50 Years!

My Uncle Jerry (my mom's brother) and Aunt Karen celebrated 50 years of marriage!  Camden and I were able to attend the party on Saturday.  Such a beautiful young couple!

 

My cousins threw a very nice bash with yummy treats, fun tributes, and activities.  Camden and my cousin Melinda's daughter Sophie did a nice job recreating the bride and groom.

 

They set up a photo booth and Camden spent the majority of her time in that room.  I do love this picture!  She is a card!

HVAC

Our cooling system died a few weeks ago.  We knew we had been living on borrowed time (it was going on 18 years old). 

 

The weather had been cooler so we were glad to be able to take our time, get estimates and begin work.  We went almost 2 weeks without air and were very thankful to be able to get the work done!

The guys at Cook, a local, family-owned business, were great.  When he pulled the inside condenser (above) out of the air handler he said it was pretty disgusting and was surprised it hadn't had problems earlier.  We are just happy to have cool air again!

School Carnival

Each year, Waveland Elementary has a carnival.  It's usually held in the evening and has some small games ran by high school kids.  We went last year and Camden had a blast.  But this year, being the last year that WES is open, the PTO decided to have a big carnival.  They also decided to do it during the school day so that every child could attend and not just those whose parents could bring them back.  Like all the other events this year, the PTO went all out and did an amazing job.  

First up for Camden was face painting.  The two hired airbrushers were fantastic.  The were the high school/college age daughters of the man who owns the company and they were not only talented, but great with the kids.

Camden thought it tickled and couldn't sit still for much more than the basic color.  Lots of kids had very elaborate designs.

Since I was volunteering to help supervise, I got mine done too.  I actually have a half design of the same pattern as Camden.

A clown was hired to do balloon animals all afternoon.

There were also about 6 balloon houses - obstacle course, batting practice, bounce houses, football tosses, etc.

Snowcones and popcorn were given out.  It was a beautiful sunny day with perfect temps in the 70s but those snowcones were a much needed break!

 

Shortly after 2pm, we all had to go inside so that the carnival could be torn down to make way for the buses and parents to arrive.  We headed into the gym for a magic show.  This was one of the best kid-oriented shows I have ever seen.  This guy was fabulous and funny!

We are really gonna miss our small school and the wonderful community it is!

Happy Birthday, Camden!

Her birthday is still in July!  But with only one week of school left, the summer birthday's got celebrated at school.  It means a special treat at lunch.  It also was a time for us to celebrate in her class.

Mrs. Barr approved a pinata for a fun activity.  The playground had a perfect set-up.

It even allowed Mrs. Barr to have fun (and get some cute revenge) with some of her students.  She used the rope to raise and lower it between swings.

The pink bat wasn't strong enough to break it, so, thankfully, I brought the square yard stick we used on our pinata last year.  Even that proved difficult for the kids.  So I took some swings and candy and toys went flying. 

We then went inside for cupcakes. 

Red mouths for everyone!  It was a short, but fun celebration of Miss Camden.

What a Storm

 Tornado sirens were going off when I came out of the grocery store in Crawfordsville.  The sky was ominous and we were experiencing a pretty major thunderstorm.  But I didn't expect to see my yard in Waveland looking like it had snowed!  

I had missed it, but the hail left behind were literally golf balls.

It continued to rain all evening/night so we haven't checked for damage.  Our siding looks okay, but the roof may not be as lucky.  GaGa and Grandpa have damage to their new car, their truck, and their roof.  We haven't heard if Papaw had any damage.  But...Wow!

Mansfield Mill and the Five & Dime

Aunt Carole, Uncle Ric and Ree Ree came over on Sunday afternoon.  Kevin and Ric were going to clean up the hunting spot (cut trees, clear paths, etc).  We had a wonderful lunch of grilled ribeye, grilled green beans, and grilled potatoes & onions.  Both the vegetables were grilled in foil packs and the whole meal was delicious!

