and Laura before they headed out. We planned to go into Seth and Katie's, we are hoping for perfect launch weather. We gathered up all the rocket stuff and headed in. Ashton had a few friends there so we walked up to Cherry Hill Park. It's a great place to launch. The wind cooperated so everyone was excited. First we launched the one stage rocket, then the bigger two stage rocket but only used one engine.

We only had two engines, and Ashton let each one of friends push the launch button. I thought that was nice of him. The boys thought it was awesome and didn't have a problem finding them when they came down. They landed right were they were suppose to. We came home and thought the place would be quiet and empty. Then we noticed that people are already tagging spots for next weekend, oh yeah its a holiday weekend.


Monday August 31-The last day of the month I can't believe its almost September. It sure doesn't feel like September it's really hot out today. I did my usual cleaning and decided to clean up under the one apple tree in our loop. The mowers are coming and there are so many apples on the ground I didn't know how they could mow. I went up with a 5 gallon bucket and the more I picked up the more there seemed to be on the ground. After 12 trips to the dumpster it was cleaned up. I even got a bag to take home and bake with. I made some apple crisp and it was so good. I also got started on drawing Ashton's birthday cake. I draw what they want and then I use the drawing as a template to cut out the cake. This year he decided he wanted a fish cake with a bait can. So I got that all figured out today.


Tuesday September 1-Another scorcher today....where's Fall? Since its so hot we thought of things we could do inside. I called to get Belle's x ray set up. We had planned on taking care of this as soon as we got back but with all of Jeff's issues we put it on hold. She hasn't had any symptoms so we were ok to wait. We decided to go to town and take back the wallpaper book, nothing we liked in there. Went to Menards and looked again at these stainless tiles. We had thought of them before but decided against them. Well, we should know by now to go with our original idea. Those are the ones we went with on the second try. We bought some but of course they didn't have enough so we have to make a trip across town to the other Menards to get the rest. It's never easy.



Wednesday September 2- It looked like it was going to rain today so when I took off for a walk I wasn't sure if I would get it all in. It didn't rain so that was good. Jeff got to waxing the truck. He's been wanting to get this done, the weather has been to hot. I got busy on making Ashton's cake, I used a different cake pan and when I went to flip it out it broke it to pieces. Wasn't going to be any fixing that. I had to go to town and get another cake mix. Ashton wanted a white fish cake, so that's what I needed to get. We went to the other Menards and got the rest of the stainless tiles. This time they didn't have all the trim we needed so we had to come up with another idea. Really?
We went to Seth and Katie's because we were going to Hailey's tumbling class. She was so excited to be going, and we were excited to watch.






















We did have a bit of good news. One the way home we got to take Covington road, it has been closed since we got back. It's been under construction, this doubles the time to get to Seth's place. Made the trip home seem really short tonight.


Thursday September 3- Today is Belle's vet appointment in Vinton. Its about a half hour drive. We have never been to Vinton and both of us thought it was a nice clean little town. The vet we haven't met, but our vet doesn't have an x ray machine and he suggested him. After talking to the vet he told us x rays weren't needed. He explained things to us and told us what he would do. So instead of $150 we only had to pay $25 for the advice. Good news all the way around. When I got home I got busy on Ashton 2nd fish cake. I have to have it frozen to frost it. The heat has returned, our poor air conditioner cant hardly keep up. We spent the afternoon working on the new back splash. It should have been easy, but those are famous last words.

It wasn't as easy as we thought but both of us love the end result.



Friday September 4-It was super hot today, I couldn't even walk this morning. Katie and Ashton was coming out for one last time on the beach. It was almost to hot for that but there was a breeze which made it bearable. I spent the rest of the day frosting cakes. First I got the fish cake out of the freezer.

As you can see, we have a problem. I didn't have any more time so I just got the frosting out and got busy putting it back together again. After some work you couldn't even tell.

Again this took longer than I thought. Now I just have to transport it tomorrow. Hoping it will stay together.


Saturday September 5- Happy 10th Birthday to my favorite boy Ashton. The party is at 2 o'clock but its opening day for the Iowa Hawkeyes. There game is at 11:00. We didn't make it for the kick off but got there by noon. The cake made it but the frosting on the can started to slide down. Its really hot out there today. Ashton loved his cake and thats all that matters to me.

Ashton had a wonderful birthday. The cake was good and the Hawkeyes won. It was a good day for sure. It's not over yet. After going home to tend to the dogs we went back to town. This time we went to the ice arena...the stable to watch an exhibition game for the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders. Hailey and Katie stayed home cause Hailey wasn't feeling well.

Well it was an exciting game The Rough Riders won in overtime 4-3. A great ending to a busy fun packed day.



Sunday September 6- It felt a little cooler this morning but that didn't last long. We met Seth and Katie in Coralville at the mall. They went to play hockey, we met them so we could go visit Costco. They are members so we have been wanting to go and today just worked out. It was nice but not anything we would take advantage of. We don't need to bulk buy. I can see if you are raising a family it would be great. We did a little shopping and had some lunch before heading home. When we got home we just relaxed the rest of the evening. Wow what a busy fun weekend and technically its not over...there is still Labor Day.