Just couldn't find the time to blog this week so far. Life is getting busier with the return of the Fall schedule. We're so happy that we have not been having an overabundance of rain like we had last summer and fall. My impatiens out front are happier too.
Remember when Austin begged me to buy a pack of sunflower seeds back in May? The rabbits ate most of them as soon as they came up. But now a few are trying to bloom. They are dark red. I think they're deformed or something. And they certainly didn't grow tall!
Last Friday Lori and Hunter left by bus for a weekend with her parents in New York. I got busy cooking and cleaning. Sam and the kids were coming for the Labor Day weekend. Dick put in a long hard Saturday working on his hunting shack over at Anthony's place. When Sam and the kids got here late afternoon on Saturday I had sloppy joes ready for them. They had fun here at the house, then we decided to take their energy to airport park before darkness would arrive at 8:00. I'm so sad that it's getting dark earlier each day.
We came home, the kids got showers, and then we settled in for a good movie. On Sunday morning we went to our service at GBRV. The kids always enjoy going to children's church after the pastor's story, but on the first Sunday of the month we don't have children's church because of communion. They did quite well. Then we went to Calvary, where they LOVE the children's classes, but they decided they didn't want to go to their classes because they wanted to stay with Sam. So they sat through two services that morning! And I didn't even have anything along for them to do at Calvary's service. Thankfully I had several Post-It note pads in my purse and some pens. They made use of every little piece of paper! Dick grilled chicken breasts and hot dogs when we got home.
There had been rain in the forecast for Sunday, which had really disappointed me, but after we finished eating we checked the forecast again and decided it looked like the chance of rain was actually quite slim. Dick and I have been wanting to hike the nearby Spring Creek Canyon Trail ever since they put a nice parking lot at the beginning of the trail along Rock Road. This was finally the day! What a nice trail!
It was a little over a mile long one way with a pretty steep downhill, which would of course be uphill going back! Dick's knee was giving him trouble, and Bianca was complaining of being tired. So the three of us sat on the nice bench at the end of the trail while Sam and Sammy RAN that 1.1 mile back to get the van! I couldn't believe it when he texted that they were already back at the van.
However, he got a bit lost while driving around to pick us up at the other end of the trail, so that part took longer, haha!! We came home to get a few things, then went over to Anthony's. First off, we stopped to check out the hunting shack! I stayed on the ground!
I had made cream of tomato soup on Saturday and brought that along over to Anthony's. There I made grilled cheese on rye sandwiches to eat with the soup. We had a good time relaxing and hanging out with Anthony and Austin.
It was a lovely evening for being on the porch too.
Bianca and I stayed out till dark, just enjoying the sights and sounds of nature.
On Monday morning, Labor Day, I made bacon, eggs, and English muffins for breakfast. The kids pulled out the marble roller and Legos. I caught a cute picture or two of Bianca with her Cookie.
Around noon we all packed up, said our goodbyes, and left, they for home in Duncannon and we for Manheim. Dick's dad had a riding mower to give us. Dick will probably have to work on it to get it to run, but that's what Dick does best! So we went in the truck to Grandpa Stauffer's where they loaded that mower up. Dick had taken wooden planks to use for a ramp and then needed to bring them along home to use for a ramp to get the mower off the truck. So it took some Stauffer ingenuity to get everything tied down securely, but he did it.
We looked like real rednecks all the way back to State College, hahaha!
I took this picture at Anthony and Lori's place on Wednesday. Yikes! I see some red leaves. Do you?
It's starting to look like we might get neighbors next door. There's been a huge pile of dirt sitting there for months, weeds growing out of it. I've been getting so tired of looking at it every time I stand at my sink, which is often. But lately there's been some activity, especially today.
This evening we went over the mountain behind Anthony and Lori's and had a belated birthday celebration for Lori at our favorite place, Doan's BBQ. For the first time I tried something other than my regular Dam Fish Sandwich. I got brisket, mac and cheese and coleslaw, all of it absolutely yummy!! We finished off with ice cream. I got a peanut butter cookie dough cone. Small. But it was huge!
We saw this amazing sunset on our way home this evening!
Imagine my surprise when we got home and our kitchen light was on and the curtains wide open! Yikes!!! I guess I had left in a hurry earlier! The whole world could see right into our kitchen!
I admit I love when I can see into houses when we drive by. But I don't want to be one of those houses, hahaha! Well, that's all for this week!
