Monday, August 31, 2009

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Last Wednesday was my Dad's 81st birthday, so my whole family gathered at the lake to celebrate. It wasn't the greatest weekend to spend at the lake -- rain and highs in the 60s predicted for the whole weekend -- but we went anyway. We did wait until Saturday morning since it was raining non-stop all day Friday, and Tom was still working on the brakes on his car (a 1-day project that turned into an all-week project!).

We left our house around 10 am and decided to take the scenic route, rather than the interstate. Along the way, just past Michigan International Speedway, in Brooklyn, MI, there was a Harley-Davidson dealer having a custom bike show. Tom and the boys wanted to stop and look around, so we did. It was a busy place, and we saw lots of cool bikes. Tom is thinking about a couple of motorcycles or scooters to carry in the toyhauler, to use in place of the 450 when we're parked someplace. Still thinking about it . . .

We finally arrived at the lake around 2pm, and my brother pulled in right behind us. It was chilly and windy, but the sun was shining on and off. My brother was in charge of dinner (shish-kebob, rice, potatoes, salad, veggies), and my one sister and I each made a cake. Mine was my Dad's favorite chocolate cake, and my sister made an ice cream cake.

YUM!

From Family



From Family



What do you get an 81-year old who has everything? Restaurant gift cards, lottery tickets, and I bought him a couple of new shirts -- I'm tired of seeing him in the same ones all the time!! LOL! Oh, yeah, my sister bought him tomatoe juice!


From Family



The wind finally died down some, so we had a fire at my sister's trailer and it was very pleasant.
These are my 2 oldest sisters -- Sandi and Diane.



From Family



The next morning was very chilly, and we headed home shortly after lunch. Monday was back to school and work, so we all had to get home early.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Back to school!!!

From SSA_First Day


Yesterday the boys started back to school, after a summer that just wasn't long enough! They complained about going back already, but they were excited to see all their friends again. Opening mass was very crowded, with lots of parents in attendance as well as all the students. Nicolas is "Altar Server Captain" this year, so he served at mass and will be in charge of making up the schedule for altar servers and training the new 5th grade servers.

From SSA_First Day


After mass, there is coffee, tea, juice, pastries and fruit in the gym for all the moms and dads. This gives all of us time to re-connect, and sign up for volunteer opportunities. I took some "first day of school" pictures for the yearbook, and then visited with some friends for awhile before heading out to Kroger. The boys just had a 1/2 day for the 1st day, so I didn't go all the way home. I was back to pick them up at noon, and we headed home for lunch. Our mower is still broken, so Tom had asked our neighbor if it was OK for us to borrow his old mower and let Nicolas mow the yard. He was OK with it, so that's how Nicolas spent his afternoon. He had fun driving the mower around!

From SSA_First Day


They had their golf lesson that evening, so we headed out after a quick dinner of corned beef sandwiches and mac&cheese. The were working on driving this week, and Nicolas did really well. Bryce was a little tired, I think, and was having a bad night -- he got pretty frustrated. They played a quick round of miniature golf after the lesson, and we stopped for slushies on the way home. That improved Bryce's mood a little bit, but he still needed sleep.

Today was their first full day of school, and they both had homework, so I guess things are getting into full swing. Tomorrow I'm back at work in the office, so we had all better get to bed!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

This is the moment of truth - will it fit???

You may remember that just before we left home last week, we had a taller door installed on our barn to accomodate the new RV. Well, today we came home from our latest camping trip, and it was time to see if it fits through the door!

First, Nicolas and Tom spent about 3 hours giving it a good wash -- 1st one it's had!



From 200906_RVandTruck



Lookin' good!!


From 200906_RVandTruck



Then, it was time . . . first Tom had to get it turned around so he could back it up to the barn.


From 200906_RVandTruck



He's starting through the door - we're watching the top of the ladder and the air conditioner very closely!


From 200906_RVandTruck



OK, he cleared the door opening, but now we have to keep an eye on the overhead lights!


