Here's the Key

 Actually, there is no key.

Let me start at the beginning, or even before that.

Last Friday Mr.K went to Tractor Supply for dog food.

Later that day, Mr. K could not find his car keys.

In this house, we have two complete sets.  We each have keys to both cars.

On Saturday I took my keys apart and handed him a key for his car.

We were fine...well, almost fine.

That's when he noticed that his inspection sticker expired in JANUARY!

We made it through the weekend and then Monday morning I was headed to Tony and Mindy's to babysit Henry while Mindy took Luca for his one month check up.

I grab my purse (where I always keep the keys) and hit the ignition.

It says the key is not in the car.

A quick dump of the contents of my purse on the front seat.

Nope, no key.

I asked begged Mr. K to help me find the key.

No key to be found.

The only car we have with a key is his out of inspection Kia

(that incidentally is parked in the drive because Kia recalled it and said not to park it in or near structures because of fire danger)

I jumped in his car and drove (very carefully) to baby sit.

This morning, the first available time for inspection the car was legal!

Still no key for my car.

Mr. K started making phone calls.

Finally, he spoke with Nationwide.  They agreed to help find a towing company that could get my car out of the garage and tow it to the VW dealer where they would program the new keys...when they come in on Monday or Tuesday.

We were just getting ready to eat dinner with a guy comes to our door.  He came to tow my car to the dealer.

Now, I usually park in the garage with my window open.  Don't ask why.

The guy knew how to put the car in neutral, but he could not get the window up!

Mr. K helped him put plastic over the window!

So there I was...

Watching my darling VW on the back of a tow truck...

Headed for the VW dealer to be parked in their lot with the window down?

Until Monday or Tuesday.

Somehow I could not make sense of it all, but in guy-talk, I was wrong...

The service manager (and I have plenty of bad experiences with them)

said he would send someone out to throw plastic over it.

The key is...there is no key!

But to brighten my day...

Henry and Luca took their first bath together!

~sigh~

Grandma life!

We Got Them Going!

Back in July I got a kick ass deal on digital photo frames...

So I got everyone one, even me!

During the holiday season, they were the farthest from our minds...

But Mindy being Mindy, she's always busy, as soon as her tree came down 

(Mine is still up), she started loading photos into hers.

Henry LOVES photos, especially of him, but he loves Teagan and Locklan too.

So it was a huge hit with him...

He even talks to it!!

I got a text from Ashley...

Her kids were fascinated as well!

Of course, I had to set mine up too...

Now last year I bought my mom one but since she didn't have internet access, you had to load the photos into hers...

Ours has wifi...we can send pictures to each other's frame.

Oh what fun!  Mindy got to see Tony's second grade picture!

Simple pleasures...

 

Back to Back Weekends!

Whew!

Seems that I no sooner recover from one weekend, 

here comes another one!

This one was a little easier, 

We stayed at home on Saturday and got things done around here.

Early Sunday, we got a text from Tony,

He was at camp, ready to install the ladder on the new dock.

Later, he sent photos...

We were happy that he got that done.  

So much work to be done this year, 

The new dock, reworking the ramps,

installling hardware,

I'm so thankful for all the work the guys put in so we could enjoy ourselves.

This week, Mindy invited her family to come up and kayak.

There was Mindy, Tony and Henry; Dawna, Mindy's mom, and Mindy's sister, her boyfriend and dog were already out on the water when Mr. K and I got there...

just coming in...

Henry LOVES to kayak, in fact all three of our littles love it. 

Locklan got his own kayak this spring and when Teagan saw it, she had to get one too.

So far, she's not ready for the open water, she practices in her Great Uncle Mike's pool!

After we got everyone ashore, we ate (too much)

and caught up.  

I hadn't seen Dawna in nearly a year!

Then we decided that it was time to take a boat ride!

Henry was so excited.  He loves the boat.

He did get to help his dad drive...

Ashley (Mindy's sister), her boyfriend Kyle wanted to go tubing.

Looks like fun, doesn't it?

Of course, you were never towed by Tony...

He can be brutal!

Finally, we were on our way back to the dock.

Kyle was in charge of making sure the tube didn't blow away.

Forrest made sure her daddy didn't blow away...

~sigh~

It was a good day.

Henry, who is usally on a schedule, did not nap.  

He was so excited to have everyone around at his beck and call...

It was almost 8 when we left.

That's his bedtime when he has a nap.

He was still going strong as Tony strapped him in his car seat.

Two minutes later...

What a great day at Camp Manfred!

This and That

 Mark's brother, Uncle Mike, invited Mr.K and I, Andy and Tony and their families down for a swim and cookout.  Michelle, Mike's wife, made us Primanti Sandwiches, made famous by the restaurant in Pittsburgh.  They looked kind of like this...

Yes, there's french fries (and Michelle made the real deal fries), coleslaw, cheese, tomato and meat...

I never had one, so I made a deconstructed sandwich (no bread).  The combination was heavenly!

The main focus for the kids was...

The pool, of course.

Although it was a fairly nice day, as soon as the sun went down, it got chilly.

Even so, the kids didn't want to stop swimming.

It was a great night, good company, good conversation and 

great people.

I feel so blessed to be included in this family!

Tuesday Bluesday?

Tuesday, you got me again...

knocked me down, but not for long!

Remember, yesterday I said it was re-refridge day?

I said that because when we called the store on Monday,

they told us that we were scheduled for delivery on Tuesday.

Since we put the cleaning service on hold, it was the only excitement for Tuesday.

