Wild & Three Thursday!

Oh heavens so much. It is the day after the hoopla of the what I considered an over the top commercialized holiday. I am thankful that we personally have worked VERY hard to keep it in check over the years. It is hard. But when you just give it a hard look you should easily be able to see that less is more.

Not long after our daughter was born we started the three gift rule patterned after the number of gifts provided to baby Jesus. We did not "do" Santa Claus, yep, crazy I know. Don't judge us and we won't judge you. It's all about choices and we made the one to go without the Christmas clown eons ago. Our daughter now has chosen not to bring the jolly old man in on a large scale role in her daughters life. They make reference to "the farmer" and tackle discussions as they come without much fanfare. I like it. Whatever and however you celebrate the Christmas season is your choice but we do take the Jesus's Birthday approach with emphasis on the age old story of the Savior's birth in a manger when there was no room at the inn.

We started on Christmas Eve with our traditional pizza dinner along with a drive around town to look at Christmas lights. There were lots of "smiley's" which are snowmen in our world and the little one loved it. A new thing we did this year was decorate a gingerbread house and sugar cookies. It was lots of fun and everyone got in on the action. We will try to keep this up next year. We ended with playing several rounds of Farkle. This has become a nightly ritual; playing several rounds of Farkle after the little one is in bed.

Christmas Day started with cinnamon rolls and stockings! It was all good and filled with lots of laughter. My what a little one can do for your perspective. She is a hoot. Next was the opening of the "snowmen". Then a concentrated effort on a ham dinner with all the fixings and a pumpkin pie to boot.

 Her own SMILEY!

All ready and waiting. The snowmen are their gifts...three just like baby Jesus received. 

Throughout the day gifts from the rest of the family were opened in spurts. Taking time out to play with what was received helped not to get to wrapped up in the plentiful packages. We actually "reloaded" the tree. Christmas Eve was set with the Grands from LaLa's side and Christmas PJs to wear that night. Christmas morning was stockings, her Christmas from her parents and their snowmen from us. Christmas afternoon and evening were from her other Grands, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Whew, what a full, fun day we had. Tomorrow we head back to MO as impending weather moving in make it the best travel day.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Brrrrr....first snow day was Tuesday and we are still feeling the effects. Hmmm hope this isn't the way it's gonna be or I may have to be outta here! Guess it is nearly winter so shouldn't be complaining.

We are trying to tie up loose ends and finish last minute wrapping so we can make our way North to be with the Daughter for Christmas. So far, so good. Still trying to find a few stocking stuffers but otherwise done with that whole gift buying thing. Have a few cards to get in the mail and that's it. Not going overboard here. It's truly sad how much we are all guilty of overdoing. I really, REALLY try not to do that.

Happy travels if you are on the road, we hope to arrive a few days early and be all tucked in before the travel frenzy begins. Getting back right now looks like the bigger challenge as a strong storm will be moving in over the weekend after Christmas. We will adjust our return accordingly!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wild & Three Thursday!

It's pretty much been sunrise, sunset, wash and repeat this past week as we continue to try and catch up with all that was left while we were gone. Several chores have been accomplished but there are several more on the list. We are still trying to finish what little Christmas shopping needs to be done as well as just procure some items while there are great sales going on. Honestly, it's pretty much Christmas time any given day of the week. We are a society of abundance and immediate possession. Unfortunately, we have fallen prey to this mindset on many occasions, too many really. Be mindful of the company you keep, I think it has plays a role. No longer do we wait for an event such as a birthday or Christmas for gift receiving or giving. We just get it now. Again, sadly, we are as guilty as anyone else. No excuses we just buy it. We have so much more then ever before and are still accumulating. I feel our clutter level has increased too much, I'm a bit out of sorts about that but yet I have contributed to the issue as well as anyone. Being in a real house again has made it harder. What to do, what to do? I plan to make a better, more concentrated effort to get back into the simpler, need based thought process lifestyle and not get even more sucked into the one of gotta have it now, overabundance and for show thinking. Something to ponder seriously and put more work into for sure. I enjoy the hunt for gently used and bargains and just need to make sure I'm not over buying.

