Summer Travels Part 3: The End

Well, all I can say is these young whipper-snappers who think a vacation is go-go-go and spend all your money on a cruise or disney world (or something similar) have never spent a week with my sister! We got to babysit (well, I was really just along for the ride) two of the cutest little misters you will ever meet -- Thomas and Charlie. They were more fun than a barrel of monkeys -- for real. I didn't even hear Charlie (around a year old) cry until the last day we kept him. And Thomas -- he was very entertaining! He kept us laughing the whole time. We wanted to go to the IKEA store down near Cinncinatti one day and about 10 miles down the road decided to do our "local" shopping since we had the boys with us and save IKEA for after mom and dad got home. Even though they had been really good and happy we figured that might be safer. And it was -- that was the day that Thomas decided to act like a two year old -- imagine that and he will be three this month. He didn't want to listen to gramma and had to ride in the cart for a while and was not a happy camper. Any way, he got over it and we had a fun shopping trip but got home in time for naps and lunch which would not have been the case if we'd gone to IKEA.

Maddie the year old Rotweiller kept us hopping too. She wanted Toby to play every time he came outside and Toby only plays with humans so there was a lot of hopping and leaping by the pup and alot of growling and snapping by the crotchity old Cocker Spaniel. Then she ate her water bucket -- a five gallon white pail, and chewed up several plant pots and even knocked a big heavy plant pot off the bench under the tree while chasing the cat. She lives an exciting life in between her time outs on a very short chain.

We tried out a couple of new recipes -- a beef brisket recipe from the Pioneer Woman's blog -- you need to check out her recipes -- they all look really good. I made the green beans for our potluck at church today and there weren't any left to bring home. I also made Paula Deen's (no-cal) banana pudding. You just think it has cream cheese, condensed milk, and coolwhip in it but it's just your imagination. Boy was it good!!

There were four grown Neely boys at the house one evening and honestly -- you couldn't tell the difference between them and the three year olds -- they are hilarious.

Sunday afternoon, Michael and Avery came by for a suprise visit -- they were visiting friends in Dayton for the weekend. Michael and Avery and I took a ride on Uncle Lundy's new GATOR. Avery was not happy at first and then all of a sudden she saw a cat and the tears stopped and she was having a great time and I got off and she rode with her dad by herself.

I learned a new four letter word for FUN -- it's IKEA. Beth and I went and spent about four and 1/2 hours there. They have a showroom with all kinds of rooms set up and you get all kinds of organization ideas from them. then they have the wharehouse and the other area that reminds me of a Walmart kind of with aisles of things that you saw in the showroom. It was a really fun adventure.

My ride home was uneventful -- I spent the night in Nashville and Thursday morning Jen and the girls and I went to a store called Rooster Tails -- full of hand made kind of rustic tables, kitchen islands, chests and other stuff. A really neat place. We at lunch with Michael and then I came the rest of the way home. I listened to two books while I was traveling -- Philip Margolin and James Patterson. Both books were very good, keep you awake while traveling stories which was good since Toby chose to snore the entire trip.

It was great to sleep in my own bed for a change but I have to say that I didn't want to leave. I guess as I get older I appreciate the old homeplace and family more every time I visit. Okay, before I get carried away, I'll end with two funny stories about Ella (even though I wasn't there when they occured. I called Beth yesterday and I heard a child's voice say "Hello" I said hello back and the voice said -- Aunt Vail, this is Ella. We talked a minute and then as I was going to hang up, she asked for my phone number. I told her that Gramma had my number already and she said no, I want it for me so I can call you from my house. I told her okay but she would have to be sure and have permission from Mom or Dad before calling. She said "okay". So I began 6 - 6 - 2 and about that time Ella said "How do you make a 6" My other story was told to me today by my sister (gramma). Apparently their calico cat had kittens in the last few days. So sometime yesterday (I think), Ella came in saying "Grampa, Grampa, the titty-tat had five titties!! --- Don't you just love it!!!

Here are some real pictures of the new kitchen and Mike, Avery and I riding the gator.