Summer Road Trip

Wow where has the summer gone?  I cannot believe it's September already, I had a very busy month of traveling so this will be very long but worth the read.

I started out going to Erica's in PA for a visit and to go to the scrapbook festival.  The scrapbook festival is in Valley Forge each year.  I heard someone say they are looking to have it in Lancaster or Allentown next year.  If they do that would be wonderful, if you are into scrapbooking or making cards I would recommend for you to go.

Lily needed a nap from all the shopping

My friend Natalie went along and we all had a great time.  Afterwards we went to the cheesecake factory www.thecheesecakefactory.com for lunch.  Then Erica took us to a new store called "Charming Charlies"  www.charmingcharlie.com, love this store.

I spent a week with the grand-kids and had lots of fun.  Lily is just growing so much, Raymond has such a cute personally, Isabella is getting to be so grown-up, we love doing crafts together.

Isabella & Raymond

Isabella was invited to a birthday party at the Build-A-Bear workshop.  Since Erica has a job on weekends I took Isabella to the party.  That was the first time I've been there to see how they are made.  It's a very cute place for kids.

Isabella & Her Bear

Isabella and I also went to the movies to see "Winnie the Pooh".  On Monday we decided to take a road trip to Longwood Gardens.  Erica got a really good deal on Groupon for tickets. This was the first time I have been there and really had a nice time.  "Thanks Erica"

The fountain show with music

This was one of two fountain shows they had to music.  Raymond loves music and really enjoyed watching it.

The flowers were beautiful

They have such a nice children's section with lots of water.  They kids really had a nice time playing in the water, especially since it was so hot out that day.

Isabella & Raymond

Erica, Lily, Raymond, Isabella

We walked around checking out all the beautiful flowers.  I love water lily's and did not know that there were so many different species or colors.  Now I want a lily pond in my back yard.

We had a nice lunch and then watched another water show.  We were there all day and still didn't get to see everything.  Guess we'll have to go back again.

The second fountain show

Isabella

Isabella and I think Grandpa should grow a big bush in the yard and cut it like this one.

Raymond having a good time!

Lily was all smiles!

The next day Erica and I were checking out Bon-Tons clearance sale on shoes.  Isabella decided she also wanted to try on some shoes and had a blast doing so.  All is I can say is watch out mommy and daddy!

I left PA and headed for Knoxville, Tn for a week  The townhouse Greg's mother has up for sale needed some work.  We set it up for Lowe's to install a new stove, microwave and dishwasher.  I also had an electrician replace the outside lights.  The air condition needed fixing so I had that done.  I power washed the patio and driveway, what a difference that made.  I did some cleaning in both bathrooms and the kitchen.  Changed light bulbs, added shower curtains and towels, changed the curtain in the dinning room.  Added a card table in the dinning room with a table cloth and flowers.  I also put some things in the kitchen to make it look nice.  It really turned out nice.  The week was a little rough without the internet, I wanted to blog then but wasn't able.  Tried to get on a neighbor's but they were all secured.

After a week in Knoxville, my friends Michael and Bobbie picked me up on their way to Memphis.  I went to Memphis to help them with their "Images of the King" show.  This was the 25th year for this contest.  I had a blast and really enjoyed helping them out.  We did get to go to the candle light service at Graceland.  Not as many people this year but next year is the big year (35th) so the year before is always a slow one.

Before we came home we drove to Mississippi to the casinos to have dinner at the Paula Deen buffet.  It was a huge buffet with lots of great home cooked foods.  Everything was so good.  They also had a seafood section and a dessert section.  I would definitely go again next year.

On the way home from Memphis we stopped at "The Old Spaghetti Factory" in Nashville for supper.  It was really good and worth the trip.  We just got there in time to order dinner before they closed, I'm glad we made it.  Driving back to the townhouse the transmission went out in Michael's van.  So we spent the next few days in Knoxville while the van was being repaired.  I don't know if it was good or bad for Michael because I put him to work.  We changed out the screens on the windows and one door.  I wanted to change the outside house numbers but had a tough time since they were the sticky kind.  Michael was able to use a hair dryer and get the numbers off to change them to a nicer ones.  I'm so glad he was able to help me. 

We decided to go to the movies one evening.  We went to see the movie "The Help", this was such a great movie.  It was serious, funny but really made you think.  I would definitely go see it again.  Well after we picked up the van Michael and Bobbie headed home.  I packed up the car that night but waited till the next morning to leave.  I had a big adventure and lots of fun but was very glad to be home.

Well it is now the season for festivals and I'm excited.  I will start blogging often and tell you about them all, hopefully I'll find some new ones or get to some I missed last year.

Till next time....

