Clean windows..

We finally got to sleep in this morning, but did not take advantage of it. We got up around 7am. I had to water and Beth was playing on the computer. I had to pick Kyle up and Beth waited for the window cleaning people to arrive. After picking up Kyle, we went to McDonald's to get Beth a McCafe and then back home. The window cleaning people were already here and started. Boy what a difference it makes. They clean the windows on the inside, outside and the screens. Guess the birds will really run into the windows now. I had to pull weeds in both flowers beds today. The ones in Pooh's corner were really bad with new grass and the one next to the house had dead daffodils that needed to be taken out. After lunch Kyle and I went to the movies to see Transformers 2 and Beth began putting the sealer on the bar. Boy does it really look good with the gloss finish. Needs another coat but we have to sand between coat, so we will do that tomorrow. Today's pictures are of the little tin garden ornaments we got at the festival yesterday. The first one is Skeeter the mosquito and the other is Rin Tin Tin the dog. Beth named them.

Kutztown Folk Festival Day

We got up at the normal 7:30 am time. I had to water the pots and the tomato plants since we did have some rain last night. Dawn came over about 9am and we headed to the festival. It took us about an hour to get there. They have a lot of crafty type items and tons of food. We wondered to the first part of the shops and I headed to the car to drop the first load, while Dawn and Beth waited in the beer tent. After I returned and they finished their beer, we headed down the food isles and to the second part of the crafts. We had ordered 2 mats and frames, one for Disney '10 and Alaska. They said it would take about 20 minutes to cut the mats, so we checked out all the places to eat. So many choices from brats, pork tenderloin, hamburgers, fries of all kind, hot dogs, and not to mention desserts. After lunch, we picked up our mats and frames and made trip to the cars. After dropping off those items, we headed back to the the first area to check out some items. it was beginning to get a little hot out and our legs were tired of walking, so off to the car we went. I love festivals... Today's picture was taken in Fairbanks Alaska and show the mountain run off water which is the dirt brown color meeting the clear fresh water. It was kinda cool to see the two types of water meet.

Pool day...

Since the diner is closed for the next 4 weeks, I got to sleep in late. I made breakfast at home for us and then watered the plants. Maggie called and asked if it was OK for them to come over and go swimming. Beth said sure and she could use Kyle's help again. So they cam over about 11am. Beth and DJ ran to the bank and then to the store for hot dog buns. Payton was a little cranky, so Maggie put him down for a nap. Beth wanted to get the bushes trimmed before the guys came to clean the windows on Tuesday and we are going to be gone all day tomorrow, so today was the day. So her and Kyle were off to trim and the rest of us jumped into the pool. Payton woke up about a hour later and we fixed brats and hot dogs on the grill. After lunch, Beth and Kyle finished the trimming and joined us in the pool. It was a great day swimming and hanging with friends. Today's picture is of the little trading post in Denali Alaska. We loved the little bear and moose carvings.

Another humid day..

We finally got to sleep in late this morning which meant I was up at 8am and Beth was up at 8:35am. I only had to water the tomato plants due the the rain we had last night. We spent most of the morning doing nothing and boy was it nice. Beth's mom cam over about 10:30 for a short visit. I then headed to wal-mart and Beth began cutting the grass. I mostly had to get diesel for the car. As I was pulling into the driveway, Beth's mom was also pulling in. She had been to the mall and purchased watch bands and needed Beth's help to adjust them. While Beth was doing that, I made lunch for the three of us. After she left, Beth went back to cutting the grass. I came out to bring her something to drink and her the lady next door was calling for Ryan, her 4 year old grandson. You could tall by her voice that something was wrong. So we went to see what happened. She told us she could not find him anywhere. And of course with the guy running around in the woods last week, we all went into a panic. We all started calling for him and looking for him, but no luck. Beth and Diane went back into the house and behold he was hiding in the bedroom closet. I guess he loves to play hide and seek and is really good at it. So thank god we found him. What a scary situation. We had to get cleaned up and head to Dawn and Jojo's. We were going to Karen's for a house warming party and were not sure how to get there, so we followed them. We had a great time and had great food. Today's picture is of the covered wagon we rode in while we were in Alaska. The horses where hugh.

