What I've Been Up to This Summer, Part 1...Boating!

Since I had been absent from the blogging world for so long, I'm sure that some of you wondered what I have been doing with my summer. Besides work....LOTS!

One of my favorite things is to go boating, and living in a town with three rivers, this is a great place to do it! My friend Monica and her husband Jon own this boat. Just a reminder, you can click on any pic to see a larger image.


It was time for me to get a new pair of boat-worthy flip-flops and join in the fun! Yes, I know I have cankles.


We set off on Sunday of Memorial Day weekend on the Auglaize River from this boat launch, downriver from the Power Dam.


Here is a shot of the pretty river.


There was a family on board, besides my friends and myself. Their little boy was adorable!


He brought along a little friend. I was only too happy to watch Mr. Teddy while he "drove" the boat. (It was anchored at the time and the ignition was off.)


We saw some fun sights along the way. A boat was pulling a dock along in the water with this teenage boy perched on top. Not your conventional way to transport a dock!


In one part of the river near an island, there is a sandbar. Boats put down anchor there and people swim. I imagine that they also drink...quite a lot, though we didn't care to participate in that part of it.


Though Memorial Day was unseasonably warm in the high 80s, the water was still pretty chilly. I can't believe all these people went swimming!


So did some of our party!


On the way back, we had a view of the Power Dam. Electricity used to be generated here. It's now a popular fishing spot.


After we were back on land, I noticed that we were in a picturesque spot, and there were some pretty trees.


I have a passion for barns, and couldn't resist taking a picture of this red barn across the street from the boat launch.


As the day drew to a close, the sun began to set behind the trees. It was time to head home.

We went out again, this time on the Maumee River, the next day. I didn't get any more pics that weekend, but did a few weeks later...

...On July 3, I took another boat ride with Jon and Monica. This time, my sweetie and his son and daughter joined us. We launched the boat from this dock. This dock floats to accommodate the fluctuating water levels, and believe me, it can vary a lot.


I know that some of you have been wondering what my sweetheart looks like. He isn't really ready to share many pics, so I did this picture of him, myself, and his daughter in paint. You can't see them clearly, but have an idea of what they look like.


Here is the pretty river, the Maumee. We traveled almost all the way to the dam, then back near the city's downtown area.


It was a beautiful warm day, perfect for some water sports. Now I won't get in that icky muddy water, but our host Jon, and Sweetheart's son decided to go on in.


Here is his son tubing in the river. What a blast! He did a great job!


Besides boating and tubing, our next plan was to set anchor not far from the confluence of the mighty Maumee and the Auglaize Rivers, adjacent to the library grounds, the site of the former Fort Defiance. There were scores of boats lined up to watch the fireworks!


The fireworks were beautiful. It was such a treat to watch them from the river, unimpeded by trees and big crowds.





As the fireworks ended, we had a leisurely ride back to the boat dock in the dark. It was actually really nice being out on the river that late, though it was chilly. My sweetie cuddled me close, and people along the riverbank were setting off their own fireworks. I told Sweetie to kiss me, so that I could say that when he did, I saw fireworks! lol He was happy to oblige.

It was the end of a wonderful day.

Tune back in again soon to hear what my other activities have been this summer. I've been having tons of fun!

Family and friends BBQ, Fireworks, and s'mores making party!

I invited my daughter and her boyfriend, and my friend Stacy, her daughters, and her boyfriend to come over for a barbeque before going to the park to watch fireworks. It was a lot of fun! Stacy has been one of my best buddies for several years now. We worked in the same factory and sometimes spent more time laughing than working. Her boyfriend also worked there, but he didn't come into the picture until about a year and a half ago.

My daughter is usually a camera hog, but today, the only picture I was able to get of her is in the group photo above where she is standing in the center.

Here is the cast of characters:

Here is Stacy and her sweetie Brian. Aren't they cute together?



Here is Stacy's oldest daughter Sydney. The grill I was given is right behind her.