I'm not sure how I used to remember what I had done the past week before I had pictures to look at to jog my memory!! Remember the way we had to wait till we filled up the whole film, then get it developed somewhere? Sometimes it would go weeks or months before we would actually get to see the pictures we had taken! I remember one time when teenage Anthony quipped, "So what year will it be when we get to see this picture?" All that to say that I needed to look back at my pictures to remember what I've done since last Thursday (my last post.) But first, a picture of Sunday morning's glorious sunrise, from my kitchen window!
Thursday On Thursday I picked Hunter up from daycare because Lori was working late. Anthony had taken Austin to an ice cream social at school. Hunter was delighted that he was coming to Grandma's house. He ate dinner here with us and had fun playing with Grandpa till Lori came around 7:30. We had to leave right away for praise team practice at church, and he wasn't finished playing yet, so Lori stayed here a while with him after we left. Later I got this adorable little video from Lori, haha!! He loves this fire truck so much.
Friday
On Friday a sweet new baby girl was born to Frank and Lauren! I didn't mention it before because she had chosen to wait till the baby was born to put anything on social media. Welcome, V'anni Rose!! More pics of her later in my post!
Saturday On Saturday I finally stayed home and gave this house a good cleaning. We still have the grandcats here, so it was NECESSARY! I love a clean house! Sunday On Sunday after our service at GBRV we headed to Manheim for Hope Clark's memorial service at Grace Community Fellowship. As Hope had asked me to do, I led the praise and worship and included other musicians just as we did the other Sunday at Pastor Dennis's farewell service. There was lots of time for people to share how Hope had impacted their lives. Wow! She was SO life-giving to so many people. Full and overflowing with joy and laughter and Jesus' love. I didn't take any pictures except this one up on the screen. That big smile says it all!
It was 5 PM when we finally left the church, but while we were somewhat in the area, we decided to make a quick trip to Reading (a 50-minute drive) to see the new baby. I drove so Dick could nap. And here she is!! SO beautiful and precious!!
This is my favorite picture! Lauren knows how quickly they grow up. Her firstborn, Nicayla, is already 16. So she is treasuring moments like this.
And now I'm allowed to share these pictures I took a few weeks ago when we were there for the baby shower.
Earlier in the day, because we had extra time before we needed to arrive at Grace Community Fellowship, Dick and I drove around the Manheim area to take pictures of places we had lived. Here are our first three homes - current picture above, old picture below. Our first home in 1971 was a little mobile home (bottom photo) in back of the house of one of my dad's co-workers. It was only 10'x55' with an extension, which made a nice-sized living room. Our rent was $90/month! At some point since then that little home was replaced with a bigger one, the hedge was replaced with a stone wall.
We lived there for a year-and-a-half, eventually getting really tired of the tight quarters. My friend Elaine's dad owned a farmhouse that was divided into four apartments, and one of those became available in May 1973. When we moved to that first floor apartment with its four large rooms and high ceilings, we felt like we lived in a mansion!! I loved living there. Right about the time we moved there we discovered that I was pregnant.
But alas, right around the time Lisa was due to be born, we were informed that the owner's son (our friend Dan) was going to be getting married, and the apartment we were living in was to be his, since it was on the side toward the barn, I guess. I really cried when I found that out. I was actually making calls to apartment ads the evening that I went into labor! So our next home was another farmhouse apartment, again owners that I had known all my life. This time it was two floors (two bedrooms) and a garage, we had our own laundry, a bath-and-a-half, a big lawn and plenty of room to grow our own garden. It was a wonderful place to live. We lived there four-and-a-half years. Anthony was born during those years. We have so many happy memories from that place.
We moved from there in October 1978 when we bought our first home. I'll do a "houses we've owned" post some other time, haha! Monday Monday was back-to-school for some of the grandchildren. Actually, first day of Kindergarten for Bianca. She had a very protective older brother to help her with the school bus thing. She's a lucky girl! Austin is now in 5th grade, Sammy in 2nd grade.
Tuesday On Tuesday evening we had fun with a group of friends from GBRV. We went to a ballgame! The Spikes are our local team. It was kind of a boring game, they were tied in score almost the entire time. Only in overtime did the score finally move, and not in the Spikes' favor unfortunately. But we had fun anyway. One of the stands had a super special on their walking tacos - $2.00 instead of the regular $6.50. Here's our group.
The oldest in our group was that spunky lady in the lower right picture. Gladys is 92!! She was still there after 10 PM!!
Wednesday Austin has been staying for the school's after-care program, so I haven't seen him all week. But I did see evidence that he's been crocheting when I took dinner to their house yesterday afternoon. Maybe he's working on my scarf, haha!
