What form do I file to get more hours in the day ????

This whole summer has been racing by too fast. First there was Graduation prep, then party prep, then there were more parties , and reunions,and picnics, then a couple small trips thrown in and before you know it the kids are down to a little less than two thirds of their vacation gone. A couple weeks ago Mike started planning a trip that we both wanted to take to see his Grandmother and some other visiting relatives at his Grandmother's home in North Carolina. The trip is supposed to be a simple trip to just catch up with family and relax a bit. Two weeks ago I figured that we had plenty of time to get things ready for this trip and we have booked the dog kennel and hotel room but that is as far as I got and we have to technically start the trip tomorrow night with taking the dogs to the kennel. This alone requires my preparing and packaging their daily foods,washing their beds, gathering toys, chew bones and snacks, and other small things that I really should start thinking about. We also have to drop Michael at my parents tomorrow night as he is in the middle of several work projects such as helping my brother build his barn, painting my parent's garage and has decided that he will not be accompanying us on this trip. Then we have to load the car for an early Friday AM departure. this doesn't sound too bad except for the fact that I still have to go to the store, prepare some foods that I will be taking via cooler to this family gathering, freeze this food , make sure everyone has clean clothing to pack, pack, and so on.Good thing that I am looking forward to this trip. So for those of you who care, I will not be posting until mid next week when I hope to have some pictures of our trip. As always prayers for our safety are most appreciated.

I can't resist... here are a couple other pictures from the reunion.

My Family minus Curtis& wife Carla. My Mom & Dad, Me, Mike, Cindy , Michael, Robby, My Brother Jim, Sister in Law Helen, Niece Tiffany & Nephew Jimmy



Four generations..... My Grandma, My Dad , Me & Mike, & my children.





Another four generations..... My Grandma, My Dad and Mom, Me, & my children.






Cindy Poses with Nanny & Pops

The Touville reunion 2008

My Dad's family reunion took place Saturday in Cambridge Ohio. For those whose brains I had been picking, I ended up taking au gratin potatoes with ham and a coconut cream pie in a 9x13 pan desert. The desert kind of went blah after a few hours out in the heat but the potatoes and ham were excellent.
The reunion itself was very nice. I seen some that I haven't seen in years . Many of my cousin's grandchildren ( man that makes our generation sound old !!)and some's children, I had never met. My Grandmother, who will be ninety two Aug. 22nd was in attendance. Though dementia had her confused and her health is declining quickly, she seemed to take things well. Many of us were snapping picture after picture so she probably couldn't see much for the constant flashes.Once home I had about a hundred pictures, some pretty good, others not. I got a great idea to have Mike photo shop the good out of many pictures and come up with a Family portrait of Dad's family. Though Grandpa passed when I was in second grade and Aunt Gloria passed way too young in a car accident, the living members of the family had posed for several pictures. Mike spent five hours working on this task and finally handed it over to me . Because I wanted better quality printing than my photo printer at home provides, I uploaded the picture to Walgreen's .com . As soon as I did the phone rang. The sweet girl told me that this picture looked professional and they could not print professional ( copy written) photos. I laughed and told her that Mike did it and offered to bring in the lap top and show her the pictures that he took pieces from and show her how he did it. She was convinced and didn't even ask me to sign Walgreen's CYA form that I have had to sign before when I have had good(professional looking )pictures printed.I had a copy of the photo made for each Aunt and Uncle in addition to Dad's and Grandma's copies. Dad was floored by Mike's ( ahm, photo shop's) talent. Dad does so much for other's I was glad to be a part of doing something for him for once. Below is the picture. You probably wouldn't be as impressed as I am but It would take all day to post all the pictures that were used in making this one so just know that a lot of work and Love went into it.

Ice cream ?