Happy Holidays!

Wild & Three Thursday!

We are safely back at the Meadow. It's time for cleaning and catching up. It was a most wonderful trip. We did just over 5K miles. In fact, ROADA is gonna need new shoes! We were also thrilled to get to make a stop in OKC on our way in to see dear friends. It was so lovely to have a "catch up" dinner with those who are so near and dear to our hearts. AND maybe there might have been some new Sooner gear found :) I know for sure there was a new chocolate shop located that had handmade caramel that was sooooo delicious! Repeat visit needed FOR SURE!

December is shaping up to be quite busy as the holidays approach. We are planning to go North to be with the Daughter and family for Christmas. Bee has already called to see when we are coming. Give us a few days little girl, give us a few days! But until then there will be wrestling matches, band concerts, choir performance, candy making and snuggles with MGM. Along with gift wrapping and shopping.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Happy, happy Thanksgiving. I've said it before and I will say it again My absolute favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. And I don't even like turkey! It's all the food (cause there is ALWAYS lots and not just turkey at our gatherings), family and fun but without the pressure of gifts and the weather is usually mild so everyone can get there. What is NOT to like! This year however, family is limited to just MiRV and I. It's still all good but being with family for this one is a favorite and I certainly do/did miss it.

There is so, so much to be thankful for ANY time but I am especially mindful of how blessed we are during this particular time of the year. We are so fortunate to live in a country where we can have so many freedoms and do not suffer from an oppressive government. We personally do not suffer from war or poverty. Thank a service member for that whydontcha! Cause that whole no war thing on our soil, that's a biggie and everyone should ALWAYS be thankful for that. Not gonna get much deeper but suffice to say we are fully aware of the abundance and liberties that we experience and we are beyond thankful for that.

The Daughter and family are safely back home. We are spending our turkey day in Tucson eating hot off the grill steaks. It's cool, rainy and windy. We decided to just take a three day break before moving on to let the weather settle down. They have closed some roads right behind us so to speak and they are closing roads in the higher elevations all around us. So we will be stationary as this bit of weather moves on. We hope to pull out on Saturday a.m. but we are flexible enough to be respectful if the weather is still an issue we can stay put if needed.

Oh, the zoo trip was a resounding success! What a delightful day with perfectly beautiful weather. We nearly opened and closed it. Saw all kinds of animals. I loved the koala's best. Feeding the giraffe was a hit as well as getting to see the baby gorilla nursing.  Watching the cheetah walking by on a leash right in front of us was a pretty cool bonus, too. And riding the sky tram (twice) as well as the double decker bus was a nice break from all the walking. Oh, and let's not forget the chuckle of seeing "Save the Chubby Unicorn" shirts (rhinoceros, need love, too) Stopping off at In and Out Burger on our way to the hotel was a great ending to our full day; love me an animal style burger!

OH em GEEEEE I would be remiss if I did not mention our visit with ThreeDoorsDown! They were incredible host and we enjoyed sitting round the table catching up. Great to spend time with such good people. And MiRV was so stoked to get wet. He was pretty dry! Be able to to surf with RocketBoy in Redondo on the same board he learned to surf on in Cocoa on he couldn't have been happier. :)

Wild & Three Thursday!

They're here!

