A Weekend of Grand Kids

We spent the weekend with the grand kids.  They came to spend the night at Grandma’s.  Saturday was a nice day for the kids to play outside riding bikes.

Riding their favorite toy the 4 wheeler.

Later that night the rain came again and so we played inside and watched cartoons.  Here is Toby after his bath and Hailey playing with her toys.

Papa fixed yummy Mac & Cheese

The sun is out!!

Today the sun came out and although the temps could be warmer to my liking. After lunch i sat outside and visited with some other campers who came for the weekend.  We had a good visit and then it was time for dinner.

After dinner we took a needed run to Wal-mart to stock up on grocery for the week and junk food for the grand kids who are coming tomorrow. $60 bucks worth .. ughhh

Tonight was another night to bed early for me as i sat outside near 2 camp fire's today and my asthma was not liking that.  I used my inhaler both times  and i know i'm not suppose to be near them but i like visiting with others.  Plus i think i’m getting hubby’s sinus infection.  My throat and ears hurt from drainage.  I have to get rested up for my little jewels who are coming tomorrow.  I’m so excited to see them.

Dentist appointment

I was up around 6 am!  Hubby has a dentist appointment.  We arrived and they took hubby back but since he has been sick and fighting a sinus infection they couldn’t do anything to him.  So we left and headed to Aldies to pick up a few things and then back home.

Hubby went back to bed as he is sick.  Later i went up and got in the indoor pool and hot tub with Emily and Becky.  We had a good swim and the hot tub felt good. 

I came home and yes the rain started again!  Ughh more rain.  I was in bed by 8 pm as I wasn’t beginning to feel well.

I’m sick of Rain!

Today has been no different then the past 2 weeks.  It started out to be a cloudy day and by afternoon the rain began and hasn’t stopped.  Now cool temps have arrived and the weather is getting the best of me.

Other then one night of driving in hail for over a half hour we have been fortunate to miss most of the severe storms that areas around us, Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi and other states have been experiencing. 

Our campsite does flood but one plus is we are parked across the road from the brick bathhouse in case we have to head there from storms. 

Tonight i have done nothing.  The rain and cold has gotten to me and I'm down in my back big time.  It’s going to be an early night to bed laying on heating pads and sucking down the pain pills.  I’m so ready for sunshine and warm temps … I so remember why i do not like coming to Illinois in April! 

A Summer of Family and Friends

I probably won’t have much exciting stuff to post about as this summer. Right now I am needed here in Illinois.  My plans of heading west are up in the air at this time.

As full-time RVer’s there are still times when you are needed and when those times come around you stick around to be here for family.  Family is very important to me.  I’m not going to go into lots of details just that my oldest son is having some personal issues and after discussing all that is happening, I have decided that my grandkids need their grandparents.  

Unless something major happens my plans at this time are to volunteer enough for my camp spot and the rest of the time is going to be spent with my family and friends.  I have several good friends who spend their summer volunteering here at the Lake, so it will be a fun time for me.   

Sometime this summer a trip to Missouri will occur to the membership park I own.  A definite date has not been set for that yet. With the price of diesel fuel being over $4 a gal, staying in one spot for a long term period will cut down on expenses.

We’ve been home over a week and everyday we have had rain and today was no exception.  It poured down rain this afternoon and then finally the sun peaked out.  Of course our spot was flooded once again.  With all the rain there is no way of escaping the flooding.

The news has been reporting road closures and warnings of river banks flooding.  I talked to my older brother today and he is keeping an eye out as he may have to evacuate his home because of the river flooding.

I have another great niece today.  My sister Patty’s has gotten 2 grand daughters in the last 4 days.  Congrats sis and i look forward to seeing them both soon.

Rain and more Rain

I was up before 8 am!  Today i started my volunteer work.  My friend Cora arrived around 8.30 am to pick me up.  We are volunteering together.  I am doing some camp hosting and working a couple days a week in laundry.  It’s  just a few hours a day, a couple days a week but it still wears me out.  I’m thankful that i can do something.  I know what i do really isn’t much but it beats having to lay in bed or sit around all the time. 

We have had nothing but rain since we have arrived and sure enough it has drizzled rain off and on all day long and tonight it has poured and we are flooded again.  The poor dogs have to wade through water to go potty.

I’ve had a lazy night as the rain bothers my back and so I've spent my evening laying on a heating pad and just watching the tube.  It’s a early night of going to bed for me.  Hubby is sick with a fever and I'm not sure if it’s his kidney’s or the flu.