Installing cabinets...

We had to get up at 7am again this morning. We are helping Dawn install 3 cabinets and a storage unit in her garage today. Dawn arrived about 9am. We had to go to Lowe's and get the units. She got them at a great price except we had to put them together before we could install them. So we loaded the truck with 4 containers and 2 1x6 boards to be used as a ledger bar. We got to Dawn's a little after 10 and began working on the ledger bar. It was easy to put up and made sure it was level so we did not have to try and level that cabinets and attach them to the wall at the same time. It took us 45 minutes to put together the first cabinet, 30 for the second, and 25 for the last on. The we put together the tall storage cabinet which took a about 45 minutes. Since Kyle had to be home by 4:30, we came home picked up Kyles stuff and took him home. It was a very humid day and a little break was nice. We headed back to Dawn's about 4pm and began hanging the cabinets. It only took about an hour to hang them all. The hardest part was adjusting the front door so they closed properly. We finished up just as Jo came home with the boys. Dawn made hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill. Boy was it tasty after a long humid day of working. We had a really bad storm go by with lots of wind, but not much damage at our house. Thank god we get to sleep in late tomorrow. Today's picture is of the bunny that has taken up residency in the front yard. He really is not afraid of humans and just kind hangs in the yard. Cute but him and his buddies eat my flowers.

Pool day...

Last day of football camp for kyle. Same routine as the last 3 days. Up at 7am, breakfast, water plants, then off to take kyle to football camp. Jojo arrived about 9:45am and was ready to get in the pool. It was a hot and muggy day today. I was able to see about 45 minutes of kyle scrimmage. We had lunch by the pool today, chili slaw hotdogs and chips. Then it was off to swimming. The water felt really cold when you first got in, but you got used to it after a while. Kyle put the first coat of paint on the deck sides. It needs another coat. but looks really good. We got out of the pool around 3pm for an hour rest period. Dawn and the twins came over about 4:30pm. So we all went swimming again. It was a little colder since the sun was not really shining as much as the afternoon, but was nice to finally get in the pool. Big Jojo came by after work and we ordered pizza for dinner. Kim and Lynne came by to pick up little Jojo and ended up also having pizza with us. It was a great day in the pool and visiting with everyone. As promised, here are pictures of the base bar. We still need to do the create the top umbrella and add fake grass edging, but the base part is done. Not bad.

Trim work from hell...

Had a hard time sleeping last night, so I was up at 5:10am. Took a shower and went out to water. No rain again last night. I got Kyle up at 7am so he could take his pill and eat breakfast before going to camp. He got to be the quarterback of his team today when they had scrimmage games. Today was the day we wanted to finish the bar. I now have a better appreciation for people who do trim work. We had to cut 16 pieces of trim, stain them, and then install them. What a pain. I was able to catch the last half hour of Kyle's practice and he did really well, but he said his team lost. After I picked him up, we went to wal-mart for a few things then on to Lowe's for the second time already today. We had a couple of rain drops but nothing could stop us from finishing the bar. After making 2 more trips to Lowe's for more trim pieces, the assembly of the bar is completed. We still need to put a sealing coat or two, but the cutting, sanding, staining, and nailing are completed. It was too late to take a good picture of it, so it will be on tomorrow night's blog. Today's picture is of the local squirrel robbing the birds food. Some days they are able to get the holder off and drag it into the bushes so they can have it all to themselves.

The Sun was shining...