Plane ride went well and she was excited to see us. Mom and dad both reported that the wireless noise cancelling headphones were a hit. Their first trip to the Pacific Ocean was enjoyed by all. We are currently enjoying our cottage view at San Onofre where dolphins have been frolicking just off the coast. Lots of shell collecting, beach exploring, GoFish playing, Sprinkle cupcake eating, sand sweeping, crossword puzzle working, relaxing is happening. We even went bowling! Just a tidbit if you are military looking to stay at San O go ahead and book that airbnb you looked at because the beach cottages associated with Camp Pendleton are disappointing. The train tracks have traffic on them right in front of the cottages ALL NIGHT LONG and honestly we found that the public beaches are better maintained/groomed and the cottages are just not that great. I'm extremely sad to report this. As we are usually all in on utilizing our military base privileges, however, as of late we are finding out they are falling short.

Planning a trip to the San Diego Zoo on Saturday and the weather looks to be awesome for such an outing. Gonna be sad to see them go. I think everyone is having a good time. The night sky in Joshua Tree was AH-mazing...saw shooting stars, satellites, planes (lots of planes) and many, many stars. Loved our view.

Wild & Three Thursday!

We are in Joshua Tree National Park! WOW! Neat, neat little place. We snagged what we thought was the last spot, then as we are walking back to the iron ranger we notice a spot with people but no tag. After inquiring, no they aren't camping, they just stopped to picnic. Really, in the campground? There are plenty of picnic stops, I just don't get it. We moved to that spot since it was a bit bigger and move level for sure. Sweet!

And those Joshua Trees, well, you might get a Dr Seuss feeling while looking at them. But fun fact...they are not really trees! I know! Google it, it's true! Since I was so underwhelmed at Big Ben National Park last week it was good to be impressed again. Part of my poor assessment could be weather related. It was windy, really, really windy. And due to rains and foggy weather we were unable to do some of the major hikes we were planning. However, the reality is we will probably not make a return visit to BBNP. Park staff was not very helpful or friendly and the park itself seems tired. Back to Joshua Tree...lovely park. Though not a fan of their new all reservation campgrounds. At least two of their larger campgrounds have gone the route of must make a reservation to get in. Not good, not good at all especially for people like us. We were fortunate to snag a spot at White Tank which is still a first come, first serve. We ended up staying two nights. As we made our way through the park we checked out one of the reservation only locations. Nearly empty! Ugh, that really makes me ruffled. we encountered this reservation only type campground in Michigan earlier this year and we are just not a fan. Especially when the walk in sites are ALL full and the reservation sites are going unused.

Anywho, as I mentioned in another post we are making our way to California to meet up with the Daughter. We were fortunate to get a visit in at Guadalupe National Park. However, due to high winds we were unable to hike.That was a real bummer for MiRV as he had hoped to hike the high point. Speaking of campgrounds, GNP has one....well they are calling their parking lot a campground which IMO is stretching it. What you really have is a semi flat parking lot that they call  a campground! LOL It most certainly is not. But at least you get to stay right in the park. And in all honesty we were thrilled to snag one of only two spots open when we rolled in. While we were there we trekked on up the road to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park. How cool is that place? FYI you can go on your own self guided tours. So don't fret when you check the website and it says all the "tours" are sold out. Those are the park guided tours and you can still go on your own self guided tour during park hours. You set out and just explore on your own on the designated paths or grab an audio guide for $5. It's pretty awesome. Disclaimer: It does stink at the natural entrance from all the bat droppings!

We also stopped by White Sands National Monument, twice. Even rode down the dunes a couple times! Then we headed on into Arizona where we made a little side trip up to Saguaro National Park. It was incredible. The number of saguaros was totally overwhelming. I have never even seen that type of cactus in person before so to see so many in one spot was WOWSA! The coolest thing there was seeing the little Mexican elf owl in the abandoned woodpecker hole.What a treat that was. So cute. We really enjoyed the drive through this park and the friendly staff. Another impressive stop has been Organ Pipe National Monument. The campground here was quite nice. Not crowded at this time of year...even though there are 200+ sites. There had solar showers and a beautiful sunset as well as sunrise on our stay over. I would return here in a heartbeat. Though it's quite a drive to get down there I think it was worth it. In hindsight we probably should have done more then one night. Make sure you leave the light on and the hood up for pack rat deterrence! Seriously!