Happy Easter

 He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:3



I slept in this morning .. i was so exhausted!  I didn’t get up until almost 10 am!!  My day has been spent mostly just relaxing. Later in the day hubby took our bedroom AC apart and cleaned it as it was really dusty and we were getting a musty smell when you turned it on.  My allergies and asthma do not like musty.

Hubby and I did our own thing for church this morning.  We haven’t decided where we will be going to church.  The church we attended last year is having some problems and we just do not want to be involved in any drama.   So we spent time together reading and studying God’s word.  We also spent time together rejoicing in this most wonderful day of the year.  To us Easter is a very special day.

To some people Easter is the meaning of the bunny rabbit bringing candy and toys.  When our kids were little the Easter bunny left them goodies but we also celebrated the true meaning of Easter. 

The meaning of Easter is Jesus Christ's victory over death. His resurrection symbolizes the blood and pain Jesus Christ suffered as life drained out of him on the cross.  Jesus chose to give his life and bear the sins of the world.  We are promised eternal life is granted to all who believe in Him. The meaning of Easter also symbolizes the complete verification of all that Jesus preached and taught during his ministry. If He had not risen from the dead, if He had merely died and not been resurrected, He would have been considered just another teacher. However, His resurrection changed all that and gave final and irrefutable proof that He was really the Son of God and that He had conquered death once and for all.


Honor the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us all.

Our youngest son was suppose to show up for a cookout but as the day went on he didn’t show up.  I had cancelled plans with friends Georgia and Cliff to get together for cards because he was coming.  I have to admit neither of us were too disappointed that he didn’t show up as we are both a bit under the weather today. 

It’s been a dreary day, no rain but looked as though it could any time and it’s a bit on the cool side.  It has felt good to just relax in our comfy home and have some time to ourselves.  This past week has been fun being with our family.  But we were ready for a day of quiet time.

Family

We got up this morning and spent the morning with our grand kids and oldest son.  Then it was time for them to leave and i cleaned up my messy home.  I forgot how easy this place becomes a wreck when the kids are here.  Later in the afternoon i did a couple loads of laundry, took a shower and got ready to go meet our youngest son and dil to be for dinner. 

We went to our youngest son’s house and let our grand dog abuse us.  Mikia gets so excited when we visit or she visits us.  We meet our dil to be parents at a new restaurant in town .. bet you can guess .. Yep .. Chinese!!

Wow, it was very good … we had a great visit and then we went back to Gabe’s and i got a much needed neck rub.  It was time to head home and we stopped at Wal-mart for needed supplies .. bread, chips and oil. 

It’s been a great day but I'm exhausted and it isn’t going to be long and it’s going to be lights out for me.   We have missed our family and it’s so good to see them.

Grandkids again

I haven’t posted in a few days because I've been extremely busy having too much fun.  We picked up our grand kids Thursday morning.  Their spending a few days and nights. 

As you can see we spent our time having lots of fun

We had to go to Wal-mart and got a new bubble machine.  Last year’s just plain wore out.

We’ve spent time playing at the park

Thursday night the rain came and most of the day Friday it has rained and so far we’ve missed the severe storms that others were getting.  Since our outdoor fun ended … it was time to have fun inside.
 

Papa was great entertainment .. or should i say great to take out energy on .. thanks Papa.


Then we found a new game with Toby’s pull-ups.  Yep they work great as a hat!!!

Friday night their dad came over and spent the night with us too.

My Day off

I slept this morning until the phone rang.  I got up around 8 am.  It was a ruff night for me with the dampness and then the cold front that moved in.  Our power was out until around 3 am! I was glad to see it come back on as my back was killing me and i needed my heating pad.

I was very slow moving this morning and i didn’t get dressed until around noon.  Our power went off again around 10.30 am and didn’t come back on until around 3 pm!  So i spent my day relaxing and doing nothing!  

For lunch i threw some garlic bread in the oven to help heat up the place and warmed up some left over spaghetti.  I had to do it the old fashion way on the stove .. I could of had hubby get the generator going but didn’t see the need.

Later in the afternoon I checked in a camper for the weekend and then visited with my friend Cora.  Dinner was cooked oats as i was in the mood for breakfast.

My evening was spent catching up on blogs i follow and watching “Did you hear about the Morgan?”

