Havin' A Blast

With July 4th this week, firecrackers have been blasting early and our dog Maggie is not having a blast.  All this extra noise and commotion is hard on wildlife and many veterans as well.  Like a curfew, I think fireworks should only be allowed to be set off during a certain window of time, on just the 4th.  It's not that I want to rain on anyone's parade, but we all need to be considerate of each other.

With that being said, I also believe that life is short and we all should enjoy it to it's fullest.  Make everyday a party and have a blast, just not at a cost to others.




Sunday 6/30 - I couldn't believe June was already ending.  Where does the time go?  I said life is short, it also goes by way too fast.

I was tired from a very late night out with Micki, so after church, came home and took a nap out on the swing in our screened in porch.  Stevie came and joined me part of the time.  With the ceiling fan going, it was quite lovely.






I went to the gym for a short little workout, bought groceries and gas on the way home, and then worked in the yard all afternoon.

Joe was off playing poker, so after dinner, I splurged and finished off the bottle of chocolate wine, pouring it over ice cream.  It was a choco - wine float, much better than root beer.  Guess I shouldn't be left home alone.  Ha ha ha.  I always like to be having a blast.

Monday 7/1 - July has started.  I wanted to do one more trailering before Joe left with the SUV for two weeks, so I headed to the barn at 6:15am.  I fed Amiga, loaded my tack onto the trailer, and then got her ready for trailering.  Joe came a little later and had the trailer hooked up and ready to go before 7am.

Amiga loaded in ten minutes, the first five really testing me.  Once she decided to get on the trailer, she did it quietly.  However, again she did not want to take the last step up with her back feet onto the trailer.  



She would get part way in, stand there several seconds, and then step slowly back off.  I kept rubbing and praising her when she was moving forward.  Finally after about the tenth time she went 2/3rs of the way in, stopped, and then took the last two steps with her back feet to get into the trailer.  Joe went up front to hold her lead rope while I continued to rub her hind end and shut the butt bar.


We drove to the subdivision across from Dorchester pool and parked on an undeveloped road.  In the background of the first photo, you can see the new 'mansion' being built.  It sits on three lots and is 2,000 square feet with a 3,000 square foot garage to park their RV and cars in.










As usual, Amiga came off the trailer too fast.  It seems no matter how long we try to calm her down, she gets more stressed.  When we dropped the ramp and butt bar  she stood there shaking.  As soon as I asked her to step back, off she flew.  When her back feet hit solid ground she stopped.  Then I slowly backed her the rest of the way off.

I was quick to tack up and Amiga and I bid Joe goodbye.  He had to have the trailer at the shop by 8am.

I took Amiga on a long three hour ride, covering nine miles and many places I had not ridden to in a long time.  Seen left, we are at the Overlook trail.



Below is the image of Map My Route.  The first 30 minutes are missing because I accidentally turned the app off.






Amiga did great the whole ride.  She really is a very willing horse.  At one spot I got off to have her step over a very large log, and she actually had to hop over to clear it.  I asked her to cantered up a few gradual inclines and she was very smooth and controlled.  I also got off twice to let her graze and rest.  We came home by way of Chestnut Hill, and not a single vehicle went by.



I got home at 12:30, had lunch and took a nap.  Then I worked on laundry, packing, and preparing for our Iowa trip.  I was off to Mirror Lake Blast at 5:00.

Below, Brian photo bombed this selfie we girls were takng.  I had no idea he was even back there.  Ha ha ha.  Just havin' a blast.






Mirror Lake Blast wasn't so much of a blast.  The vocals and acoustics were good, but the band played easy country music and many of their own songs, so there wasn't a lot of singing along or dancing.  I left before the last song and finished packing once home.

Tuesday 7/2 - Joe had all his camping gear loaded and left for his two week adventure before 8am.  After I got last week's blog done and posted, I finished packing, did a little house cleaning, and then went out to water the new grass, flowers, and shrubs.  There were still tons of sticks so I worked at picking them up also.  Maggie likes to hang out in the yard when I am out there working.

I dropped Maggie off at Bed and Biscuit Kennel on my way to work.



The pool is now open until 8pm, but I only worked three hours because I had Mike come relieve me so Patty and I could hit the road for Nashville, which we did after I showered and changed.

We arrived at Dan and Val's at 8pm.

Just before bed, we got word that Teresa was being released from the hospital in Texas and flying into Cedar Rapids five hours after us.  This is a photo of her hand after the ATV accident. Nothing in it was broken but her pelvis was broken in three places and she fractured two lumbar vertebrae.

Wednesday 7/3 - Patty drove, and the four of us left Dan and Val's house at 7am.  We arrived at Courtney's and picked her up and then proceeded to the airport.  Patty dropped us off and went to park her car. 









Courtney had overslept so did her make-up while Dan and Val waited in a long line to check their bag.  Once they got to the counter, they were told they were too early and had to wait another 40 minutes.  By now Patty had returned from parking. 