Did I really see leaves that are turning yesterday??? I'm sorry, all you Fall lovers. I love Fall too, but there's just a sadness to it because I know that means winter is coming. I truly dread winter. If I never had things to do or places to go, it might be different. Maybe.
There were guys there yesterday mulching all the many flowerbeds around the place, even mulching around and between all those rhododendron bushes at the pond. It's looking more amazing than ever!
Well, I think that's all for this time. Have a great Labor Day weekend!
Time to catch up here! I have lots of pictures to share from our annual weekend at the local KOA campground. Believe it or not, there should have been even more pictures, but I guess I was busy and never thought of taking pictures during some of our good times. But that's how it goes. Unfortunately, it's easy to forget things if there aren't pictures. Friday Last Friday afternoon I went to pick up Sammy and Bianca. We stopped at Sheetz after I picked them up to "fuel up" - in more ways than one, haha!
When we got back to our house, Dick was there getting ready to hook up the camper. I got all the food packed into coolers, etc, we loaded everything up, and off we went! Just 15-20 minutes to the campground. When we got there, the very first place they wanted to go to was the jumping pillow, which Sammy insisted was called "the beanbag." Whoever invented this was a genius. Such a GREAT way for kids to work off their excitement and energy!
Meanwhile Dick was setting up the camper. The campground offers pizza and wings on Friday evenings, so we took advantage of that. The kids especially loved the garlic and butter wings. I think Bianca ate most of them!
When Anthony and Lori and the boys arrived, Austin had only one thing on his mind. Panning for gems! In the camp store they sell bags of sand that include various gems and fossils, etc. Bianca was eager to do that with Austin.
More jumping pillow as it started to get dark.
Then we went over to Anthony and Lori's cabin. It was a lovely evening to sit on their deck. Sammy and Bianca were having fun with some letter puzzles. Austin and Anthony were playing Scrabble on their phones. And Hunter, of course, was sitting on my lap reading to me. Book and after book after book!
Then we walked across to our camper. We love it!
Saturday We had a nice, slow start to our Saturday morning. Sammy and Bianca watched Grandpa start the fire. Sammy said, "This is better than TV! It's real life!" How profound is that?? I decided that if we were going swimming later, I wasn't going to try to get "pretty." So I sported my best redneck look as I made scrambled eggs and hash browns in my cast iron skillet on the camp stove. Dick fried the bacon on a cast iron griddle, then toasted English muffins on the grate.
Anthony and Lori and the boys came over for breakfast, but I didn't get any pictures of that. In fact, I didn't get any pictures the rest of the morning. I'm sure the kids did more panning and jumping. I was cleaning up and organizing. At some point I sent lunch stuff (sandwich makings, cherries, rice krispie treats) over to Anthony and Lori's cabin. Some of their friends (Tiffany and her kids, Nana and her kids) had arrived for the day. The next big looked-forward-to event was the bubble machine! Half an hour of swimming, splashing, and sliding in bubbles! I was told they use a gallon of Palmolive detergent!
No better place to go after that than the nearby pool! We were there a long time and had so much fun. The water felt PERFECT for such a hot day. I totally forgot to take any pictures and actually got this one later.
Back at the campground I very slowly started getting things ready for our evening meal. I had already made chili earlier in the week, and it just needed to be reheated in my electric kettle. I cooked rice on the camp stove. Meanwhile Lori and Hunter came over to our campsite with play doh. Hunter and Bianca played with it for a long time. They mixed all the colors together to make beautiful designs.
Dick got this adorable video of them humming as they worked.
Then they decided they wanted to relax in the camper. Sammy started a video on his tablet and I propped it up on my suitcase at the end of the bed. Hunter lay between Sammy and Bianca watching the video. Just adorable! Anthony took this picture of them through the screen.
More jumping pillow!
Sammy and Bianca were so excited when Sam arrived! He had worked until 3 and came up here after he got off. Just in time for the hayride! I was thankful he was here to take them on it. My experience on that hayride last year cured me from ever going on it again. They take you in the HILLS, let me tell you. Muddy, steep hills. I was scared to death!
Then everyone (seven adults and eight kids!) came to our campsite for dinner - Mexican Pile-up. I wasn't sure I would have enough, but there was actually some leftover. I got NO pictures! Anthony took these pictures as they were walking toward our campsite from their cabin. That's their cabin in the background. Look at Hunter carrying his big bag of books, haha!
