Relaxing day

Arlene...a chat room friend and fellow RV Dreamer...called me and Sherri this morning and told us she was just down the road from us at Jamaica Beach RV Resort. She said that she would be there today and would like for us to come over...so we did.
We had to eat some lunch first and then take a call from our grandchildren on Tango. Franki had just learned to ride her bicycle and they wanted us to see her. She was really doing well and we are so proud of her. Thanks for letting us be a part of that.
We made it over to Arlene's and found out that she had her grandchildren with her which was great for Kris. He made friends fast and before long they were having fun together. Kris had a ball with all those boys and Logan and Joey taught him how to play chess. They had a good game with the yard chess set. Joey and Kris won the game with a Check Mate
They had a Easter Egg hunt and that afternoon were going to have a wiener roast, which we were unable to attend. The boys swam hunted Easter Eggs played chess and generally had a great time.
We soon had to say our goodbyes and head back down toward Galveston to pick up some groceries. What a wonderful day with good friends here...

Somewhere in Time

NASA trip

The 27th was Kris's Birthday and time for us to head out to NASA to see all the space junk we could in one day. Kris has been talking about this since last Christmas and this is what the trip to Galveston was all about.
We had a quick breakfast got dressed loaded up the Jeep and pulled onto the highway in record time. We are normally slower than this in the morning but being the special occasion that it was we hurried our steps a little.

NASA 1 was our exit off of I 45 then down the road for about 3 miles to the entrance. Kris saw the signs and made sure that I turned in time to get there.

This was the first thing that we saw when we got inside the parking lot. WOW...Kris could not believe what he was seeing and wanted to go on board and fly off into space. Mom said no...we have to be back home  before the traffic gets bad on the Interstate...so the flight was cancelled.

The Apollo Moon Rocket was more than we could get in the lens. It was hard  to believe that it took this much rocket to...

 get this capsule to the Moon. 

Kris stands next to the Apollo 7 crew on his 7th Birthday

They told Kris he was about the right age to go on the next maned flight to the Moon and then on to Mars

This is Kris and I in the simulator...Kris wanted out after the first flip we took chasing an enemy plane. I think I would have made a good pilot, however, with Kris's help we brought down three planes before I had to abort the flight.

Kris said he had the best adventure yet...

Somewhere in Time 

Kris's party

Kris's Birthday is not until the 27th of March but we decided to have his party yesterday. He wanted his Aunt June and Uncle Jim there so we went ahead and planned the party one day early.
 June and Jim have to leave Thursday for Canton First Monday. Jim sales street signs there and has been doing it for about 18 years now. He has a business in Galveston and sales street signs to Texas Counties for new roads and replacement. He came up with the idea to do novelty signs for individuals and sell them at Canton. It has gone over real big...well he has been doing it for 18 years and still does well.
Kris had wanted them to come to his Birthday so we decided to meet them at the Healthy Chinese Restaurant for lunch and then we would have the party at our place.
Kris has a Birthday month as he calls it. We had set a limit on how much money he had for his Birthday and he buy what ever he wanted up to that amount and then that was it. Doing this for the whole month has been exciting for him and easier on us...not having to find or pick out things for presents.
We did hold back a few presents for him to unwrap at the party and his Aunt and Uncle had a surprise for him too.
We had cake, sang Happy Birthday and opened presents. It was a real nice party and Kris really enjoyed all the attention! Next year we are planning on having his party where he can invite some friends over. He will be 8 years old and will need a party with kids his age...not that we are not fun...LOL

First Post on my new computer

After coffee this morning and shortly after school was out I got on the Ipad and started to write my journal entry. I was having so much trouble trying to get the pictures done and move around on the post that I finally just gave it up and decided it was time for me to get a new computer.
My old HP had served me well for about 5 years and finally just stopped performing at all. I had seen an add on TV about the new Chromebook by Samsung which sparked my interest. After researching it I decided to go down to Best Buy and try one out.
Sherri Kris and I loaded up the Jeep and headed north up the Interstate to Best Buy. When I got to the store they had one and I sat down and went over the "cans and cannots" about the lap top and decided that this was the one for me.
Now understand it is not much more than an advanced IPad...but it does have a keyboard and thumb drives and I can do all the things I need to do on it and all for under $300.00 dollars! I still have my desk top for my Window based software. I still do all my pictures and document work off it. So now I am a happy camper once more. If you are in need of a second computer this might be what you are looking for. Having a fixed income the price of this unit really worked well with my budget
After purchasing the computer we all went further north up I45 to the Jeep dealership to get my oil change. I had purchased a contract for oil changes from Chrysler for some ridiculously low price back last year. I was hoping that I still had some changes left so we stopped and found out that we did have 4 changes left. Finding that out I had them do one of them and not having to pay for it was right up my budget.
From there we went by Mardell's to get Kris some homeschooling material and then it was time for a stop at the gas station for fuel. By this time we were in the going home traffic on I 45 which was not too bad the closer we got to Galveston.
When we got to Galveston we made one more stop at the Dollar Tree...which by the way has become my favorite place to shop in all the world. Sherri and Kris picked out all his Birthday plates cups and napkins for the big party! Kris wanted to pick out a Birthday card but we had to explain to him that you don't pick out your own card...He is blond you know.
We got home and grilled some pork chops and Sherri made a great salad. What a great ending to another great day...