Still looking forward to seeing the Daughter and family in a few days for a week of beach life. Meanwhile we are gonna enjoy a little more time at Joshua Tree before meandering on that direction. Looking forward to the night sky tonight, they say it is quite the view. I'll let you know.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Happy Birthday to our Patriach...

He's 89 years young tomorrow. Complains a little; mostly, about what he can't do anymore...but we tell him he is doing great for where he's at! Sometimes he agrees, sometimes he doesn't. For his age though he is seriously doing quite well IMO. 

Sooooo Happy Birthday DAD!

We will do dinner when we return; until then hold down the fort!

He sure enjoys spending time with the great grands!

We have heat...

We were thrilled to finally see the UPS man show up this morning and once the delivery was made it was out to ROADA to install the new part. MiRV thankfully is VERY talented and was able to make the install with minimal hurdles. Needed a 2mm allen wrench, which we didn't have so I scouted one from my dad but we came up empty. It's a good thing someone got creative because he made a screwdriver attachment head piece work. After that it was pretty smooth sailing and we indeed now have heat. 

Tomorrow is go time. We will head down into TX for a stop at Big Ben National Park; then make our way to Cali for a meet up with the Daughter and family. There will be other stops along the way both coming and going. Since the schedule has changed so much with the heating part delay we have had to adjust several plans. All doable but adjustments were needed. Overjoyed to be heading out and looking forward to the downtime at the beach coming our way with Bee!

Wild & Three Thursday!

We are going on another ROAD TRIP...well, after we deal with a minor setback. We were getting ready to head out and the heat panel would not come on. That's NEVER good when the temps are gonna be in the low 40s. So we are in a holding pattern as we wait on a new one to ship. The temps here have been following with dreary, wet, cold rain and drizzle and even a few flakes. Good news is we are flexible so it's a minor delay. Even better news is that it looks like a DIY is possible so my very talented husband will be the installer. That's always a plus. And temperatures are supposed to go back up, so that is a bonus!

Looks complicated to me but he has assured me it will not be too difficult. I certainly hope that is the case. Though the space is extremely tight so I've been told my smaller hands may need to assist with the "little black wires in the very back".  Sure, I'm a team player I will do what I can.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Family hug before we take off!

She will be our guest for the next few days and we are thrilled...and she wanted to come sooner so we have an extra day with her! No complaints here. We are planning to peg the fun meter with a football game tonight, movie tomorrow, a corn maze and birthday party on Saturday and who knows what else we will find to do while she is here. Oh, and lots of family visiting, too! In fact getting her hands on MGM was her first priority.

Texas Road Trip Report

It was the quickest nuptial exchange we have ever  witnessed. Thankfully the reception was longer! We enjoyed every minute and are honored to have been included. We have known this young man since he was born.

Proud momma giving a toast to the newlyweds.

The trip down was a flying trip, Dallas traffic was hectic; who knew the POTUS was in town? Houston traffic was not much better but we have seen it worse so we had that to be thankful for.

Back into OKC on Saturday and the Sooners were in town so getting from south of Norman up into OKC was extremely slow going. But we made it  Sunday morning we were blessed to be back in one of our home churches. They have a new pastor and he seems like a really good fit. We enjoyed the service. Did a lot of visiting the rest of the day. It was good to be back in OK. Glad we were able to take a few days to be in the area which we always enjoy. Learned a new game. FARKLE! Get some dice and learn it, you will thank me later; it's really fun! We are heading on up to NE from here.

Wild & Three Thursday!

On the road again...stay turned as we off to the great state of Texas. Wedding bells are ringing for a longtime family friend's oldest son and we plan to be there. Then it's a few days in the Sooner state catching up before heading north to Nebraska. The Bee needs some new BOOMER gear so shopping will be in order! It's gonna be a fast and furious trip without ROADA but we will survive. She so spoils us on traveling and when we do it without her it puts a whole new spin on our trips; especially packing!

