A Shopping We Will Go

Monday June 22- We woke up to rain and it looked like we had a chance of rain on and off all day. We decided to go to the trailer with some of the measurements of the furniture we looked at Sunday after church. We figured out where and if it would all fit like we planned. I think we have it figured. Every time we go over there we like it more. It was such a big decision we hoped we wouldn't regret it. I don't think that's going to happen because we just get more excited. After leaving here we went to Menard's and looked around. Found some lights and lamps we liked, but for now just looking. Then we came home for lunch. We both had lots rolling around in our minds. So we got back in the car and went back to the other side of town. This time we wanted to go to the Sleep Number store and check out there beds. We bought one for our RV bed about 10 years ago and both love it, so we want one in our new place too. Then we went back to the furniture store and found more stuff we liked. Here are a few things we will be purchasing.

Tuesday June 23- Today we woke up to nice weather. The temperature had dropped and so has the humidity. Guess where we are going? Yep made a trip to town. This time Lowe's another Menard's, and some other stores too. When you sell everything, it makes for a whole lot of stuff you need to get.
Jeff decided to go ahead and get his mower and they had a side table there we liked, we got that too. Jeff thinks about big things like TV's etc...I think about detail things.I got some things for the kitchen. Stuff like canisters etc. We are starting to get things figured out.

Wednesday June 24- Today was cleaning day at Seth's. So after finishing there I ran to target to look around. Found some towels on clearance. I also went by the trailer because they called to say the shed was in. I wanted to go by and look. He sent Jeff a picture, I wanted to see it too. We both like it.

Good thing we got that mower. Now we have a place to store it.


Thursday June 25- Big day today, we are heading in to place a big furniture order. When we went in the first time on Sunday, Al helped us and did a good job. We waited until he came back to work to place our order. I had everything wrote down. I went through and ordered everything. The couch, recliners, kitchen table & chairs, dresser, bed & frame, and then Jeff found more. So we added a desk and a futon. It is going to take about 5 or 6  weeks to get most of it. The recliners won't get here until the end of August. Before heading home I wanted to stop at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I did some looking in there and found a few things. We came home then and sat outside a bit. Our camping loop is almost already full for the weekend.

Friday June 26- Today I woke up and thought I wanted to organize around here. I started in the bedroom and worked my way out. I cleaned out every drawer, cabinet and closet. It took a good portion of the day. When I finished I really thought I accomplished something. Tomorrow I will finish cleaning.

Saturday June 27- It is extremely hot out there today. After cleaning the shower houses I came back and continued with the cleaning. I got our place all cleaned up. We are suppose to have company tomorrow but now they won't be arriving until Monday. We figured we would spend most of the day and evening inside. With the heat and all the campers asking questions. After lunch we went in to Menard's to get those lamps and a kitchen light. We wanted to replace the one that is there.
















        Next we wanted to go by the trailer, they were suppose to start on the deck this weekend, if the weather was good. We went by and was happy to see that indeed they have started. He has quite a bit done.

After leaving here we went by Justin's to pick up a book of movies. We left them over the winter. We thought we could watch something different tonight. We ordered a pizza at Pizza World and picked it up on the way home. It is a new pizza spot for us. I thought it was good, Jeff said he liked Tomaso's pizza better.

Sunday June 28- Again this park is full to capacity. When we got up this morning it was super foggy. Got busy with our cleaning. It has really been hot. My hummingbirds haven't been around much this weekend. I have been filling the window feeder up 3 times a day. Not today I haven't had to fill it up until after supper. We watched as people started pulling out. We had new campers circling waiting for a walk in site. It has been crazy today with questions. We decided to get out of here and go see how the deck is coming along. Jeff didn't think there was any way he could finish it today. This guy was working on it solo. When we arrived both of us were happy to see how far he has come. He will definitely have it done today. The people at the park will be putting on the skirting.

We left here and went to Theisen's. Wanted to look for outdoor furniture, now that we have seen that nice deck.  We found a swing and a couple chairs with a table. They were both on sale. Jeff will bring the truck tomorrow and pick them up. One last stop before home. Went to the store to get a dessert for our company tomorrow. Then we came home. Jeff wanted to sit outside before supper. It really hard to sit out there because we have so many campers stopping by with questions. We are full for the next weekend.


