Memorial Day Weekend 2019

We celebrated our anniversary by going to Longhorn steakhouse Friday night.

 The kids were out of school Friday, and Tim was off.  So he took them to his gym and to lunch.  They showed up at work with these pretty things for my present.  He let the kids pick them out too.  So nice!

 Tim excited for his steak.

 I had the cheesy garlic Parmesan chicken.  It was SO good!!!

 Saturday morning I finished packing up the trailer.  I had to put back in all the essentials that we normally don't have to take out until the end of the season!

Tim took the kids back to the gym Saturday morning, then I swung by and picked them up to go see Aladdin!!  It was a great movie with a GREAT soundtrack!

 Saturday evening we had family dinner with the Ohana.  The oldest "niece" is going off to the air force so we all gathered for a send off.  I normally just give cash for these events, but I was DETERMINED to give her a lei like everyone else.  But decided to make a bracelet because I need to be a little different. :)  everyone loved it!

 Sunday Morning:

 We backed the truck up to the trailer and pulled out for Blue Springs State Park near Clio, AL.

 I'm not sure why he decides to wear his joggers or some form of sweat pants ANY day in the summer.

We packed the kids new bikes and the dog in the back of the truck and off we went!

 He didn't sleep well the night before.  He was a TAD grouchy on the short drive.

 I made him stop so I could use the bathroom - and I got him a snack because I needed his mood to perk up! 

 Crossing over to Alabama.  This is the Chattahoochee River.

 MADE IT!  745 Alabama time.

We found one of the only spots available at 8am and got everything set up.  Loaded the truck to go to the water!

 It was in the weirdest spot - we've never had to drive straight in on a circle.  There was four spots up where we were.  Two of the trailers were there permanently.

 A little Keto snack at the water!

 Kennedie already drawing!  Mason taking a snooze!

 Listening to my Audio-book!

 1045 and there weren't a lot of people there.

 Getting the grill ready!

 I forgot to bring a spoon down for the beans - so he army'ed one out of tin foil!!

 It was getting hot and Mason kept moving around to find more shade!

 You know when you just wanna punch out your spouse?  We laughed at this picture!  He even offered to cover my double chin with his fist!

 We cooled off in the trailer for a bit.  We had a slight problem, we somehow got hooked up to a 20 amp site, we have a 30 amp trailer.  We kept tripping the breaker until we realized.  If we wanted to keep the air going we had to put it on auto and at 74 degrees, and all the interior lights had to be out.  I was worried for when we wanted to pop popcorn and watch a movie later.  It ended up not being an issue and we just had to be very careful with what we turned on.  But once we realized the problem it didn't trip again!



He was cracking me up - even in a small 22ft trailer he can find a way to hide and be by himself!

 It started to cool off a bit outside as the sun was going down and we had some good shade in our neck of the woods.  So the kids got their new bikes out for a spin!

 We got the kids new bikes because they are old enough to ride the mile and a half to the library this summer to enjoy the summer reading program activities.  They haven't had bikes in 3 years since we live down a dirt road and they weren't old enough to bike anywhere alone yet.  But now that Kennedie is 15 and Cale will be 10 next weekend we are confident they will be OK by themselves in our small town.

Because they haven't had bikes in 3 years Cale was 6 when he had his last bike and it had training wheels.  So he had to learn how to ride!  He did great within an hour or so he was pretty good at it!

 Popped some popcorn and popped in a movie.

 Tim wanted to listen to music - so he had to borrow my ear buds.  I thought it was funny he was wearing gold and pink Lilly earbuds!

 Cale had a little wipe out while riding his bike.

 Enjoying the night.

 We also didn't get a fire ring with our spot - so we made s'mores in the griddle.

Kennedie said they tasted great!  She went back inside a little while later and made more all by herself and she was proud.

 Round two of popcorn. 

 Round two of s'mores.  He just likes the marshmallows and graham crackers.

 Tim fell asleep before the rest of us - sent Cale in while we were putting up the stuff from outside.  Joker stole my spot on the bed.