Up again early this morning to take kyle to football camp. After camp I had to stop by McDonald to get Beth a McCafe Coffee. She is addicted to them. She was still in bed when I got home. I had to water since this is the third day in a row with no rain. The plants are starting to dry out and grow with a little sun shine. I worked on cleaning house while Beth trimmed the shrubs. Had to pick Kyle up at noon and then we had lunch. After lunch, kyle helped Beth pick up the shrub clippings. Our yard is looking really good. We worked on the bar a little bit and we are going to get the final trim pieces tomorrow. Then we get to work on the top. We already have some ideas and hope they will work. Today's picture is of the mask carvings in costa maya.

Football camp week..

Had to get up early this morning. Kyle has football 4 days this week and we have to pick him up at 8am and deliver him to the high school by 8:30am. Since I had no idea where we were going and we both were seeing Dr. Bill at 9am, Beth had to go also. So off we went to get Kyle, drop him off, and head to the chiropractor. We were early for the chiropractor, so we stopped and had a quick breakfast. After getting a much needed adjustment, we made a quick stop at Ace hardware for a couple of items. We had to pick Kyle up at noon and I needed Beth to go with me again just to make sure I did not get lost. The back grass was so tall that it would need to be cut twice, so she started on it hoping to get one cut done before we left and she did. After picking Kyle from camp, we headed back home for lunch. The sun was shining for a change and it was a little warm out. After lunch, continued cutting the grass and I did the weed whacking. After that we worked on the bar some more. We completed 5 of the 6 steps and have a little trim work left. we stopped for the day and I took Kyle home. I made a pot of ham and beans and we had that with some cornbread for dinner. We had grilled pineapple with a rum butter sauce on it for dessert. We are trying new things to see if we want to have them for the Luau. This was a keeper. Today's picture is from our March cruise on Holland America's Eurodam, we went to a fruit and veggie carving demostration. The carvers are amazing, I would have cut most of my fingers off doing it.

Happy Father's Day...

Same Sunday routine. Beth went to church and I slept in as late as possible this morning. We went to breakfast at the dinner. They are closing Wednesday for 4 weeks. Guess we will have to eat Sunday breakfast at home for the next 4 weeks. After breakfast we went to Lowe's to look at trim pieces for the bar. We decided to finish everything first then get some decorative trim. I called my step dad to wish him a happy father's day and we really did nothing most of the afternoon. We meet Beth's mom and dad at The Outback for dinner around 3pm to celebrate father's day. Since the sun was shining, Beth cut the front yard since it only required sitting on the mower and not pushing it. I did laundry and gathered trash for tomorrow's pick up. We have a busy week with taking Kyle to football camp the next 4 days, watching Jojo on Thursday, and trying to finish the bar. Today's picture is of a very fat blue jay that landed on the bird feeder. Never seen one that big and fat before.

Assembly Required...

Beth had an early morning haircut since she forgot about it 3 weeks ago. I had to water and fertilizer the tomato plants. I knew it was going to rain but they were in need of a little fertilizer since they were in the growing period. We learn today the Dawn and Jojo's dog, Bailey, passed away last night. She was 12 years old and was very loved. She will be missed. We finally started assembling the bar today. We are about 2/3 the way done and it is coming along nicely. Hopefully we can complete the assembly tomorrow and then finish the touch up sanding and stain. We then will have it wait for better weather to put a sealing coat on the whole thing. We are so excited. We have a Phillie's game tonight and hope the rain will stop before game time, but who knows. Today's picture is of the sunset in P-town and the guy is doing is Rocky pose.