Another day of Grandkids

We were awaken early by the down pour of rain and then it wasn’t long our son called to say the kids were coming over again today.  So we were up and dressed and out the door before 7 am to go get the grandkids.  On our way there we stopped and fueled up with diesel.  Ughhh another $75 bucks worth! Sunday before heading to see our grandkids we fueled up and it was $75 bucks and now on Tuesday another $75 bucks.  We are driving each day to go get and take the grandkids home it totals over a 100 miles a day!!  Hmmm are grandkids worth that much money?  Very simple .. YES!!! 

Our day started off cool and then the sun came out and it warmed up into the 80’s with high humidity. Until it warmed up enough to go outside we watched cartoon’s.  Sponge Bob and Dinosaur train are Hailey’s favorite .. Toby loves Dora.

Toby played with his tractors while Hailey played with her play dough.

Toby loves our stairs .. it was fun to watch him run up and down and then finally he sat on them to eat some toast. Then Hailey decided to color awhile.

Finally it warmed up and our campsite had a nice water pool from the rain and after our walk the kids wanted to play outside.  Yes Gram let them play in the water.  Gram had to give them both showers after our day of playing in the rain water .. snicker  I forgot to take pictures of them playing in the water.

Toby’s shirt says “Grandma bought this shirt with Grandpa's money
  
It was a another fun day of enjoying our precious jewels and later in the day it was time to take them home.  Of course it had to be when all the storms started heading our way.  On the way there we stopped at McDonald’s and waited one storm out and as we were waiting for their mom to get there we started getting rain and pea size hail.  Hubby was not happy.

We drove the entire 25 minutes back home in pouring rain and heavy hail.  At times it was ping pong size.  We arrived home to lake property.  Our home and where we park was flooded just like the roads we drove on.  I bet we had 3” of water that we had to wade through to get inside our home.  The rain continued off and on and we watched as several places were hit by tornado’s.  We have no clue what our truck looks like as we haven’t been able to see if there is any damage.  Will have to wait until tomorrow.

The kids would of loved this water pool .. were gonna have to have some rock brought in to keep us out of water.

I got me a shower just in time as i got out the electric went off and it still hasn’t come back on.  Looks like it’s going to be an early night to bed.  I’m not quite as exhausted today as i was yesterday.  I have to admit I'm looking forward to my day off tomorrow.

A Day with Grandkids

Hubby got up and went and picked up our grandson.  Hailey and I slept in just a bit .. Sleeping in til 7 am is something for Hailey .. Grandma on the other hand was up early.  Hubby arrived back with Toby and so the entire day has been spent spoiling Hailey and Toby our precious Jewels. 

We’ve taken walks, played outside, went to the park and watched cartoons.  Finally 5 pm came and it was time to take the kids back to their dad.  On our way we stopped at McDonalds and got cheese burgers and fries for the kids.


On our way home we stopped and saw our youngest son Gabe and his new babies.


This is one huge mama rabbit and below is her adorable baby

Gabe has rabbits for sale for anyone who needs a Easter present.

We have so missed our jewels and even though we are both exhausted .. we still had to make a quick trip to Wal-mart for needed supplies.  Milk, bread, coffee, ice cream, sugar, soda, snack cakes was needed.  $45 later we left .. ughhh

We arrived home after 8 pm and we are both exhausted and tomorrow starts a new day.  We have been going none stop since arriving and so it’s going to be a shower and to bed for me.  Grandma’s back and neck are killing her and she is feeling her day and then some.

Spending the day with family

We got up around 8 am and looked around and decided on a spot to park.  So the dreaded task of backing in was accomplished.  ( I still do not how to tell hubby to turn and so this process with me is not fun for hubby at all .. plus i have this thing about i know where i want the camper but he just doesn’t seem to be able to read my mind  .. LOL )

After we got backed in our youngest son and fiancé showed up and we did our hugs and spent the morning visiting with them.  Our grand dog Mikia sure was happy to see us.

Later that afternoon we had to make a run to see our grandkids and our oldest son.  It’s been a long day and our grand daughter ended up coming home and spending the night with us.  We have to be up early to go get our grandson.  We are babysitting our precious jewels.  We sure have missed our family. 

Happy Birthday Hubby

Today is my hubby’s birthday .. Happy birthday honey … I love you!!
 

I was awaken a little after 6 am and by 7 am i was ready to roll.  We got stopped by Ron and Dorothy to say “see ya later” and then we were on our way.   We stopped in Palestine to fuel up and then we were on our way. 

