Congratulations Miss Izzy! Graduation dinner with Brett!

May 28, 2015- Thursday-This morning I really enjoy my walk!!!What a beautiful day! I can't believe I'm saying that!?! As I walk I see my friend the dog, in his yard! He's happy to see me too! He follows me to my turn around point, when I get in front of his house I encourage him to go home but....he thinks he needs to walk home with me!I start walking down E. 22nd Road my friend right by my side, then he leaves me to run through a beautiful manicured yard, where 2 people were sitting on the front porch. "My friend" was hiking his leg on everything "HIKE HEIGHT"!?! The lady on the porch yells out to me"MAM"!!!! I just put my hands up &  shout out to her that HE, is NOT my dog!!!!! I walk a little faster at this point!!! "My friend" always gets distracted by something else before I reach the campgrounds, thank goodness!!! When I get there, I'm too warm for coffee, I'm thinking a little ice coffee might be good right about now!

This morning I'm doing laundry, everything, that includes sheets & towels. As I put clean sheets on the bed I ALMOST took the electric blanket off, holding me back is this weekend's weather forecast.....it's going to be COLD again!!! Of all weekends......

At least the weather is good for tonight's activity!!! We eat an early dinner because tonight we are attending Eric & Nancy's daughter, Izzy's 8th grade promotion!

Eric & Nancy....boy that's a whole other story! Between his kids, her kids, their kid together, then their many adopted kids.....without putting a pencil to it, I bet they have put at least if not more, 15 kids through Steward Elementary School!?!

Needless to say, they've had more kids attend this school than any other family in Steward, & tonight their daughter Izzy is having her night!

The gym is decorated real nice, they made a pretty big production out of it considering there were only 14 graduating students!

Before the students received their diplomas, each student spoke of their favorite memory while attending Steward Elementary School!

Soon enough....time for the students to receive their diplomas!

They call Izzy Erickson & she walks across the stage in her brand new graduation dress to receive her diploma!

When the last student receives their diploma, the class band plays....BINGO????

Then it's time for pictures & lastly.....CAKE!!! YUM!!!

Izzy & Dad (Eric)

That's not Eric's first trip through the cake line!

We had a good time & Izzy was glad we attended! She claims I'm her favorite Aunt! I bet she tells all her Aunts the same thing!?!

Yay Taco Tuesday!!! ~ Man's Best Friend!

May 26, 2015 Tuesday-Yesterday, Memorial Monday, I did a foolish thing! I got on the scale & my scale reflected my laziness from lack of walking!?! But this crazy Illinois too wet spring, makes it soooo easy to stay in bed instead of hitting the road! I forced myself to get up & get hoofing it! The wind was really blowing & my same walking routine seemed harder & longer today. I don't know if it was the wind or the fact I hadn't walked in a week!?!

Today we went to Walmart just for a few things, actually sometimes I just like looking around in stores!?! Actually we use Walmart as our ATM & I needed to get some money to put in Trinity's graduation card, & the chance to look around!!!

The afternoon skies don't look so good! That causes some worry for us as we are going to Ottawa for Taco Tuesday, leaving Otis home in the RV....storms make him nervous! Sure enough we got a good down pour after returning from Walmart. Good maybe that's it for the night? We take our showers & prepare to leave for Taco Tuesday. Otis is not happy we're leaving!

You'll be okay!

Lennie & I leave a little early for Ottawa as there's a Goodwill store up there we like to poke around in. We're meeting Lana & Katie (Lee is working late) Chris, Bill & Adam. After poking around at the Goodwill, it's time to join the crew! The sky looks TERRIBLE!!!!

                 It's not a fancy place....

but it's fun to go there for Tacos!!!

It's the golf course eatery & I guess they serve other food on other nights, but all we've ever gone to is TACO TUESDAY!!!!

                        Look how happy Lana is over her Tacos!!!

                           Chris looks pretty happy too!

Adam brought his friend, Catherine, they got Taco Salads

We enjoyed our dinner (poor Lee...) & conversation. Katie is going to be Maid of Honor in her best friend of 10 years,(Pam) wedding in 11 days.  Katie was telling us wedding details, showing us pictures of Pam's dress, & the dress Katie is wearing. It's going to be a beautiful wedding!!!

      We ate our fill...time to go!

"Mom, when are we going shopping so you can get a dress for Pam's wedding???"

See ya later ladies!

We head our separate ways, & yet we're all going in the same general direction! Lennie wanted to stop at a McDonalds in Ottawa & bring Otis a McDoubles, but....believe it or not, he didn't stop!?! He decided it'll be a good enough treat for Otis at home if I heated up a hot dog for him! That dog is sooooooo spoiled. I should try switching his treats to frozen green beans see how he'd like that!?!

Dylan's Baptism........Dinner with the McDaniels!

May 24, 2015  Sunday-This morning we wake up EARLY....to the sound of rain! According to the weather channel, today was suppose to be nice & tomorrow was to be the rainy day! I feel sorry for the tenters out here at Hi-Tide. I don't know what the other campers are doing....hoping for a better tomorrow or packing up & heading home? I may not get any pictures of the Memorial Day Weekend "ZOO"

It doesn't matter what the weather is like...we have a baptism to attend to, rain or shine, here we go!