Snakes 0 - Jeanette 3

Did not sleep well last night knowing that someone might be running around outside, but no news about it this morning. Had to water the tomato plants only. We had breakfast and began working outside. Kyle was not motivated to work at all, so he brushed the pool wall again to remove the spots he missed the first time. Beth began staining the rest of the tiki bar wood and I began moving the last 2 pallets of bricks. Kyle said he did not want to move anymore. I moved about 2/3 of the first one and noticed something under the pallet. I thought it might be a chimp muck as I just saw one playing in the yard, but knew Kyle found a snake skin yesterday by the bricks. And sure enough it was a snake. It was hard to tell how long it was at first. I moved the remaining bricks from the pallet and knew the snake was under the last one. So the hunt for it began. I tried to flush it out the back of the pallet with the hose but to no success. There were a couple of bags of rock base on top of the bricks and when I pulled one off the snake was laying under it to avoid the water. That is when I got a good look at how big it really was. OK big might not be the best term. It was about 18 inches long and about 1/2 around. And mad that it had been messed with. So I began moving the brick stack by stack so that I could get a clean shot at killing it. It had every chance to crawl out the back and into the woods, but no it was not going. Finally with Beth's help, which we all know she HATES snakes, I was finally able to move enough bricks to kill it. We finished moving the rest of the bricks and the bags of other stuff laying around to behind the shed. The driveway is now brick free and ready for additional parking. I finally had to kill the not one but 2 snakes living in the window well. One of them had babies cause I saw a couple of little ones about 2 inches long but was unable to kill them. So that is how the Snakes 0 and Jeantte 3 title rolled around. DJ picked up Kyle after she got off work and we finished cleaning up around 4pm. We went out to dinner since we both were tired from being outside all day. Today's picture is of a really cool sunset at Beth's parent condo in Marco Island Flordia.

Excitement in the neighborhood...

We woke up to another rainy gloomy day. Payton arrived about 7:10am. After our showers, I fixed pancakes for breakfast. I made some with chocolate chips and some plain. Payton had more pancakes then Kyle did. I guess he was a hungry little boy. Since it was raining we decided to go to Exton shopping. Payton fell asleep on the way there, so Beth stayed in the car with him while Kyle and I went into Barnes and Noble. We were in there about 45 minutes. When we returned to the car, Payton was awake, so we headed to Sam's club. Picked up a few things and it was getting to be lunch time. We headed to Cheeseburger Paradise for some lunch. We all had cheeseburgers of some kind except Payton, who had mac & cheese and fries. After lunch, we headed to Toys R Us. We were looking for some games for the luau party, but did not really find anything we liked. On the way home Payton looked like he was going to fall asleep and Beth was happy about that, as she would be able to take a nap with him. As we pulled into the driveway, we saw 2 cars in the neighbors driveway and 3 guy standing beside them. Not thinking anything was wrong, we headed into the house. Beth took Payton into the bedroom for her much needed nap. Payton did not like that idea. I headed to the office and could hear the men talking outside. Then all of a sudden Kyle can running down the hall saying the police and a police dog were in the woods behind out house. And sure enough they were and the dog was running up and down the tree line. Living in the city for several years and seeing the process, I knew they were looking for someone. I went outside to lock all the car doors. They unmarked cars and the officers spent the next 4 hours in and out of the woods and driving by our house. The neighbor lady came by and said the police said they could not say anything but that they were looking for someone that alluded them all day. So now we have to keep all the windows and doors locked tonight. Good thing I take sleeping pills or I would not get any sleep. So we will get a paper tomorrow and see if there is anything in it about the excitement we had in the neighborhood. Today's picture is of a bunny that was sun bathing under the walking stick bush we have. Not a care in the world.

Stain day..

Got up early this morning. Had to water and it looked like it was going to rain any minute. I wanted to get the area around the mailbox completed and the plants in the ground before the rain. So I began stacking bricks in a circle around the planting area. Kyle began moving the brick to the back of the shed. He was really motivated today and moved 2 of the 4 pallets. Beth was able to get most of the staining completed before cutting the grass. We finally received the flavor bars for the grill and Beth was dying to have steak for dinner. The rain finally started about 3pm, but stopped long enough for me to grill dinner. Suppose to rain all night and tomorrow. We have Payton tomorrow and should have fun. Today's picture is of some of the little pieces and the front panel for the tiki bar.

Start to stain...

