Vacationing Woes

**WARNING**  REALLY LONG POST!

We recently took our first 'true' family vacation.  Our friends invited us to rent a house with them in Florida and we couldn't pass it up!  The thing is, never going on a family vacation before...to Florida...Disney...taking a large road trip...all in the midst of flu season...in the winter...I was a worrisome mess!  I worried about getting sick.  I worried about the weather we'd encounter while driving and down there.  I worried about packing too much to fit in the vehicle we were renting.  I worried about Disney and all that involves.  I'm not sure there was anything I didn't worry about quite honestly!  In all that worrying, I also prayed daily that God would look out for us, keep us healthy and give us safe travels and good weather. 

All-in-all God answered every one of those prayers!  He really showed me how much He is in control and that worrying would get me nowhere.  We never got sick.  (Our friends little ones did get colds, unfortunately, but they were troopers!)  We ended up leaving early and totally missed a snow storm and had fairly uneventful travels.  The weather in Florida was beautiful as well!  The car rental place didn't have the style car we reserved, so we ended up with a minivan for the same price...ALL SORTS of room!  (I nearly cried having to return it...it was awesome!)  We couldn't have asked for a better trip.  God truly blessed us with an amazing vacation!

The thing is, I think God has a sense of humor.  I titled this "Vacationing Woes" for a reason other than all my worrying.  As wonderful as the vacation was, coming home was the exact opposite of wonderful.  Let me list the reasons:

1.  The snow storm:  Even though our awesome neighbor cleared our driveway, we still had a TON of snow to shovel and couldn't park anywhere near our door.  Rich was amazing and carried in all our stuff in from a distance, and through snow.  (I was busy with another problem that I'll tell about in a sec.)  I managed to shovel all that snow the next day...it took me an hour to clear the pavement in front of our garage...minus the spot where the car was (yet another problem I'll mention later.)

2.  Our furnace:  The chimney from the furnace has 'plates' on it...one on the kitchen side and one on the living room side.  The plates cover holes where stovepipes used to be from wood stoves.  Anyway, our furnace has been acting up.  We had to have some repair guys out twice before Christmas because it quit, but it had also been 'backfiring'.  Basically, it would start really hard and push the plate on the kitchen side out spewing soot all over.  Well, sometime while we were gone, the furnace backfired like it never backfired before.  Not only did the kitchen plate fly off and send soot across our table and down the stairs, but it kicked out the one on the living room side that was painted in place.  Soot all over the living room too!  So, needless to say, when we got home I commenced cleaning while Rich was carrying in luggage.  (It has since been fixed.  Took two consecutive days of the furnace guys coming out, but they finally got it under control.)

3. The car:  Rich tried starting the car sometime after we got home to make sure it still started after sitting for nine days.  It wouldn't start.  He tried jumping it.  It wouldn't start.  Rich had to work the next day and I had to get the kids to school, but we only had one vehicle.  He took the truck and I borrowed my mother-in-law's car while she was at work.  Rich bought a battery and, after many troubles, he managed to switch out the old with the new and we were seemingly good to go.  Not the case, though.  The next day, when Rich went to leave work, the car wouldn't start again!  He got a jump and made it home.  It turns out that the heated seat was draining the battery.  (The thing seriously would not shut off...on high all the time!) Rich disconnected the heated seat and it's been good ever since.

4.  Fuel oil:  Our furnace runs on fuel oil.  I am usually really good about making sure we don't run too low and have to worry about running out.  The thing is, the company that we buy it from sent a letter in the fall telling us that the minimum buy went from 100 gallons to 150 gallons, which means we have to get below 1/4 tank before we can order.  So, before we left, I checked the gauge and we were just above a 1/4 tank.  I didn't think it was low enough to meet the minimum, so I decided we better wait to order when we got back.  We got back, after just nine days, and the fuel oil was dangerously low.  It was too late to order that day, so I waited until the next...barely sleeping, listening to make sure the furnace was still kicking on...and called and asked for same day delivery.  They wanted to charge me an extra $50!  I let them know the reasoning on us waiting was due to their new minimum order (not my proudest moment because I totally lost my composure) and I got out of the $50...thankfully!

