Thanks for the Suggestions and the Troops are here.

Had some great suggestions in response to last night's post.  Rick suggested there might be a few trips to the grocery store so I went to Costco this morning and got the BIG sizes!  He also suggested we oil the refrigerator door…also done.  Sounds like you and Paulette have had a bit of experience, eh?

Shoeless Joe thought I might want to get my roller skates out so I could keep up.  I tried John, I really did, but about the third time my keister hit the deck I decided I better just hoof it.  Besides, the skates of today have all the wheels right down the middle!!  Thanks for the idea though!!

Jerry and Suzy thought the kids might be feeding me a serving of exhaustion along with the fun.  Have to say you’re right about that but I’m trying to keep my exhaustion calories to a minimum.

The Good Luck Duck had a great offer of…well, maybe I’ll just leave you to read her comment!!  Sounds good to me LOL!!

Actually, it’s not going too badly but since this is only the first day of all four girls and two guys, we’ll see how it goes.  Thankfully, they are finding things to do that each enjoys and not all have to do the same thing.

  Bekah, Emmie, and Brendan made a beeline for the pool.  The water was up to 85F today but even so, it took a little getting used to.











In the end there’s really only one way to enter a pool.



Anna, Cailin, and Corbin baked a cake and did a fine job of it.  AND they cleaned up their mess!



So with one day down and 9 to go, we’re off to a good start.

Whew, nice day but tiring

Well, the girls finally rolled out of bed about 9:30 this morning…that’s a tad early for them but I promised them a drive out to the lake so they made the effort!!  We are trying so hard to keep Poppy healthy for as long as we can and any walking helps to control her diabetes.  We try to take her to places she enjoys so she will get some exercise.

We visited Fern Ridge Reservoir today, locally known as Fern Ditch.  It is a large, shallow lake and the water is nowhere near as clear as the other bodies of water in the area.  The wind blew yesterday and the waves on the shallow water really stirred up the dirt on the bottom.


Yup, that’s the lake water, ankle deep and almost can’t see anything!!


It is a popular lake for boating though and this year they have a rental concession.

Photo by Bekah.

Anna took this shot of a kayak against the backdrop of some of the many large sailboats in the marina.


What a gorgeous day, blue skies, sunshine and just a few puffy clouds.

The girls paused on the footbridge long enough to pose for a picture.


Grandpa and Poppy were bringing up the rear.


Teenagers or not, these girls enjoy swings.  Secretly, I do too!!











Russ went and picked up the boys while I took the girls shopping for jeans at St. Vinnys (thrift store).

This used to be the swimming area for little tykes but over the last couple of years it has been let go and has become overgrown with weeds.



But all the weeds and Queen Anne’s Lace, brings lots of ladybugs and the girls had fun playing with them.



That’s Russ’s cane on the right trying to steady the bush so I can get a picture.  We’re very professional when it comes to nature photography!!

The windstorm yesterday blew junk all over the pool cover but Anna sprayed it off and Corbin scooped the leaves.


Bekah and Brendan enjoyed swimming…


…while Anna, enjoyed her iPod!


Ya know, that pool is just a homemade concrete covered hole in the ground, but after looking at Fern Ditch this morning I am so glad we have it.  It may not be much but every kid in this family has spent time in that pool and every one of my grandkids can swim.  Keeps them outside and moving (most of the time!) and it’s a lot cleaner and warmer than the lake, and much safer than the rivers.

Tomorrow, two more girls get dropped off and then the fun really begins!!

Last Day With the Grands and Amazon Prime

Today is the last day of grandkids week.  We didn’t get as many hours in with all the grands as we would have liked but we did what we could. 

Today we went to pizza at Roaring Rapids on the river.  After all the rain we have had, the place has definitely earned its name.  Here's a picture I took last October when Rick and Paulette stopped by on their way to California and next to that a picture of what the river looked like today.  In the summer, the Willamette is a popular river for fishing from a drift boat or just rafting for fun, but I sure wouldn’t do it now.



We managed to burn off some of the kid’s energy in the arcade.  They gravitated to the air hockey game and had a great time playing various versions of two against one.  Just look at that puck fly.





Then we got home and the Wii games that I ordered yesterday afternoon from Amazon had arrived!!  I cannot say enough about Amazon Prime.  Not only do you get free shipping no matter what the cost, it is the FASTEST shipping I have ever received from Amazon.  Now that is only items fulfilled by Amazon so if you go to an off-site store that handles their own fulfillment, you might have to pay.  I don’t think I have purchased very many items that were not fulfilled by Amazon so it’s not a concern for me.  I also love the fact that I can get tons of movies and older TV shows for free with Amazon Prime.  For $79 annually, I think it's a heck of a deal. 

