Monday, July 28, 2008

Tanner & Makayla

Tanner & Makayla are spending two full weeks at their Dad's this summer.
They left on Saturday July 19th - after the Fat Tire Festival and will be back on Saturday, August 2nd.
I miss them!! I can't wait for them to come home!
Just wanted to share.

Birthday celebration




Sunday July 20th was the day we celebrated Rachel's upcoming 13th birthday!
We had a late picnic lunch at Bob's house. In between raining drops - we all swam in the pool. It was a fun time for all of us.
Hopefully......I'll post pictures soon!

Fat Tire Festival

Saturday July 19th, was the 3rd annual Fat Tire Festival.
It was another busy year for Bob!
Bob was in charge of planning, designing and marking the two race courses again this year.
He made the Competitive course alittle more difficult and the Recreational course about the same. Bob spent many hours working on this - including ALL day Friday the 18th.
It's amazing the amount of time and effort is needed for this type of event.

Last year & this year, I have volunteered to help at Registration and wherever else I'm needed.
I must say that registration went MUCH smoother this year than last.

This year was alittle different in the fact that I decided to be brave and enter the recreation race.
I've been riding my bike more and more so I thought this might be fun. Tanner was alittle concerned that I might beat him.....HMMMMM - NO!
This was Tanner's 3rd year racing. He was 6th out of 14 in his age group (19 and under). Not too bad for a 10 year old. His time 19 min. 20 second.
I didn't do as well - BUT.....Atleast I finished!
My time was 24 minutes even.
I had one little mishap - I crashed into a tree trying to avoid a young boy who was riding ahead of me. Long story but....I'm ok!

Bob didn't race this year - he thought it would be best to just stay around and help where he was needed. I saw him near the end of the course. I was very happy to see him! He said 'You look good - how are you doing'. My answer - 'I crashed'.
Soon after I finished - Bob came looking for me to make sure I was ok. He's just a good egg. :-)

Later that evening - Bob & I rode our bike down to the bike shop for an after hours volunteer party. We ate lots of fun and had a few cocktails as well.

If I continue to ride......maybe I'll race again next year!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Weekend in PA - Sunday information. Final part

Last part of our trip info.........

Sunday morning we (Bob & I) got up early and went for a bike ride. We rode for about an hour. It was great riding with Bob and enjoying the beautiful scenery!

After our ride, we packed up - and headed down for one last quick visit with my Grandma in Loyalton before we headed home to NY.
Makayla (once again) didn't want to ride with me. :-( She insisted on riding home with her Grandparents. No worries!!!

We had a very pleasant ride home. Bob made it home around 4:30 and Tanner & I around 6 (by the time we stopped to pick Makayla up).

Weekend in PA - Saturday information - part 2

Continuing..........

After the Hero of the day fixed the pipe - He & Tanner went Mountain biking together in Danville. Tanner was soooooooooooo excited that Bob was willing to take him along. They both seemed to have a good time. Bob soon found out that Tanner is willing to ride/try anything! LOL.

While Bob & Tanner were out and about - Makayla, My Mom and I went to Loyalton (Assisted Living home) and set up my Grandma's room. We made her bed, put her clothes away, installed her phone and put up family pictures. Makayla loved helping! She also loved the fact that the 'Home' has a dog who lives there!!!



After everyone was back to my Grandma's house - we packed up our lunch goodies and headed off to the Bloomsburg town park for the birthday picnic. We had a good time - we laughed, ate yummy food and opened gifts. I decided that Bob,the kids and I would leave early in case my grandmother didn't want to go to her new living arrangements - Loyalton. I thought I would spare my kids of their Great Grandma yelling! (She didn't by the way.....she was too confused to know where she was or where she was going).


We had big big plans Saturday night so leaving early wasn't a problem.......



*The first picture is of my Grandma (white sweater - no glasses) and her twin (my Aunt Meriam). They turned 91 the day after this pictures.
The next picture is of Tanner and my Aunt Beryl (Grandma's sister who is 95 years old).
Next picture - Makayla playing in the nasty water looking for crayfish.
Next - Tanner watching Bob slice onions for lunch.





We spent our afternoon and evening at Knoebel's. Knoebel's is an amusement park about 20 minutes from my Grandma's house. Knoebel's is alittle different that most amusement parks because you don't pay for parking and you don't pay to get into the park. You only pay for rides! This makes it much easier on the adults who don't need to ride EVERY ride! We had a ball!!! We got home around 9:30pm. It was a looooooooooong day for sure. :-)

To be continued......