Monday Morning:

 This was our area - at noon the day before we saw that our favorite spot #20 was available.  We were SO close to moving - but we stayed - there was no traffic up here at the top of the campground and it was nice when Cale was learning how to ride his bike.

 Making breakfast. 

 Cleaning up the camper and getting everything ready to leave.  We decided to go dump the tanks first thing before there was a line like there was last holiday weekend.

 Because of the angle of our trailer we had to angle the truck to the hitch.  One try and we were good to go - I was pretty proud of myself for guiding him back at an angle.

 I think I have a sunscreen problem.  We take sun protection seriously!  Clearly these always go to the bottom of the bag and I don't check before I drop another one in.

We didn't get "our spot" Monday morning, so we were in another spot.  We headed out once it started to get filled up in the water.

I hope everyone's holiday weekend was fun and full of thankfulness of the lives that were lost for our freedom!

Visit to San Antonio

 Unfortunately the reason for the visit was not a happy one.  My Grandma  lived to 99 and she passed about 3 weeks ago.  Most of our family is military/civilian workers so they planned the memorial over Veterans day weekend because most of our family had Monday off already.  I loved living in Texas for the 3 years the army had us there.  My sister only lived about 2 hours from us so we went into San Antonio frequently.  So I was excited to see some of my favorite places!!!

 This guy laid the guilt on strong Thursday morning.  I was able to go to work for part of the day so they knew they wouldn't see me after school until I came home Monday night.

Sulkingly taking my bag to the car for me.

I left work around 2 because Atlanta traffic in the afternoon can be horrendous!  It ended up not being bad AT ALL.

 I have NEVER noticed these wildflowers along the highway, and especially not in November!

 I always take a picture of where I park my car,

 and what door I enter the airport through.  Helps me get back to my car quicker when I return.

Somehow I got in the wrong security line, got to the front and she said "uh you are in TSA pre-check, you need to be in the other line" so I waited in another security line, thank god I got there as early as I did.

I read in a blog once that the way to get around bringing your own water into places was to bring an empty water bottle (security won't flag it either!) and fill it up at a water fountain.  I've done that at every airport I've been too since and it helps me avoid $5 water bottles once I get through security! I was able to find a restaurant in the airport that I could stick to my Keto diet with.  I had Asian seamed vegetables and bourbon chicken for my dinner.  I ate it while I was waiting to board.

 The weather stayed like this in Georgia and Texas all weekend.  I didn't think I would need anything more than my light hoodie as a jacket, and I was WAY wrong in that assumption.  The wind killed me!

 Found out ATL airport had free WiFi - logged in and downloaded two Netflix movies to watch on my 2 hour flight.

 I didn't bring a regular iPhone charger cord and box.  I brought two of these external chargers and it's usb-c charging cord.  This charger (bought at Walmart for $10 gives my iPhone two full charges before it dies)  So while one was re-charging one portable, I was using the other to charge my phone and I didn't have to worry about sitting near a plug in. We have like 7 of these things, they are GREAT!

 Remembered I forgot to do the kids schedule before I left for the airport so I quickly did it before I boarded the plane.  Monday was his day to logistically plan getting the kids places - but it was cut off.

 

Yay I'm finally able to board!  I paid the extra $15 with frontier to be able to ensure that I was sitting in an aisle seat.  If you are ok with them choosing or aren't traveling with anyone else you can skip paying the fee.  (you can also pay $30-$35 to have extra leg room - I have long legs and had no problem with my leg room) 

My first stop friday morning was Taco Cabana - my favorite place to get breakfast taco's in Texas.  SO worth my cheat with that tortilla!!!!

 

We headed out for some shopping after breakfast and stopped at California Pizza kitchen.  My sister is doing a form of Keto - but it's a little different.  She told me I wasn't allowed to leave without trying the cauliflower crusted pizza.  I won't lie - I don't eat cauliflower - but this was DELICIOUS and had she not told me i would have thought it was a thin crusted pizza.