So back to the new Wii games.  I bought several Dance games and the kids have been at it ever since we got back from the pizza place.  It sure uses up some energy and it’s good for them.  Here’s a short clip of them dancing – they didn’t know I was filming but they were sure having fun.



And with that we bid a fond farewell to Spring Break at the grandparents…but summer break will be here before we know it.  It’s been fun, now I’m ready for a nap!!!

Krecklow Kiddie Kastle

Things are pretty quiet around here today and that’s a good thing!!  Bekah has gone to visit her other Grandma and Corbin and Anna are busy on the Wii.


Yesterday was another story.  Have any of you been to a roller skating rink lately?  We take the grandkids to our local Skate World every time they come to stay and they always seem to have a great time.  Here I caught three of them taking a break.

That’s Corbin, Bekah, and Brendan.

Anna would hardly get off the floor so I had to catch her in motion.





Now, while the kids are having a great time, it is not so great on the old folks!!  We knew it would be bad as we have been there many times, but yesterday was just too much!  This is what Russ looked like after two hours locked in the madhouse and it’s about how I felt!!





I don’t want to fall into the bear pit by criticizing modern music but, my goodness, there’s just so much “Noise” we can handle.  We both felt like we had been beat up on by the time we got out of there.  Of course they keep the music loud and pulsing so the skaters have something to skate to but it just wears on our nerves.  So next time, only the older ones will go skating and I think it will be a drop off/pick you up later type of deal.  By the behavior we observed, I think that’s what most parents do.  If I ever catch my grandkids behaving like some of the kids in the skating rink yesterday, it will be the last time they go.


I can remember going skating when I was a teenager.  Most of the music was organ music and it was mellow yet rhythmic.  We still got plenty of exercise and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Many danced to the music and it was beautiful, with twirls and moves that you don’t see in today’s roller skating rinks.   I think the mellow music also kept emotions under better control as there was not the yelling and screaming and running full tilt through the roller rink that we witnessed yesterday.  Music does set a mood and if the management of the rink wants high energy, out of control skaters, they pretty much got what they wanted.  I know, can’t go back, but sometimes I do wish …


Anyway, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!  So today is a good day to mellow out and relax a bit with a somewhat quiet day at home. 


We are still trying to figure out why the Fit won’t start.  Russ had the charger on the battery and it says it has a full charge but it is deader than a doornail.  Can’t use it as a toad if it won’t run!!  We are planning on delaying our April trip for a week to give us time to get that figured out and get Therapy ready to roll.  I somewhat optimistically thought I could load the motorhome this week while the kids were here but that just ain’t happening.  So, we’re flexible and will probably roll the second week in April.


So that’s the news from the nuthouse – over and out!

It’s Been a LONG Week!

It’s been a week now since the big snowstorm last Monday night.  There are still piles of snow in some of the parking lots around town but other than that things are pretty much back to normal.  Gotta keep the family up to date on all our doings so this is pretty much a family post rather than a travel one.  Got some cute videos though!!

We are still planning (weather permitting) to take off on a trip when we take the girls home this coming Saturday.  Stay tuned for more actual Travels in Therapy.

We spent the latter part of last week shopping, cleaning, and fixing food for visitors on Saturday.  John (Red) brought his daughter and our daughter’s girl down from Portland on Saturday.  The other two girl cousins wanted to come over and visit since they are spending spring break in Florida and would not have another chance to see their cousins.  Then John and Joni wanted to meet Joel’s wife so Joel and Annette came over with their four kids.  It was a full house for sure!  We had eight of the grandkids here.


It was great to have such a group and they all seemed to have fun and enjoy lunch.  The new grand daughters fit right in and seemed to enjoy themselves too.

As always, I tried to entice Cailin to show me her latest tune on the piano.  She was kinda having a bad day and made a couple of SMALL mistakes but I enjoyed it anyway.  Uncle John was keeping rhythm on Cailin’s new guitar.



John and Grandma thought her song was fine but she was not happy with it.  So John asked her to do it again.  She was just having a frustrating music day!  I guess she got tired of us bugging her because this is what we got the second time.  Watch the devilish little grin on her face.  John sure enjoyed this tune!!




