Reunion Before THE Reunion

We have been in our home town area for the past couple of weeks.  Our daughter and her family were to fly standby and get in on Tuesday night.  Their luggage came to Midway in Chicago, but they had no seats for them.  So, they scrambled with work schedules and took off driving last night.  They got in this morning.  Our whole family hasn't been together since 2009.  The kids are all growing up, but it's a joy to see them all together.  My mother also flew in yesterday from Las Vegas. Our good friends, Midge and Ray made sure all was well at her place and took her to the airport. She had a good flight and we met her at baggage claim.

Just before she arrived, we had to find someone to let us into this locked baggage storage area to get the six carry on bags that came to Midway without Tana and the kids.  It was a miracle that we were able to finally pick them up just before Mom landed.

Haley is staying with her dad and Tana's family of six are staying with Jeff and Rachel's five.  It's a big house with this nice deck in the back yard.  Tana and Barry drove all night and got in this morning in time to enjoy the nice morning here in Indiana.

Rachel, Tana, Jeff, Craig and Barry.  The kids were already busy jumping on the trampoline......

....making videos and playing in the pool.......

..... and having a water balloon fight.

Mom and her sister, Rosie came by to visit with all of us, too.

Rachel, Mom, Aunt Rosie, Tana and Barry.

 With fifteen of us together, meal time has to have a production line.

I thought I was catching all eight of the grand kids eating together ... they pointed out that Carter was sitting in a chair around the corner from me.

Cooper, Collin, Kyra, Kara, Kristen, Ty, Haley and Carter.

They range from 10 years old to 16.

We have lots of activities planned.  Tonight, we need to let everyone catch up on some sleep.

We are thankful for this time that we can all be together and the kids can enjoy their cousins.

Blessings,

Kathy

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

No dog bites or bee stings (thankfully), but we are back in our hometown area and we have been busy visiting friends and spending time with family.  Our three children and 8 grandkids and my Mom are all coming in for Mom's Hoffman Family Reunion   on Aug 3.

Our two sons, live in this area and our daughter is in Colorado. This is Jeff and Rachel's backyard.

We are walking and enjoying the wonderful green and flowers all around.

Todd's daugher, Haley is our oldest grand child and she is here from California for a couple of weeks.

We are in an RV park that is near Cedar Lake and there is a lovely neighborhood to go walking through. This was early morning a couple of days ago.

Todd set up his tent and he and Haley spent some time with us.

My once neighbor and still friend, Denise went for a nice walk with me today through the Lake County Fair Grounds.  I grew up just across the street from it.  This covered bridge has been here for many years.

They are busy making preparations for the County Fair that will go from Aug 1 through the 10th.

This is Denise.  I caught her a bit off guard when I snapped this.  She has been a good friend through the years!  She blessed us with fresh greens from her garden.  You gotta luv that!!!

They have taken out the old pier at Fancher Lake.  I spent many hours swimming and ice skating here and took Life Guard training from Tiny Paulsen. This is a new pier that has been added.

Hope you are having a very blessed summer!!

Kathy

Bloomingdale, MI at Maureen and Dan's

Yesterday we drove from Cadillac to Bloomingdale, Michigan.  What a lovely state with roadside wild flowers that look liked elegant table runners.

Traffic was a bit heavy as we went through Grand Rapids and the road construction slowed us down for awhile.

We arrived at my cousin, Maureen's farm home (they live in Chicago) and it was a delight to enjoy their plush property.

They have a beautifully restored 150 year old farm house.

Dan ran the bush hog down the walking paths and we sloshed around through the still wet grounds.

Maureen and her dog, Percy, gave us the tour.

We pulled into the driveway while Dan finished mowing.

You can see the Percy feels right at home on the farm!

Maureen cooked a wonderful dinner and we so enjoyed visiting with them.

Dan added on this cover to their patio and it makes a wonderful spot to enjoy their property. 

We had a great night's sleep and woke up to another beautiful day! And as they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words"!

They also had a perfect spot for the Whale.  We'll head on down toward Indiana today.

Thanks Dan and Maureen for a wonderful visit!!!

Blessings,

Kathy

Turkeys

Vern and Kathy let us take the day today and use their equipment to clean the Whale inside and out!  We gave the Tail the same treatment and it took us most of the day.  We did stop to visit and take a couple of breaks, but we got it finished.

The next leg of our trip is planned tomorrow and we stop tomorrow afternoon to see my cousin in Bloomingdale, MI.

I had a nice evening of "girl talk" with Kathy and CJ and when I came back to the Motorhome, this is what walked by.

What a bunch of turkeys!

Only 129 days until Thanksgiving!

Blessings,

Kathy

Raspberries and Reunions

We headed out yesterday morning to the woods to look for Raspberries and Blackberries.  But, due to the wet spring and late start to things we only found some very small and undeveloped ones.  Bummer.  However, we did see a small bear print on the dirt road.  The mosquitoes didn't seem to have anything else to do but bug us, so we moved on. 

We passed this land mark where the sign clamed that horses from stagecoaches once watered at this small trough.

 We then drove to Eber's Hardware and Grocery store.  They had Do it Best products and I was well reminded of the time we spent ordering and stocking shelves in our store.  They sold fresh made beef jerky in the grocery and we enjoyed seeing the place.

After a nice mid-day meal Craig and Vern did some lawn mowing while Kathy and I had time to catch up on things around our homes.  We headed into Cadillac for another evening of concert by the Cadillac Symphony.

Kathy noticed this cloud that seemed to be hopping across the sky.  Can you make out what it looked like?

The last group performing was a folk group that came together for the Cadillac Reunion of the Class of 1964.  They used to perform 50 years ago.  I hope they were a little better back then, ha.  It was entertaining and they had  several sing-a-longs. It was a perfect night to sit outdoors and enjoy the evening.

We'll spend our last day together with Vern and Kathy today.  We have so enjoyed our time with them and getting to know their area and friends!

They have taught us the ways of north Michigan speech, heh?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kathy

Cadillac Days

We are SO enjoying our time with Vern and Kathy A. in Michigan.  We are still parked on their property and they have taken us to some fun places. They have a beautiful piece of land that is full of ferns and trees.  We took a walk on the path they have made.

We have enjoyed "goodies" from their garden!

Last night we drove into Cadillac to enjoy a jazz/blues concert at the park on the lake. It was perfect weather.

We met a local couple that we sat near on the far right and then Kathy and Vern and their good friends and now our friends, Randy and CJ.

It was a relaxing and fun night!!

The sun is shining this morning and we are looking forward to picking some wild berries!!

Blessings,

Kathy