From 200906_RVandTruck



We're in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From 200906_RVandTruck

From 200906_RVandTruck

From 200906_RVandTruck


I can't believe it fit, and it actually wasn't as difficult as I though it was going to be to back it into the barn! Of course, I wasn't the one driving! LOL!!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Lazy day, pizza and sand dunes

After a late night catching up on blogs and posting on mine, we all slept in this morning. A cold front moved through last night and, although the rain mostly missed us, we did have clouds and cooler temperatures today -- I think it topped out around 75 degrees. It was a welcome break from the last several days of near-90s! We hung out at the camper while the kids played tennis and basketball, and I made some oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies for an afternoon snack. The kids all went for a swim int he afternoon, and then we all decided to take a drive over to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes area on Lake Michigan, and find some pizza for dinner. I checked the internet, and found Hart's Pizza, which advertised homemade crust and all fresh ingredients -- sounded good, so that was our destination. We found Hart's Pizza, and all enjoyed a delicious dinner of pizza and salad. Here's Nicolas with his little friend, Leah, after dinner.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


We still had a few hours of daylight, so we decided to go check out the sand dunes. These dunes are between Lake Michigan and Silver Lake, and are very pretty, especially with the sun setting in the background.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


Unlike Sleeping Bear Dunes, these are not a national park, so they still have dune rides and allow private behicles on the dunes. We found a spot to park, and the kids all scrambled up the dune. They watched several vehicles driving around on the dunes, and then ran down. Some made it down on their feet

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


and some didn't!

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


After a quick stop at Craig's Cruisers for a go-cart ride -- we can never pass them up, we headed back to the RV Resort.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


Since it was 10pm by the time we got back, we decided to pass on the campfire, and just went inside to watch a little TV and I worked on getting on the internet (which took awhile!). The boys needed showers anyway, to wash off all that sand!!

That's it -- tomorrow is our last full day, and it looks like the weather will be nice (high 70s and partly sunny). I just noticed that some of my pictures are blurry -- I need a new camera! I just can't catch anything in motion!

Five days of georgeous weather!

We arrived at the River Ridge RV Resort, just south of Big Rapids on Michigan's west side, around 8:45 pm on Wednesday. Thinking we'd have just enough daylight left to get set up, we checked in and went quickly to our site. Although the site was big enough (they're all the same size), it was on a narrow inner road with the site across from it occupied, so Tom could not maneuver this big rig onto the site. After consultation with the Resort Director and a "security" guy, they determined that we would be better off on a site on the main raod which had more room for negotiating the trailer onto the site. They found us one that was available for the week we're staying here, and with 3 "helpers" we got it parked. Here's our site from the road,

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


and from behind.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


We back up to a common area that leads up to the bathhouse, shown here with the west Michigan sunset in the background.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


The sites are not huge, but they are roomy enough, and nicely landscaped. That's one thing that this place really has going for it -- it's very clean, and the sites are all immaculate! We have full hookup, including cable, on a paved site. WI-FI is available, although not free ($3 per day), and not always very reliable -- the reason why I'm still not doing daily postings. I'm beginning to seriously doubt the full-timer's ablility to rely on campground WI-FI for internet connection. I think when we go on the road, we'll definitely get an aircard, especially if the boys are doing any online coursework.

We haven't done much while we've been here -- it's been in the upper eighties, with the humidity increasing each day. The pool is nice, and we've spent much of each day there, as well as biking, walking and playing pool.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


The resort also offers a clubhouse (by the pool),

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


a marina on the Muskegon River with a restaurant and store,

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


tennis courts, shuffleboard, and basketball,

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


and a playground and volleyball court.

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids


They have scheduled activities on Saturdays, but if this weekend's "Beach Party Weekend" was any indication, they are kindof lame. Nice for families with small children, though, as they tend to cater to the younger ones. The majority of the staff and workkampers we have met here have been very nice, but a few of them were pretty abrasive, and one in particular didn't seem to be too fond of "non-seasonal" campers.

The boys are getting alittle bored with the pool, so today we went several miles downstream to the Hardy Dam, where there's a county park with a beach. It was a small beach -- not too bad, but the water had quite a bit of leaves and weeds floating around, so we didn't do much swimming. On the way back we found an ice cream shop -- Udderly Delicious -- and enjoyed some of the biggest ice cream cones we've ever had! I wanted to get a picture of Nicolas', but while I was getting my camera from the truck, he put his cone into a cup -- you'll have to take my word for it that it was HUGE!

From 200908_River Ridge_Big Rapids

That's about it so far. There may be some rain coming through tonight -- hopefully it will bring down the humidity -- and we're not sure what we'll do for our last 2 days, but I'm sure it'll be enjoyable! I'll let you know about the rest of the trip once we get home!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

New barn roof and golf lessons

Today was a busy day. Tom and I had to go to work, so the boys spent the day with Aunt Denise and Kathleen. We picked them up after work and then had to quickly get home, change and get to Nicolas' guitar lesson at 6pm and their golf lessons at 7pm -- and somewhere in there we needed to grab a quick dinner!!