Monday June 29- After doing our camp host cleaning jobs Jeff took the truck in to pick up our new outdoor furniture. I stayed here and did some cleaning up inside. Our friends Jeffrey and Maren are arriving today and coming over for supper. They arrived about 11 o'clock. We visited for a bit then they went home for lunch. We got back together for an early happy hour. Then we moved inside to have supper. We had lots to catch up on. They are full time travelers too. With all this virus stuff going on they to had to change there plans. They only are here today and on the road tomorrow.

Tuesday June 30- Seth brought Hailey out this morning. She will be staying the night tonight. We went to say good bye to Jeffrey and Maren. Jeff and Hailey then went on a bike ride. It's really hot outside today. When they got back they were hot and exhausted. Came inside to cool off. Had lunch and then Hailey took a nap. We fixed supper and with the heat we decided to have a movie night again. Hailey picked out the movie, made our tickets and numbered our seats. Even with her nap she was ready for bed fairly early.

Wednesday July 1- This month started off with a bang. When I woke up I was so dizzy I could hardly get out of bed. It seems my meineres disease has decided to show up. I can't even remember the last time I had an episode. For you that don't know what this is, it effects your ears or ear. It makes your ear feel full, like full of cotton. That's not the bad part. It gives you serious vertigo. Where you can't even walk. Keeping your head up is hard, opening your eyes is impossible. Then you get so sick. I didn't even get up out of bed until 1 o'clock. I still felt a bit dizzy but I could move. I spent the rest of the day sleeping on and off in the chair. Jeff took care of Hailey and Seth came and picked her up. I sure hope this is a one time event. I guess we will just have to wait and see. I know there isn't a lot you can do for this.

Thursday July 2- I woke up and felt way better than yesterday. I did my cleaning tasks here and then I went to Justin's. They do not have daycare today. I took my laundry over and did it there. Then Maddyn came home with me. We fixed lunch and then I put her down for a nap. I do feel better but I am far from 100%. Maddyn took a good nap and when she got up she was ready to play. We also welcomed Jan and Jerry into the park. They have just started there full time RV adventures and are here for a week. Jan is my best friends sister. We played outside until time for supper. Just as we were sitting down to eat Justin and Molly showed up. They hung around and visited for a while and then headed home. That little girl wore me out today.


Friday July 3- It is a hot hot day out there. I went to take care of my bird feeders. The window hummingbird feeder was just about to break when I brought it in. I was very careful and glued the piece down hoping it would work. Then I went to take the feeder outside being very careful....well I dropped it and busted it up real good. No glue gonna fix that. My birds are going to be upset. I decided to move my others closer so they would have some juice. Then Jeff and I went to town. I needed some produce and fruit. I went to Aldi's, Jeff went to fill up the car. We got home and sat outside in the shade. The only place you can sit without melting. While we were outside Jan and Jerry came over to visit. Then Lenny showed up. We visited a bit and everyone went home. We fixed some supper. Was sitting outside when Judy and Don showed up. Judy is my best friend and she and her husband are spending the holiday weekend with her sister and husband. We went over and visited with them for a while before calling it a night.

Saturday July 4- Went up to clean and on my way back I see Jan. Jerry, Judy and Don sitting outside so I stopped to talk. It is really going to be a scorcher today. I went home and cleaned up. I fixed something to eat. I started feeling dizzy again. I took some medicine and hoped for the best. Lucky for me it went away instead of going full blown attack. We didn't really have any big plans for the day. We just stayed around here and tried to stay cool. We started fixing supper and right before it was ready I had another dizzy spell. This one sent me to bed to lay down for a bit. I was able to get back up and eat. More medicine and I started to feel better. We went back over to see the gang and visit. The evening ended with a beauty of a light show and I'm not talking fireworks. The moon was something to see tonight.

Happy 4th of July to everyone, hope you had a wonderful weekend with your friends and families.


Sunday July 5- Today is going to be hot again. When we cleaned the shower houses this morning we couldn't believe how clean they were. We visited with our neighbors. I cleaned up and sat outside when it was bearable. We watched the campers leave. They were leaving early I think to avoid the heat. We said good bye to Judy and Don. Didn't do much the rest of the day.     So long for now.....