Due to the slacking economy and high gas prices this summer, many businesses have been having sales or specials to attract business.Our neighborhood Dairy Queen is a good example. At Banana splits, peanut buster parfaits , and other treats ( that used to be called royal treats in my childhood) costing well over three dollars each, many families can not justify the price simply for taking their family out for a treat.This is why daily specials were created.Monday is small blizzards for $2, Tuesday waffle bowl sundaes $2.50, Wednesday Banana splits $2, Thursday Peanut buster parfaits $2, Friday a box of 6 Dilly bars &2.50, and Saturday and Sunday Moo lattes are special priced. These sales have kept at least three people busily working the DQ every night, which is wonderful, however it's appeal to our family is not so wonderful. It started with our family going for a banana split back in June, when the kids seen the sign of specials. I held them off for a week but Peanut buster parfaits were just too irresistible so they asked and asked until Mike and I started craving them ourselves and caved in. Well.... the precedent had been set. Every Wednesday and Thursday night was DQ night in their eyes. the following week when we didn't go Michael asked, What time are we going to DQ? Not are we, but what time? We stood our ground that Ice cream was not a daily , or even a weekly requirement but have given in( sometimes to ourselves) way too much lately. It has even gone from Banana splits and PBPs to including blizzards. Our ice cream intake is way too high around here but I may have found a cure at least for a short time. For Clarissa's birthday we ordered a cotton candy blizzard cake. This sounded good to the kids( tolerable to me) and contained no chocolate which is bad for dogs. The cake was awful. instead of the fudge that they put between layers of regular DQ cakes, they sprinkled hardened Cotton candy pieces. These little pieces hurt your teeth when bitten down on, cut the roof of your mouth and didn't even taste that good. Wow was I disappointed especially at $19 for an 8" cake which wasn't even as tall as a regular DQ cake.So last night when the call for PBPs came in I was able to decline with a DQ wasn't very good last time anyway. Somethings just seem to work out!

Clarissa's Birthday picture

Sorry Michael !

Months back, when Mike and I purchased a car for Cindy, Michael asked if he could have the car if he got his driver's licence before Cindy did. This may sound like sibling rivalry at it's finest but he was serious. Cindy is now eighteen and had drug her feet for over two years. She had just been one of those kids who didn't really care about driving.Add to that that with Mom taking her to and from work and wherever else she needed to go, Mom paid for gas and wear and tear on the car and she didn't have the financial obligation.I did tell Michael that he could have the car if he beat her to driving privileges, but that is a mute issue now because...... Cindy passed her driving test today !!!!!! Now this is great news in itself but listen to this...... She past both driving and maneuverability on her first try with scores of 100% on both!
Maybe waiting wasn't such a bad idea after all !
Don't be too sad Michael, If at all possible,Mom and dad will help you get a car too !

Congrats to our new driver ! May God always ride with you !

What a day

First of all I must apologise to those who I have promised to do different things for but have not yet followed through. I had the best of intentions yesterday and all started out well as I got Mike off to work, finished a couple things that I needed to, met Mike at work for lunch, ( He said he loves seeing me during the day but I think the Burger King bag may sway his decision just a bit )Took Cindy for a drive and maneuverability practice, came home fed the kids and that is where it all ended. Mike and I had planned to get something to eat while the boys were in Karate so that after karate we could pick up the Dairy Queen Cotton candy blizzard cake that we ordered for Clarissa's birthday and celebrate. ( yes we have celebrated these two dogs birthdays every year since adopting them)In reality, Mike came home and took Cindy for another bout of maneuverability (We had to cut her session with me short as a car from the driving school showed up and needed the course.) About an hour later, Mike and Cindy came home but didn't come in the house. I asked Mike if he was ready for karate and was informed that Cindy's car had issues ( issues are never good ) To make a long story short she ended up needing an alternator, which Mike took her to get while I was at Karate with the boys. he then started to install it when the storm came. Though a nasty storm that dumped buckets of rain, hail ,and took down many trees in the area, luckily it didn't last long. When we returned from Karate, Michael helped Mike get the alternator installed. In the mean time I picked up the cake and put it in the freezer. After Michael and Mike finished Mike and I were starved so we went to get wings. poor Mike , I was not good company as I was falling asleep while he was still eating. We came home and had blizzard cake. I was not impressed but by this time it didn't matter. I was in bed before the kids even finished their cake.
Thankfully today is another day, Please God help it be a good one !

19 Years ago today

Two young people said I do.We were madly in love and knew that this was what we wanted . We had no way of knowing how bad the worse could get nor how good the better.Times have not always been easy however I am sure glad that everyday, no matter how good or bad, I face it with you by my side. There is nothing that together, we can't get through !
Happy Anniversary, Mike, I love you !

Happy 3rd Birthday Clarissa

Your more than a pet, your a Family member !

Ya know !

Last night The boys, Mike, & I ( Cindy was working )tried attending Saturday night mass again. I must have asked Michael five times if he was sure that he put lawn chairs in the car, he did. We dressed casual ( OK we usually do ) and I put my hair in a pony tail so the wind wouldn't blow it in my face. Yes we were ready for outside mass. We got there to the outside alter area empty. Here , it was missionary Sunday so our priest wasn't there and we had one who works closely with missionaries.Because of this ,outside mass was scrapped and we were indoors, which is OK but I was prepared for outdoor mass this week and everything :-(

Fried !