Not being one to sit, I passed the time walking around the Nashville airport.  Eventually Dan and Val's bag was checked and we all got through security and then waited another 90 minutes at the gate.






The flight to Cedar Rapids was shorter than our wait.  Tracy and Joe both were there to pick the five of us up.  Patty and I rode with Joe and we drove into Iowa City to pick up Greg who was doing a self guided walking tour of the University of Iowa campus.  I was amazed at how much it has changed since I graduated 40 years ago.


We got to Hills and toured Tracy and Teresa's beautiful 'new' house, totally rebuilt since the fire 16 months ago.  We had Casey's pizza (a Taco and a Hawaiian one) for a late lunch.  Greg and I tried going for a walk, but had to turn back early, and got rained on the last two blocks home.  Others took naps and hung out.  And we played a board game.






We loaded into two cars and headed to the Amanda Colonies to have a big family meal at the Ox Yoke Inn.  Other Villhauer's drifted in to join us.  I love this wood art on the wall of the lounge area. 

Next on the agenda was music in the park, except it had been moved indoors because of rain.  It was a fun crowd, with lots of dancing, so I had a blast.















Teresa had surprised Joe and I by requesting (a few weeks earlier) the band to play one of our songs from our wedding.  When they announced the 39th anniversary, I was busy counting on my fingers and said "Oh, that's how long we have been married too."  Well, we didn't realize it was us they were referring to, but got up to dance, along with many other couples.





Joe and Greg left at the second break but Nathan was nice enough to stick it out with me for the third set.  He even willingly got up and danced a few times.  What a nice nephew.

Thursday 7/4 - Happy July 4th!

Joe, Greg, Nathan, and Ryan left at 8:00 to go play golf and then hit the Riverside Casino.  I lounged around, worked on this blog, and eventually when our kids got up, hung out with them.  I tried to help Tracy where possible, to get ready for the party.









When I went for a walk, I mapped my route.  I had done the perimeter of Hills, just over three miles.




This is a nice alternative to a martin house.  The gourds were full of activity.








This shows the river basin, or flood plane, with water still standing in it, a mile from Tracy and Teresa's cul-de-sac.

Courtney, Dan, Val, and I ventured downtown to the car show.  We hit Casey's (the only store in town) for chips, beer, and pop, on our way home.












There was some game playing, final food prep, and lounging around while conversing, until the party began.
















The Volk's three dogs really enjoyed the extra attention.

Shortly after guests arrived, we headed one block over to the parade route.


Tracy and Teresa's two granddaughters, Delaney and Charlotte.

These next three photos show the group of people that were at Volk's for the party and were now at the corner, waiting for the parade.




















And soon, the parade started marching, driving, walking, and trotting by.






The throwing of candy (tons of it) by the parade entries, will bring out the kid in all of us.  We all got a bunch in our bag to take home.

 














And of course, my favorite thing in the parade, was all the horses... and little pony.  For a little po-dunk town, Hill's sure puts on a great parade.

We all went back to Volk's for the picnic.  Tracy and his brother (Brett) grilling the hotdogs and hamburgers.







There was a big spread of food which we all dug into and enjoyed.



Herky made a guest appearance and presented me with an anniversary gift.  In the photo, Patty is holding the I-pad and you can see Britney, who we all were Skyping with.  My funny face was because I had a mouth full of potato salad.  Ugh.















It was so good to see so many family members I haven't seen for so long.  This is the first time I have been back to Iowa since moving to TN almost six years ago.

Alan started the firework show early with some bottle rockets he set off at the end of the cul-de-sac by Volk's.




Courtney and Val, right in front of me, waiting for dark and the show to begin.










And it was quite the show, for little ole Hills.  If you've seen one firework photo, you've seen a ton, but here are four.

Friday 7/5 - Joe and my 39th wedding anniversary.  It was low key, next year will be a more intentional celebration.  I woke with a still full belly, but that didn't stop me from eating leftover deserts and then bacon and eggs Tracy fixed.

This is a statue at the Cedar rapids airport.  We did not want to be late, so got a plenty early start.  Patty drove Dan, Val, Courtney, and I.  Joe and Greg headed to South Dakota and Tracy to take Teresa to her Dr. appointment.





I had to have another photo with Herky, this one a plastic statue.  We had tons of time so sat it out waiting.










It took Shirley longer to drive to the Nashville airport from home, than it took us to fly there from Iowa.
We stopped for lunch soon after she picked us up.


It was a partially wet drive home after dropping Courtney, and then Dan and Val, off at their homes.  It actually poured on us a couple of times.





After Shirley dropped me off at home, I put together a grocery list, ran to FoodCity, went on to Bed and Biscuit to get Maggie, and was back home by 7pm.

Time does fly when you are having fun, so it did this week, except sitting in the car and at the airport.  But it was so worth the trip to see all the Volk's and Joe's clan.





While in bed reading, before lights out, I got a text from Joe that he and Greg had made it to their cabin (no running water) in Scenic South Dakota.  I hope they have a blast on this two week adventure.