It rained a little last night but I still had to water the tomato plants. They are really growing and I guess using a lot of water. They are also loaded with little tomatoes. After that, I began working on the circle by the mail box. Had to til the clay and added about 6 bags of dirt and manure to help the soil. We are hoping this will help plants live for more than one year. We figure this area gets a lot of salt in the winter and needed help. I have 2 peony bushed to plant there first. If they bloom again next year we will add more plants next year. Don't want to spend a lot if they are going to die. Kyle started moving bricks but only lasted an hour. Said he was not feeling well, but I think he just did not want to work. So we will see if he continues tomorrow. Beth began staining some of the small boards. They really look nice and can't wait to start putting it together. It was cool and cloudy again today. Hope the weather is better tomorrow. Today's picture of the ruins in Costa Maya. I climbed to the top and boy was it a long ways up.

Sanding day...

Since we finally had a night with no rain, I had to water the plants this morning. After that, we went over and picked up Kyle. He is staying with us for the week and doing some projects around the house to earn money for his trip to KC. We had to go to the pool store and get a new bag for the pool vacuum. The other bag would not stay closed any more. We lad to go over to Kim's and water her tomato plans and we picked up the little tykes playhouse. We stopped and had pizza for lunch before returning home. Then it was off to the garage to start sanding all the boards for the tiki bar. Beth worked on staining some scrap pieces to determine the colors we wanted. We ended up mixing the 2 colors we got to make a Caribbean blue and it looks great. We managed to get all the little pieces done and have the big pieces still to do. So tomorrow will be another sanding day and maybe even the beginning of the staining process. Today's picture is of a sun setting in Arizona we took on one of our trips there. I love the colors..

Lumber cutting day...

We went to breakfast this morning at the diner. They will be closing next weekend for their 3 week vacation. After breakfast we began cutting the pieces for the tiki bar. Using the miter saw made it much easier and we both had fun using it. Cutting the pieces from the plywood proved to be a little harder, but after a few cuts Beth got the hang of it and did well. We had to return a couple of pieces to Lowe's and pick up a couple more pieces, but everything is all cut. Next we will sand the pieces and test the stain colors on them to make sure we still like the colors. We were finally able to get into the pool the afternoon and boy did it feel good. Temperature was around 78 degrees. After dinner Beth went up to see her parents and to take her mom a sample of the coconut banana soup. She is sure she will not like it, but Beth said the same thing and now loves it. We should be able to make it to the hot tub as there is no sign of rain. Today's picture is of the pieces we cut today for the tiki bar. Let the staining begin.

Visit with the Rhotinis

We slept in this morning and we got to bed late watching the Phillies lose in extra innings. I had to water the tomato plants, but the rest of the flowers were fine and did not need water. Beth started cutting the grass hoping to get it done before the rain. I took our cruise cloths to the cleaners and boy was it expensive. Then headed to the pack and ship to ship my mom a present. So be on the look out for a package. Beth was half way done with the front when a one cloud rain shower passed over. It was a light rain she was able to continue mowing. She finished up around 1:30 and we had soup and salad for lunch. A big rain storm started about the time we were to head to the Rhotinis so we waited awhile before heading out. After about 2o minutes it let up and we headed over. It was great fun visiting and playing with the twins and are glad Jo is feeling better. Today's picture is of the pile of lumber in the garage waiting to become a tiki bar. We will hopefully start cutting tomorrow so Beth can stain them before we assemble them.

Lumber day...

Today we decided to go and get the lumber we needed for the tiki bar. It took us an hour and 1/2 get all the things needed. We had to search all the pile of lumber to find straight and not so knotty pine boards. We moved Beth's car out of the garage and unloaded the lumber there. We called Beth's brother to see if he had a miter saw we could borrow. It would be easier to cut the board using it than by hand. He did, so we told him we would be up after dinner. Beth went to the nursery on 724 to see if the tiki style chairs were still on sale and of course they were, so she got 4 of them. I made a roast with potatoes and carrots for dinner. I also made a cold coconut banana soup from the cookbook we got on the cruise. It was really good. After dinner we picked up the saw and all is ready to begin construction on the tiki bar. Today's picture is of Payton. What a happy little boy he is..