Things Are A Changing

Monday June 8- Today is a big day....After much discussing and lots of looking we are going back over to the trailer park and making an offer on that one we both like. We both have decided that with the way things are we feel like we want to have a home base again. We don't want to spend our winters in Iowa. For now we will finish up our camp hosting job here in Iowa after labor day. Spend some time in the new place before heading south for the winter. This seemed like the best option for us. We will be located in between both of our sons and it fits what we want. This was a really hard decision, harder than selling everything and going full time. We will have options to do some camping in the summer. We are both excited and a bit sad. Change is uncertain but we are ready to embrace it.

The temperatures really dropped today but warmed back up. This time without the humidity.


Tuesday June 9- Today we have big rain coming in today. We managed to get our cleaning done before it arrived. Went in to pick up Hailey. We made breakfast when we got back. We had a project for today, good thing cause it rained all day. After eating breakfast we got started on our cake pops.

I have made these things once before. This time I had a great helper and they turned out great.

This cake pop project took more time than we thought. Since it was raining most of the day we found activities inside to keep us busy. Then after supper the rain stopped. When the rain stopped the hummingbirds came out in full force. I went to fill the window feeder and they couldn't even wait for me to put it up. I got the hand feeders out and they were very interested. Then Hailey saw me feeding them and she wanted to do it. She would hold it up and every time they would come close she would talk. I told her she has to be still and quiet.

Well she finally got used to them buzzing around her. She was so excited when it finally happened. That's one thing good about rainy weather....the hummingbirds go crazy. I bet there was about 30 hummingbirds out there this evening. I love them.

Wednesday June 10- Today after cleaning Hailey gathered up her stuff and we went in to Cedar Rapids. It's cleaning day. I got that finished and came back to the park. With this rainy weather the birds are crazy again. I have been filling that window feeder 3 times a day. They seem to prefer the window feeder as to the other 2 I have hanging out there. When I arrived home the feeder was empty so I went to fill it up. Those birds are in attack mode. I am definitely not scaring them. So I grabbed my feeders to feed them.

My arms got tired so I pulled up a chair and put the feeders on my knees and watched them show up.

I could literally watch these birds all day long. They are crazy to watch. So amazing.

Thursday June 11- It's a beauty of a day. When we went to the shower houses they were even clean. Did some cleaning up around here. Then sat outside and enjoyed the day. Had a neighbor come over for a visit. Then later in the afternoon we went over to pick up Justin. Then we all went to North Liberty. They have a gig tonight outside at The Tin Roost. They played here last year and it is a wonderful venue. They play outside and the food is great too. We invited Seth and family to come join us. We had a wonderful meal and the company was awesome too. Did I mention the weather was perfect?.....it was. This was Wellstrung's first live show in quite a while.

Good bye Tin Roost, see ya next time.

Friday June 12- This morning when we went to clean our shower house Jeff came and got me to come see. The one raccoon was climbing up the wall by the men's side.

After cleaning Jeff went in to pick up Maddyn. She will be spending the day with us, her daycare is closed today. When he picked her up she had a bit of melt down, she didn't want to come. That didn't last long. We fixed her breakfast and the fun began. She is not a big fan of birds but when she saw the hummingbirds while eating she told me she wanted to touch them. She wanted to go to see the water. So we walked down by the lake.

We came back and stayed outside playing with toys. She really had a fun time playing. We almost missed lunch cause she was so busy.

Even Miss Ruby had a fun time outside. We went in for lunch, Maddyn ate good and then I went to lay down with her in our bed. She needed a nap. I found out she likes to  talk about stuff. That's exactly what she told me....Let's talk about it Scrappy. She wanted to know what we would do after her nap. She took over a 2 hour nap. When she got up I got out the cake pop we had talked about earlier. She really enjoyed that. Then we got the ipad out, it has a book, Monster at the End of The Book. You get to listen to Grover read it to you and you also get to turn the pages etc. She loved listening to it.

lunch

after nap snack

story time with Papa

The rest of the day went by pretty quick. Justin and Molly came out to pick her up after supper. The funny thing, she didn't want to leave. It was a great day.


Saturday June 13- After our cleaning duties we cleaned up and left for Keokuk. Today is my brother in laws memorial. Still feeling a bit weird about being around all those people but we will just have to do the social distancing the best we can. We arrived it was a nice day so you could be outside. First they had a visiting time followed by a service. Then they had food. This was a big concern for us. We had planned on skipping it. I went to get a plate for my sister and I was like the first person to get food. So I grabbed a piece of chicken. They had a really nice turn out even with this virus. The service was really nice too. Jay was a wonderful husband, father, grandfather and person. He did for everyone and will be missed. We stayed around until about 3 before heading back. It was a long day in the car but well worth it.