 

 The waitress was really sweet and gave us a free slice of pumpkin cheesecake!  It was SO GOOD!  I made everyone eggroll skillet for dinner and we just chilled at the house the rest of the night.

 Saturday my niece had a volleyball practice so they left my brother in laws car for us to take.  We went to Chili's for lunch and I got to watch my Fort Benning Team put on a great NFL on Fox show!!

 Saturday was the day of my grandmas memorial. I think 1990 was the last time all of us cousins were together.  My grandma had 3 girls that resulted in 8 grandchildren (2 of my sisters passed before I was born).  This might be the only time we get a picture like this.  The sibling sets are on the ends of the group and the bearded guy in the middle is an only child.  I should point out that I am considerably younger than my sisters/cousins.  I was totally an oops and my mom had me when she was 39 and my dad 49, my sisters were 13 and 18 when i was born.  I'm totally ok with it, UNTIL it means they get more time with family because they are older.  I won't lie when I was 31 and my dad passed away I was angry because they got more time with him than I did.  My mom is super lucky she is 76 and her mom was still alive!!

This is all the grandkids and the great grandkids that were able to come.

All of these people were directly related to my grandma.  (there is a picture of my sisters, me and my mom but no one knows who's phone it's on!)

 Ya'll my grandma and grandpa were so cute!!!

 I believe this is their wedding photo!

These two pictures were from my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary party in San Diego.  I'm in the top picture - obviously the little girl in the white dress in the front!

 

This was at dinner after the memorial.  All the family gathered at this restaurant.

 

Ya'll these tortillas get me everytime.  I only ate one but it was SO WORTH it!

We came home and played that game where you have to talk with these things in your mouth, I can't remember what it's called!!  It was hilarious and we had a TON of laughs!!!

 Sunday afternoon we made my dad's christmas cookies.  My dad was well known in our community for these cookies.  I used to come to my older sisters house to make them when I was living in Texas.  It was awesome that all three of us could honor him and make them together.  I'm holding the actual scoop he used when he made them, that my middle sister brought with her.

 Ready to go in the oven!!!

We had some time Sunday afternoon and I found out that my sister had a Clothes Mentor .8 miles from her house!!  It was a tiny one but I was able to get two dresses for $10.  We went to dinner at Pluckers Sunday night and there was another one and I told her that it looked bigger and it would probably be worth a peek when she was in the area!

 Monday we all were getting ready to leave.  I went to HEB to get my tortillas because nothing beats Texas home-style tortillas.

 My niece and nephew!

 My flight left at 6 and my mom's and sisters (back to Alaska) left at 655 so since I didn't have to check my bag we got to the airport at around 430.  Thanks to my mom needing wheelchair service we all got to go through the quicker line!  Here is all our stuff about to go through the x-ray.  There is one more bag on the floor just out of the picture.  We were definitely a production getting everything into the correct bins!!  I should note.  My tortilla's got flagged.  When they pulled it to the inspection area - I said "it's probably my tortilla's I have in there" sure enough the image came up and showed three round packages.  He inspected and told me to enjoy them!

In ATL they only have wall chargers and you really have to scope them out and rush to them before someone else sees them.  In SAT they had these right under the waiting room seats!  I sat with my mom and sister for about 30 minutes before it was about to be time to board my flight then I walked from their A6 gate to my A2.  It really worked out great!

 On the plane ready to take off.  Ya'll this flight was the most turbulent flight I have EVER been on.  Like not just a little jiggle - full on throwing me side to side.  Normally turbulence doesn't bug me, I won't lie it was getting a little nervous!

Looked up my pictures on where I was to get out and found my way to my car.  This is the rideshare waiting area.  The bright yellow lights are warmers!  How nice is that, that you can wait and be somewhat warm!!!  Because when I was walking outside I could see my breath!!!

Excited to be warm in my car - and headed home!!!

It was hard waking up and getting ready for work today.