5. The truck:  We had been having troubles with the truck shaking as we drove, so we decided to drop it off at our mechanic to have fixed while we were gone.  They fixed one thing that was wrong (over $400 and it was mostly for the part), but they told us the main problem was the rear passenger tire had thrown a belt.  The tires are fairly new (tread was still good) and we just replaced the rear driver side tire for the same reason.  So another $500 for the two new tires.  I've been in contact with the tire company about the issues and hopefully they can work with us!  At least the truck isn't shaking anymore and I can drive it without thinking a tire is going to fly off! ;-)

Before the trip:
6: The Stove:  Our stove was a used one that was a haul-away from when my brother worked as a delivery guy for Best Buy.  Only 3 burners worked, the time never worked, the inside was a mess that as much as I tried, it wouldn't come clean.  Over Christmas the spring in the door broke, so the door would just fall down when you tried to open it and it wouldn't sit tightly closed.  The last straw was when it tried electrocuting me...we knew we needed a new one!  Thankfully my brother sold us another used one for only $100 (instead of having to pay $500 or more for a new one).  We picked it up right away...and then realized I wouldn't be able to help carry it in.  So we continued to use the old stove cautiously until a couple weeks after vacation.

A week after the trip:
7. The sump pump:  I noticed that water was backing up into the basement more that usual while Rich was away at a conference after our vacation.  The water would go away and it was too cold to deal with the sump pump outside, so we waited.  (Our basement is wet 90% of the time anyway...)  Within the last week, it started getting worse and the water didn't seem to be leaving as well.  With the weather warming, Rich dug through the frost to get to the sump pump and found that it was working fine (thankfully!).  BUT, the pipe from the basement to the sump pump was clogged.  He managed to get that cleared out fairly easily and we thought we were good to go.  A couple hours later I see that the kitchen sink is backing up.  So Rich figures out what was going on and clears another drain to the sump pump and we think we're home free again.  No such luck!  As Rich was working on the sink, he noticed that as the sump pump was pumping out water into the pipe that goes to the ditch, the pipe was spewing water back to the sump pump!  We decided to take it easy using water until Rich had more time.  (I had to be careful with doing dishes and laundry.)  Even though I hardly used any water, it was still backing up into the basement and Rich managed to get to again yesterday.  After snaking it, he thinks there is a fairly substantial 'clog'.  At this point in time, the sump pump is pumping the water onto the lawn until we can figure out what needs to be done.  At least I can do dishes and laundry! ;-)

8.  The Refrigerator:  We've been told this is a fairly easy fix, but our fridge is also currently leaking.  Rich hasn't had time to get to it with the sump pump draining issues, and I haven't braved figuring it out on my own.  I thought it was time for a new fridge, but thankfully not the case.

9.  The Computer:  It basically stopped working last week.  It made me realize how much I use it when I didn't have it!  A local computer place found the troubles with it over this past weekend and fixed it all up for me.  It's not 'as good as new', but it is working WAY better than it has worked for months, so I couldn't be happier with it!  'New' would have been cool, but we tend to use things until they absolutely NEED to be replaced. :-)

I'm sorry for such a LONG post, but I couldn't help but want to document the craziness that has been happening over the last month.  Mostly all as we got back from vacation.  More than I'd like, but so thankful none of these situations were any worse...because I know that they all could have been!  God has blessed us in our trials as well, which is awesome to realize! :-)

Thanksgiving Travels 2014

Several months ago, my parents invited Rich and I to go with them on their annual trip to see a play in Canada the Friday after Thanksgiving.  We left after Thanksgiving dinner with Rich's family Thursday and arrived in the Toronto area that evening.

Friday morning, we got going bright and early to fit in some sightseeing before the play.  My parents and I had been to Toronto before, but Rich hadn't and there were some places we thought he might enjoy.

Our first stop was Casa Loma.  I could really go on and on about this place, and all I learned while there this time, but I'll spare you all that reading. ;-)  This first picture is the back side of the castle with some remodeling going on with one of the towers.  (We never made it around front of the castle.)

This is the stable that we got to through an underground tunnel from the castle.  It's absolutely beautiful!  The stalls are actually made out of mahogany if I remember correctly.

The carriage house was obviously beautiful as well.  It was around the corner from the stable...same building.