Friday, July 18, 2008

Weekend in PA - Saturday information.

Let me continue..........

Saturday morning started early for some of us.
Tanner had slept outside in his tent, which was fine - except for the heavy dew. ;-)
He was up at 5:10am with a wet tent and since I couldn't sleep.....I got up with him.
(I did quietly ask Bob when he was getting up and he calming and peacefully replied - not yet. LOL) Makayla was sleeping with her Uncle Tim's dog - Daisy and she wasn't moving either.
So....Tanner & I decided to go for a bike ride. It was a beautiful quiet cool morning. We rode down to the Susquehanna River and rode beside the town park and then over the Rupert cover bridge. After that we went past the fair grounds and back to Fernville. Tanner & I then decided to take the Rails to Trails trail along Fishing Creek. We had a nice ride - We rode for about an hour. When we got back....Makayla & Bob were still sleeping!

After everyone was up - Bob & I went down to the Farmer's Market in town. We got lots of fresh veggies. YUMMMY! Bob even bought me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for my birthday. We were back to my Grandma's house by 9am and then the Bob became the hero of the day!
A pipe had broken under the sink and water was leaking everywhere. Bob looked at it and said it could be fixed in 10 minutes. Trust me when I say that my family are NOT plumber. NEVER ever in my life have I seen a 10 minute plumbing job - that was until that morning! Bob & I went to Lowes and got the parts and then Bob fixed it in less than 10 minutes. He really was the hero of the day!!!

Ok.....I'll write more soon!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Weekend in PA - Friday information.

It was another good weekend in PA!
I must confess and say that Bloomsburg PA has always been a good stress reliever for me. I'm far enough from home that I don't let the everyday stresses of life bother me. I think everyone needs a place to 'escape' to! Bloomsburg just happens to be mine. :-)

Bob, Tanner & I arrived in PA on Friday around 12:30ish. Makayla didn't want to ride with us, she wanted to ride with her grandparents. ( I'm sure that was because her Pappa would stop along the way and buy her candy treats! LOL. ) Soon after arriving, Bob went Mountain biking in Danville while the rest of us had lunch. Bob was saving himself for a 'Quaker Steak & Lube' dinner later that night!
Early evening, Bob, myself, Tanner, Makayla and my Mom & Dad went to the Quaker Steak & Lube for dinner. Yuuuuuuummmmy! There was lots of fun and not enough space in my belly to get it all in, but it was fun trying.
After dinner we took a trip to Danville to visit my Grandma who was still in the Rehab facility. She looked MUCH better than she did on Monday. It was nice to visit. We didn't stay long but we didn't want to overwhelm her either.

Ok.....I'll write again later about the other parts of our weekend.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Trip to PA

Good morning!

I just thought I would give everyone a quick update.
My brother Dan & I took a trip to Pennsylvania this past weekend to visit my Grandmother who isn't in the best of health. My Mom and her brothers have decided to move my Grandma to an 'Assisted living' facility. She has spent the last 2 weeks in a hospital and now a rehab facility to help her regain her strength. She was been falling and we found out that it is due to a bad valve in her heart. It's been a looooooooooong two weeks to say the least.
It's hard when you live 200 miles away. A trip this weekend was necessary for my health! :-) I'm very close with my Grandma so I needed to see her for myself.
My Grandma doesn't want to give up her independence - which I do understand since she will be 91 years old on Sunday, July 13th. However.....it's time for her to get some much needed extra help. I witnessed that myself this past weekend when I watched her struggle to even stand up.
She's a strong willed woman and I respect her very much. So....this should be a challenge to get her the help she needs when she doesn't feel she needs it!
All in all.....
It was nice to spend some time with my brother - enjoy many laughs and to see exactly how my Grandma is doing.
I will be heading back down to PA this weekend with Bob, Tanner & Makayla.
On Saturday, we will be having a multi-person birthday party.
Bob will be 41 on Thursday,
I will be 38 on Saturday
and my Grandma and her twin - Aunt Meriam, will be 91 on Sunday.
One big cake for all 4 of us!!! I can't wait!
I'll update the blog on Sunday with pictures!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

New game added

Check out the bottom of the blog!
You can now Mountain bike WHENEVER you wish!
Don't know how to MB- not to worry......instructions are listed with game.
Enjoy!!