While we were at work today, our barn guy was putting on the new roof. We arrived home to this scene.

From Barn and Golf Lessons


We thought it was already finished, but they still have the other side to do. They'll finish it up tomorrow, and the garage door guys will add the new section to the overhead door. So, when we get home from camping next week, we'll be able to get the X-Aire in the barn!! Yeah!!

After a quick checkup with the barn guys, we were off. Nicolas' guitar lesson went well, and we picked up a $5 pizza for dinner. Both boys are doing really well in their golf lessons, too.

From Barn and Golf Lessons

From Barn and Golf Lessons


I like the pro who's working with them -- he does a really good job, and there's only 5 kids in the clinic, so he spends lots of time with each of them. We'll miss next week's session because we'll be camping, and when I signed up they said the boys could come to the Saturday session that week. When I talked to the pro tonight though, he said that the Saturday session is more full, so he'd rather just tack an extra Tuesday on to the end of the clinic, and he'll spend a 1/2 hour working with Nick, and a 1/2 hour working with Bryce. That works for us!

Well, tomorrow afternoon we head out for our next camping trip. This time is to a private campground about 40 miles north of Grand Rapids, MI. It should be a fairly easy 3 hour drive for us, and we'll leave when Tom gets home from work. The weathermen are promising a week of 85 degree, sunny weather -- I can't wait!! I've got about a 1/2 dozen books lined up to read!! This will also be a good chance for us to check out the new RV fully -- we'll have 50 amp electric, water, sewer, and cable, and they're supposed to have good free wi-fi -- let's hope it works reliably!

OK, time for bed -- if all goes well with the wi-fi, I'll be able to post regularly over the next week, maybe even daily!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A day at the county fair

Today the boys and I went to the Wayne County Fair to watch my niece show her horse. Never having been involved in 4-H myself, I knew pretty much nothing about it, but learned a little bit today. Kathleen is in the "Protege", which means that she is learning from an older member of her 4-H club. Today was their "pattern" class, in which each rider took their horse through a specific routine (pattern), and they were judged on their performance, as well as how well they controlled their horse (I think).

Anyway, it was a beautiful sunny day, and a great day to be outside. Here's Nicolas and Bryce with their Aunt Denise (my sister-in-law, married to Tom's brother), and their cousin, Kathleen. Kathleen is on the right.

From 200908_Wayne County Fair


Here's Kathleen leading her horse, Jack, out of his stall.

From 200908_Wayne County Fair


The boys with Kathleen, as she waits for her turn in the Arena.

From 200908_Wayne County Fair


Kathleen with her Mom and her Protege Instructor, Dawn.

From 200908_Wayne County Fair


This is during the trotting portion of the routine. For a 10-year-old, she does really well and has great control of the horse. Her instructor doesn't even follow her around in the arena as many of them do. She just stays off to the side and watches.

From 200908_Wayne County Fair


Now her routine is over, and she's exiting the arena with her instructor. She ended up taking 3rd place, out of about 12 or so riders. She did a really good job -- we're very proud of her!

From 200908_Wayne County Fair

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Maybe the market is looking up

I got a call this afternoon from our Realtor that there was another request for a showing of our house -- Yeah!! Maybe the market is looking up! Tom says it's because we just signed a contract to have a section added to our barn door to accomodate the X-Aire!! LOL! (I know Ford stock is up, and that's doing wonders for our 401Ks!!) So, since I was planning on taking the kids to watch their cousin show her horse at the fair tomorrow, our Realtor will be showing the house while we're gone. I'm excited to see what this person has to say!

Tonight the boys had the 1st session of their 4-week golf clinic. Tom stayed with them and hit a bucket of balls while I went to Kroger to stock up on groceries. When I got back, the boys wanted to hit a bucket of balls, too, so I got them one and watched them. They are both quite good -- they can hit the ball very far, and mostly straight. I hit a few, and I'm not too bad either, especially since it's been about 15+ years since I had lessons! I think golf may be a good sport for all of us to enjoy together while we're on the road.

Now that we're home, we're going to give the house a good once-over so it's ready for the showing tomorrow. One good thing is that we're not home much in the summer, so it stays pretty clean. I'll let you know what I hear from this showing!