After we made our way back through the tunnel, we went to where the swimming pool was suppose to be. (The castle was never finished.)  There is a small theater area in there now and we learned all about the amazing man whose home Casa Loma was.

We then toured the castle and the whole place was decorated for Christmas.  This room was called the Oak Room.

The gorgeous main floor hallway.

This is the library.  It may have been my favorite room.

The conservatory with a domed stained-glass ceiling and a little fountain.

This is the sitting room of the lady of the house's bedroom.  If you can take a closer look at the picture, be sure to check out the chandelier! 

The view from the top of on of the towers was quite awesome!  We could see the CN Tower quite clearly. :-)

After leaving Casa Loma, we made our way to the building where the Hockey Hall of Fame was.  My parents and I knew of a neat place to eat there called "Marche"  I think it's the only one in North America and it's quite an experience...at least for us small town folk. ;-)  They gave us each a card (like a credit card) and we walked around to different stations to collect the food we wanted.  Each station put the cost of the food onto the card and when we were done eating we took the card to a checkout area where we paid for the meal.

We then went to the Hockey Hall of Fame.  Rich was able to see and read about some of his favorite players who are now 'legends' at the Hall of Fame.

The most exciting thing was seeing the Stanley Cup...

...and touching it...and getting lots of pictures of and with it. ;-)

We also saw our first 3D movie in a little theater in there.  It was only about 25 minutes long, but kinda neat to experience!

That evening we made our way to the theater for the play.  My parents were actually featured in the program this year because of the distance they come, and the number of years they've been coming, to see one the 4 "Walt Wingfield" plays.  (A series of one-man plays about a man who leaves his job as a stock broker to farm.)  We first enjoyed the plays back in the 90's when we saw them on PBS and have loved them ever since!  For Rich and I, it was neat to see the play in person and really appreciate how talented this one man is to be able to change his voice, his mannerisms, his everything, in an instant to become another of the several characters in the play.

This is the actor, Rob Beattie, playing the character "Freddy" from the website.

We got back to our hotel fairly late, 10:30-11:00 PM and pretty much crashed after a very full day.

The following day was more laid back.  We worked our way to the Niagra area stopping at wineries, and distilleries, and a brewery along the way. We checked into our hotel and made our way back out to do more wine tasting and explore the town of Niagra-on-the-Lake.  We got back to the falls in the evening and Rich saw them for the first time as they were lit up.  (The ones below are the American Falls.)

Bright and early the next morning we went down to the falls again to see them in the daylight before there were big crowds.

The American Falls

Niagra Falls from a distance

The falls up close where you can see the horseshoe shape :-)

I had been to the falls such a long time ago I didn't remember the whole experience of it.  It was fairly loud, but the mist that gets you as you approach it is like taking a shower!  Thankfully there was no wind and it was a mild morning, probably near 50 F.  

Being it was now Sunday, we grabbed breakfast, checked out of the hotel and started making our way home.  Of course we had to stop at a couple more wineries along the way and made it the bridge thinking we were basically home...not the case!  The wait at the bridge on the Canadian side was about an hour, then we got the U.S. side and had to wait about another half hour to get through customs....then we were almost home!  LOL!

It was a wonderful trip and I'm very thankful to my parents for inviting us to go along this year. :-)

Summer 2010 Update #2

This summer has been BUSY! I'm going to try to catch you up with everything we've been up to, but I'm sure I'll miss something. (And you'll probably be glad I missed it, because it's already going to be a LONG post! LOL!)

Forth of July weekend was packed, especially that Saturday! We had a parade to ride in the fire truck. Morgan decided she wanted to watch the parade and get candy, so she watched with my mom and Blake rode in the truck. Every year in the 4th of July parade, they set up the engine to shoot out water and it's a HUGE hit with the kids....they were running behind waiting for us to stop and shoot out water again...even the adults were asking for it as we drove by! SO much fun! :-)

We also had a birthday party on the 4th of July Saturday for a young cousin who was up from Virginia and later we had a 4th of July party with fireworks and a bunch of fun! It was an AWESOME day! :-)

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The following weekend the kids and I went to the tip of the thumb (of Michigan) and camped with my family. We left on Friday, but Thursday night, as Rich, the kids and I were dragging home our calves that had gotten out from a half mile down the road, my dad called and asked if the kids and I would want to head to Minnesota to visit my mom's uncle after camping. It was going to take the whole next week of driving and camping. As last minute as it was I decided we'd go. Here are some pics of the trip:

The kids playing in Saginaw Bay.

