Monday Fun

 Today was the closing on Sarah and Nolan's condo so after breakfast they drove to the title company while I kept the girls. We had a lot of fun. Below Zion is showing me how the magnetic water balloons worked. 

Zion got out her beautiful butterfly and Eden her jewel.

When the parents got back the entire group went to the park. I stayed behind to do some laundry. I was just getting ready to go down to the hot tub when Rhoda sent the message they all would be heading to the hot tub as soon as they changed. That was perfect as the weather was still cool.

Rhoda organized some games. Below is round one of musical shoes.

The loser had to jump in the pool, below is round 2 and 3 and Zion was the winner.

After that they took turns throwing kids in the pool.

Then it was time to go back in the hot tub and turn the jets on.

Once we finished with all the pool fun we met at Rhoda and Lee's condo for other games.

Zeke just loves being with Israel. He wants to sit by him and he wants to copy everything Israel does.

The games were fun.

By the time we quit it was supper time. Nolan went to Rouse's grocery store and picked up fried chicken, chicken strips, mashed potatoes, southwestern rolls, lettuce and 2 kinds of potato salad. We feasted. For dessert we had ice cream. River made sure her bowl was completely empty.

A group left to walk to the ice cream shop after supper. Nolan and Eden went with them. Zion and River were too tired and they were in bed and sleeping by 7:00 am. It is now 7:32 pm and I'm going to bed too. Thankful for another good day.

Palm Sunday at the Beach

 I awoke at 5:30 am looked toward the headboard to see the clock but there was no headboard. I had forgotten where I was. Sarah and all 3 girls were already up and Sarah had the coffee done. What a nice benefit of sharing a condo with early risers. It really has been a joy living with these 3 precious grand daughters. 

Above Zion is just finishing her breakfast and below Sarah has just finished brushing Eden's hair.

Above River's hair is all brushed and below are all 3 girls almost ready for church.

They just had one more job, brushing teeth.

Sarah and Nolan drove up to Foley to go to church with Jason and Allison who used to be their neighbors until they moved down here. Rhoda and Lee's family joined them. I stayed at the condo and watched our church on-line.

I could hear Nancy on some of the earlier songs. Gregg Rumbold had the Palm Sunday service. Click HERE if you would like to watch that. After church was over I went down to the pool, traded in a book for another. This one was about the Honey Bee Sisters and was a cute easy reading stories. Stephanie was also reading down by the pool. They went to church at a local church. When everyone got back we headed for the beach which was pretty crowded. The girls started digging and Israel joined in.

The jet ski was out giving banana boat rides.

Soon even David joined in the digging. They made a castle and were digging a moat around the castle then a canal all the way to the water.

Nolan came to help but was throwing the sand up at the kids who would dodge that.

The parasailing started up close to where we were sitting.

Israel got the skim board out and gave Zion a ride down the beach and back.

Then Israel got a ride ON the skim board.

Soon came time for a football game. The adults and the kids played. Below Stephanie is taking a video of the game.

Below River is running in the water of the canal they made to the sand castle.

The clouds came in, the wind picked up so we decided to go in and enjoy the hot tub and heated pool at mom's condo Island Royal.

It is so nice to have both an indoor and outdoor pool AND a hot tub indoor and outdoor.

It was past supper time when we finally came back to our condo. Sarah made build your own tacos for supper. River loves sour cream.

After supper some walked and some drove to the ice cream store and when they got home they all went right to bed. What a busy long day playing outside. I've got the coffee pot ready for the morning and if I'm lucky Sarah will start it again before I get up. 

Made IT

 Nolan drove until 11:30 pm last night, I took over then and drove until 3:30 am then Sarah took over until we stopped for breakfast at a Waffle House about a half hour from our destination around 6:00 am. Below is River eating and liking the grits. 

Everyone was hungry and wiped out all of the food on our plates.

As we were getting ready to drive into Sarah and Nolan's condo we saw David walking by. They came in yesterday and spent the night in the hotel which David explained to us was a dump at $200.00 a night. The room was not clean and someone had punched a hole in the wall. He told us Israel was already out on the beach. After parking the car walked across the road to the beach and found Elisabet was also there.

She was showing us some of the shells they found this morning.

The water was too cold for swimming, the waves were huge and the red flags were flying.

 Nolan brought his fishing pole out but did not catch anything. Below River is helping him fish.

Soon we decided to go back to the condo to get our suits on and meet at mom's condo at Island Royale.