In other news there was insulation being hung in the new garage the past few days.

 The West wall is still a work in progress.

But the North wall is complete.

We may not be fast but it is getting done a little at a time.

Wild & Three Thursday!

Roca Berry Farm has become our fall activity. This year was a little different because Bee had already been once with her friends so she was well aware of what she wanted to do and where she wanted to go. She was a ball of energy running to and fro. It's a neat little place and we enjoy going every year. I think the adults have just as much fun as the children. At least that seems to be the case with our crew.

Soooo much fun. And even though we were all spent it was well worth it. We trekked on in to the big city for Endless Shrimp at RL much to the Daughter's delight. Everyone left satisfied but you can't get as close as we were without KK so we came home with donuts to boot! Lordy, it was a BIG day!

Wild & Three Thursday!

Our week home has been chock full of catch up chores. Mowing, doctor visits, football games, visiting with family, grocery shopping and just general cleaning and all that kind of thing that makes our world go round. Pretty normal yet not. 

We are ready to see the Daughter and family again, with a planned trip early next week that will include a trip to the pumpkin patch we need to rest up! Bee already went to the pumpkin patch once but she wants to take BeBe and LaLa, so back we will go. It's always a fun day. Then we are back to doctoring and life here in MO for a few days. It's certainly not dull around this place.

Wild & Three Thursday!

It's 8:00 P.M. and we are safely back at the Meadow. For the most part ROADA is unloaded. What a great trip. The big win was getting to Isle Royale! After stopping in Grand Portage, MN and finding the ferry service only running on weekends we thought, okay, another trip, another time. But on Sunday we rolled into Copper Harbor as a way to get around a rainy damp day in Wisconsin and scored. The joy of spontaneity is alive and well as we strolled around town and happened to stop at a bakery that was right next door to the dock. As it happens the very dock that is home to the ferry for going to Isle Royale. We inquired about IRNP passage and believe it or not they have service tomorrow...and yes there are two seats available! We are IN, parking at 7:00 a.m. boarding at 7:30 with departure at 8:00.

This was a bucket list item so what a boon to just walk up and get on this normally booked ferry and at the half price rate since it is the off season.

It was a 3.5 hour ride. The boat was full but with comfy seats; we made it just fine. It was a bit of rolling in the beginning but calmed down after the first hour or so. The return was a bit bumpy but not terrible. Bit of conversation and a good book made the long journey easier. The island itself was extremely pristine. We had just under three hours to explore so we set off hiking immediately after our NPS briefing.

I had hoped to see a moose but really we were not in the right area for that though there are about 1800 in the park according to the ranger. We did see lots and lots of cool lush lichen, moss, mushrooms and fern in all shapes and sizes. The trees were mostly green. It was a nice day for a walk in this plush, lush, unspoiled environment. While three hours is much to short to really experience the island it was enough to make us want to return.

From Copper Harbor we headed on to Wisconsin. We wanted to make a loop through Door County to return to the quaintness of the area and have cherry strudel. We were hoping for cherry donuts,too  but it's apple harvest time so it's apple cider donuts this time of year. They were outstanding (but cherry are still my favorite). The honeycrisp apples they had were the absolute best I have ever had. We also tried smoked fish as that is a local thing. We decided on the Atlantic salmon as it is boneless. We will definitely have that again and try some of the other local choices they had. Charlie's Smokehouse is the place! And they ship...

It was a bust on fall colors once we left Michigan. The rest of the area just isn't there yet. It was still very green all the way down. In Missouri not only is it green everywhere it is also quite warm and still very wet. It is certainly feeling more like summertime here rather then heading into fall. Gonna be near 90* for the next week!

It was another good trip! Gotta get some grass mowing down and cleaning up of ROADA as she is a very dirty girl after her voyage around Lake Superior.