4th of July

To celebrate the 4th, Josh and Sheri came over, Sheri's parents Beverly and Jim, her sister Annette, her niece Jacqueline, and her Grandma too.

We had the pavilion ready to go.

It was in the upper 90's, and we wondered if it would be too hot.  As you can see, the RV is right there in the background so we cranked up the A/C in it just in case anyone wanted a break from the heat.

We sat up here around 5:30, and snacked on appetizers--chips, dips, cantaloupe, watermelon, strawberries and grapes. Yum! 

The RV wasn't needed either. It was still in the upper 90's at that time, and there was a slight breeze. It wasn't bad at all. (I forgot to take pics.)

We ate dinner in the house, and everyone bought a dish.

Or two. 

Or three.

In addition to the appetizers, there was potato salad, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, corn casserole, chocolate cake, brownies, cookies and cupcakes. For meat, we went simple and picked up Dickey's Barbecue--chopped beef, sliced beef, sliced turkey and sausage. There was enough food to feed an army, and it was delish! The army never showed up but we all did just fine!  

After dinner, Josh and George 

displayed their unicycle riding skills.

Woo-hoo! Go Josh!

And George!

They are both quite good at it!

    

Fireworks are not prohibited in the rural area where we live, so as usual, our neighborhood went berserk! George, Jim, Josh & Annette made two trips to the fireworks stand around the corner to stock up early in the evening.

We positioned ourselves in the driveway.

Annette

Sheri

Sheri's Grandma

Would you believe she's 91?

She hung with us the entire time too.

Jim

Beverly

Josh

George

Jacqueline fresh off a hand stand!

She's a cute, well-behaved little gal.

She takes gymnastics and 

demonstrated her skills for us.  

I was going to demonstrate mine but 

then I remembered I don't have any!

The crew.

Great minds plotting fireworks!

They're starting up as you can see 

in the distance which is 

actually just a street or two over.

Josh was pretty much the official

fireworks lighter and run away-er.

But, of course, we lit our own sparklers.

George watching!

Smokin' and sparklin'

Street level fire flurries!

Last pic.

It was a fun time!  

Everybody enjoyed themselves!

On a separate note, we have a good chance of rain in the forecast for several days starting on Saturday.  I'm all over it!  I hope it happens!

Smiles,

D~~~~

A few weeks back Michael & Crystal went to Cancun.  At least, I think it was Cancun.

Or was it Cozumel?  

Or Idaho Falls?  

Or Siberia?  

Nah, it was Cancun!  

While they were happily vacationing, we had four visitors--Preston, Triston, and two puppies, Isa (9 months old) and Kahlua (9 weeks old).  

Triston & Preston playing on the XBOX.

This is Isa.

She's a sweetie pie!

You may remember this sweet pic of Isa from last October when she was a tiny tot.  She's eye to eye with Daisy, our Boston Terrier.

This is Kahlua in Triston's arms.

She's a little doll!

Preston loving on Isa.

Isa and Kahlua are half Maltese and half Shih Tzu.  They have the same Mom & Dad too but look quite different.  

Isa is more like a Maltese and Kalhua looks exactly like a Shih Tzu.  In fact, George and I were amazed at how much she reminded us of our sweet Mitzi Mae.  We miss her so much!  Just the way she laid down and moved around brought back memories for us.  

Our crate came in handy at various times too.

They liked napping in it but they 

made it known when they were done.

This isn't the best picture but 

it's all four girls chillin' together.

Have a Smilin' Day,

D~~~~

We RV'd For the First Time

We really didn't go very far from home but we finally got to do some RVing!  George had Monday off so we left after he got off work Saturday.  The place we had in mind was much farther than we thought so we changed plans at the last minute and ended up taking off with no reservations anywhere.

All we knew was that we were going to Oklahoma.  We didn't make it very far into Oklahoma either because we decided to stop at the first RV campground that we knew--Winstar World Casino (exit 1).  It's only one hour from home.  They had two RV slots left for only one night which was perfect because we only wanted one night.

Shuttles run from the RV campgrounds to the casino every 15 minutes 24/7 so we hopped a shuttle and roamed the casino from one end to the other.  It took awhile because it's enormous (and still growing)!  Our son works there so I texted him to find out what area he was working in, and we were able to visit with him on his break.

We didn't get any pictures of the casino campgrounds but they were all nice concrete slabs.  There weren't any trees though except very small, newly-planted stuff.  They provide a shower and laundry facility, and I believe a pool is opening soon.

The next night we ended up at Juniper Creek West on Lake Texoma.  It's on the Texas side, and about 50 minutes from home.  It was an awesome spot!

I forgot our Canon so I took 

a few pics on the iPhone.  

Just outside the front window.

We relaxed.

As you can tell from the screen, 

I took the pic below from inside.  

I intended to get some outside 

pictures but I forgot.

Pretend the screen isn't there.

The lake and a bit of a neighboring site.  

Just outside the door was a 

nice metal picnic table.