That has an indoor hot tub,an outdoor hot tub and a heated indoor/outdoor pool. We all went swimming there for a couple hours. No pictures as I was in the hot tub watching the fun. 

I went back to change into dry clothes and also changed the washer and dryer. Sarah and Nolan's guests had moved out just before we arrived so we were using their condo until we could check in ours which is located just across the street. We checked in at 4:00 pm then went down to the pool area and joined the rest of our group at that hot tub.

This hot tub was nice and big. It was heated well but the pool was not.

The kids were jumping into the cold pool then would come running back to the hot tub. Below Elisabet and Iris had jumped in and swam all the way across.

Zeke was a surprise to us, he loved swimming in that cold pool. He was watching Israel and would copy everything Israel would do.

The sun was out and the day turned really nice and warm. Some of us got quite sunburned.

Below are more kids swimming in the cold pool.

They also spent lots of time in the hot tub.

Around 6:00 pm Nolan and I went to Walmart to pick up some food for our supper plus some food for breakfast and lunch. We won't go out to eat much on this trip and I am thankful there are groceries available even if they cost more than at home.  Speaking of home our guests from last night at the big barn had quite a slumber party that didn't include much slumbering. It was supposed to be a birthday party for 15 twelve year old boys but ended up including those boys and all of their families PLUS. The place was packed and when Anna went in to clean she really had a mess on her hands. They had used every piece of bedding in the barn, had eaten on that so everything had to be washed,. They had an Easter egg hunt in the barn, there was so  many spills sticky stuff on the floor Mark was asked to bring his floor scrubber out. She was able to almost  finish it by the time the next group arrived but still had to keep going back as the first renter had left many items and the battery for the big sectional recliners had disappeared. The second group was quite large but not near so messy. They were all college kids but were on some kind of retreat. 

Traveling

 After our walk Mark and I went over to the barn. Mark used his floor scrubber on the living area while I cleaned bathrooms and straightened up the kitchen.  He swept the gym floor with his sweeping machine while I put the chairs down off the tables and washed windows. We finished around the same time. Once the barn was ready for guests I drove to Hanna City wanting to stop at the money center 24 to deoosit a check and withdraw some cash for my trip to Gulf Shores only to find it blocked off. Someone tried to drive away with it. They damaged it but weren't able to steal it. That meant I had to drive in to Peoria for the next nearest.  While driving home the apartment booked for today and tomorrow.  Then the next call was from the place in Bloomington telling me the motorhome generator was fixed and we could pick it up. As soon as i got home Mark and I left to do that. We got home just before 3:00 pm made a quick lunch then left in the rain for Green Chevrolet to drop off the motorhome to get the check engine light diagnosed and hopefully fixed. We got home from that at 4:45 pm giving me just enough time to put my suitcase in the car and leave for Sarah and Nolan's.  They were all in the van waiting when I arrived.  We transferred my suitcase into their van and pulled out of their drive at 5:30 pm and are now on our way to Gulf Shores Alabama where we hope to spend the week with David and Stephanie's family and Rhoda and Lee's family. Praying for safe travels. 

 

A Sign

 We were both up by 5:00 am and today there was no coffee wars. You see when Mark gets up at 2:00 or 3:00 am and starts the coffee by the time I get up the pot has turned off and the coffee is luke warm. So last night I filled a jar of left over coffee and told him IF he woke up early he could just heat up the jar of coffee and leave the coffee maker alone. That jar got dumped out. The garbage truck arrived while we were on the walk, it came zooming up so quickly we were all surprised. Not only did it come early but the driver was in a big hurry.

After the walk I was cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry when Ruth called. She stopped in on her way to mom to rehash the party. Then at 11: 20 am I drove over to mom's so Ruth could take her mother-in-law out for lunch. Karin had a meeting with her realtor for her Maquon house. Karin has been working on a portrait of mom.

She isn't finished but already it is an amazing likeness. Mom and I went through all of her birthday cards. I took a  picture of the card Bonnie made and mom asked me to send it to Aunt Jinnie.

She also got a new book to read.

We were watching a big fat squirrel eating a walnut on the stump right outside the living room window.

When I left there I had to take the golf cart down to the road to see the new sign.

Mike and Diane put that up. We liked it so well that it is a sign that Mark and I should put one up on the barn. Diane is going to take a look at the barn to see where and how high it should go. When JULIE came out to mark the ground for Mike, he told the surveyor we have been in business for 22 years and am finally getting around to putting up a sign. 

We had an offer on Titus last night.

