Year of the Snake?

I don't know if there is such a thing, but if not, I shall declare it so! I have seen a lot of snakes on the road this spring. A few days ago, we found a snakeskin that had been shed on one of the brick posts in the courtyard. The snake is obviously living in the post. Oh well, at least I don't have any mice :)

Where is that Easter Bunny

My grandbabies sure looked cute for Easter. I didn't get to see them, but did get a few pics. They looked like they were having a good time hunting Easter eggs. I wish I could have watched them hunt for the eggs. I did get to hide eggs with Trevor and Trenton Paul. It was so much fun. Unfortunately I forgot my memory card for my camera so I don't have any pics of their hunt.
Sarah was not happy in this picture; but even upset she looks very cute!

Finally, we got a break in the weather and was able to finish the new deck at the lake. I think it turned out really good. We made good use of a totally unused tennis court net! Now we just need to find some pelicans for the posts and it will be complete.

Slacking

Wow, I can't believe it has been a month since my last post. Time seems to be moving pretty rapidly. I don't know what I have been doing that I haven't posted, just staying busy I guess. Gene finished the deck except for the railing which we hope to get up this weekend if the weather will cooperates.

I have been painting the library all week. I really have to be in the mood to paint and I sure don't like to do it, but it has to be done. It is going to take two coats which only makes it more work, but considering that it hasn't been painted in over 20 years, it was past due. It took me almost 2 days to just get the books out of the bookshelves so that I could move them away from the wall. One bookcase is full of encyclopedia's which no one uses anymore and I wanted to just throw them away; but Gene said absolutely not! Another bookcase is full of National Geographic magazines that date back to the 1930's. They are really neat and I won't throw them away. Hopefully I will get the room finished next week. I think that after I get the room put back together that I might move my sewing machine out there and make that my craft room. Right now my sewing is done on the third floor and it gets hot up there in the summer even though it has air conditioning; but that's just a thought in the works..I haven't really decided.

Mother and Daddy are about the same, although mentally mother seems to be loosing it pretty rapidly. Mother can no longer read, but she is starting to participate in the activities without me taking her. I was surprised today when she actually remembered going to play wheel of fortune this morning! Daddy is eating really good, so that sure makes me happy.

My little great nephew is sure growing fast. Here he is all ready for his beach vacation...looking good K-Man

I saw these flowers at Garden Ridge and they reminded me of the huge beautiful sunflowers that my mother-in-law would grow around her garden. She grew the largest sunflowers I have ever seen! So, I bought them and took them to the cemetery. I think she would approve.

Lastly, here are a few pics of the kids in the swimming pool at the hotel. Sorry about the quality, but I took these with my phone.

They sure love to swim and I love to watch them swim......I just love to watch them period...

Weekend with the Kids!

Last weekend we met Paige and her family in Indianapolis. We chose the Hampton Inn on the north side of the city and it worked out really well for us. I normally hate staying in hotels and prefer to take my own little camper when we travel, but this place was new, clean, had a nice big pool area and a great breakfast bar. It was about 15 miles into the city. We all arrived on thursday and just sort of hung out and went out to eat and the kids went swimming. On Friday we went to the childrens museum. It was large and wonderful. It was really crowded but so large that it didn't really bother us. Paige had stayed behind in the hotel recovering from having her wisdom teeth cut out earlier in the week. It was so wonderful to watch how excited the kids were. Aaron was just jumping up and down. They had 2 featured exhibits: Dora the Explorer and Barbie!

They had a really cute ice cream shop for kids. Aaron is in the red shirt and Sarah in the stripped purple, with her daddy watching her every move. She is really quick and will just take off. Can't take your eyes off that one!

Aaron driving in Dora's car

Here Aaron is driving Dora's rocket!

On Saturday we went back downtown to a percussion museum and the kids really enjoyed playing all the instruments. Aaron was a natural on the drums!

We left on Sunday and we went thru Cincinnati and met Drew and Lindsay at the Cracker Barrel for lunch and enjoyed some time with them.

Gene is off this week and is adding another deck onto the lake shack. He is doing a really good job! It will give us much more outdoor space and make the walk to the lake a little easier...although walking up hills is second nature to me, since I grew up in Harlan County!

A Family Gathers

The Clark Family gathered to say goodbye to the last sibling of my father-in-law. She passed away last June, but due to health problems of her children, they were not able to have a service at the time of her death. So, yesterday the family gathered at the family cemetery to bury her cremated remains. It was a nice service at a beautiful location.

Gene and his cousin Julia

After the memorial service we all went to the Cedar Lodge, a local bed and breakfast for refreshments and some "catching up with family" time. I met a lot of family members that I had never met in my almost 37 years of being in this family, and got to catch up with family members that I rarely get to see. The weather was perfect and it was a very enjoyable day.

My sister-in-law

Gene and his cousin James

The oldest living cousin Goldie

Phase 1 Complete

Gene finished up the deck covering at the lake by himself. I think that it turned out really good. The house is so small, that being able to be outside when it is raining is very important. Also, there are a lot of huge trees around the deck and it was hard to leave anything on the deck or eat out there because of the birds in the trees. So, I think that we will enjoy having a covered deck.

Here it is:

The opening in the front of the deck is for Phase 2. Gene is going to be another deck on front of this one. There will be one or two steps down onto another deck. We really like having the open view from the deck.

The deck covering is clear so that we still get plenty of light on the deck and into the bottom floor of the house.

We have decided that we don't like the color of the block on the lower level of the house, so we are going to paint it again! It should be very insulated, because we have repainted it several times.

If we spent as much time fishing as we do piddling with the house, we might actually have fish for dinner sometime!