Our daughter in Oregon City, Merry, got to pick out her new puppy on Saturday.  His name is Ricky and he will be going home with Merry in about a week.  Their other dog is Lucy so it should be a crazy twosome!!  Lucy was supposed to be Merry’s service dog and was about 6 months into training when it was discovered she had hip dysplasia so that was the end of Lucy’s career as a service dog.  Ricky comes with guaranteed hips and a 2 year health guaranty so maybe she will have better luck this time around.

Sunday we flat ran out of gas and did nothing more than we had to!  Sure wish I had the energy I used to have.  So today I took three grands (Anna, Bekah, and Corbin) out to pizza and miniature golfing.  Not too hard on me and they seemed to have a good time.












So that’s about it today from the all the monkeys in the zoo.  Hope you all are having a wonderful spring break – unless you already had it last week!!

Nostalgia, Grandkids, and Sedona

As I read some of the blogs with young grandchildren featured, like Gwenny and her recent visit with Grandma and Grandpa at RV Life on Wheels, I was remembering the times when my children and grandchildren were little.  I have 8 grandkids and the youngest will be 9 in just a few weeks.  The oldest is 23…can’t believe how fast the years have passed.  Chuck and Anneke are thinking about hanging a little closer to their little granddaughter, Victoria, and the antics of Karen and Stevio’s grandchildren are always fun to read about.  Dave and Carol welcomed their first grandbaby last year too.  And let’s not forget Sam and Donna at the Weeb ranch who always seems to have a grandchild or two underfoot.  There are so many others I could mention, all loving and enjoying their little grandkids.  It makes me nostalgic for the time when mine were all younger. 

I was thinking about some of the cute things the grands said when they were younger.   My sister and I have grandsons who are just a few weeks apart in age and they used to play together when they were younger.  When they were about 6 or 7 years old, my grandson, Michael,  fell and cut his head open on a rock and had to have staples put in to close the gash.  It was NOT a pretty sight.

Our family summer picnic was the weekend after this happened and my sister could not understand the reluctance on the part of her grandson, River, to play with Michael.  Finally she asked him why he was ignoring Michael and did not want to play with him.  “Well, Grandma,” said River with a serious look on his face, “You know how I feel about kids with staples in their heads.”  We shared a good laugh over that one, although to the boys, I am sure it was no laughing matter.

Michael dressed for Halloween about age 7

One time Rebekah was staying with me and I was trying to encourage her in some healthier eating habits.  She was about 7 or 8 at the time.  That seems to be a good time to come up with some interesting things to say.  I used myself as the bad example of what will happen if you don’t eat healthy…you get fat like Grandma.  “But Grandma, you’re not fat,” said Bekah.  I assured her that she was being kind but that, yes, I was fat.  Not to be dissuaded from her opinion Bekah declared, “Well you’re not fat to ME!”  Bless her heart.

Bekah and Grandma at California Adventure Oct 2007

Now it seems those innocent days are mostly gone as the pre-teenaged grandkids are much more reasoned about what they say and when they say it.  I adore watching them grow and enjoy seeing the men the older ones have become.  But every once in a while, when I am reading blogs about little grandkids, I feel somewhat nostalgic and wish those precious years would last just a wee bit longer.  They are gone in a heartbeat. 

I guess I tend to feel nostalgic when we are in a holding pattern and unable to travel.  I was remembering our first trip to Sedona – this was pre-RV days.  It was April 2005 and we stayed in a beautiful house we found on VRBO.  It was just down the hill from the small Sedona airport and we had wonderful views of Coffee Pot Rock and other red rock formations, right from our front door.   I was looking at some of our pictures of that trip and put together a little video memory for us.  You can watch it if you like.  I really want to go back to that area.  It is so beautiful…more so than I can capture with a camera.



Okay, I’m going to quit with the nostalgia for now and get back to the present – and hopefully the future as well.  May if involve some travel!!

This is Why I Haven’t Been Blogging Much!!

Really no words needed!!

Bekah and Anna show off some of their decorating skills.  Bekah especially liked this nutcracker she found in the attic.  She wanted to know just what goes on in this house.  I told her that nutcracker sang "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer" one too many times.

Had our youngest son, his two boys,  his girlfriend and her two girls over today for a Christmas visit and a few snacks.  The girls helped!

When the other two granddaughters heard there was a "party" they wanted to be included too.  How can I say no??  So we had 8 Kids from 7-14 doing crafts in the craft room today.  Punkin the cat supervises from a safe perch!

