Hyvee saves the day.....

Some times Ron surprises me and says "BTW we are having ____________________ and _________________ over for supper. Well today was no different. We were suppose to go to a Wedding Reception but instead I was rushing around trying to figure out what to make for our guests. Well I took off for Hyvee and found Twice baked potatoes for $1.00 all I had to do was pop them in the oven. YEAH Score!! I love twice baked potatoes but man are those suckers hard work. What a treat!

So this meal was my first "Official" meal on our new bar/table. I really love it. Now I am kicking myself for not buying the longer one because it would fit but that 's OK.....we will make it work.

On Another note.....these beautiful 70-80 degree days are much more to my liking. LOVE IT! Wish it was like this every single day of the year!

Glorious Gold, Subtle Silver and Fabulous Fourth..........

I have been totally hooked on the Summer Olympics.

I have watched most all sports.

I was particially interested in Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball, and most of all Wrestling. I enjoyed all the other sports including Gymnastics, Swimming, Track and Field and even the Mountain Biking.

And the Soccer girls win Gold. WHAT amazing matches they had. They were a pleasure to watch! They made my night.

and there is my love for Wrestling. Since I was a tiny little girl I have LOVED wrestling. Just like Rulon said "Once wrestling get's in your system you can't get it out" Oh so true, our Nebraska Wrestler. I have always watched Jordan Burroughs wrestle for the University of Nebraska and he didn't let me down. I am sharing his Nebraska Championship Photo because he is one awesome man, who is from New Jersey, but is one of us.........

and then there is the USA Women's Basketball Team.....She's my favorite. Her passion for this game just shine's in her eyes....

and then the Men's Basketball team bring Gold Home today.....................They are amazing to watch. I have such a new respect for the NBA. I might have to start watching Basketball :) 

and then we have our Jordan. Nebraska Native. Nebraska born and raised......played Volleyball at the University of Nebraska. Have a Volleyball with her signature. I hope you play in Rio Jordan.........Nebraska Loves you! 

and there you have it. Silver. I was praying for Gold BUT damm.....what happened girls....

BUT Silver it is. I am still so proud of my girls that I watched EVERY match...............

and today was topped off with a great finish by my driver Clint Bowyer. It was tough, hard fought race and you did bud.........Fourth Place but enough to boost you up to 7th in points! 

Let's do this Clint! 

Farwell....

to our new found friend.......Lake Okoboji, Iowa. We shall return. I promise.

Such a beautiful little treasure in Northern Iowa. Who knew :) Beautiful water, great food, excellent night life, wonderful people and just plain fun. I would highly suggest a trip to Lake Boji if you live within five hours. Kids have plenty to do. Plenty of fun for Adults.

I surprised Ron a few months ago with this trip. I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he told me "I want to go to the Blackhills, I have never been there and would love to go, I have only been to Mount Rushmore (with me at Sturgis)" and I said OK, I am all over that, then I remembered it was Sturgis weekend, so he says "Well we have been twice to Sturgis, so I want to do something else".

So I say, "Let's go to Kansas City, we will go downtown, hang out in some of our favorite areas" He says "No, we are going to the Kansas NASCAR race in October, so no".

So then he says to me "I have Always wanted to go to Lake Okoboji since I was in high school and my buddies told me about all the fun they had....and all the hot girls" ......apparently back then it was all about hunting for chicks, but now......obviously Not SO much :)

So I booked us a little room at the Fillenwarth Beach Resort. Who knew that an All-inclusive resort actually exists in Iowa? It was awesome...OK not ALL inclusive we had to find our own food, but boat rides, booze cruises, paddle boats and so much more........

and within walking distance of awesome food either way.

And of Course within walking distant of the Historic Arnolds Park Amusement Park. It is awesome!

This was our cute little 242 room. During the day it was freezing cold beyond belief but at night I was sweating. But it was so comfortable. Looking right out over the water....beautiful.

We alway made sure we made it back to watch some 2012 Olympics.  

On another note today....Ronnie Boy went for his first Water Skiing Adventure today. He tried his hardest to get up on those skis but it just didn't happen. He was soaking wet when he came back.....he is determined to learn how to ski. I couldn't go with, otherwise I would have loved to take pictures of him. I swore this was Ron just riding in this boat but I found out it wasn't.........

Cleaning out files leads to.....

Hysterical laughter by all....

just going through some folders in my office and I find an email I printed off from longtime friend Sonja Jacobson-Moore sent to me in 1999........
The Lord's Prayer.......
A Mother was teaching her 3 year old the Lord's prayer. For Several evenings at Bedtime she repeated it after her mother. One night she said she was ready to go solo. The mother listened with pride as she carefully enunciated each word, right up to the end of the prayer. "Lead us not into temptation," she prayed, "but deliver us some email, Amen" :)

It made me laugh so hard....and also get a little reflective about email. MAN has email changed. It seems like Facebook has changed the way so many of us communicate and transfer information. Even this blog has changed the way I communicate. BUT I ONLINE is the ONLY way to make it happen. 

Pivots and Cornnuts.....

When Ron got home tonight.....he and I went to watch our Pivot by Duncan so we could reverse it back headed for the road......anyway......we grabbed Cheerio and headed to the pivot in Ron's pickup. FINALLY a nice evening to be outside!!! It wasn't humid or blazing hot. What seemed like an eternity and half a bag of Cornnuts later.....we finally were able to reverse the pivot, but unfortunately it was still on load control so Ron had to return later after dark to turn it on.

Cheerio LOVES to ride....BUT he has to sit by Ron when the pickup isn't moving. He knows the rule when the pickup moves...............

Pivot Supervisor - Cheerio Stock :) 

When we FINALLY got back home, we decided to go for a much appreciated Golf Cart ride. Kind of rare these days. With the extreme heat we had been having even the evenings weren't suited for a Golf Cart ride, so we enjoy grabbing the cart and heading out. We surveyed the progress on our New Retaining wall construction and I think both of us where shocked at the water level. The Drought of 2012 has taken it's toll on our water level but has also provided an opportunity to make shoreline improvements................these are the photos I took to show the extreme drop in the water and the progress of our retaining wall. 

The wide strip of sand that you see is usually under water.......

This is the area where the retaining wall is going. Typically the water line is way over the blue and white pipes you see and ONLY the top of the rock was is showing. 

At one point several years ago the water was OVER this retaining wall when it was flooding. You can see the 'Normal" water line. 

This is my Flood stage guide. When it was flooding several years ago I judge the rise and fall of the flood water by the white bouy on the dock. It has been level with the top of the corner of this dock. 

This is our boat dock. Notice our boat. It is usually Almost level with this dock......it is UNDER it! I have NO idea how in the heck we are going to get this thing out!!!!

Showing where the water level typically is.......and Cheerio's tail end :) 

Another shot of the dock and our boat. 

More showing the drastic drop in the water and that Thunderhead in the background. It brought rain to some folks just not us. :( 

Our poor boat is dry docked :) 

Where the new retaining wall will be....again water is usually just below the green grass areas.....

Showing more of the water that is left in our channel....which isn't much :( 

The brink of hell.....

I am fairly certain that Nebraska has fallen to the brink of hell. I don't EVER remember being this hot. With Air Temperatures in the 100's and crazy hot heat indexs life has been a little frustrating. Add in the fact that we have had zero rain since the first of June, it has been a day by day challenge to keep cool and hydrated. Even Cheerio hates this weather. He went outside in his tinkle area, did his business and immediately came in and did this.............

IT is so hot out!!!!! AND it's Monday!