Raining again...

Another rainy day. Beth got up this morning and cleaned the pool filters. Since it had rained again last night I did not need to water. Our tomato plants have a lot of little tomatoes on them. Beth was outside about 30 minutes before the rain began. She figured she was already playing in the water there was no need to come inside. After her being outside in the rain for 30 minutes I asked her if she was one of those people who does not have enough sense to come in out of the rain. She did not find it amusing. I picked up kyle after his 1/2 day of school and took him to wal-mart to get his glasses adjusted for the ump teen time. Between him catching and how he removes them, he is hard on them. After that, we went to the mall for some lunch and spend some time shopping. It was a great afternoon. Beth went with Dawn to pick up the twins, so she was gone most of the afternoon. We had the windows open all day since it was cooler outside then inside. Not much going on this evening. Had to finally clean off the spare bed, as kyle might be staying with us a few nights next week. He is officially done with the 6th grade tomorrow. Boy time goes by quick. Today's pictures are of our carpet lillies that are starting to bloom.

Kids day...

Jojo got here this morning about 9:45 and was ready to go swimming as soon as she walked in the door. We tried to explain to her that we had a few things to do first and then we would go swimming. Well she was not happy at all, but we were able to put her off for an hour. It looked like it was going to rain all day, but never did. So off to the pool Beth and Jojo went. I knew it was still too cold for me and found other things to do to get out of going in. They stayed in about an hour until I could see Jojo's bottom lip shiver from the cold. Then out of her mouth came "well the hot tub would warm us up and not make my lip shiver". So off to the hot tub they went. I had just finished cutting a few runner off the strawberry plants and was taking them to the trash when Buster escaped right out the gate. So I took off after him. He only made it a block away and turned around and was sitting in from of the gate wanting back in the yard. Damn dog. Beth's mom stopped by and we all had lunch together. I had to pick Kyle up from school at 3pm. He had an outing with his counsel and some other kids at an arcade this afternoon. He only has 2 more half days of school left. He had his championship game at 6pm. The team they were playing had not lost any games this year and we were hoping the game was not a blow out. They hung in there pretty well, but lost 6 to 4 and took 2nd place. It was a really good game. We got to spend a little time with Payton during the game and he will be coming over next week one day to go swimming. So we got to spend time with 3 of the 5 kids today, so it was a great day. Today's first picture is Kyle with his 2nd place medal and the second picture is of Payton hiding in Beth's trunk.

Thunderstom kinda day..

Beth had to get up early this morning for a 9am doctor's appointment. I on the other hand could sleep late. I did hear the occasional clap of thunder. Beth told me before she left that it was raining, which meant I did not have to water and could sleep even longer. If finally got out of bed a little after 8am. Took a shower and had breakfast. Then I headed to Wal-mart for shopping and had to pick up my contacts that had come in. When I arrived home, Beth and I began talking more about the luau and a tiki bar. So I began looking online for plans to build a tiki bar. We did find some plans for a portable bar that we thought we could turn into a tiki bar. So now we are going to build a tiki bar in the next 3 weeks. We went to Lowe's to price the wood and look at options for the molding on the bar. We figure the base will be easy to make as we have plans for it. The top may take a while as we are doing it from scratch. We are both excited about it and eager to get started. The things we get ourselves into. So stay tuned as the building of the tiki bar continues. Today was very humid after the rain had passed and we decided with the forecast of at least 6 more days of hot and humid weather it was time to turn the air on. Today's picture is of freddy the freeloader. He comes by every now and then and looks in the window.