Love,
Jennifer

Our Pirate Adventure

My son's family came to visit us for the week of July 4th.   We really had a long day on Monday the 4th.  We started out by going to Beaufort, NC.  We went on the Pirate Treasure Hunt on Shackleford Banks.  We had so much fun, I would definitely recommend this for anyone with a child.  It was run by the Crystal Coast Lady http://www.crystalcoastlady.com.

Since it was July 4th we decided to leave early.  It's a good thing we did because there was a parade about to start when we got there.  After the parade we walked around a little taking some pictures.

Bobby, Lori & Alexander

Not long after that the Pirates were ready for everyone to come aboard.

Once we were on board the Pirates gave all the kids swords.  They proceeded to have a sword fight on the way over to the Island.  The Pirates were so great with all the kids, they really had a blast. 

When we got close to the Island we were able to see the wild horses along the shore.  It was pretty cool to see.

When we reached the Island and everyone was off the boat one of the pirates had to walk the plank (because he drank all the rum.  The kids thought it was funny when he jumped in the water but one asked "What is rum".
We walked onto the Island and all the kids were made pirates for the day and given a pirate hat.

 

We found Blackbeards treasure and each of the kids were allowed to have 3 gold coins.  We then had about an hour of free time.  We ended up letting Alex go in the water with his clothes on.  Since we didn't know we would have free time we didn't bring his bathing suit along.  We did have clothes in the car for him to change into.

 

We then headed back to shore from the Island.  On the way back the pirates had a big water gun fight with all the kids and adults.  Everyone had such a nice time, we will be checking out the other cruises that they offer.

Our adventure was three hours long.  We walked around a few shops and had an ice cream cone.  We headed to Emerald Isle to have dinner at Rucker Johns  https://www.ruckerjohns.com.  We walked around all the shops.  On the way home we stopped in Swansboro to watch the fireworks.  It was a very long day but we sure had a very nice time.

Alex and I went to see the movie Cars 2.  He had fun playing in the sand, the beach water was a little ruff for him.  He really enjoyed our pool and had so much fun playing with his daddy and grandpa. 

 

We had a nice picnic with the Becker family.  Alex and I made strawberries dipped in white chocolate then dipped in blue sugar for the 4th of July.

Alex and grandpa made a bird feeder together.

Alex & Grandpa

We had a very busy and fun week.  Love to see the grand-kids.

Till next time...
Love,
Jennifer

Florida Vacation

We decided to go to Florida on vacation to visit my Aunt and Uncle.  We always have a nice relaxing time there just hanging out and playing cards with my Aunt at night.  She is a great cook so if you ever go to her house and leave hungry it's your fault. 
We did decide to go to the Ringling Bros. Museum and home in Sarasota Fl.  http://www.ringling.org

The front of the house

Right side of the house

The back of the house

How nice to be able to pull your boat up to the back of your house.  There was a beautiful very large back patio.  They actually have weddings there which would be very beautiful.

The inside was just as beautiful and had some really cool antiques.

The Bar

The Kitchen

We then went into the museum that held a lot of items from the circus from many years back.  A lot of these items were from when they traveled from town to town by train.

After going into the house and museum of the circus items, there was also a very large Art museum.  The art museum had some really amazing art that was part of the collection of John Ringling.  I would recommend going to visit this place if you are ever in Sarasota, Fl.  It will take all day to go through everything.

This was such a very nice relaxing vacation.  Will be looking forward to our next visit.

Till next time....

Love,
Jennifer

Memorial Day Weekend

I know I have not posted for some time.  We have been going non-stop since Memorial Day Weekend.  We drove to Pa for the weekend.  This is the first time Greg has had a chance to see Lily.  He has been so anxious to see our granddaughter who was born on his birthday.  Since he had an extra day off school for the holiday we decided to go home.  This also gave us a chance to go to our annual family picnic this weekend.

Lily, Grandpa, Isabella

Grandpa and Raymond

Over the weekend we took Raymond for a haircut.

We also went to the Reading Museum which was very nice.  They also had a really nice park to walk around.  While we were there they must have has at least six weddings that came to get there pictures taken.  It was nice seeing all the brides and bridesmaids in their dresses.

Isabella and her daddy

Lily

Raymond

We had a really nice time even though it went quick.  We had our family picnic on Sunday and then had to leave Monday morning to head home.  I was only home a few days then headed to West Virginia.  Read about my trip that I posted.

Till next time,
Love,
Jennifer

Trip to West Virginia

A few days after coming home from PA I left for West Virginia to visit with Alexander.  He only had two more t-ball games left and I promised to go see him play a game.  I love watching the little kids play ball, they are so cute.

Erica and her family also came out to see Alex play.  We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood.  The kids found a pile of stones and decided to look for fossils.  They actually found quite a few and had fun learning about them from Uncle Chris (our nature expert).

Alex & Isabella

Alex, Uncle Chris, Isabella

Sunday morning Erica and her family had to leave to go home.  Bobby, Lori, Alex and myself left to drive to Pittsburgh to see the Pirates play the Phillies.  We had a very nice time and of course the Phillies winning made it even better.