Since Cindy has to work every other weekend this summer and every weekend come September ( she is dropping to weekends only for school ) and for now, her off weekends always seem to be rainy, We decided that Mike would take a vacation day yesterday and we would visit Cedar Point's Soak city. Though we have been to Cedar Point many many times this park has always been a secondary on our season passes and not included Soak City. Because of this and the fact that Geauga Lake had a perfectly good water park quite a bit closer to home, we have never visited Soak City. This year however, since Geauga Lake has closed the amusement park side of the park leaving only the water park open , we bought our Cedar Fair passes at Cedar point and got Soak city access.

I must say that i am impressed with Soak city. Usually I take a lap or two on the lazy river and then find a beach chair to relax in while Mike and the kids enjoy water slides.I am one of those odd people who don't find treated water up my nose and in my eyes a desirable thing. Yesterday however, I rode not one but two lazy rivers. One normal and one complete with waves and many other things.Eight hours into the park I was totally exhausted. We all had a great time but unfortunately, the ninety degree sunshine took it's tole on the entire fair skinned family. We all ended up sunburned. At Midnight last night when we got home, Mike asked if I had any solocaine. of course I didn't but Walgreen's is just around the corner and always open.Besides, I was out of anti swimmer's ear drops myself so off we went. Mike and I had to look pretty comical walking in to Walgreen's him in shorts and a T shirt with his sunburned face showing and me in shorts and my tankini top with my bright red shoulders, face and arms showing buying aloe vera gel, solicaine sunburn spray, and swimmers ear solution.The lady at the counter gave her sympathy as we paid and hurried home. Once here the whole family sprayed down with solocain, applied some aloe gel, and swimmers ear drops and headed to bed.We may all look like lobsters but what a time we had !

In the end respectable individualism comes out favorable !

Back in June I posted pictures of Cindy's graduation ceremony at the Career and Technical center. This is the graduation ceremony where Cindy decided to wear her 2008 sun glasses through the whole ceremony. ( even when she accepted her diploma )As I stated before Cindy got mixed reactions. The lady who was announcing names found them so funny that she had to take a moment to laugh before she announced Cindy. The Superintendent didn't look too happy when Cindy shook her hand wearing them. Cindy's teacher told us that she had mixed feelings but respected that Cindy has always been a unique individual who always expresses herself in creative ways. Cindy's peers seemed to have the same spectrum of mixed reactions. Her best friend thought it was a fun idea but declined a second pair of glasses that Cindy offered. Some classmates were seen laughing and loving the idea where others were not thrilled even to the point of making self righteous comments. ( We found it funny that the judgemental remarks were made by people who lived in Glass houses ,so to say ,and really shouldn't have even picked up a stone let alone threw it)The best comment , however came from a close friend who Cindy has been known to date :-) This friend did not make the ceremony as he was taking his college final and though he had been told of the events didn't say too much until he was over the other night and watched the video. "Oh my " was his response.Looking at Mike and I , he went on " My parents would have been upset if I would have done something like that " I seen his point, but like I said before, This was the secondary graduation ceremony and though the first one, not the main one, so why not have some respectable fun ?

Anyway, in today's mail there was the career and technical Center's quarterly news letter. I was surprised to get it as I felt that since Cindy graduated, her name would have been wiped out of their system. It turns out that this will probably be our last but this was the Graduation edition.It listed scholarship winners and the such. I almost put it in the recycle pile when I noticed the front page photo collage. And guess who is in it on the far left side, second picture down but Cindy in her cap , gown , and glasses.I guess that in the end the school board found it kinda cute and an asset for attracting future students by saying " see we have fun here !" Now all of the self righteous crowd can have their own picture of Cindy wearing her glasses !

Financial aid and other woes

This morning Cindy had an appointment with the director of the Nursing school which she plans to attend in the fall. At this meeting we were supposed to discuss financial aid ( what she has already secured..... zero, How much she expects to secure, and when she expects to secure it) turn in her down payment ( yes we did this) and turn in her medical forms ( we did this but the doctor signed them 2007 instead of 2008 so we have to take them back to the doctors office and get them fixed before we send them back) The visit did put me at ease that Cindy probably will be able to secure some Financial aid if we remain persistent , and will only have to take out a loan for half what we had originally thought. However, the trip did not help my stress level which is approaching near record highs lately. First of all I left the house with my cell phone which I thought had a full charge. Once to the school, fourty miniutes away, when I tried to use it, I found out that since my Blue tooth charge was low and the phone kept trying to make contact that it run the phone battery down real quick. This would not normally be a problem as I have a car cell phone charger but guess what???? It plugged in and the light came on but my phone didn't charge. I guess something is faulty. Again this would not usually be a problem because I carry cell minutes for use with the Onstar in my car, but for some reason, my Onstar isn't working. Could be a bad fuse, could be a loose wire, I don't know but it didn't work. This got my stress up there since the boys were home alone with no way to reach me in an emergency. Thanks be to God, I did get home and all was well.