Another shot of the lake.

I took these lake pics sitting in the booth.

We really enjoyed the view!

We don't have satellite yet so 

we're not getting TV stations.  

We watched DVD's.  

The girls did great!

They had a relaxing time too.

It looks like it's time to 

take Sally to the groomer!

We're looking for a vehicle to pull behind the RV so we can move about when we settle in an RV campground.  We'd like a Suzuki Sidekick, Geo Tracker, Isuzu Amigo or a Jeep Wrangler (perhaps one from the 90's).  The Jeep Wrangler is our first choice.  We're learning that it's going to be difficult to find something that old that's in good condition.  It seems that folks go four-wheelin' and rough ridin' in them so they've been put through a lot.  Hopefully, the right vehicle will pop up.

Have a Smilin' Day,

D~~~~

We're RVers!

After a month of intense looking, we finally bought an RV. It's not brand new but it's new to us and we love it!  The previous owner took excellent care of it so it looks like new.

It's a 2005 Fleetwood Southwind. 

Let me take you on a tour.

It's 32' long.

The front and side.

Obviously, the back and other side.

Mission Control!

The glass door to the right of the TV has a radio and DVD player in it. 

There's Surround Sound too.

Look! It has a steering wheel!
That's a backup camera
with sound to the right of it.

It had 17,500 miles on it, 

and we've added just a few more.

This front dash pulls out,
and has compartments inside.  

The top part will be 

handy for the laptop or iPad.

"The Chair" behind Mission Control.
(Not to be confused with the
chair in George Strait's old song!)

It's a recliner and the little table 

pulls up and out from the wall!

Looking to the back from Mission Control.

Ground control to Major George.

Ground control to Major George.

Take your protein pills 

and put your helmet on!

That song just popped into my head!

Picturing Geo doing it, makes me laugh

It has two slide outs.  

The booth and couch are 

on the front slide out.  

There's a bed inside the couch, 

and the booth converts to a bed.

The kitchen has a 14' fridge
with four-doors and an ice maker.  

The microwave is a convection oven 

which I have no idea how to use.
I can learn though.

It looks like there's a window below 

the cabinets but no! The backsplash

 is all mirrors which are reflecting
the windows across the way
(as seen in the picture above).

You can tell a little better that 

they're mirrors in this photo.

In fact, the place is full of mirrors!

The exciting hallway!

Next to the fridge (left) is a roomy closet.
The door knob on the right is the bath
but we'll get to that in a minute.

The bed is the other slide out.

It's a queen size.

Here's the wardrobe, TV, and desk
which will be my make-up table.

Same thing, different view

From the bedroom to the front.

The bath is just across from that 

mirrored closet you see on the right.

Let's go inside now.

It's quite small but cozy.

And it works just fine!

Last one!

It also has leveling jacks, two roof a/c units, and an automatic awning. There's "guy" stuff that Geo likes too. For instance, it has an engine!

We camped out in the backyard Friday and Saturday nights because we needed to stick around here. It was a good way to break in the girls to new surroundings. On Sunday night, we camped in my sister Linda's yard which is about 45 miles from here. We spent Memorial Day swimming in their pool and hanging out. It was a fun time!  

So we are RVers but we haven't officially been RVing--yet!  We can't wait to go somewhere though!

It's parked out behind the shop, and Geo plans to build a cover over top of it but last night it hailed big time at 3:00 in the morning! It's been storming all morning and it HAILED AGAIN earlier!

Can you see all that hail behind the RV?

Yikes!

 I hope there's not a lot of hail damage!

Hail out front.

It was almost golf ball size and smaller. 

Next to the furniture 

cover on the back patio.

The girls are scared and 

have been freaking out.

Daisy pants and follows me around.

Sally hides! 

I guess if you hide from
a storm, it can't find you.
Or maybe you won't hear it! 

 This is one of her two favorite hiding spots.

More later.

Sending RV Smiles,

D~~~~ 

Pretty in Yellow

We have cacti growing up under the treed section of the yard.  Years ago, we had one little patch, but as the years have passed, we've gradually gotten a few more here and there. I'm guessing that the fall leaves mulch them really well so they're protected through the winter. This year, many more have popped up.  Perhaps our mild winter had something to do with it.  I wonder why they grow up under our trees and not out in the open area of the yard.

In any event, they're blooming!

This is just part of the largest patch.

This one has a bee inside!

At least, I think it's a bee.

There's a little bug on this one too.

It's not a ladybug but it looks similar.

Perhaps it's a relative? 

Like maybe a gentleman bug.

When I first saw these, the 1969 

movie Cactus Flower came to mind.

Remember that flick?

Goldie won and Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting actress. 

I know because looked it up!  

In honor of Goldie, the Golden Globes were named after her.  

Okay, I LIED!  They weren't named after her but it sounded good for a minute!  

This was a rather pretty post but  

up next is a somewhat ugly post.

Cactus Flower Smiles,

D~~~~