The baptism was held at St Johns United Church of Christ in Harmony, Illinois. Hmmmm, never heard of Harmony before, it was right outside of Hampshire which we have heard of!?!

                The lighting of the candles before the service starts.

It is a woman preacher, & when it was time for the baptism, not only did she have Dylan, along with his family, stand at the pulpit, she also had all the young kids come up & witness the baptism!

Dylan was so serious throughout the entire ceremony!

After Dylan was baptized.....there was REFRESHMENTS!!!

                                 Then there was pictures!!!!

Dylan with:the preacher, parents & godparents

The WHOLE family

Dylan with all the Grandparents!

                                                     Us!!!

Dylan with Grandma & Grandpa Sturtevant

All the Williams' kids

         After All those pictures....Dylan finally got to open his cards!

Dylan has been wanting to be baptized for 2 years. They chose the date of his baptism during this years travels so we could attend this great event!

Congratulations Dylan on your decision to be baptized!!

A nice day to visit....A GREAT Day to bike ride!!!

May 22, 2015 Friday-When I wake up I find another excuse for not walking....I have to break that lazy cycle! The weather is better, but still I'm wearing a long sleeve shirt, I still don't trust the weather here!!! Today we're going to drive into Bristol to the Bristol Tap for one of their infamous burgers!!!We'll be meeting Ron there for lunch. On the drive over to the Bristol Tap, Leif called me & he did indeed buy the bike he was he was talking about, in fact not only did he buy the bike....he's already CRASHED on it!?!

                                               Bristol Tap

Let's go in.....there's a burger in there with MY name on it!

Lennie & Ron go order the burgers & root beer, they have GREAT root beer!

Once you order the burger, it takes a while to get it, but it's worth the wait!

YUMM!!!!

When we left Ron, we stopped by Leif's to check out his new bike & his "Road Rash!?!"

                                         Here's his bike

And here's his ROAD RASH! I don't know how he can still laugh!?!

Believe it or not....we made a date to go bike riding together tomorrow morning! Now we're heading home to Otis!

A few "down days"!?!

May 18th-21st  Monday-Thursday  It's hard enough to try & visit with family & friends with them working & we're not.....but when the weather pulls a cold blast on us......then all we want to do is hibernate in the bus!?!This is Memorial Day Weekend coming up, the first big weekend of any campground owner, I know Chris Flippin has his fingers crossed for a nice change in the weather!?!

Monday morning Lennie got up & did his regular walk. He's so regimented!!! I did NOT walk, too cold, so Otis & I snuggled in the bed! When I did finally get up,this is what I woke up to:

AAAAH Comfy Cozy!!!!! Thanks Len!

When Otis asked to go out.....he had to wait while I bundled up!

Okay.....maybe it wasn't that bad, but we just came from 90 degree Florida weather, & now today is only going to be in the high 50's!?! Today all we did was hibernate in the bus, oh.....I put the electric blanket on the bed because tomorrow's weather is going to be the same!!!

Tuesday morning, faithful Len went out for his morning walk. Me & Otis....well, we're snuggling in the bed again!!!

After lunch while Lennie & Otis kept each other company.......

I drove over to Chris' house. She was out in her yard weeding, but she was dressed like she was ready to shovel snow, that's how cold it is!!! I wore my coat, not jacket, COAT, something I thought I wouldn't need till we're on the East coast in October!!!!

This is Chris' house,
and these are pictures of the farmers barn adjacent to Chris' property. The barn has been there forever, & empty for as long as Chris has lived there(over 15 yrs) & now....the barn is no more!

 I used that barn as a land mark so I knew when to turn into Chris' property!?!

After our visit I headed back to Hi-Tide, I think it was a little warmer out!?! I'm not taking the electric blanket off the bed just yet!!

Wednesday morning, it is a little warmer, Lennie's out walking, I am not, it's still not warm enough for me! I a such a wimp!!!!

It's not a whole lot warmer, but after lunch we go to Walmart to pick up a few things. On our way back to the campgrounds we stop at the Mobile Park where Leif lives.

We didn't see his car so I just planned to leave him a note. By the way.....its raining, cold & windy! Since Leif isn't home....I want to go back to the RV in the warmth of our electric heater! But......when I got up on his porch, I saw his vehicle in his other driveway. I knocked, & I heard "Sophie" bark. I knew he was home, he doesn't go anywhere without Sophie!!!

Otis isn't real sociable when we visit people who have dogs!!! He's so jealous!!!! If Sophie came by me, Otis would rush right to my lap, if Sophie went by Lennie....Otis would leave my lap & jump in Lennie's lap!

Leif told us he'd been looking at bicycles & was thinking about buying one. We told him if he did indeed buy a bike, we'd go on a bike ride with him! We couldn't visit too long, we had cold stuff in our car, tho it was cold enough outside I don't think we had anything to worry about!!!!