Luau Shopping

We had an appointment with Dr. Bill for adjustments. Both our backs were feeling it from doing yard work all weekend. After the adjustments, we headed to Exton for shopping at Party city. We are having a Luau party in July and wanted to look at what they had. We had somethings that DJ and Maggie gave us and had purchased some things at Wal-mart. And boy did they have a lot. We found grass skirts, scene settings, table cloths, glasses, and much more. Beth has now decided we need to have a tiki bar, so we are in the hunt for a good base and will build it from that. With the party 5 weeks away we should have time. We had lunch at Cheeseburger Paradise. They have great burgers. We came home and picked up the truck to go to Lowe's. We wanted to plant some plants by the mail box but found the soil in poor shape and needed to get better top soil and other stuff to mix into the soil. So off we went to get dirt. We did move the grill to the pool are and rearranged the pool furniture for better seating. Looks like rain tonight so my plans of digging in the dirt tomorrow might be on hole, we will see. Kyle's baseball team won their game Saturday and will play for the championship on Wednesday, so we will go and watch him play. Today's picture is of Kyle putting on his catching gear.

Yard Work...

We slept in this morning and had breakfast at the diner. We then headed to the nursery AGAIN. We just can't seem to stay away from there. I found 2 pots in the shed and they needed some flowers in them. After the nursery, we came home and started on yard work. Beth weed whacked the outside of the fence and the front yard and I used our new hand weed whacker and did the back yard. Boy was it sunny and warm today. After all the weed whacking was done, Beth started cutting the yard and I started cleaning the big grill so we could move it to the pool area. After the grill was clean, I planted some of the flowers we purchased. The flower beds seem to be in transition right now, so there is not a lot of color in them. So we added a little with annuals. Our backyard has come a long in the last 3 years and is really inviting now. Today's pictures are from the back yard. The pool temperature was 74 today and if we were not so tired we would have gone for a swim. Maybe tomorrow.

Battle of the Thistles

Jeanette and I have declared war on the thistles that are trying to take over our back bank and parts of our yard. So far I think the thistles have the upper hand, since you can never get the entire root of the plant. But on Tuesday, I wacked the thistles down to about 2 ft, some were taller than our fence. Then the rains came for the next 3 days, so this morning while the ground was still soft we pulled the thistles out of the ground. The bank looks real nice with the ivy, vinca and pachysandra all coming in nicely. We are experimenting with different kill alls to see which one will kill the thistle, roots and all. When we have a good solution, we will have to apply it to the new thistles, plant by plant. It will take several years to get rid of all the thistle and that is if we stay diligently on the plan. That was pretty much what we did today, well we did have 2 adult birthday parties to go to in the late afternoon and evening. The picture today is of Buster swimming in our pool, he has been in several times this year already. He loves to swim.

Rain Again

Rained all damn day AGAIN. I did have an appointment with the cancer doctor at 9:15am. She likes that she found no lumps and the my blood work has been great. I can not have the body scan done until July 20th, but I don't have to see her for 6 months which is great. On the Caribbean cruise, I purchase a cookbook which had some of the ships recipes. Tonight I made Steak Diane and a tomato salad. The tomato salad we both agreed was no good, but the Steak was excellent and Beth has asked to have it again real soon. So another day of absolutely nothing. Tomorrow is supposed to be no rain and sunny, but we will see. Today's picture is of Half Moon Cay in the caribbean. Oh to have the sun, beach, and blue water.

Fun with JoJo

Rain, Rain, Rain all night long. We were not able to get in the hot tub due to rain. And then we wake up to rain and rain all day long. Will the sun ever shine for the pool to get warm. Not looking too good. The weekend looks rain free, but rain again next week. So Jo Jo arrived about 10ish this morning. We had lots of plans for outside, but those were cancelled but the rain. So off to Wal-mart we went to grab a few things for watching a movie this afternoon. We decided on the way home to have pizza and salad for lunch. After lunch we put in a movie. As you can see by the photo, those two had everything they needed to watch a movie. Jo Jo only made it about 20 minutes into the movie and she was ready to play games. Beth was still watching the movie and wanted to finish, but Jo Jo made it impossible for her. Dawn called to tell us she was in the driveway and wanted to know if we were home. And of course we were, so she came in for a visit. She was having a rough day and I think just needed to talk or be with her people. At any case, we were happy to see her and welcome her anytime. It was then time for Jo Jo and nap time to meet. So off to bed she went. Kim came about 5 pmish to pick her up and of course she did not want to leave. Always makes us feel go when the kids hate to leave. We had leftovers from last night for dinner, of course we had dessert first. Hoping the rain will left up a bit for a quick dip in the hot tub, but it is not looking good.