After the game the kids were able to go down to the field and run the bases.  Alex really enjoyed getting a chance doing this.

We had a really nice weekend.  Lots of things coming up so I will get back to posting on a more regular basis. Hope everyone is having a nice start of summer.

Till next time....
Love,
Jennifer

My First Coupon Adventure

Our Food Lion store had many buy one get one free offers this week.  I checked the sales against my coupons and made a list.   My bill came to $75.03 and I paid $26.65.  

I am so excited with my first coupon shopping trip where I really paid attention to my coupons and the sales.  I’m ready for my next trip, this is exciting. Below are a few examples I bought.

2 boxes Cheez-it crackers – @ $3.49 = 6.98 / One free - $3.49 - $1.00 coupon = $2.49 / $1.25 a box

2 packs M&M candies – @$1.00 = $2.00 / One free - $1.00 - $.75 coupon = $.25 / $.13 each

2 boxes of Ritz crackers - @ $3.99 = $7.98 / One free - $3.99 - $1.00 coupon = $3.00 / $1.50 a box

4 boxes of pasta shells - @ $1.59 = $6.36 / Two free - $3.18 / $.80 a box

2 Heinz Ketchup - @ $3.29 = $6.58 / One free - $3.29 - $1.00 coupon = $2.29 / $1.15 a bottle

4 bottles Barbeque sauce @ 2.39 = $9.56 / 2 free - $4.78 – 2 - $1.00 coupons = $2.78 / $.70 a bottle

3 Bryers Ice Cream @ $6.49 = $19.47 / Store sale $1.99 each - $.75 coupon = $14.25 / $1.74 each

2 packs Kraft cheese squares @ $4.89 = $9.78 / One free - $4.89 – 2 $1.00 coupons = $2.89 / $1.45 each

Plus and extra $5.00 off with my store card besides the usual store savings.

I bought a baseball card book at Target for $14.99 and it came with 60 sheets for cards.  The packs of sheets are 30 for $5. It really helps to be able to flip through the pages to see all the coupons you have instead of going through a pile of them.

There is a really good website that helped me get started, check it out at http://thekrazycouponlady.com

Also did you know that there is a program to send expired coupons over seas?   The military overseas can use the expired coupons for up to six months past the expiration date.  I have adopted a base in Japan to send my coupons to once a month.  If you want to join in on this you can adopt a base or you can send me the coupons once a month and I will send them in.

Till next time...

Love,
Jennifer

New River Air Show

Last weekend we went to the New River Air Show on base.  The weather was calling for rain all weekend but down here seems like unless it's 100% chance a lot of times it does not rain.   Saturday we had our yard sale and had a really nice day for it.  We did pretty good but still have a lot of things left.  I guess we will take them to the donation place.  Greg's sister came over and sat with us for the day while we had our sale.  We had a nice visit together. 

Sunday morning was very nice so we decided to go to the Air Show.  I have never been to one and thought it would be fun.  It was free to get in so we took our chairs and headed out.  When we arrived of course we had to go through security then walked a pretty good distance across the air field.  When we sat on the chairs you could only see what was in the air but nothing on the ground because of all the stands and bleachers set up.  There were sections you could pay $5 and get in and see the whole air field.  So we decided to pay and go inside.

Well we were inside for about 10 minutes when a dark cloud came over with some rain.  It started out light they got pretty heavy so we went around the corner with everyone else and crammed under a small tent.  Of course till we got there we were pretty wet.  It only lasted a few minutes and stopped.   The air show started again and we got to watch about 30 more minutes till another dark cloud came, this time with a very heavy down pour.  We got around the bleachers and got under but it didn't cover very well.  We got drenched this time.

Again we decided to stay, although it was cold from the wind and being wet.  The sun came out every now and then which was nice but then went back behind the clouds.   They started the air show again with a group jumping out of a plane.

There was a helicopter pilot doing tricks and flying it upside down.  Also a plane doing a lot of crazy flying stunts.

The planes in the show were really neat. 

This jet went by so fast.  Then came around to stop and hover over.  It was cool but very loud.

This plane tried to land on a truck while moving.  It had gotten pretty windy from the rain so he was not able to do it after several tries.

After watching for about an hour the announcer said there was another storm cell coming with lighting.  You could go to your car to wait it out or to an airplane hanger that they opened up.  I was tired, cold, wet to the bone and hungry.  We decided to leave (as most people did) and go home.  We stopped at Bojangles got some chicken, took it home got into some warm clothes and had chicken for supper. 

We will try again next year.  A few things about the show is;  #1 it's worth paying the five dollars to get a better seat. #2 eat a big meal before you go, they were charging $7 for a funnel cake and $3 for a bottle of water. 

Till next time....

Love,
Jennifer