They offered to pay full price but make payments for 12 months. After talking it over we declined the offer. If we have to wait 12 more months we will start him under saddle and he will be much more valuable. The motorhome generator didn't get done today. The man that checked it out thought it should be done by what he called 2-ISH. It is an hour away so hopefully we CAN pick it up close to that time as I plan on leaving for Gulf Shores in the evening tomorrow.

 

Surprise Birthday

On our walk we discussed who would do what and when to arrive. Today was the day we had planned a surprise birthday party for mom's 92nd birthday and Aunt Jinnie's 95th birthday. NOTE: Aunt Jinnie had to cancel coming until next week so she missed the party but the guests still wanted to bring her cards.  This really was a family affair. John and Beth drove up from Missouri leaving at 4:00 am to make it. Amy left early from Florida so she could be here to help. Beth and Greg arrived from Gulf Shores so they could come help. That wasn't the only help. When Rhonda asked what she could do I immediately replied, "the decorations" and she immediately agreed. No one in this family wants to let me do that (I have no taste). Spark agreed to be the MC. Diane cancelled her trip to Gulf Shores and made the salad for the party then was also a server. Ruth provided the 2 cakes from Costco (Rachel also helped with that). Faith, Berlica and Mackenson came early to help then worked as servers. Joan drove mom over to the barn, I'm not sure what excuse Joan gave her for stopping at the barn but mom had no idea why. Ruth and Fedi were the door greeters. Rachel, Rhoda, Anna, Anni, Sarah R, Jessica, Molly, Tara came to help with serving but did so much more. I'm not sure who cut the cake but the sheet cake was cut while I was busy seating guests. I'm sure I'm missing some of the workers but truly we couldn't have a party without all the family pulling together. We asked the guests to arrive at 11:00 am so they could be seated and the lights turned out before mom arrived at 11:30. When the door was opened and mom was wheeled in everyone yelled, "Happy Birthday!"  Mom was shocked but you should have seen the smile on her face. 

Once mom was in her place of honor Spark welcomed everyone, had the prayer then the work commenced and in 4 minutes everyone was served a plate of food. We used Uncle Ed's way of serving at the benefit dinners. Each of the waitresses started at the beginning of the food line. Mark and I each grabbed a plate and put the individual meat loaf on it giving that plate to the first waitress. She walked a few steps held out those 2 plates and Rhonda put potatoes on them, Diane added the salad next, I think Beth served the rolls and Amy served the fruit. Then each waitress would take those 2 plates to a table. We had so many waitresses that by the time the last one had grabbed their two plates the first waitress was back. Everyone seemed to enjoy the meal. Seconds were taken Once people were done eating the girls went right back to work clearing tables. Diane brought over the candles for the cake. She had a 2 a 7 and an 8 but no 9 so decided to bring the 8 and add extra candles but dropped the 8 and it broke. So we put the 72 together and added 2 more candles one for each decade.  Mom was told we are bringing her one piece of cake but she cant eat it yet then set that whole cake in front of her. Spark looked at the 72 and even though it said Happy Birthday Rhoda Spark exclaimed, "that's MY cake."  He and mom share a birthday just 20 years apart. Of course we had to sing happy birthday to both. Each guest was given cake and a chocolate while coffee was being served. Below is a short video birthday party. She really was surprised. 

Below are a few pictures. 

Ruth sent the pictures below she was snapping as some of the guests came to wish mom a happy birthday.

Rhonda had provided a door prize for the oldest person. Spark started with 100 but we didn't have any, but Ellen Altorfer was the winner at 98 years old. When she received her prize (a nice plant) she replied, "oh no is this something I have to keep alive? I'm not very good at that."  

We are so blessed as a family to be able to host this for our mom. Almost all of us were able to be here and serve mom and 70 of her closest friends. Special thanks to all who worked so hard to make it happen. Diane, Amy and I went over to mom's deck to enjoy the sunshine with Karin, Mom was on the phone with Aunt Jinnie telling her all about it. That was relaxing but soon I needed to go back to the barn to change the washing machine. There were 2 loads of table cloths that needed washing. While waiting for the machines the game room was cleaned up. We have guests coming in on the 22nd. This evening we left for church at 6:10 pm but needed to drop off 2 more gifts and cards for mom and Aunt Jinnie. She had so many cards to go through yet. Mike Kaisner had the message tonight then we went to Culvers for a late dinner. The food was kind of slow coming tonight so we didn't get home until close to 10:00 pm. The bed felt great.