Finally some time for golf

Mark and I have not golfed once since last summer but now have gone twice in four days.  That is a record for us, I believe!  Friday we went to Dayton for their special, all day golf with a cart for $20.00  Too hot and too old to "golf all day" so we did 18 holes instead.  Yesterday we decided to try Honey Creek near the Ledges in Boone.  I had golfed there a few times but Mark had never been to this course.  He loved it and his game showed it.  It was the best I have ever seen him golf!  Had he not goofed up with some 3 and 4 putt holes he easily would have broken 90.  I didn't do so well, though.  :-)  I am having my clubs re-gripped today so I KNOW my game is going to improve immensely.  Ha!  The grips are all torn and a mess so it might help my swing a little.  I can hope anyway!  After golfing at Honey Creek it is going to be hard to go back to Dayton.  The fairways and greens are just a lot nicer there and the scenery is breathtaking in the hills and valleys.  You definitely want a cart with great brakes as some of the holes are really steep.

We are having a family reunion at our farm next Thursday-Sunday.  We are praying the temps and humidity go down to a more normal level while everyone is here.  Sounds like sister Jan and most of her kids and grandchildren are coming,  Larry and Lane's family, Megan and her family.  Not sure about Matt but I am hoping he can make it, too.  They are all excited about eating sweet corn so Mark has been watering it faithfully since we are getting way too little rain.  The lawn looks quite sad right now!  I haven't mowed in over two weeks, very unusual for me!  The bluegrass is brown but of course the crab grass is green, tall and unsightly.  A little drought doesn't hurt that grass. :-(

Mark teeing off at Honey Creek

24 hours at Okoboji

I made a quick but wonderful trip to Lake Okoboji on Sunday to visit my old friends Jim and Nancy Houchins and their extended families.  Such fun!  Their daughter Laura and her family were still visiting from Texas so it was an extra special treat!  They truly live the good life in their retirement....winters in southern Texas and summers along the shore of West Okoboji.  Doesn't get any better than that! 

Two pictures from their dock

I left Monday at noon and it about killed me off to leave but Mark and I have plans to return two more times this summer.  Cannot wait.

Tuesday I drove to Des Moines to have lunch with another old friend, Jacqui and her sweet daughter Katie.  Had a marvelous time spending the afternoon with them and I think I will become Katie's adopted grandma!

Looking at our long range forecast it seems we are in for a tremendous heat wave.  Very little rain before or during this so the crops, flower beds and lawns are really going to be stressed.  We may have to water our sweet corn!  Here's hoping they are wrong about the rains...

Here's a short video of some still pics I took during our Peoria stay.  Enjoy the rest of summer everyone!

Our holiday week-end

Mark and I left for Peoria last Thursday.  We stayed through Tuesday noon and had a wonderful time with Megan and family and Matt.  Matt didn't come until Sunday, though and stayed with the Thiel's until Wednesday morning when he left to golf with buddies in Chicago.

Thursday night we went to Drew's favorite restaurant, Mickie's Pizzeria in the tiny town of Dunlap.  He says he LOVES the pepperoni pizza there but I think he LOVES the candy grab game that is in the hallway.  Grandma made sure she brought lots of quarters so he and Kayley could grab "1 cent candy" with each try!  :-)  Andy was at training all week in Chicago and did not make it home until Friday night. 

Friday Megan went to work and Grandpa and Grandma watched Drew and Kayley.  We went to the park for lunch and play but it was pretty hot and humid so didn't stay too long. 

Saturday night we met Andy and Megan's friends at Lake Camelot to watch fireworks that their HOA puts on each year.  We arrived early and waded in the lake, played on the playground and rolled around the hillside while we waited for darkness.  The fireworks were remarkably good considering it was just a local neighborhood presentation!


Sunday we just stayed around Megan's place.  Andy blew up the kid's new pool and they had a grand time swimming.  We had fun watching!  That evening we grilled raspberry chipolte pork loins and they were delicious!  The kids got to do sparklers that night and Andy blew up a few small fireworks for them. 

Monday Megan took us down to the riverfront and we walked around the area.  Very nice.  People were already setting up lawn chairs before noon to save their spot for the evening fireworks.  I cannot imagine sitting all day waiting for fireworks!  We left around 7:00 for the riverfront that evening and had no trouble securing a great spot for our chairs and blankets.  There were a ton of people but the area is huge.  They filled the time waiting for darkness with a splendid stunt plane show.  My neck was stiff from looking upward for so long!  Finally it was time for the "show".  Let me tell you, it WAS a show!  The most spectacular fireworks display I have ever seen in my 60 years!  Mark heard on the news the next morning that the cost was $100,000 and I believe it.  It was such fun!  We did have trouble getting out of the Cat parking ramp, spending more time there than at the fireworks I think.  Ha!  As I said, there were a ton of people there and it takes time to move them all out!

On Tuesday grandma put the kids to nap after lunch and then we took off for the farm.  That left Uncle Matt to babysit, a first for him I believe.  :-)  He had fun with them when they woke up and they played in the pool and had snacks, etc.  It was just a wonderful 4th of July for all of us!

Some images and video from our week-end....some are repeats of Megan's post on her blog "Kayley's story" which is on the right side if you would like to see her thoughts on the week-end.
The first video is of Kayley trying to "dive" into the pool.  It was hilarious, to us anyway!  The second one is Drew and his pool tricks:

A brief taste of the stunt show:

Killing time before the fireworks start:

A small taste of the great fireworks we saw: