Happy Birthday Eli!

I can't believe Eli is already 5 years old!

Yesterday was Eli's birthday so after a day of swimming everyone came over to our house for supper. (made by Amy) Eli said he wanted homemade mac and cheese, french fries and cereal for supper. He got the mac and cheese and fries but no cereal :) Rick went to the DQ to get a ice cream cake for him and was disappointed that they did not have any fun decorated ones!  They told him they could not keep up with the summer rush. So poor Eli just got this lame with one. Good thing he did not care and it was still delish!

Larina was spending the night at Amy's house so she got to come to the party too!

As soon as the highchair came out Morgan came a running. She knows that with the highchair comes food on the floor. Larina loved trying to feed Morgan

Cassie told me I could not feed Larina anything but fruit and vegetables........

So of course like all good Nana's I fed her some ice cream cake! She loved it so I am thinking it was a good thing to do :)


Sharon

Camping and Storms Do Not Mix.......

On Friday we went for a weekend camping trip to Lake Shetek State Park We had planed the trip months ago because the MSAA State Target was taking place in Marshall. Since Rick had his shoulder surgery he could not shoot but we went anyhow just to have a weekend away. Christa, Jese and Oliver also came just for fun and Tim and Julie came for the shoot and to go camping.

As we were driving to the campgrounds we were watching the weather because storms were popping up everywhere. I was sure they were all going to go north of us. Boy was I wrong. Just as we were checking in the weather radio in the Ranger Station went off reporting 80 mph winds, rain and hall. The ranger looked at me and said "that is for here and it is going to hit the park at 5:55 and the best shelter was the shower houses."  It was 5:45 when she told me this. Of course this put me into a pretty good panic since I knew Christa and Jese were in a walk in site in a tent. I got on the phone and told them to move to the shower house now! Since they were pretty sheltered and the wind had not started she did not see the black clouds coming so she pretty much blew me off. She said they were eating supper and would go after they were done. Well then the wind started up so they decided they better move. By the time they go the the shower house the wind was strong. They decided to make a run for it and come to the truck to hold up with us. I'll was able to relax a little after that. I hate storms. It got so windy and black out.

After the wind went down and it looked like it was just going to rain we made a run for the camper and got it set up. Christa, Jese and Oliver stayed for a bit and then decided it was time to go see if there tent survived the wind. Good thing I had some extra rain ponchos for them.

They were happy to find the tent was still up and dry. They did not have a very good night though because the winds came back up and one side of the tent started to blow in. Lucky Oliver slept though it all.

This is Christa and Jese's campsite. It was really nice and private

Christa told us that they were right next to the lake and we should bring our kayak over because we could put it in the lake from her site. Well that was before we got a ton of rain! The rain turned the nice path to the lake into a muddy, slippery hill.

Rick and Jese talking about how we are going to manage to get three kayaks down the hill.

After much slipping, sliding and muddy feet we made it to the lake.

It was perfect weather for a kayaking.

We forgot to put our rudder on so we were having a little trouble so we stopped at the boat landing and Rick ran back to the camper and got it. Once we had that was on we did much better.

Oliver and Jese taking a little walk to the island in the park.

Saturday night Christa and Jese had all of us over to there site for a campfire .

Christa and Jese had to leave on Sunday so after they left we went to Marshall to watch the shoot for a little while and visit with people. When we got back we took the dogs for a nice long walk. Sunday night we had supper with Julie and Tim . We also played corn hole. We had a lot of fun playing it. I think it is my new favorite camping game. 

It was a great trip and we love going to Lake Shetek State Park. We have to wait almost a month until our next camping trip. 

Sharon 

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow......

Oh it has been a long time since I have updated my blog! Life has been busy with a little bit of everything and I have been neglecting my blog. The short story is: sewing for Amy, signed up for a half marathon in October, Rick had shoulder surgery, Christa and Jese moved and are now living less then a mile away, being an executer of a estate is a lot of work, camping, yoga, seeing a lot of the grandkids and loving life!

So not that all of that is covered I will get on to todays post.....

Last weekend we went to Yankton for a camping trip. We had originally planned the trip because Rick was going to shoot in a archery tournament but since he has surgery all archery is out for a few months. Well we decided to go anyhow and just have a fun and relaxing vacation. Christa, Jese, Oliver, Amy, Liam, Josie and Eli all wanted to come too so we had a mini family vacation.

