Our New Home!

I am behind on my posts because we bought a house in Michigan and have been busy moving! The end of an era - 10 years traveling the country - but, we are ready to have a more permanent place during the summers. We will still follow the sun in the winter and of course, Texas will always be our second home! We have absolutely loved the "full time" life style and have enjoyed so many wonderful adventures that this decision is somewhat "bittersweet." But, life follows different paths as we age and we know we will be content with the move.

Kyle, Heather, Samantha and Emily were here for this past week. We took the girls camping at Higgins Lake State Park and canoeing down the AuSauble River with Ray and Mel; Judy and Marilou; and our friends Mike and Lorraine from Arizona while Kyle and Heather enjoyed a few days in Traverse City. Even though they are city kids, the girls love camping, the outdoors and family game time! Lorraine plays the guitar so we even had a sing-a-long around the campfire!

We are still in a state of "flux" with half our things in the motor home and half somewhere in the house! The painter is still finishing the trim and inside walls so all the furniture is in the middle of the rooms. The kids were a god send in helping to unload the motor home and organize my pantry and make-up!

The excitement came when we returned home from camping and the big slide motor died so we could not extend the slide in the motor home. Consequently, we could not get any of our clothes, shoes, etc out of the closets or do any laundry. I wore the same outfit 3 days in a row! We had to go shopping for underwear and outfits for the girls!

Samantha Kate - 11

Emily Grace - 8

Kyle, Heather and the girls on the back deck

The girls having fun in our big swing!

EAA Adventure Oshkosh

Blue Angels F 18's

The Experimental Aircraft Association sponsors the largest airshow in the United States every July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Considering all the years we lived in Michigan and Roger's love of airplanes why have we never gone to it?! It was awesome!

We met our friends, Mike and Lorraine (Mike is a pilot too!) and spent two full days walking around the grounds and didn't begin to see all the airplanes and displays. The Navy's Blue Angels and several other aerobatic stunt flyers performed each afternoon plus many of the old "war birds" flew overhead in formation. The night time aerobatic displays were amazing - fire in the sky!

It was great that Mike and Roger got to go together because they talk the same airplane language! I don't know much about all the different planes but I sure can appreciate the talent, skill and dedication that the many volunteers share and put into building, restoring and maintaining this huge fleet of aircraft. Not to mention the owners and the money involved!
Hard to get good pictures - they are moving pretty fast!!

The Blue Angels in formation

Roger in front of the new fighter - the F-35. Notice the female pilot climbing out of the cockpit! Girl power!

The plane has multiple cameras and the pilots wear $400,000 helmets that allow them to see 360 degrees! 

1940 era B 29's fully restored

Buda by the Pool

Our whole family spent this past week-end in Houston at Kyle and Heather's. Heather, Carlos and Megan went to Home Goods to look at patio furniture for Megan and Carlos. They came back without furniture for them but with a 300 pound cement Buda to "guard" Kyle and Heather's pool!

Carlos and two hefty employees at Home Goods got it into the car but getting it out and to the backyard was another problem! Lots of pondering to formulate a plan, 4 men and a ramp plus our "dolly" finally got her to her new home! She's really perfect for their new backyard!

Aunt MeMe

Life is always fun for Samantha and Emily when Aunt MeMe visits! This past week-end she came bearing a huge pool float and hair dye! Samantha now has bright pink highlights, Emily has aqua tips from her ears down and Megan has an under layer of bright blue!

Tobin Hill Townhome

We have been in Texas for the month of May finalizing the sale of the townhouse in San Antonio. The end of an era! After operating it as a vacation rental for 10 years we decided it was time to "move on." We plan to buy/build a summer home in Michigan. Since we don't want to stay in "hot" Texas during the summer and Austin with Megan and Carlos or Houston with Heather and Kyle were not good options for us - Michigan with family and friends makes the most sense. We will still "follow the sun" and spend fall and spring in Texas and someplace warm for the winter. We are not ready to quit RV'ing but just a natural progression to "stay put" for longer periods of time.

We calculated all of our options for moving - a moving company, a U-Haul truck, or pods - and decided it was more cost effective to buy an enclosed trailer and store our "stuff" in it until we are ready to move into whatever we end up with! So, we are the proud owners of a 8x16 trailer crammed full of most of our earthly belongings!

We don't close on the townhouse until July 10th but figure we can do that by email or overnight delivery. Anxious to get out of the heat in Texas and to begin our search for a house or property in Michigan. Beginning a new chapter in our lives!

Mother's Day 2017

Kyle is out of town on business so we spent Mother's Day with Heather. Roger and the girls made us a nice brunch on the patio and then we went to see Cirque du Soleil's "Kurios" in the afternoon.

The name of this particular show is "Kurios" or "Cabinet of Curiosities." For anyone that has never been to a Cirque du Soleil performance there is no way to describe the unique circus acts. The costumes, the set, the imaginative routines and the incredible talent of the acrobats is utterly amazing! We were WOWED! A fun family time for Mother's Day!

The only sad part of the day was the Spurs game - they lost by 2 points!

Hanging out in Texas

We have been in Texas - San Antonio, Austin and Houston - since the middle of April. Having fun spending time with family and friends.

Samantha had a gymnastics meet in San Antonio during Fiesta. Carlos and Megan joined us on Saturday and we went to the King William Fair then the meet on Sunday morning. Heather and Emily spent the night at NASA with her Girl Scout Troop.

Samantha, in the middle, and team mates

It was nice to see Kyle, Rachel and Avery last Saturday for dinner. What a cutie Avery is!!

Last Sunday both the girls scout troops hosted a Mother's Spa Day at Heather's house. All the girls made brown sugar scrub for their Moms and gave them foot, hand and shoulder massages and did their nails. The Mom's enjoyed fruit, veggies and cupcakes while waiting for their "appointment." It was really nice!

Girl Scouts on Spa Day

Kyle and Heather just put in a new swimming pool and are in the midst of landscaping their back yard. Glad it is warm enough to enjoy!