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We stayed in the hotel for two nights. We spent one day at White River State Park and went through the Indiana State Museum. The next day we went through the Indianapolis Museum of Art before we headed to Shades State Park for our 4 nights of camping.
Friday morning it rained until 1pm. Around 11, we decided to go to a Walmart and get a canopy so we could at least have a place to sit during the rain. By the time we got back, it had stopped raining and didn't rain until we were on the road home but at least we have a canopy that will be used a lot especially for Breanna's open house next spring.
After the rain, we took a hike on the Shades trails. We chose the two rugged trails. They were nice but muddy because of the rain.
The next day we didn't do much of anything. Amber and Matt came around 5:30 to stay for two nights. Sunday, we went on a 8-mile canoe trip down Sugar Creek near Turkey Run. After canoing, we went miniature golfing 18 holes. I won the front nine but came in close to last in the back nine. The back nine were definitely harder!
We heard thunder and lightening on Monday morning around 5:30. At 6am we decided we'd better break camp while everything was still dry. We had planned to eat breakfast and then break camp. We got everyone up and were on the road around 7. It started raining as we drove to a restaurant to eat breakfast.
Highlights of camping:
Having the whole family together for two days and nights!
Getting away from electronics and spending time together as a family.
The first night Amber and Matt were there, I laughed so hard I cried real tears. Something struck me funny so I was laughing already. Amber said what I thought was, "Are you wearing your black party shirt?" I thought she thought that was why I was being so giddy and laughed and laughed, while tears were pouring down my face. (She was really asking if I was wearing the "Block Party Shirt" that their church had made up for their annual block party in the neighborhood.) Matt asked me why that was funny. I said, while laughing hard, "It's not really funny!" and kept on laughing. Everyone was looking at me very funny. It reminded me of my sister Jenny.
Kyle made a "cigarette" by rolling up a tree leaf and lighting one end of it. He didn't inhale he said. He said it tasted good, kind of sweet. Jezra tried it too.
Raccoons! Every night right after we turned out the lantern and went to our tents, we would hear the raccoons messing around with our stuff. The last evening we were there, we didn't turn on our lantern, we just sat around the fire. As the fire died down, the raccoons got braver. Breanna was sitting on the picnic table with her back to the table part. She heard a noise behind her. She turned her head and looked right into the face of a raccoon. She screamed, jumped up and ran away from the table. After that, Matt (and Bob) would be sitting around the campfire and then all the sudden turning on the flashlight toward the woods. We would be able to see the raccoons on the edge of our campsite. We put out peanuts and they came pretty close. One even put a paw on Bob's foot! What fun!
During the night, the raccoons would fight. They have a pig kind of oink when they fight. We would wake up hearing them really go at it.
The camp was totally full except for one or two sights over the holiday weekend but Sunday evening when we came back from canoing, we were one of maybe four or five campers. We had the showers and flush toilets (that we had to walk about 10 minutes to get to) all to ourselves. One morning I waited a good 1/2 hour to get in to the showers because the DNR was cleaning them first. Lots of women were waiting but I was the second one in line so I got into shower 2 right away when they were done and the restroom was clean for a second at least.
It's good to be home in our own beds but we so enjoyed camping. We decided next time we will either do tent camping or hotel sleeping but not both. It made for a lot of different things to bring along and trying to keep food cold for that long was hard even with our 5 day cooler.
The first night in our own bed, I woke up to pee and got very disoriented. I walked around our bed and stopped in front of the towel rakes outside our bathroom. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out which way to go. It was so weird!
Bob and I spent the weekend at a hotel in a nearby town Friday and Saturday evening to celebrate our marriage. The manager gave us a great deal surprising us with the jacuzzi suite for the Friends and Family rate. (Thanks, Bekki!) Friday evening we went out to eat, stopped at Walmart for popcorn and fruit juice, and went back to the motel and enjoyed the jacuzzi. It took a long time to fill that tub up!! It was big enough we could both get into it and lay down beside each other. What a wonderful evening we had.
Saturday we went to the Rhapsody in Green Festival at Island Park. We bought some pretzels at a supermarket and fed the ducks and geese. They didn't like pretzels very much. They had to chew them a lot to get them down. We thought about buying white bread but wondered what we would do with it if they didn't eat it all. I think they would have devoured it!
We also walked the River Walk and the downtown shops. I got sunburn. We ate at a fancy restaurant where the sandwich wraps were $8 a piece including a side salad! The en tree's were as expensive at $23! We decided we would have popcorn for supper so we wouldn't spend any more money.
One drawback if you want to "get away" to spending time so close to home is that we ran into quite a few people we knew during the weekend! Not really a drawback but different than going away for the weekend. We also saw our son, Jezra a few times because he worked 10-10 on Saturday and 7-3 on Sunday.
We got up Sunday morning and ate the free breakfast and went to church where our pastor and his wife were celebrating 40 years of marriage by renewing their vows and serving us a fine meal after church. Jan gave the sermon. I heard it was good but I had to be in KMZ so I missed it. We sat with some of Jan's fellow teachers. They said they enjoyed seeing a side of Jan they didn't know. They enjoyed the whole celebration. Dave and Jan's brother-in-law, who married them 40 years ago (his very first wedding), helped them and those of us who were married renew their vows. It was a wonderful weekend all together.
I'm glad God gave me such a great man to spend my life with!