Somewhere in Time

Wifi has been down here for two weeks

I sure am glad they don't charge for Wifi here! I have not been able to get on line for two weeks. I have had to use the IPad and I am not able to down load my pictures using it.
I am sure that I will have to either get the lap top fixed or buy a new computer. Some money will have to be spent either way so I must make a decision.
Wednesday is Kris's Birthday and we will be taking him to NASA to see the shuttle simulator and all the other space related items they have there. He is so excited about getting to go. He thinks he is going to see theShuttle and I have tried to explain to him that it is only a simulator...what does a 7 year old understand.
I am delaying these post in hopes I can get a connection to down load all the pictures that I have taken. Thank heavens we decided to get the IPad. I would not be able to contact the outside world at all without it!
This is the last week here on the coast. We have had so much fun here but soon we will see it disappear in the rear view mirrors. I do hope we can return here...

Somewhere in Time

A Day at Sea Wolf Park

I woke up this morning with the blinds in the bedroom slapping the window. The wind was blowing outside and we got a gust in the window every once in a while that blew the blinds back and forth.
I was not sure what time it was so I made the command decision to pull myself out of bed and head to the kitchen for coffee. I heard a noise in the bathroom and realized that Sherri was already up. We met in the kitchen and poured our coffee.
After a moment of silence, which we have every morning before we talk to each other, I brought up the question about Sea Wolf Park. I wanted to know if she was still on board for going. Sherri said we have to go because we had already told Kris that we were. So that settled that.
We had class and then ate some lunch. We left about 1:30 and headed over to Pelican Island. I found out that this was not a State Park so my pass was not going to get me in free...oh drat!
It was not much to enter so we parked and went on in to the park. Just like most parks the first place you enter is the souvenir shop. You know that Kris immediately found something for us to buy him. OK this is his Birthday month so we gave in.
The first exhibit that we went in was the submarine. There is no way that I could have been a submariner.  I would have to lose about 50 lbs before I could get in the bunk to sleep. There was no place in the entire ship that had room to stretch your arms straight out! It took special guys to man these ships.

Next we went on board the Distroyer Escourt and climed up and down the ladders. Sherri and I got our workout for the week. Kris had a ball and learned a lot about the navy. He had already been on the USS Texas so he was starting to see what it was all about. He ask me if I was in that war and I told him I was old but not quite that old. Seems like every generation has their war and that is a shame. I hope his generation finds a way not to have one...

Somewhere in Time

Getting use to relaxing

  

Sherri and I were up early this morning. We poured us a cup of coffee and sat down at the computers to catch up on our reading and game playing. I can't get the Wifi to work on my desk top and our lap top is about to bite the bullet. Sometimes I can get on line and then sometimes I can't. Maybe when I get my rich uncle out of the poor house I will get me a new one

Not sure what I will do today. I know I will be taking a walk after school work is done. Then I am going to ride my bike for a while and then go down to the beach.

Tomorrow we're going to Sea Wolf Park to see the submarine and the destroyer escort that are on display there. We found out that the museum there was destroyed by Ike and we would not be able to see it. Not sure what all was in the museum but what ever it was wont be seen by us on this trip.

Today will be spent exercising and then we will go over to June and Jim's house to visit. 

They were glad to see us when we arrived. Jim had been working all morning and was just finishing up an order when we got there.

.We all gathered on the deck down by the canal. We had some beverages and snacks. It was not any time at all and we had some visitor. You would think that they had not eaten in days.

We had a great time feeding our new guest and we laughed a lot.

We had to get back home so we could eat and get ready for our shows. Come to find out March Madness was on instead of our shows. Now what is that all about. I did not know that there was that many folks interested in basketball? 