Our dinner had to be rushed to an end, unfortunately. A storm was coming. Everybody pitched in and helped to put things under the canopy and into our van and truck and camper. Just in time we made it to the pavilion where they were serving delicious Berkey Creamery ice cream. NO PICTURES!! Ugh!!! After the ice cream was Bingo. Sammy and Austin wanted to play too. One time Sammy was just two moves away from Bingo and he would have gotten $8.00. He was really disappointed when someone else said Bingo first. Hunter was playing a game on Dick's phone. He was totally oblivious to the Bingo game. Occasionally he would shout, "Yea! I did it!!" People would look to see if this little guy meant Bingo, hahaha!
When we went back to the campsite we realized we only had one log left for a fire for s'mores. The camp store had just closed!! Noooo!! We considered going to a Walmart to get some. Then Lori went to the pavilion to pick up Austin, who had gone on their flashlight scavenger hunt, and one of the camp workers told her that he would let us buy some wood if we hurried down to the office for it right away. Whew!!! Saved the day! So we had our s'mores. But again, no pictures. Bed felt REALLY good that night! Sunday On Sunday mornings the campground offers a pancake, sausage, and bacon breakfast in the pavilion. It was SO delicious. Again, NO PICTURES! We relaxed at our campsite later. Hunter and Bianca are best buddies.
Sammy and Austin spent a really long time at this big sandbox near our campsite. We couldn't believe how long they were there. I finally went to see what they were doing. They were creating a whole system of mines in which to hide gems, etc. They decided that Sammy was an architect and Austin was an archaeologist!
The adults actually had time for uninterrupted conversations! That is RARE! I got this "gazebo" at Ollie's last week for $40! It was perfect, providing shade from the sun and protection from rain.
Dick made one last fire and he and Anthony roasted hot dogs over it for our lunch. There was also some fried chicken that Anthony's friend Emil had brought the evening before. That made some good sandwiches. I noticed that, totally oblivious to all the craziness of everyone talking and eating, Hunter was sitting at the table with this little book, singing a verse of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" with each page of the book.
It was a REALLY hot, humid day. Absolutely miserable for cleaning up. But perfect for playing in the pool. It felt so good to get in there after everything was packed up.
After a while a storm chased us out of the pool. We waited around in the pavilion for a while, hoping it would clear up, but no such luck. Sammy was determined to get one more time on the jumping pillow. So after the storm was over, but it was still raining a bit, Sam and the kids got their last jumps in! Sam is such a kid at heart! (No, I did not go out in the rain to take this video! I took it from the pavilion!)
Then we all hit the road for our respective homes. I spent the evening putting stuff away and starting laundry. I was SO tired, but there was no way I wanted to face the mess in the morning. Dick actually made a trip to Bedford (an hour-and-a-half away!) that evening. Ever since he got the new pickup truck last week he has been searching for a cap for it. We had to use the old truck for camping because of not yet having a cap for the new one. So there was one in Bedford that was a good deal, and Sunday evening was his first chance to pick it up. He was a very happy "camper" when he got home around 9 PM. Unfortunately the cap is red. But it's at the body shop this week getting painted to match the truck. Then we'll be able to get rid of the old truck. On Monday when I picked Austin up from Ninja camp he was crocheting - finger crocheting! I never knew it was possible! One of the Ninja instructors showed them how to do it. It's his new passion!
On Wednesday evening after I picked him up we went to the Music Boosters Family Fun Night at the State College Area High School. It was a first-time event geared toward 4th and 5th graders, the age at which they typically choose an instrument. It was a fantastic event. High school musicians demonstrated their instruments, their vocal talents, etc. There were games and prizes. This 5th grader preferred crocheting in the shade, haha!
They finished with a demonstration of the marching band. We LOVED it!! Then it got even better. They asked kids to go out and stand next to a band member. We were amazed that Austin was willing to do that. (If you look closely you can see him in a red shirt holding a big horn in the lower pictures.)
They showed the kids how to march in time to the beat while holding the instrument, even marching backward! I just loved this so much!! What better way to get kids interested???
Last evening I decided to check in on Lisa to see how they're doing with a week of school under their belt. That began a ridiculous Snapchat conversation between her and Sophie and me. Sophie showed me a filter in which you can use one of your photos as a background. How hilarious are these??? The one on the left is a picture of Lori when she and Austin were hiking last weekend. The one on the right is a picture of the silly meerkat that Lisa always uses as her filter.
I got this picture from them and could not stop laughing!!!! I HAD those glasses back in the day!!!
Well, that's all for this week! Have a great weekend! I know one thing. It's time to stay home and clean this house!!