Just crossed the Mackinaw Bridge.

Lots of camping on the trip!!

Blake in awe at the Mall of America in Minnesota.

First time eating at the Rainforest Cafe.

This was in front of our table.

Us minus Morgan who didn't want to be in the picture.

The Volcano dessert....YUM!

Morgan was excited to try it ;-)

The Lego store in the mall.

The kids watching all the rides from the American Girl doll store.

So we went on a ride on the Ferris Wheel! This is when they first got on.

And THIS is when it started moving!

View from the top of the mall (top of the Ferris Wheel)...it's HOT up there!

After the mall, we went back to my mom's aunt and uncle's and stayed the night. This pic is of Blake the next day as we headed back home.

We stopped at the Leinie Lodge in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where the Leinenkugel beer is made. (It's the beer in the movie 'Escanaba in da Moonlight')

This is the storm that was coming while we were at the Leinie Lodge...and the reason we only stayed for a short time...we left to try to stay ahead of it, but it didn't work! That had to be the scariest storm I've ever been in...tears in my eyes, hugging my kids-no fun!

This is at the hotel we stayed at since it was storming. No fun camping while it's storming!

Had to take advantage of the pool while we were there!

Blake still not sure about going in the water...never been in a pool before!

But he changed his mind...

...and had a blast!

That was the extent of the trip. We stayed a night in Mackinaw City on the way home and mom and I got to do some shopping while dad watched the kiddos at the campsite. I also had a tick stuck to me the next morning....Heebie Jeebies!!!!

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The next week we got 5 new windows! I took the kiddos to my MIL's and went out to eat with an old friend while Rich stayed with the window guys. Well, while at my in-laws, we saw a kitten she had and it was just too cute to leave to possibly be eaten by all their doggies, so we brought it home :-)

This is Leinie...yes, after the beer! See Bear in the back...very anxious to do some cat chasing! ;-) (Don't worry, he doesn't eat them.)

The Friday we got the windows was also the start of the Yale Bologna Festival! I met up with some college friends that night to watch the fireworks. The next night, the kids, Rich and I went to the Bologana parade and then Sunday we headed back and had some Bologna sandwiches under the Bologna tent! ;-) LOVE that festival! It's very family friendly and always fun!

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The next week we had Rich's birthday. The kiddos got cuddly in a chair during it and it was too cute to pass up pics! ;-)

LOVE this face! I think they were having lemonade.

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The weekend after Rich's birthday, we also had my grandfather's memorial service and the next day was the annual family reunion. It's always at my aunt and uncle's place on the St. Clair river, so it's fun watching the freighters float by-they're HUGE!

My sister with one of the 4 Scotties running around.

Blake had a blast in the bounce house.

Morgan had a blast in the pool!

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Of course our garden has been producing. I've gotten 62 pints of green beans canned, 16 pints of corn froze, more squash and zucchini than we could handle, but it's been fairly easy to give away and we grew eggplant for the first time. It's a very new thing for us, since neither Rich nor I had ever even eaten eggplant before, but it's been interesting. This is the Eggplant Parmesan that I tried making. :-)

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Besides all that we also made it to the county fair, but I forgot to take the camera :-/

Like I said, a BUSY summer...and this post only covered July! (Except for some of the garden update). I'd like to have another update with the August happenings too...not quite as hectic thankfully ;-)

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer too! :-)

Our Holiday Weekend

Our weekend kind of started on Friday with the excitement of getting a new truck! It's a 2006 Ford F-150 and Rich couldn't be happier having a truck again! As Rich went to work at his Grandma's farm, working ground and planting, I had the luxury of having my own vehicle...or so I thought...