Could it be that God is trying to teach me to let go a bit and trust in him to keep all well, I would bet that this might be true but it is so hard. Being a stay at home Mom, for years, my biggest responsibility has been to make sure that my kids are OK. I have , for years made sure that I was on call 24/7 no matter what. Maybe now that the kids are getting older I will need to trust God a little more. Cindy is now 18. She could marry and have her own family in the next couple of years. Michael is only a few years behind. I will not always be able to be by them or in contact with them always but God will. I need to start to get used to this.
My Grandma. God bless her soul, used to say " the older they get the more you worry" I think I now am starting to understand what she meant. God, Please help me to trust in you and realize that sometimes letting go a bit doesn't mean loving less !

Upcoming Family Reunion

Back in May I was informed of this years upcoming family reunion for my Dear Dad's side of the family. These reunions are sporadic, to say the least, and may happen for two years in a row and then not again for a few years. These reunions are also complicated because, though held in Ohio, are about a three hours drive from home for us .Anyway I just realized that this reunion is going to take place in less than two weeks. I missed the last reunion because my Mom was in critical condition and facing a second surgery on her carotid arteries. Thankfully this intricate surgery went well and Mom is the picture of health this year so I can't miss this reunion without people feeling that I am avoiding it. The problem is that Mike usually works on Saturday's so he will have to take the day off which I don't like to see ( The pay check really reflects a Saturday off)as well as me not knowing what to take. Traveling that far, it is tough to keep hot items hot and cold items cold. Of course there are coolers but I don't think that those reusable blue ice packs do a very good job and the ice melts and can make things soggy or if Tupperware lids come loose(trust me they all do ), can flood whatever is in the bowl turning it into a waterlogged mess.I have been told just to offer to bring chips,deserts, or pop or something like that but the problem is that I am not traveling the furthest. There are families from Georgia, some of whom just leave super early , come for the day and drive home after. Families that stay at a hotel the night before and after,There are families that live an hour further than I do, families of younger cousins who don't even have a working stove/ oven in their homes, etc.I am one of the few who cooks, so we have plenty of pop, chips, store bought deserts and other easy travel or pick up on the way things.I did make rigatoni with meatballs one year, added extra sauce and put it in an electric buffet roaster. Thanks to the power inverter I was able to plug it into the car's cigarette lighter on low and it was half decent when we got there. Of course Michael had to ride the whole way turned in the back seat making sure it didn't slide and spill in the cargo area on the way ( we tried to box it in but the roaster was warm so it couldn't be next to the cooler or anything that would catch fire) Another year I did pepperoni rolls but slightly warm they were not the hit I had hoped for.This year I am thinking of cooking a ham and taking buns for sandwiches. One uncle and aunt ( who live close by) always buy hot dogs and bring their grill with them so another sandwich is not really necessary but hey, if it works, why not. Maybe I will just keep my eyes open when I go grocery shopping and see what jumps out. Hey, maybe I will wrap a turkey in aluminum foil and put it on my engine to cook, like some travelers cookbook from the 1950's suggests, though I don't see this actually happening I will just have to keep thinking I guess.

Is it really the thought that counts ?

Since everyone is off tomorrow, we are thinking about going to an amusement park.Because of this we decided to go to mass tonight. Mike gets home about Thirty minutes before we have to leave( to be there comfortably early ) when we go to Saturday night mass so the kids and I were all ready to go so Mike could come home hop into the shower, get dressed and be on our way. All went especially well and we were out the door with time to spare. Cindy had even changed the time of her date until an hour after mass so that everything would work out. Well we got to church in plenty of time but I forgot that the church was doing Saturday night mass outside. This has been done every Saturday, weather permitting, every summer for many years but I just didn't think about it. Since we didn't have lawn chairs , or even a blanket with us I told Mike to just go home. We got some odd looks from friends as we pulled out but tonight just wasn't a good night to stand for an hour or set on the ground. There may have been an empty picnic table that we could have used but I didn't even look because once I was out of the car in the "outside alter" area I would have committed myself to stay even if there were no available seats.I don't know if we will go back tomorrow morning for inside mass or just chalk it up to a we had good intentions but....
Isn't that just how life goes sometimes ? We have the best of intentions but things just get in our way. This reminds me of a saying I have heard. The smallest deed is worth more than the largest of intentions. Hmmmmmmmmm makes you think. How many people say Oh I intended to call, or I intended to cook a meal for, or I intended to whatever. Is telling of your intentions just a form of excuse ? Yes sometimes I think it is. I still don't know what we will end up doing tomorrow but I sure have given myself some food for thought !