I was up and at'em early...

About 10, Mr. K called the store to get an approximate time only to be told that they weren't sure where our new fridge was, but they could say that it was not at the store and would NOT be delivered that day.

Bummer...

Then I got a call from Locklan.

They were delivering cookies to the hospital

 (where Ashley worked for years)

and they were going to stop in to say hi.

Stopping in means they backed into the drive

 and stood in the driveway

while we stood on the porch.

It was a great visit, I wish I had thought to take photos.

I miss those kids soooo much!

The day was getting better!

Then Mindy called.  She was going to pick up their groceries,

 did I need anything?

Just dish soap.

She put it in our mailbox!

Leftovers for dinner...

Then my brother called!

His situation is even more difficult.

His daughter and grand daughter live next door.

His son, daughter-in-law and three kids are staying 
with my brother for now...

My sister-in-law is staying with her mother who is undergoing chemo.

My brother is the baby sitter (from a distance), delivery guy and feeder of the cats.

He lives in the middle of nowhere, on a stream, 
with 4 dogs and a slew of cats.

His grandkids wanted to play in the mud puddle.

Here's my brother's grandkids...

Totally made my day!

I had a nice, long talk with my mom,

I got to facetime Henry...

Tuesday didn't totally suck,

but I still have that fridge in the middle of my kitchen!

Grow Your Own Pizza!

On Friday afternoon Tony sent me this and asked if I wanted Mindy to pick one up for us.

I said yes (even though I don't like pizza).

She came an hour later with our 'grow your own pizza' kit!

I just tucked it in the fridge...

But they jumped into it. 

Tony sent me a video of Mindy tossing it in the air...

And on the other side of the room...

They said it was very good...

Mine is still in the fridge.  

Tomorrow.

Stay home, stay well, stay safe!

PS our re-refrigerator is scheduled for tomorrow...

Trick or Treating!

 I've never been a fan of Halloween.

Sure, I went Trick or Treating as a kid.

A few years ago, my brother brought his daughter to Mom's house to Trick or Treat...

Since Mom still lives in the house we grew up in,

My brother and I let Mom take Katlyn from house to house.'

Dan and I ran around and knocked on the door of old timers...

When they answered, we gave them candy!

Now, that was fun!

Suddenly, Halloween was a bah-humbug kind of day...

I was content letting Mark, and then Ron, do the Trick or Treat duties...

Until this little guy came along...

Each year it got better...

And better...

Last year was such fun!

This year it was cold, very windy and rainy.

I opted out...

but not these cuties!

 Apparently Tony and Mindy got into the spirit...

Baby Shark!

 Let's just day I'm glad it's over for another year.

Rocket Man: Crash and Burn

Last November, Mr.K and I went to see Elton John's Yellow Brick Road tour in Pittsburgh.

What a show!

I've been an Elton fan for years, Mr. K, knew WHO he was, but not much more...

What a concert!  No opening act, just Sir Elton, on stage, entertaining us for 2 hours...

We loved it!

We loved it so much, we have plans to see his farewell tour when it comes to Pittsburgh in November.

Yes, we were in awe of his talent and ability to captivate us for two hours!

This weekend, Mr. K and I were left to entertain ourselves.

Mindy and Henry went swimming...

Andy and family (and Griffin) spent the weekend at a friend's farm...

What to do?

We were just deciding when my phone rang...

It was Locklan, face-timing from his mom's phone!

We made funny faces and silly hair styles until we lost signal...

Mr. K and I decided:

We would go out to dinner and then go and see a movie.

On the way, we stopped at Andy's where Locklan came running out the door...

I got my BIG HUG and tried to life him...

I swear, that kid grows a pound and an inch a day.

We got our hugs and then decided on dinner.

I am NOT a chain restaurant fan but we ended up at Red Lobster and then we headed for the Movies.

Mr. K chose Rocketman, the story of Elton John's rise to fame.

Now I will say that I'm not a movie critic or a movie fan.  I seriously dislike trying to stay awake in a dark theater for the hefty price of a ticket.

This time it was not a problem.  Less than half way through the movie, I asked Mr. K to leave.

It was disturbing.

If you didn't know better, you would think it was the story of a porn star...

My advice?

Save your money.

Stay home...

And to quote one of the few movie characters I enjoyed in my lifetime:

That's all I have to say about that.

April Looked Kind of Like This:

As I was waking (way too early) this morning, I realized it was June and I probably have things about April to talk about!...

Uncle Tony bought someone Knex.  We had an ongoing project on top of the china cabinet for weeks!

Someone  decided he needed a tattoo so he gave himself one!

We had a birthday in the family so we gathered, as we usually do, over pizza!

Mom got to hold Henry for the first time since Christmas.

And here is our very own birthday princess.

Teagan turned one!

Yes!  I made her t-shirt.  I'm finally learning to use my Silhouette!

I also made these...Henry's says "Will trade cousins for jelly beans."

Locklan and Teagan's says "will trade brother/sister for jelly beans."

You would think that with all those years photographing children, I would have managed a decent photo of these three...

Of course, Henry and Locklan love each other!

In April, Locklan and I decided to make our Thursday night sleepovers adventure Thursday.

We went camping!

I bought an inflatable bed, we set it up in the living room,

used the electric logs as our camp fire, read our story by flashlight and 

giggled and snuggled!

Also in April, Henry (aka Hank the Tank) celebrated 5 months.

 I continued to spend as much time with these kids as possible...

 And this became the usual Friday morning here!