Afterward, the boys headed to the woods and the four of us girls headed to Rockville.  I told them about a great variety store that was just like the old Danners Five & Dime that we always went to when we were little.  It has every imaginable thing you would want/need and very reasonable.  Carole and Rachel went bonkers!  Well, they enjoyed the shop and found many items that they hadn't been able to find anywhere else.  

The store is located on the town square and we walked around the square to a coffee shop for a drink. I had been wanting to check this place out for a while and this was the perfect excuse.  It is called Jailhouse Cafe.  The old town jail is also on the square and has been converted to a bed & breakfast/inn.  Next door the have "The Drunk Tank" which is a winery and the coffee shop.  I will go back again and try one of their lunch items.

On the way home I mentioned that we were only about 5 minutes from Mansfield.  They have a covered bridge and a mill.  I told Aunt Carole that we have bought corn meal from the mill.  We decided to go take a look.  It was about 4:45 on a Sunday afternoon so we were surprised to see it opened.  We took a quick peek inside.  Someone was in the gift shop even so Carole popped her head in to see if they were open and if she could buy some cornmeal.  Unfortunately, they were out!

We headed outside (they closed at 5) and took a look at the mill wheel, the dam, and the covered bridge.  It was a short, but very fun detour.

We got home just before the guys, made a rhubarb crisp (oh my!), and I ran to Up the Creek for pizza and breadsticks.  We enjoyed the rest of the evening eating, playing with Tinker, and watching the Amazing Race.  What a fun day together!

Zoo, Zoo, Zoo...

The Kindergarten and 1st grade class went to the Indianapolis Zoo on Friday.  There were plenty of parents too, so Camden and I got to wander out on our own. 

Rain was in the forecast, so we bought a rain poncho that came in very handy.  

We got to see lots of the animals up close, since they, too, were trying to get out of the rain and came close to the windows.

The brown bears were having a massive fight when we got to their area. 

It actually started HAILING at this point in the excursion, but Camden was so protected she wanted to keep going!  I actually wanted to watch the bears a bit more, but we were on a tight schedule to see everything.  We happily moved on and had clear paths because everyone else was taking cover from the weather.

We also stopped pre-rain at the two rides.  They each costs a few dollars, but she still loves carousels and trains so it was worth the little extra expense.

Despite the poncho (and my rain jacket) we were still a bit wet and were happy to meet up with everyone at the dolphin show.

We rounded out our visit in the ocean area.  We loved seeing the walrus and I told her the story of her first visit to this zoo and her walrus encounter.  (Goodness...click on that link, she was so adorable!)

She attempted, without success, to pet the shark.  I actually had a hard time reaching into the tank so it was quite difficult.

We meet back up with everyone and got a class photo before heading out to the bus to eat our sack lunches and head back to school.

Mother's Day

We had a lovely Mother's Day.  Camden gave me a fun pink heart pillow and a plant.  Kevin made me a yummy breakfast of mixed-berry pancakes and thick slab bacon.  Camden served it to me.  We went to church and did some errands before relaxing in the afternoon.

We had GaGa and Grandpa over for a cookout of brats and burgers.  I made my favorite pasta salad and my mom's strawberry pies.  The best.pie.ever.

What a great day of celebrating "MOM".

Tinker and Max

I was a bit worried about how our cat would do with a new puppy.  Kevin walked into the living room with the dog on his chest and Max stopped dead in his tracks.  We put the pup down on the floor and waited.

Tinker started sniffing around and exploring and Max followed close behind.  Tinker hadn't even seen Max!  Finally she turned around and they were nose to nose with each other.  Thankfully Tinker has spent most of her 8 weeks around cats and didn't even think twice. Max on the other hand wasn't quite sure.  Tinker just waited and waited.  Then took a step toward the cat who promptly backed himself up and hid in the end table.

 

 

This morning, the two were chasing each other back and forth from living room to kitchen, batting at each other, and even rolling around a bit.  I think they BOTH like having a playmate, although Max is still a little cautious.

Tinkerbell is also a perfect playmate for Camden.  She finally has someone else in the house with as much energy as she has.  They play and play.

Tinker even discovered that she likes the little toys we picked out.  She is so playful and fun to have around!