Me and my babies !

Not yet girls, he's a cutie but he's only eleven !

Thank you Michael !

Michael finished planting the flower bed a couple weeks ago. the plants look great, now all I have to is remember to buy the mulch before winter hits.

Figured out our security was too good

This morning after Mike left for work I headed upstairs to check my E mail and print off a copy of our dental insurance number to take to the appointment with me. Try as I may I could not get online. I called Mike on his way to work to ask if he had a clue what was happening. He didn't.He did however give me a couple things to do to get back online. I tried his idea, or so I thought , to no avail so I called our high speed Internet provider. At first I was asked if my bill was paid. Yes I replied and even gave them the confirmation number that I received when I paid it by phone last. ( Good thing I didn't pay it online or I wouldn't have had access to my number :-) After the rep was satisfied that I was not intentionally shut off, she connected me to tech support. Habib ( I think was his name) assured me that my modem check was OK and started asking me to go into Mike's settings and change things. Now those of you who know Mike know that you just don't mess with his computer settings. You can rest assured that they are the way that they should be and never , I mean never question them unless you have hours to hear him explain why the settings are what they are and need to be there.( Did I mention that even after hours of his explaining, you will still be clueless as Mike looks at you like you don't speek his language) I politely told Habib that I would bet anything that the settings were fine and thanked him for the modem check before I hung up. I then talked to Mike , who called to check on the status of our sickly computer, and realized that I had not understood what he first wanted and tried it again the right way. Sure enough I got online but it was on the settings that my computer was at over a year ago. This meant that I had no links to the blogs that I follow. Not even the one where the parents of a critically ill baby keep those praying for her updated from the hospital. I was able to find the insurance information and copy it but even updating my blog with this connection was impossible so I gave up.I talked to Mike again and we discussed that I did get on but on this old connection and he said he would look at it when he got home.On his way home I got another call. He had the answer to my problem. It seems that a firewall that we use and Mike puts on most computers that he works on had did an automatic update which was so secure that it would not let anybody online. He figured this out when his voice mail was full of people who he does computer work for's messages asking him to call them because they couldn't get online. Mike had a guy from church check his settings and sure enough that was the problem.Upon returning home, He called others as he fixed mine.So on behalf of all of us computer illiterate people who would probably be computer less without Mike, Thank you . We truly appreciate you !!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know why I get so agrivated !

This morning Cindy had an appointment with the oral surgeon. Just the fact that she had this appointment annoyed her to no end. I shared only a small part of her annoyance as we prepared to leave the house for this appointment however by the time we walked out of the office I had far surpassed Cindy's level of annoyance and was bordering on down right livid.