Breanna and I decided to go with Tami and the kids to the public pool yesterday afternoon. I hadn't been to this pool for a few years. We got there around 2:45. We had to wait in a line for 5 minutes or so because they need a lot more information now: first and last name, address, and phone number, just to pay the day fee and swim!
After getting our shower so we could go into the water, which doesn't make sense to me, we stood in another line because now you can't take a bag into the pool area, the very bag I so carefully packed so we would have everything we needed while swimming! While I was getting our towels and sunscreen out of the bag, I dropped my cheap sun glasses and they broke in half, ruined!
We saw Tami in the big pool and the kids sitting on the sidelines because it was adult swim only. Anthony and Lindsey had life jackets on. When they got into the pool after the whistle blew, they were scared. They were not able to touch the bottom of the pool and the life jackets didn't always keep the water out of their face. Anthony kept swallowing water and choking and spitting. After a few minutes I asked Tami if I could take Anthony to the medium-sized pool. She thought he still wouldn't be able to touch bottom but he could and he loved being there. I walked back to the big pool to tell Tami and get Lindsey. They all came back with me. I stepped on the edge of the little pool and stepped into the pool with my left foot, lost my footing and hit my face on the ladder rail and scraped my back on the edge of the pool! It hurt a little but no blood. I was okay but I knew my face would bruise in a few days. (This morning it doesn't look like it was hit at all so maybe it won't actually bruise.)
A little bit later, I got hit in the nose with a small, soft ball! These kids were throwing a ball back and forth in the pool and the ball hit me right in the nose. It didn't hurt very bad because it was a soft pool ball but I was so surprised to have it hit me after all the other things that went wrong!
After less than an hour there, they blew the whistle and said there was a storm coming, the pool is closing! Maybe I should have stayed home after all that but I did have fun and maybe got a little sun on my white, white legs.
So much for an afternoon at the public pool! I'm not sure it was worth it although I did enjoy seeing the kids playing so nicely in the pool. I found out why it had been a few years since I had been to the neighborhood public pool!
The second picture is me a week after I got my bottom two wisdom teeth out. Can you see the yellow skin and the swollen cheeks? I had a bad first week because I got a huge canker-type sore on the right side and couldn't eat anything without hurting. I am back to normal now and can eat again, which I did with gusto that second week to make up for not eating well the first one!
The next two are showing the kids all home from college. The boys' room is the hangout for playing "Super Smash Brothers" on the Wii. They are having a blast.
The last four are Zion in a basket. Her mom put her in the clothes basket to take her downstairs. She looked so cute in there I couldn't resist taking a few pictures.
I have moved to a different office for my job. I am now working across town at the Greencroft office. I can't walk to work anymore but I love the new job and the atmosphere in the other office. I am the receptionist there in the morning and in the afternoon, I get their files ready to take to the home office to be scanned. I can work through my lunch so I walk around the Greencroft campus during my 1/2 hour lunches two or three days a week. The office has a financial counselor and an assistant and me. I like the smallness of the office (it feels like I'm back in the church office to some degree). We work with a lot of senior citizens. One day Steve (the financial counselor) tilled up a client's garden for her in his tie and nice clothes! That same client brings us brown eggs from a farm once a month. There is never a dull moment there. I'm so glad for the change. It fits me much better than the other office did.
The summer is very busy already and it has just barely started. I'm enjoying tutoring my student at the Adult Literacy Program once a week for an hour. I am learning to know Bangladesh culture and what it was like getting the visa to come to America. I am enjoying having the kids home for the summer. I have a very nice flower bed and we planted a few green pepper, tomato, and zucchini plants. The weather has been very nice and I love to see the green and all the beautiful flowers and flowering trees blooming. Life is good and so is God!
Yesterday, I had my two bottom wisdom teeth out (and last ones in my mouth). Kyle drove me over there, stayed with me for the hour and a half and drove me home. He stopped at the drug store to get the drugs and took care of me when we got home.
I stopped bleeding pretty quickly. The pain medication didn't kick in right away so I know I have a lot of pain but with the meds finally kicking in, the pain isn't too bad. I think I'm even going to go to the Ladies Day Retreat from 10-5 today. Someone else is driving because the pain meds make me sleepy. I'm going to ask someone in the car (of 3 other women) to keep an eye on me and if I look piqued and tired, to make sure I lay down a while. The only thing that will be hard to finding something soft to eat that I don't have to do much chewing. That makes me feel the pain even if the meds are working!
Do I still have wisdom? I'll let you be the judge! Last night between "sleeps" the song from Heehaw was going through my mind, the one titled: "Gloom, Despair, and Agony On Me. The song is so depressing I decided to come up with my own version. Here's the real song for those of you who are too young for Heehaw:
Gloom, despair, and agony on me.
Deep, dark depression; excessive misery
If it we're for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me
This is my version (maybe still in the editing stage):
When a Holy Spirit burden comes on us
Deep intercession and praying is a must
When we seek the Father
Satan loses ground!
Takes worshiping Jesus and a lot of trust
You have to work to make it fit the song rhythm but it is a much better focus than the original one.
Well, what do you think? Did I gain more wisdom?
Jezra and Kyle set up a dorm room in our extra bedroom for the summer. They set up the bunk beds and their computers in their room just like a dorm except we wouldn't let them plug in the fridge and microwave. Too much electricity use!
The kids used their "wheels" for a race down the hill near our house. We had a great time. After we did the race, we all got our bikes and road to The Chief for homemade ice cream. (Thanks, Sherrie, for letting us borrow your bike so Amber could go with us!)