Sunday June 14- Today was going to be the first time we have attended church in quite awhile. The service was shortened and there was plenty of precautions made. It was nice to be there in person instead of watching online. This morning when I was feeding the hummingbirds one actually landed on my finger to eat.

Didn't get a picture of that but I decided to put the feeders back on my knees and try to get a video.

Then for supper we went to Seth and Katie's. They called and invited us over. Jeff brought his guitar so he and Seth could play together. After we ate Justin and Molly showed up on there bikes. It was a really nice evening. The weather has been unbelievable.....so nice.

Monday June 15- Another grand day out there. Jeff's brother Fritz and his wife Shawn are coming up for the day. We had planned to make lunch. So after our cleaning stuff I got started on that. Then I just kept it warm in the instant pot. I think they arrived around 10 a.m. We went for a nice walk then came back and sat outside to visit. The wind was just enough to keep the bugs away. It was a perfect day out there. Our lunch was good and we sat outside after eating to talk some more. Seth, Hailey and there dogs came out to visit as well. It was a nice relaxing day catching up.

Tuesday June 16- This weather is awesome. Today I went on a road trip to Iowa City to go to Trader Joe's. We haven't been there since February. I had a long list of things to get. Lots of road construction going on in that area. The store wasn't all that busy, so that was nice. The shelves were all stocked which was nice too. When I got home I did my laundry. Then after supper Jeff went in to Palo to jam with his musician friends. While he was gone I had someone come to the door. She had a question.....she didn't want to be rude of offensive....she wanted to know when we would be leaving our site. She liked this site because it has full hook up. I guess she didn't notice the big brown camp host sign posted outside........


Wednesday June 17- Today was cleaning day at Seth's. I made a trip to Walmart before heading over. I did my cleaning and brought Hailey home with me to spend the night. She wanted to ride my bike, so papa adjusted the seat and he went with her. We had taco's for supper. Jeff took her down to fish for a bit. Then we settled in for the evening.

Thursday June 18- We had a full day planned.  After breakfast Hailey wanted to go to the playground. I wanted to go before it got to hot. So Hailey and I walked over. She played around on the equipment. She wanted me to take pictures. She used to get mad at me for taking pictures...not now.

We came back and had lunch. Then Hailey wanted to help give the dogs there baths. She did most of Ruby's, Jeff did Belle's. She thought it was funny that Ruby looked so different when wet.

Seth and Katie came out to pick up Sis. We had went to get pizzas for supper. When they arrived we had supper and then they took Hailey back with them.

Friday June 19- After our cleaning we went in to watch Maddyn. Justin and Molly are going to look at cars. The weather wasn't to nice. We stayed in and watched TV and read books. We had lunch and put her down for a nap. We just watched a movie until they got home. Then we got back and just stayed in. Park is full for Fathers Day. With the rainy weather at least the beach won't be so packed, maybe the DNR will get a break.

Saturday June 20- The weekend weather wise isn't suppose to be that good, so maybe all the campers won't show up. When we went to clean I see 3 places are no shows. I planned on getting some things done today. I had a list. I needed to do an update on the Florida Parks page. I also haven't kept up on this blog so I had lots of catching up to do. Then I wanted to cut the fabric for binding on my quilt. I also got it pressed, pinned and sewed on with the machine. I spent the rest of the afternoon and evening hand stitching it down. It looks finished but I still want to do a bit more quilting on the border part.

Sunday June 21- It's Father's Day....the boys called up and wished there Dad a  happy day. They had already gave him there gifts. We went to church again...it just seems so different with all the restrictions. After leaving there we drove to a furniture store to start our looking. When we went full time we sold everything. We are starting to look and purchase the must haves. We found some things that we think will be perfect. We got all the measurements so tomorrow we will go and see if it will fit. It is kind of overwhelming, we are trying to go slow and enjoy the process. Well in the afternoon we had some major rain roll in. Justin, Molly and Maddyn came out for a visit but had to wait in the truck because it was pouring. They made it in and it poured some more. Then just to make things interesting we got some hail. Well that's all for now....