Now we are going out to look at lights and visit a live Nativity scene.  Wish me luck!!  It's only the four girls and us for the time being...tomorrow will be another story.

Trick or Treat and Meeting Blogger Friends

In case you haven’t noticed, today is Halloween.  I love to see all the little Gremlins running  around in their imaginative costumes having fun.  I can still remember how much fun it was to get all dressed up and get candy for FREE!!  We don’t get many trick or treaters here so those that come go away with a good load of sugar.  Let their parents handle the rationing!!

We had a chance to meet with Blogger Rick and his lovely wife Paulette today.  Rick and Paulette, along with Molly and Riley, are on their way south for the winter.  Since they were heading down I-5, Eugene was right on the way.  We met at Roaring Rapids Pizza for a nice lunch and chat.



It was a bit too chilly to sit outside but we did go out long enough to look around and take a few snapshots.  That’s the Willamette River in the background. 



Outside, Russ had a parting gift for Rick as they were preparing to hit the road.   Click picture to enlarge if you can’t read the sign. 



I tried to get some shots of Molly and Riley but this was as good as it got.  They were way too excited to see Mom and Dad to sit still for photos.  It’s always fun to meet the folks whose journeys you follow on an almost daily basis.  Rick and Paulette did not seem like strangers at all and we sure enjoyed meeting them.  Soon Rick will be posting pictures of sunshine, warm swimming pools, and lots of sights in the area around Palm Springs.  Travel safe guys. 

BTW, if anyone is traveling the I-5 corridor on your way south, give us a holler, we'd love to meet you.

We picked up Grand daughter Emmie from school today and I fixed her some apples for a snack.  Unfortunately, all I had were some very old apples that had somehow become wormy.  She was a good sport and ate them anyway.




Later, our DIL Arwen, brought the older grand daughter by and picked up Emmie so they could all go fill their trick or treat bags.  I’m not sure who the Freddy Krueger guy is – just a friend of the girls.



Our youngest grandson stopped by to say hi and grab a few pieces of candy.  This is Brendan and he was a “Snow Ninja”!  Brendan will be nine in just a few  months.











We have one other grandson in Eugene, Corbin, age almost 12.  His dad decided Corbin is too old to trick or treat this year so he stayed home and handed out candy.   Guess all good things must come to an end but I’ll save some candy for him just the same.

So that’s all for tonight – we’re just answering the door and handing out candy.  Hopefully most of it will be gone before too long.  Happy Halloween Everyone.

A Very Good Week and meeting a fellow blogger

First, thank you to all who commented on my blog yesterday.  My dad was indeed a wonderful man and I count myself lucky to have had him for a father…and also just for being in this family.  I don’t know what I would do without my brother and sisters…and my extended family...they are the greatest!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled Blog!!

Well, we are without grandkids again and will be spending this coming week in recovery!   Just kidding…we love it when we have grandkids around but we do get tired.  We had a great time with Bekah, Corbin, and Brendan this week.

We had swimming ...


…and lounging by the pool…



…And pizza by the river…



…we had special “guests” at the pizza parlor (that’s a chance you take when you choose to dine outside!)…



…we visited a local park…




…and a local farm…

Yes, this is at the farm.  They have a full playground, along with the goats to pet.  They also have a place for weddings and in the fall, hayrides and a corn maze.  It's a fun place but I have my doubts about how much of the produce they sell (other than the berries and corn) is actually grown on the farm.  Oh well, it's fun.

…and another park where we found a tree that looked like it belonged in a Harry Potter movie (along with the bridge)…



…and a wonderful sitting tree…


…and a grandpa bench…


…and a foot print we are certain was made by Big Foot…


…and just a happy place to be.


We also visited the lake but it was pretty nasty that day.



We saw some paddle boarders….don’t think I’m going to try this anytime soon.


Today, when all was quiet on the western front, and it was again just Russ and Donna (as opposed to Grandma and Grandpa, we decided we were too tired to fix dinner and instead went to Sizzler for their senior steak dinner.  It was YUMMY!

Then we decided to go visit Barbara of Me and My Dog.  This is a first for us.  I never thought I would go knock on the door of someone I had never met before.  Somehow, with a fellow blogger, I just felt like I knew her already.  Barbara is staying at Armitage park which is only about 10 minutes from our house.  We found her easily enough and had a nice visit.  Katie is just an adorable little doggie and Barbara is just as nice as she sounds on her blog.  We might get together later in the week for another visit. 



So another week comes to an end and so does another blog.  Good Night!