Here is her middle daughter Shaelyn, or Shae-baby as I have always called her. Love the face

And here is her youngest sweetie pie Symantha, or Sam for short, also making a face.

Here is Brian, sans sunglasses, eating my very awful hamburgers. I had never operated a gas grill before...seriously! And I did not do a very good job on the hot dogs and hamburgers, but they were eaten anyway. We also had potato salad, baked beans, chips and dip, and cookies.

And here I am in my newly painted chair. This was right before I got all hot and sweaty from grilling burgers and hot dogs. Just a moment before this, Brian was giving me bunny ears.

After dinner, we all went to the park to watch fireworks. We staked out a spot, which turned out to be partially blocked by a tree, ugh, but we all had fun anyhow. Here are the girls with their glow necklaces on. I think they had more fun with those than they did with the fireworks! I took some pics of the fireworks, but they didn't turn out.

Afterwards, we came back to start up the fire and roast marshmallows for s'mores. I got the fire stoking!

Here we all are roasting our marshmallows. Some fell in the fire. Some got flung into the yard. Thankfully, none were blazing when they went flying off the skewers. Some actually got eaten!

Tried to take a pic of my son, but he covered his face, the little stinker! I heard from my youngest son on the 4th, and he said he had a fun day in Texas where they spent it with his step-mother's youngest son and his family. I have met them and they are the sweetest, and I was glad he got to spend the holiday with them.

Here is Mike, my daughter's boyfriend. Not sure where she is. Maybe in the bathroom. Ha!

Stacy is really enjoying her s'more. Not sure what was said that got her so tickled. Maybe Brian goosed her.

Here is Brian mesmerized by the flames, and Shae toasting her marshmallow.

Here is Sam below, contemplating the zen of S'mores.

All in all, it was a great night, and we stayed up until after midnight around the fire, listening to neighborhood fireworks still popping and banging. The girls had great fun poking around in the fire.
Eventually the evening died down, just as the fire had. The glowing embers looked almost alive! The girls thought it was very cool.

We ended the evening with the warm glow of friendship and time spent together! Hope you were all able to spend time with family and friends this holiday too!

My 4th of July Project

This could not have been a prettier, nicer day! It was the perfect day to work on a project that I had put aside for a day when I had more time. I had today completely free because family isn't coming until tomorrow.

Anyhow, in May, there was a posting on Freecycle about a rattan chair and footstool. Well actually they said "wicker?" but when I got there it was rattan. I debated on whether or not to even take the chair. It was ugly, but I figured that I could do something with it.

Oops, I had the chair half painted before I remembered to take a "before" pic, but you get a good idea of what it was like. It had sat in someone's basement for years and their cats liked to sleep on it. If someone didn't take it, it was going in the trash. I cleaned it up, then I got out spray cans of Kilz to prime it. Just a handy hint here: before putting on that little mask so you don't breathe in fumes, brush your teeth first or chew some mints. Trust me on this.

Then I painted it Rustoleum Heirloom White. I love the color, and think it turned out great!

Now for some fabric. I got a cushion on sale at Joanne Fabrics for only $6! The salesperson gave me the coupon. I got 4 yards of the pretty toile on sale at Walmart for a total of $21.

Here it is wrapped around the cushion. I still need to sew it, but you can see how it's going to look.
Here it is with the footstool. I am so happy how this turned out! If it hadn't been for seeing what everyone does here in blogland, I would probably not have put forth the effort, but people here inspire me.
Now I'm so excited that I can't wait to start some other projects!

Well tomorrow my daughter and her boyfriend, perhaps my brother, and some friends from my hometown are all coming down for a barbecue and then off to watch fireworks in the park. Oh, forgot to say that someone at work gave me a grill! Someone was giving them a nice grill and they thought of me because I was sad about not being able to buy one Memorial Day since I had to pay for van repairs instead. God is so good!

Have a great weekend!