 
I love the over passes with all the art work .. state of Texas map and their star they are known as “the Lone Star State”

Hmm 2 states in 1.  Arkansas is closer

We just entered into Arkansas and left the welcome center.  Our goal is to reach Missouri to spend the night.
 
Look at all the green .. spring is in the air.  beautiful country.

few hills and curves

We had to travel several miles of horrible road!  To be an interstate it sure was ruff.  The camper in front of us was bouncing like a ball just as we were. 
   

We just entered Missouri and still daylight hours left. Looks like this rig is moving on down the road and it isn’t gonna stop until it get’s to where it’s going.


We traveled 836 miles .. 16 hours and crossed 4 states all in one day!  What a day it has been. 
We just pulled in off the side of the road for the night as it was after 11 pm when we finally arrived.  We plugged into electric and called it a exhausting night.  Tomorrow we will find a spot and set up camp.

Wow this Texas wind

Today is the day to get everything ready to roll.  So i was up early and finishing up doing the last of getting everything washed and cleaned.

The wind is blowing horribly today. Sure is making my home rock –n- roll.   In fact it will knock you over if your not careful.  The dogs know something is up and they are not letting me out of their site too much.  If i go outside, they want to go.  It’s amazing how they know when something is up and they get excited as they know they will get to go riding.  They are very good travelers and that is a good thing since we travel with 5 dogs.

Tonight hubby got a surprise b’day party.  Mrs. Mary baked him a 7 up cake.  It was a great way to end a wonderful winter and a great farewell.  Thanks to everyone who helped.

After dinner i spent some time visiting with Dorothy as it will be awhile before i see her again.  Then it was time to come inside and finish getting the last minute things going.  Tomorrow we will be on the road heading North .. night

Departure date decided

I haven’t done much to blog about this week.  The weather has been beautiful.  I’ve been cleaning and getting everything washed up.  Today i started packing pictures and things away.  Made several phones calls.

Been spending my evenings outside enjoying the fresh air.  Saturday is our departure date to head for Illinois … looking forward to seeing our family.

It’s Hot!

It is one hot day!  Temp’s reached 92 degrees.  So thankful to have AC again!  Our AC unit arrived just in time for the hot temp’s.  Now my washer/dryer is not working again!  Grrrrr …. last month the dryer stopped working and we ordered parts and it worked great for about 2 weeks and then it stopped drying.  Now it won’t even wash .. grrrr .. I’m beginning to think having one in a rig is a waste of money.  I could have done lots of load of laundry for what i have in this thing and now it’s broke again!   It’s going to have to wait until our journey back North to be looked at.

Not only is my washer/dryer down but the generator won’t start on the electric start.  Hubby tried charging the battery but no go.  At least it still works on the hand crank.  We made 4 stops today looking for one and no luck.  Guess that will have to wait until were back North as I've emailed the company to find out who still sales batteries for our generator.

We filled up with diesel and it’s $3.89 a gallon!!  Several places were $3.99.  We figure we will hit over $4 bucks on our journey home next week.  After we got home we just spent our afternoon trying to stay cool.  I got a bit of sunburn yesterday so i didn’t want to be out in the sun much today.  At least it’s not burning.


It was after 7 pm before it cooled off enough to sit outside comfortably.  I sat outside until after 10 pm and then it was time to come and get my shower and ready for bed.

A warm day

I got up and got my cleaning going.  I had to wash bed sheets and covering.  Vacuumed the entire camper and did my dishes.  It’s a beautiful day

The carports are as finished as they are going to get for now.  In a few weeks the painters will be arriving to paint them.  The doors were taken back off until the rest of the arrive and the locks.  The wind we’ve been having was slamming them and it was concerned they were born torn off.  So they were removed.
 
They have nice storage inside of them, peg board to hang things on.

Our days here are getting closer to an end and a new departure date is being discussed.  I will let you all know when we decide. 

After lunch I went swimming with Jessica.  It was very cold on that first dip but then the water felt good.  With the hot sun beaming it made the pool feel good.  We swam over an hour and i even got a bit of sun finally!

After dinner, i worked on putting a DVD together for hubby to use this weekend for chapel.  He volunteered to do chapel services and wants to use a DVD our journey so far.

It’s almost 11 pm and the temps are still at 80 degrees!  I am enjoying Texas warmth and sure hope that Illinois gets it soon when we return.