Finally "Up North", Happy Birthday, Addy!

We got the motorhome parked, and short of a number of projects around the place, we are ready to have a great time for the summer.

But, first things first, celebratingAddy's fifth birthday with a dinner of pizza followed by chocolate cake, opening her presents--mostly purple and Squinkies, then some fun with the birthday pinata. Happy Birthday, Addy!!

Back to the Cities, Minnesota

We finally arrived in Minnesota and were greeted by the best reason to come North, Addy and Macy.

We had stuff to do in the cities, so it was appointments to keep, playing with the girls, doing some shopping, playing with the girls, spending a little time with Bryan and Stacy, playing with the girls.

 We went to watch Addy at swimming lessons. She loves the water and enjoys her lessons.

 We had a playdate with Macy. A great afternoon--she wanted a cheeseburger and root beer lunch at the Lion's Tap, then go to Grampa's motorhome where we played at the playground, read books, did some artwork, and went shopping for Addy's birthday present. We had so much fun!!

Finally we had a sushi dinner with the Minnesota gang. Shayne, Macy, Sarah, me and Addy, Mitch and his sister, Deb, and Stacy and Bryan. We had great sushi and a wonderful time.

A visit with Dad

After we leave TN we always stop near St. Louis to visit my brother, Larry Vern, and his wife, Jan. We always have a good visit with them.

We also have a chance to visit my dad who is now 92 and living in a nearby nursing home. We had a good visit, although I'm not sure Dad knew who I was, and he was having some difficulty finding the words to finish his sentences. But he seemed happy and is basically healthy.

Mindi and family visit the Rally

 One night Mindi came to visit Dan and Cari at the Rally, and I had a chance to see the new baby.

There's Joakim, 3, Mindi, Masayda, 7, Gunnar, talking doctor talk to our friend, and Cassian, 5.

Here's baby Mejella, 2 1/2 months.

Online Campers Rally 2012

We spent a week in Sevierville, TN for our Online Campers Rally, with our shrimp bake one night, Mitch's ribs for all another night, great potlucks, a show one night, some golf, a little shopping, a tour of the wine trail,

and there are always home projects (or motorhome fix-it-ups). Marshal and Mitch were determined to get our new Wii set up and working. And they did!!

The End of April

 We traveled on to north of Chattanooga where we met up with other friends and all parked at Jackie and Jerry's place, affectionately called the "Smith Family Campground". Besides overlooking the gorgeous valley, we again spent a couple of days enjoying the commaraderie of motorhoming friends.

Mitch always enjoys cooking in Jackie's kitchen and we had a couple of very nice meals. There's Jerry, Dick, Sally, Marshal, Jan, Mitch, and Jackie.

This is the back of Nancy and Gary's (Jackie and Jerry's son and daughter in law) newly built house located just up the hill. Very big and very lovely and our daughter, Caryn, designed it for them.

The Rest of April

Jan and Marshal joined us for a couple of days in Orlando and we both headed to Lake Lanier, just northeast of Atlanta, for a long weekend.

We parked on a peninsula overlooking the 529 square mile lake and proceeded to have a very good time.

 Saturday we joined friends who had a pontoon for the day and the eight of us enjoyed an afternoon of cruising around "a part" of the lake. We brought a picnic lunch, ate well, stopped for a Bloody Mary, enjoyed the scenery, stopped to inspect a two story 90 foot houseboat, had a lot of laughs and conversation.

 Jan and Marshal are keeping track of Higgins' weight gain, so we dug out our food scale. Higgins tipped the scale at two pounds seven ounces, but I think he was worried about what the futures holds for him.

We had always zipped through Atlanta, usually hating the traffic. Now we really have something to look forward to.

If you are ever in the Atlanta area, check into Old Federal, a Corps of Engineers campground.