Cleaning day...

So much for sleeping late this morning. A friend of ours borrowed the jeep yesterday and returned the keys at 6:50 this morning. So we were up from then on. I could not stand the dust in the house, so it was a major cleaning day. Four hours later, we have a clean house. Beth did the weed whacking and grass cutting in the back yard. We had lunch and then went around back to start cleaning out the thistle problem. Not sure how they started, but they are taking over the back hill. So we are hoping to at least contain them and not have to kill everything and start over again. It will take several days to get them back under control, but better than starting over with the planting. After a couple hours and several rain showers, we called it a day and headed in for showers. We had dinner plans with DJ and Maggie at the Cheesecake factory. They have great food and love their carrot cake. Hopefully the rain will hold off long enough for a quick dip in the hot tub. Tomorrow will be an exciting day as we have Jojo. Today's picture is of our home away from home Disney. We are counting the days (219) till our return in January. It seems so far off.

Payton visit..

We had to get up early this morning as Payton was coming to stay with us for the day. Maggie came with him about 7:15am. It looked like rain and started to about 7:30am, so I had layed off on watering to see if we really got anything. We had waffles for breakfast and decided to run the errands we were going to do tomorrow today. So we headed to Dawn's house to drop off their Sam's stuff. Visited with Dawn awhile, then headed to the pool store for a new skimmer bucket. After the pool store we stopped at Wal-mart. Only needed a few things, so it was a short trip. We were hoping to get home and have lunch before Payton's nap, but no such luck. So we put him to bed and it rained only enough to litely make the grass wet, so off to watering I went. Beth fixed lunch for us in the meantime. Payton slept for a couple of hour and then had his lunch. We went downstairs to play since it was cooler down there and that's where most of the toys are. Beth and Payton played with the building blocks for hours. Kyle had a makeup game tonight, so we had an early dinner and went to his game to return Payton to his 2 mom's. We stayed for 3 innings and the left. The bugs were really bad. Since we ate early we decided to stop at Rita's and have water ice. Boy was it good on a hot evening. Today's picture is Payton with one of the light up toys. He loves to sit under Beth's desk and shine them on the wall.

Outside Day..

Beth had to get up early to take the Jetta in for service. I slept til 8am and then had to get up and go water. After that I had breakfast and then started on cleaning the grill. Our grill gets used a lot during the summer and winter, so each spring we take it apart and scrub it down. This spring I noticed the ignition switch was not work, so I picked up one at Lowe's. As I began to take all the favorizer bars out, several of them were in bad shape and needed replaced. Beth finally called around noon to say she was on her way home. She was going to stop and Ace hardware and pick up a new drip pan, so I told her to get new favorizer bars. Well don't you know that our grill is 14 years old and we have to special order the bars. Little late to find that out since I put the others in the trash and was not about to dig for them. Guess that is why we have 2 grills. We were going to put the big grill back by the pool any way, so I guess this will just speed up the time table. So we ordered the bars and while we were at it we went ahead and ordered new grates. So we should be good for 14 more years on the grill. Beth began cutting the front yard and I headed out to get the old hair cut and colored. Good thing I have a lot of blond streak and you can't see the grey. We have to be up early in the morning as we are spending the day with Payton. might even get in the pool if temperature get to to the 80's. I have 3 more folders to go through on the Alaska pictures and hope to get them out there on Wednesday. Today's picture is of the champagne glasses fountain on the cruise ship. They poured champagne starting at the top and let it trickle down and fill all the glasses. It was quite a site and free champagne.