This whole thing started back in June when I made sure that Cindy seen our dentist for a cleaning and exam . I did this purposely before she graduated or turned eighteen so that there would be no question from the insurance company as to her eligibility. Even though Cindy is planning to attend nursing school in September and will remain on Mike's insurance until she graduates or quits .( I so pray that she does the former) I am no stranger to the world and know that one person who doesn't have a clue can check a wrong box on a form that can cancel her insurance and an "Oh we're sorry" will not set things right. Anyway on this visit, our wonderful dentist ( OK the only dentist that I have been seeing for years now and he has yet to hurt me)had Cindy call me and ask me to come in for a consultation. This is never good I knew but what he said did not make me happy. He has been seeing Cindy ( and everyone else in our family)twice a year for many many years and had been taking x rays every other visit and never mentioned her wisdom teeth other than five years ago when he said that they were forming great, had plenty of room and that she would not need to have them extracted. Now over five years later, when insurance matters exist, and Cindy works four days a week, and Cindy is accepted into an accelerated nursing school which she can not just take a week off of, he mentions impaction and need for removal in not one wisdom tooth, not even two or three, but in all four ! The kicker is that he used an x- ray from a year ago to determine this.
I held it together pretty much at the consultation because I didn't realize that he had shown me an old x ray. Today, however at the oral surgeon's office I almost lost it. It all started when I walked in and signed Cindy in ,the receptionist shoved a clip board at me with a amazingly rude" fill this out PLEASE". I did and returned it. Meanwhile she was not satisfied with our dental coverage because we have a ppo plan and no card just a phone number and name . She caught Cindy and complained that I had not given her the needed info . I stood up and confronted her as Cindy had a seat. The confrontation ended and I sat down. This woman screamed to another employee that she could not read my handwriting and had the other woman loudly read it to her(funny the other woman could read it fine )This info included Mike's social which had me ready to wring her neck. Then I find out that six people were scheduled for the same appointment time as I was setting there for an hour listening to this woman complain about an elderly lady and how her benefits number was not the right one either. Finally Cindy went back and the surgeon looked at her then called me back.Yep all four need to come out , great ! I was told that they will get a pre-certification ( a 30-60 day wait)and then schedule a surgery day. I tried to calmly explain that there was no way that this would work as it has to be done and over with by the end of August. ( congratulate me for keeping my head from exploding OK congratulate me from keeping from making one of the staffs heads explode:-) )Anyway , with the doctor's OK, they reluctantly scheduled me and I left without incident.
So now I am home and trying to analyze and work through my anger.
First of all why could nobody see four impacted teeth years ago ?
Second of all, why do all great Dentists, doctors, and surgeons have a staff full of rude , obnoxious, people who down right beg for me to.... welllll I guess that this is not the way that a good Catholic Mom like myself should be writing so I think I will end with this.

Dear God, help me to tolerate all of the mean, hatefull, rotten, wretched people who you have felt the need to put into this world. I do not necessarily understand your motives but help me to accept your will anyway.Amen


BTW, this post started out as a post to ask for prayers for Cindy's surgery on August 12th. Mike had many complications while having a wisdom tooth extracted ( he still has three impacted) so we are all on one last nerve. Thanks for your prayers !

New Fishing equitment

Because my boys have been going fishing with Pops quite a bit,I thought they should have the latest and greatest fishing rod.I seen these (http://www.amazon.com/Fogo-Rocket-Rod-Cast-Fishing/dp/B000CCEVGU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1215395291&sr=8-1) on TV awhile back and though Mike thought they were a waste of money, I found one at about half the retail price at a bargain store.I can't wait to hear how the boys like it .

Happy 90th Grandma !

Last week was Mike's Grandmother's ninetieth birthday. The family held a huge party in her honor. The turn out was amazing ( someone said over 200 attended)as Grandma has touched so many hearts in her ninety years. Mike took one hundred and eighty some pictures which we haven't even gotten to look through yet. I just uploaded them to Walmart.com and had one copy of each printed and sent to Grandma's address in NC where they will be waiting when she gets back. I wish that Grandma's visit could last longer but that is how it goes sometimes.
Happy Birthday Grandma,we love you and hope that you have at least ninety more years !

Things that we learnt on our Trip

Red Robin.....Yuck !

Yes Cindy, Sonic really does exist !

It is very possible for an amusement park buffet to have wonderful food

It is possible for a family of five to eat at an amusement park buffet for under $100

If the hotel beds are hard enough to cause you to be up most of the night, sleeping in a beach chair off to the side of kiddie land water park is not only possible but very comfortable.

It is obvious which kids at amusement parks are disciplined by being spanked and which are not

with ninety degree temperatures it is well worth buying the ten dollar souvenir refillable cup to get free ice water all day long.

Avon sunscreen with adds bug repellent is one of the greatest inventions around.

Were Back !

We got home yesterday afternoon about four o'clock. We would have liked to have spent a few hours in the park yesterday morning but the doggy resort that we use has only a couple time frames during the day for drop off and pick up and the last window ends at five thirty. So instead of making the dogs stay another night, we decided to skip the park and head home after breakfast.
Upon arrival I noticed a voice mail from my Aunt Barb.She is asking for prayer for my cousin Joyce who was in a accident yesterday early morning. It seems she was the passenger on a motorcycle that was hit by a truck. Praise God she is not injured as badly as she could be but she has already had two surgeries on a severely broken leg and it appears that a third surgery is going to be necessary. Please pray for her recovery.
I will try to post some pictures from both Grandma's party and our trip a bit later but for now I gotta go do some post trip fun AKA laundry, unpacking, etc.
More later !