This isn't actually our truck, but it's almost the same. Ours doesn't have running boards, vent visors or fog lights, but has a bug deflector and a light on top for Rich to respond to fire calls.
I had all these plans to make a run to a nearby town to do some shopping before we went camping when I just happened to look out the kitchen window at the car and noticed something wrong with the front passenger side tire. When I checked it out, it was what I feared...a bulge! I ended up taking it in to the same place we had just picked our new truck up at, earlier that morning, to have a new/used tire put on. What were the chances that I finally get a vehicle of my own and there was something wrong with it?? LOL! I still made it shopping and all is good now ;-)

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I also mowed our lawn for the first time in 5 years! Rich has always mowed the lawn. It was HIS thing that he LOVED to do, so I never really thought any different. Well, I decided to offer to help this summer because he is so busy with everything that is going on and I did it! After not mowing for 5 years I was kinda nervous, but I didn't have any troubles (besides taking out a little hay, but no big deal-LOL!)

Speaking of doing things that I haven't done in 5 years, I also rode a bike again! My bike got ruined at the bike racks at college and I have never replaced it, but I actually got on my sister's bike while camping and it came right back to me! Yay! I kinda want to get a new one now! ;-)

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The big event of the weekend was our camping trip. We went up north to Otsego Lake State Park and camped Saturday through Monday. On the way up we met with some friends of Rich's had lunch and took them some beef they had bought. I couldn't believe we spent over 2 hours with them!

After what turned out to be a 6 hour trip, we got settled in and went to the beach to enjoy the warm water. Rich and I rolled up our pant legs so we could walk in, Morgan borrowed a swimsuit and a life vest from my brother and was having a blast in the water and Blake was sitting and playing in the sand. (He will NOT go in the water!)

Morgan and her cousins playing in the sand. (Morgan has green on.)

Blake not in the water...he wouldn't even put cooler clothes on because he thought that meant that he had to go in the water-LOL!

We couldn't have been at the beach for more than a couple minutes when Rich's cell phone rings and after a few choice words I find out that Rich's friend, who was taking care of our animals, had just shown up to our place with his 5 year old daughter and a couple dogs were killing the chickens! After many phone calls to the sheriff, relatives and animal control, the dogs were taken away, the chickens were cleaned up and we were left with 4 hens out of 6 hens and 2 roosters. As much as we liked our roosters and hens, I'll have to admit that I was relieved that the roosters are the ones they got, plus the hen that we always called "the ugly chicken" (poor thing). We'll still have some eggs, but not enough to share anymore. (We actually had 12 chicken a little while ago, but lost 4 to a raccoon.)

Rich on the phone during the chicken incident. Things were mostly under control at the time so he could smile ;-)

So, a little story to go along with the chickens. The 5 year old daughter that came with Rich's friend unfortunately witnessed the dogs with a chicken (from their truck) and said to her Daddy "Look! They're wrestling!" and after is was over "The chicken lost". Rich and I had felt terrible that she had to witness that, but knowing how innocently she viewed the whole thing made us feel a little better.

The rest of our camping trip was fairly uneventful. Here are a couple more things that happened:

*Morgan had the chance to ride her balance bike on pavement and got quite good! She still needs to learn that she cannot take her hand off the handlebar to wave....doing that leads to a pretty scraped up knee! (My niece also got her training wheels off while we were there, so it was a great biking weekend for all of us!)

*We made it to Jay's Sporting Goods in Gaylord and got Morgan her first bow and 6 arrows. I'm excited for her to learn, because it's something that Rich and I would enjoy doing more of. :-)

*The campgrounds were dirt....no grass whatsoever! That means 2 VERY dirty kids! LOL! Blake, especially, had a blast in the dirt-we never had to entertain him-he was busy the whole time! (And only 1 pee accident the WHOLE time...didn't even wet at night! Not doing as good now that we're home though-LOL!)

This picture needs no explanation.

Not happy that he had to stop playing to get a picture taken...and this wasn't his dirtiest!

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We made it home between 1:00 and 2:00 pm Monday, got unpacked, did some laundry and left by 4:00 to go to a Memorial Day get-together at Rich's grandma's. We would have been outside if it hadn't been raining, but it was still a really nice time and we didn't make it home until 9:30.

As fun as our weekend was, I'm glad to be home and settling back into things.....and catching up on some sleep! ;-)

The sunset over Otsego Lake.