My Trip to Illinois

I just got back on Sunday from my trip to Illinois and Wisconsin.  I had a wonderful time and beautiful weather!

One of the days Pat and I met Joan and Ken for breakfast at Fred's Diner in Grayslake.  Joan and Ken recently bought a house in a 55+ community in Grayslake.  Joan is one of my good friends from my days of working at Abbott. 

The food was good at the diner and the three sisters who run the place are from Booneville, MS.  Small world!  Thanks for buying our breakfast, Ken!

After breakfast we visited Joan and Ken's new house.  Why didn't I take a picture of it??  It's a lovely home and just perfect for them.  At least I got a couple of pictures out on their beautiful back patio.

We also visited with friends Carol and Fred who were friends from my Abbott days too.  Carol and Fred live in the same neighborhood as Joan and Ken, though there are approximately 1,500 homes in that neighborhood!

It was great catching up with friends I don't get to see very often!

Emma Taylor has a big dance at school tonight.  I took her and her friend Lexie to get a pedicure for Emma Taylor and manicure for Lexie after school yesterday.  They were all excited about the dance.  They are meeting at a friends house with several other girls for a quick dinner and then to the dance.  Harrison and Cameron are spending the night with us.  Harrison wants no part of the dance preparation!  Cameron has an early Saturday morning football game that we'll be going to.  It's that time of year!

Doug and I are leaving on Sunday going to Cruisin' the Coast.  I will be returning on Wednesday so I can stay with Cameron while Ben goes down on Wednesday to stay with his dad the rest of the week.  Ben's going to drive the Valiant.  Doug got the air conditioning done yesterday, just in time!  Doug will be towing the Barracuda and I will be traveling in the comfort of my Jeep! 

I'll catch you next week and hopefully recap my wonderful Door County trip!

A Fun Day with Luke and Darby...and Kaydee!

I went to Florence yesterday to visit my niece Kaydee.  She is still on maternity leave from her teaching job but will be going back at the end of October so I wanted to get in a quick visit before then.  Darby is 6 weeks old now and so much more alert than the last time I saw her.  Luke is 3 and a real energetic little boy!

We had a nice lunch at Ricatoni's, one of our favorites!  Darby slept through lunch, such a good girl!  Luke loves ravioli and ate like a champ!

Then we took the kids to the park.  Darby again slept through it.  We found a shady place to sit with her. 

Luke had a fun time.  It was pretty warm on the playground and his little cheeks at red from running.

Luke cried when I left.  He tried not to and said he was not sad.  I told him it was okay to be sad that I was leaving and, of course, I cried too.  He gave me the biggest hug!!  I sure wish I lived closer so I could spend more time with those precious kids...and Kaydee too!

Back from Door County!

I got back from Door County on Sunday evening.  I had a wonderful time.  I especially enjoyed the cooler temps up in the northern peninsula of Wisconsin!  I'll post about my trip later.  Once again, I'm still trying to catch up!

Yesterday was our 46th anniversary.  I have a hard time grasping that it's really been that long!  

This picture was taken in 1978...Ben was 2 and Heather was 4.  It was taken at the Wisconsin Dells at one of those old photo booths.  I can't believe Doug would do something like that but it's one of my favorite pictures. 

We had a nice dinner out last night at Harvey's, one of our favorite places.  It was quiet on a Monday evening.  They asked if it was a special occasion and brought us a complimentary key lime tart for dessert. 

Sending birthday wishes to my sister Karen, niece Lori and precious friend Trisha today.  Hope they all are having a perfectly wonderful day!!

Computer Problems!

We have been without internet from last Saturday until Thursday.  It has been very inconvenient!  I was so glad when it was finally fixed!!  Thank goodness I could access the internet on my iPhone or I'd be in detox!

It was Grandparents Day on Sunday and Cameron brought me a special gift.  He bought it for $.50 at a rummage sale across the street from his house. 

He was so proud of himself.  He knew I'd love it!

Emma Taylor created a brain cell for a class at school.

She did a great job and I expect will be getting an A!

Cam started football practice.

Looks like we'll be going to football games very soon!

I did a little swapping out while adding some fall decorations.  I changed out the mirror over the fireplace for a painting I inherited from Heather.

Changed out the flower picture in the entry to another colorful painting inherited from Heather.

I'm loving the changes.  Thanks, Heather!

I had a date with these two on Wednesday night.

We had dinner at the mall and some time at the arcade.  I love spending time with those two!

Our friends Danny and Dianne came up Thursday from Columbus and we had lunch together.  Danny made this cool flag for me.  Doug hung it on our back porch which is covered so it will be protected.

Love the American flag and I especially love this one!

That's the update for the week.  I will be leaving Sunday for a week in Illinois and a side trip to Door County, WI.  I am looking forward to seeing my sister, seeing good friends, and experiencing cooler weather!

Have a great weekend and I'll catch you all when I return!

More Weekend!

I went to Sam and Bowen's cross country meet on Saturday morning.  It was at Veteran's Park which is close to our house. 

Sam was giving it all he had.  He ran 3.1 miles.

Bowen ran 2 miles.  He too gave it all he had. 

Both had very good times and I was proud of them.  It was really hot and humid.  I don't know how they do it!

Harrison and Cameron were still with us on Saturday.  They keep themselves amused so they're really no trouble.

I'm not a fan of them climbing trees.  I'm always afraid they will get hurt.  But they are boys and they love climbing!

Sunday Heather and Randy invited us to join them, their family, Randy's mom and step-dad and his sister Lara for an early dinner at the Catfish Hotel by Shiloh.  It's one of those places we love to eat but don't go there often as it's over an hour drive away.  It's right on the Tennessee River.

After dinner, I snapped a couple of pictures outside.

Cute bunch of kids!

It was a lovely evening, a delicious dinner and good company!

Happy Labor Day!

Hope you all are enjoying your day.  Actually we aren't doing anything special.  Doug is laboring in the shop putting a new water pump in my Jeep.  I'm laboring in the house doing laundry and stuff.  When you're retired, a holiday is just another day! 

We had a busy weekend though.  Harrison and Cameron spent the night with us Friday night.  They talked me into taking them to a carnival on the parking lot of the Furniture Market.

After paying $14 just for the three of us to walk through the gate, we bought wristbands for $20 each which allowed them to ride all the rides as many times as they wanted. 

After being at Six Flags recently, this was really a ripoff!

There weren't that many rides, some of them unattended, and were run by sleazy looking guys with very few teeth!  Kinda scary!

There were several more opportunities to spend money like paying $5 each to throw a ball into a cup to win a bunny.  No...I did not let them do that.  Their parents would have killed me if they had actually won one, which I'm sure is almost impossible! 



Or $5 each and they could have ridden a mechanical bull for 2 seconds...no!

They could pet the llama for free though.  They tried to take a selfie with him but he was not all that cooperative!

They had a good time but I don't think I'll let them talk me into that again!!

Hannibal Lighthouse

This is the Mark Twain Memorial Lighthouse in Hannibal.

The 244 steps up to the lighthouse were killers!

A beautiful view at the top of the Mississippi River.

And a panoramic view of the city of Hannibal.

The lighthouse was not open to walk up to the top, thank goodness!

I think this is the first shingled-sided lighthouse I have ever seen.

We headed home, taking the back roads, after leaving the lighthouse.

A very pretty drive!