We spent the rest of the day relaxing on our patio. Looks like Sherri is getting the hang of this relaxing thing.

Well I guess we will spend the rest of the day on the porch here...

Somewhere in Time 

Bad weather moving this way

I woke up this morning to my weather station going off. I felt the wind gust shaking the MH back and forth. I have always wondered if the shaking would damage the jacks? The winds this morning are about 30 to 35 mph. Right now it feels like it is coming in off the Gulf which is directly behind us. The storm that they say is coming will be coming from the north west so those winds will be hitting us from the side of the MH.
We are not making any plans for today. With the wind and the rain we decided to just stay in today. I am not one to just sit inside all day so hopefully the weather will clear up and we can do something.
Jim and June came by yesterday and invited us over to visit. We may just take them up on that offer later today.
I am sure we will find something to do here...

Somewhere in Time

Trip to the Air Musuem

The museum here suffered a lot of damage during Ike. They have done a real good job restoring the building and all the plans since the storm.

This was like the first airplane I flew on when I was young.

A tail drag-er we called them back then.

 This B-29 is still going through restoration 

I had many more pictures of the old plans but did not want to bore you with all that. One I did not get a picture of and I was upset with myself for not getting it...was a Helicopter Gunship. Oh well that will give me something to aim for if I ever make it back down here...

Somewhere in Time

Trip to San Jacinto and Battleship Texas

We took a trip up to San Jacinto battle ground and then over to see the Battleship Texas. Kris was so excited about seeing the battleship he could hardly wait to get on board. We went inside to purchase out tickets. Only Jim Kris and I were taking the tour. June and Sherri opted to stay on shore. They were not into climbing all over a ship. I went to pay for the tickets and Sherri said that I would get a discount if I used my State Park Pass. Sure nuff we all got in free. WOW can't beat that.

 We spent some time climbing up the ladders to all the decks that could be accessed. Then we went below to check out everything down there. I had to hang on to Kris as he was running all over the place. He did get to operate some of the guns on the deck and that really excited him.

And I thought living in a MH was close quarters

After we left the park we headed on back to June and Jim's. We stopped along the way and ate at Kelley's It was back home as soon as we got to the Jeep. We were wore out from all the walking. We had fun and enjoyed the new adventure...

 Somewhere in Time

Boat ride and fish fry

We were up early and had drank 1/2 pot of coffee before the sun came up. I use to love Saturday morning when I was working. It was the day I could sleep late and not have to worry about going anywhere. Now that I am retired Saturday is just another day. This Saturday I plan on doing very little in the morning and then spending some time with June and Jim. They are having a fish fry and then we are all going for a boat ride. This will be the first boat ride Kris has ever had. I really love being a part of Kris's new experiences. It is so refreshing to see him enjoy so many things for the first time. We decided to go for the boat ride before we ate. Jim had the boat all ready to back out into the bayou so we boarded and took off. Kris was so excited and could not get enough of watching Jim maneuver through the different bayous behind all the houses. We soon went under the railroad bridge and out into the bay. There he showered down on the boat and we took off for the ride of our lives. After running out into the bay for some time we headed back into the bayous and let Sherri look at some of the houses for sale. If I had to settle down in a house again this would be on top of my list of places to be. You never get tired of the Gulf and the bay access is great. Not to mention the opportunity to fish everyday of your life! We returned home and docked the boat. Jim fired up the cooker and we had some of the best shrimp and Tolapia. French fries and hush puppies on the side. A few brooskies and life was good right here... Somewhere in Time

Time change has messed with my mind

I was laying in bed listening to the seagulls making a racket outside. Sounded like someone was feeding them but then I noticed it was still dark outside. Springing forward has made the days longer in the evening but it seems like it takes forever for the sun to come up in the morning. I got up and went to turn on the coffee and noticed the time. It was 4:30 am and I was wide awake. I just stay up when this happens to me. No since in trying to go back to sleep once I am out of bed. The aroma of the coffee made me crave that first cup. It was not too long and Sherri was wondering through the door. I poured her a cup and we both sat down. We discussed our up coming trips and what route we would take and where we would stay. After about an hour I heard Kris in his room. It was time for school to start so my attention was drawn toward that. We take about 2 hours for English and Math. Then we have our reading class and spelling. Once that is all done it is time for our history and science class. All toll we spend about 4 1/2 hours and then we turn him loose to to do his own thing. Sherri and I spent some time riding our bikes and then we took Kris down to the beach to swim for a while. We are busy most every day and loving it. We would not want to be anywhere else... Somewhere in Time