What I've Been Up to This Summer, Part 2

Here I am three weeks after my last post. Since it is the last partial day of summer, I suppose I better update you on the rest of my summer activities!

Before I start though, I would like to note the absence of two of my favorite bloggers, Dot from "Picket Fences" and Heather (Rue) of "Rue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Life" who have apparently left the blogging world during the last week or two. Though I don't know if they will ever see this, I would like to tell them both that they touched my heart when they shared their lives with me and the world, and that they shall be sorely missed. I hope they both come back sometime. Since I can no longer access their blogs, I didn't get to see why they decided to stop blogging, but I want to say that I do understand if they felt that this was best for them. There is NOTHING more important out there than our families, and I feel that this is why they left.

On a happier note, my sweetheart Mike has let me post his pictures on Facebook, so I am sharing a few here now too. We have been dating for just over 4 months now. I really don't like this first picture of us, but its what I have.


Here are a couple pictures I took of him on one of our boat trips. Isn't he cute?



One of the places I got to go this summer was to Jellystone Park at Barton Lake, Indiana, near Fremont. This was a working vacation (as an aide), but so much fun! This is where I got to stay, in one of their deluxe cabins. This picture is from the website.


I took this pic of the lake.


The ceilings were so high! I love pine, so I really liked the cabin interior.


Each cabin was decorated a little differently. I would have loved to "borrow" these curtains for my own home. Of course, I didn't.


One of the camp activities was a luau, so I got some Hawaiian shirts, which I hung with my jacket in the living room.


There was a picture hanging on the wall which I loved because it reminded me of summers spent at Clear Lake nearby during my childhood. More on that in a bit!


The rest of these cabin pictures are from the campground's site, linked above. This is how the cabin where I stayed looked too.




I would love to go back there again someday, but with my own family! It was a lot of fun.

Here I am helping out at one activity.


This was a part of another activity, which was great fun! There were also three pools, and of course, I spent time in one of them!


After three days at camp, I drove home, passing Clear Lake, Indiana, where I spent every summer until after I was 12. My grandparents had owned a cottage here, which my father later inherited. Eventually, they sold the cottage, which broke my heart, but now that I have been a parent struggling to make ends meet, I understand why they did it.

Anyhow, our cottage was just 6 lots down from the public beach. Here is a view from the bluff overlooking the beach.


Then views to the left, and right.



Here is the beach...open to the public. I remember it looking bigger when I was young!

Oh, how I miss that lake and the old cottage, now long gone. My visit sure tugged at my heart and brought a few tears to my eyes.

I made another stop on the way home to visit my sweetie and his children. We decided to take a little trip to George Bible Park near Montpelier, Ohio. There is such a pretty pond there. It's so peaceful.



We took a walk around the pond. Her is Mike in the woods, looking like he is none too pleased that I have poked a camera in his face. Can't help it...he's so cute! Actually, it was about 97 degrees that day and we were sweltering.


Here is his pretty daughter in the park.


And his son standing on a log.


Another pic of his daughter while in the woods.


His son peers into the pond, maybe looking for frogs and minnows.


As Mike and I sat and rested, his son decided to pretend he was airbending/breakdancing at the edge of the pond.


I also took some scenic pics. Pretty yellow flowers!


View from the pond's edge.


A closeup of a green walnut.

Despite the heat, it was a fun day!

Toward the end of August, my sweetie Mike and I and his children took off for a day at Pokagon State Park near Angola, Indiana. This is a lovely place. They have a beach for swimming, picnic areas, and hiking trails. In the winter, they have tobogganing. In case you wonder where my boys are during all these activities, mostly at work, or declining to come along.

We decided to hike trail number three. I was really uspet that I forgot my camera because there were so many beautiful things on the way! This is picture is from this website. These are wetlands near a small lake that we passed on the trail.


Our destination was an overlook called Hell's Point. I found this picture here. It was worth the almost 2 1/2 mile hike!


Following our hike and a picnic lunch, we cooled off in beautiful Lake James and relaxed on the pretty sand beach. I found this pic here. I would love to go back next summer, even if just to spend the day on the beach. The water felt great!


I'm so glad that I had such a wonderful summer, and that for the first time in over a decade, I had a summer filled with love!

But now summer is hours from being officially over, and I am so thrilled to be moving on to autumn, my favorite season!

Until later, enjoy these (hopefully) cooler days! In this part of Ohio though, our first full day of fall is supposed to get to 88 degrees.

Pink Saturday/Pink Tea Party

It's been a while, but I am once again joining Beverly at How Sweet the Sound for Pink Saturday!

This week I'd like to share a special link. Please visit Katillac Shack to see an amazing room makeover that Kat created for a cancer patient. We need more people like her to bring cheer to people in trying circumstances! She is also having several giveaways for those who leave comments. Also, Guidepost magazine will leave a donation of one dollar for each comment posted, so that others can receive this same kind of gift. It's such a worthwhile cause, and will take only a minute of your time.

Since the last time I posted for Pink Saturday, I have acquired the accoutrements for a pink tea party!

I pulled out my old pink Goodwill tablecloth, and added an old white cover.

My angel statuary takes a turn as a table decoration, with pink flowers in her hair!



I found the pink roses plate at Goodwill for only fifty-five cents, then later found the teapot at a church garage sale for $3!


Isn't that little bud rose at the top precious?

This pink rose is also a Goodwill find for three bucks.


The spoon and knife were part of a giveaway that I won a couple years ago. I've had the perfume bottle for a long time. I think it was a garage sale find.


For some reason, the color isn't quite right here. However, this really is a teacup with little pink roses. I couldn't find the matching plate, so found one that would still complement the cup. Both were fifty-five cents each at GW.


On a trip home from a short vacation, I found this beautiful cup in an antique shop. I was so touched by the "mother" reference, and decided it must come home with me!



This was another lucky find at Goodwill. I think I spent a total of just over a dollar.

I thought that a tea party was the perfect way to share my new pink finds. Won't you come over and have a cuppa?

Please visit Beverly's above-mentioned blog for a list of other Pink Saturday participants.

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!