On my way to work on Thursday I ran over a cat! I was so sad and felt terrible about it. The cat just ran right in front of my car. I did not even have a chance to hit my breaks ....Well I should have taken it as a sign as to what was going to come....I think that cat cursed me!

We left about 2:00 with Christa and Oliver in the truck with us and Amy and kids following behind us. Jese was meeting us later since he had to work until 4:00.

All was going along good when we were just past the MN-SD border. Rick was just asking us if any of us want to stop at a rest stop when thank God he saw a giant road buckle from the heat. He somehow managed to slam on the breaks and swerve around it just missing it. When I think of what would have happened if we had hit it going 70 mph pulling a 30 foot camper it just makes me sick. We all agree that we had a guardian angle looking out for us....

We made it to the campground around 7:00. We got all set up and when I tried to turn the electricity on it would not work...I told Rick and and thought it was the battery so he cleaned off the connections and then it seemed to work.

We had a beautiful sunset right before we all turned in for the night....Well we tried to turn in. We were in the camper when we realized the lights were getting dimmer and dimmer and air conditioner was not coming on right. The battery was not charging like it should to keep things working. So we turned off everything we could and put the fridge on gas and went to bed.

Friday morning Rick made a lot of phone calls and did a lot of running around and came home with a battery charger. We had to keep the charger hooked to the battery so it could keep it going. That kept most of the stuff working for the rest of the weekend....

It was a hot, hot day so we headed to the beach to cool off. I do not remember the last time I spent so much time in the water! It was fun to be swimming again and playing with the grandkids.

We decided to get a inflatable kayak to take along with us when we go camping. We debated about getting a regular hard one but in the end decided to just go with the inflatable one since it was a lot cheaper and easier to pack up and haul when pulling the camper. Christa and Jese have two and love them. We figured that if we really like it we get a better one down the road. Anyhow we had fun with it on this trip. Rick could not really row because of his shoulder so I did most of the rowing :)

 After hours of beach time everyone was tired out.

 Otis retreated to the kennel, which we can never get him to go in when we want him to...

 Eli and Oliver decided that Nana and Grandpa's camper was a good place to take a nap.

On Saturday we decided that we should wait until later in the day to go to the beach so everyone was not so tired out by afternoon. Rick went to the Archery shoot to visit with some people and the rest of us just hung around the campgrounds. Christa, Jese and Oliver went for a long kayak ride in the morning. After they good back we decided to take turns with the rest of the kids. I took Liam with me. He was a great rower. Amy and Josie went first and them Amy and Eli. Christa was in the single seat one. We had lots of fun going around the lake.

For lunch we made French Dip Sandwiches over the fire in our new CanCooker. It worked great and  everyone loved them.  On a side note while getting the fire going I may have been walking around bearfoot when I cut my toe on some glass. It was kind of funny because it did not hurt that much so I did not even look at it, I just kept working on the fire. I looked down and saw that I was bleeding all over everything! Amy gave me a towel to wrap it in and I got into the camper and cleaned it up. It was only a small cut but it sure did bleed a lot.

Amy with the kids cooling off before heading to the beach.

After lunch it was beach time again.

 Amy watching everyone from her chair

 Can you tell they are father and son.....

Saturday evening Rick and Jese went for a bike ride and the rest of us went for a walk to the river.

A beautiful sunset over Lake Yankton

Sunday we decided to go on an adventure. First we went the Lewis and Clark marina and looked at all the big yachts.

After that we made our way into Nebraska so the kids could say they had been to another new state. We drove over the dam that holds the Missouri river back and had to stop and take a couple of pictures.

This is Lake Yankton our campgrounds is on the other side of it.

Once we got over we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center. The kids had a blast looking at everything.

Okay us adults might have been having a little fun too at the visitor center...

Sunday afternoon brought more swimming and evening brought a campfire and marshmallows.

After a very hot weekend rain was in the forecast for the evening but Amy decided that she was not going to put her rainfly on the tent. Well about 6:00 in the morning she got to rush her kids in the car when the rain started to pore down into her tent. Good thing she had packed up everything but the tent and cots the night before. Since we were all up we all got going by 8:00 and were on our way home.


So even though we had several unexpected things happen we just went with the flow and and relaxed and accepted that there was nothing we could do about it....In the end it was a great vacation. It was a lot of fun to spend time with the kids and grandkids on a trip with no agenda of things to do. It was all about relaxing and not letting the curse of the cat get me....

Sharon