Life Lately

As it seems to be the routine this summer, I took another blog break while things were crazy busy around here! My parents got here on the 22nd and we celebrated 3 birthdays within that time. My grandma turned 85, my grandpa turned 86 and Jesse turned 39 (the big 4-0 next year!).

We also got in tons of boating and even a little camping. We took Harley for a long weekend up to some timber that Jesse's family owns. I think it was the best weekend of his life! He even got to be off his leash out there, which never happens at home.

I spent quite a bit of time with my parents, of course. My mom and I picked up the new seats for my Rambler and I can't wait to see them in the car! It's in for paint right now, so I should have it back in about a month to get the new carpet put in and the seats will go in then as well.

My dad and I spent a day together tearing apart the car to prep it for paint. We took off the bumpers, trim and all other metal to help get it ready.

My mom and I also had a girls' day in the city eating out and getting our nails done. (of course, mine are pink).

 

And we got to take my parents out for a day on the boat as well. It was so fun getting to bring them along and show them what we do for fun all summer :)

We wrapped up the weekend with some Labor Day festivities. My town always has a big celebration for Labor Day complete with a carnival, kids games, flea market and parade.

I would say that things should be getting back to normal, but life is anything but normal right now. I've been playing catch up the last couple of days to get all my orders finished up as my shop will be closed from Sept. 11th - Sept. 16th. More on that in a couple weeks!

Thunder on the Loup 2015

Last weekend Jesse and I headed out to Nebraska for Thunder on the Loup 2015. This is a huge air boat get together on the Loup River. We camped by the river, boated and watched the races on Saturday and Sunday. Several of our friends went as well making for a great weekend in the sun.

A canopy...because we're not just Redneck...we're High Class Redneck :)

One of my favorite pictures from the whole trip :)

Boating before all the activities begin

Dream house, with a gorgeous view!

The River Rats also came to have some fun. These trucks and Jeeps are made to go almost totally under water!

Super friendly people. Took Jesse and one of our friends for a ride :)

Over 200 campers and an estimated 4,000-6,000 people in attendance to watch the races!

Me and my "sister" Melissa :)

Another gorgeous day of boating! (before the storms!)

It seems to rain every year we head to the Loup. I found out that rain drops to your eye balls at 40mph is NOT fun! These clouds were really scary, but luckily didn't turn into much more than rain.

  We always have so much fun on the Loup and already have our trip planned for next year :)

A Day on the River

Saturday started out looking kind of cloudy with a chance of rain. But by mid-afternoon, the clouds cleared and the temperatures soared! A perfect day to be on the river!

We met Jesse's younger brother, his girlfriend and Jesse's aunt and uncle for a day of sun and fun.

I even engraved coozies for everyone so they have a coozie to match their boat :) Jesse loves this little mascot for the cam we have in our boat. And since our new boat doesn't have a name yet, I used this for our coozies. Everyone else got their boat's name engraved on one side with "I'd rather be air boating" on the other side along with an air boat graphic.

 

 I'm definitely glad we got out Saturday, because we tried to boat again on Sunday, but the river was much higher just over night! Apparently they got the rain up north that we thought we were going to get early Saturday. Good reason to enjoy life as you can :)

First Day of Spring

Woohoo for the nicer weather...and even nicer weather to come!

What better way to spend the first day of spring than taking the year's Maiden Voyage on the river!

While it was a little chilly, it was well worth it to get out of the house and enjoy the sun for a few hours :)

We did have a little mishap with our new boat, but luckily we still have our old boat and she still runs great. Hopefully the new boat will be on the water in about a month.

We met up with Jesse's aunt and uncle and I love how their dog sits in the seat like a little person :) We're hoping to get to take Harley more this year as well.

And on Saturday we had a wedding reception and decided to get out our "new" car for its official first cruise. Jesse's grandpa left his grandma's sunglasses in the car and wanted me to have them. I love that they fit just right :)

How was your first day of spring?

Work Hard - Play Hard Weekend

This past weekend was a busy one filled with work on the studio as well as some fun family time on the river. Friday we left for Menard's around 11 am and finally returned home around 6 pm. After finally unloading the truck and parking the trailer, we made it in the house about 8:30 pm! It was a LONG day, but well worth it. Menard's was having an 11% rebate, so we bought as much as we could.

Here's the trailer full of sheeting and 119 2x4s. Luckily my job was to keep count and not load the trailer :)

The back of the truck is full of my flooring and insulation. And the back seat is full to the brim to with a kitchen sink, bathroom sink and toilet.

When we got home we unloaded the flooring out of the pickup and stacked it in the living room...one...box...at...a...time! My body's not used to that manual labor anymore!

But Saturday was spent relaxing :) We went air boating with both of Jesse's brothers and families. It was the first time we'd all gotten out together all summer long! We boated all day and into the early night getting off the river just before dark.

We ran into this really cool structure. We're not sure if it was a walking bridge at one time or just there to help keep the railroad bridge from taking abuse from the current.

Sunday was spent mostly relaxing. Jesse got to fix our trailer (after the boat tried to fall off!). And I got to nurse a burnt hand (after trying to save the boat!). Luckily the boat, the trailer and my hand are all okay :)

 How was your weekend?