Sunday, July 27, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Summer '08 Vacation
What a vacation! My son, Cody, Emily and I drove Jim's truck to Tony in Lake Elsinore, California. We stopped at Grand Canyon on the way. Next we drove to Campland on the Bay and stayed a couple days with Dave and Barb. Nice family vacation spot - Lots to do, right on the bay, lots of activities. Dave and Barb are just super fun to be around. Emily made a friend while she was there and found 2 other girls that liked Pokemon. Her and Jake entered the sand castle building contest with a live crab to live there. I got to wakeboard with really big wakes.
Tony and Rikki joined us for the last day. We then went to my brother's house, visited and went to dinner. Next stop, back to Tony and Rikki's. Rikki is 6 1/2 months pregnant and absolutely beautiful. My grand baby - yeah!! We went to her baby shower. The beach theme was a hit. She talked her brother into doing a hula dance with her and my nephew Chris and his wife, Heidi, came with their little girl.
Next we went to San Juan where Jim's sister Carla and her family stay during the summer. Wow, what a place. We rode in a sea plane to the island. Had a great time. Emily absolutely adores their daughter Lindsey. I got to do a six mile run that was just wonderful. San Juan is beautiful - very peaceful and restful. We picked cherries and made a pie that night. We played spades. That was fun. Emily put up with me taking pictures of her at the Lavender farm. We also got to watch some guys harvesting some of the crop. Our last day was spent on the boat and a couple of islands. Carla and Chris are quite the hosts and very enjoyable to be around.
Jim would have loved the whole trip. Everywhere we went, I could just picture what Jim would do or say. It was really hard to only choose a few pictures, we took a lot of really nice ones. Enjoy!
Tony and Rikki joined us for the last day. We then went to my brother's house, visited and went to dinner. Next stop, back to Tony and Rikki's. Rikki is 6 1/2 months pregnant and absolutely beautiful. My grand baby - yeah!! We went to her baby shower. The beach theme was a hit. She talked her brother into doing a hula dance with her and my nephew Chris and his wife, Heidi, came with their little girl.
Next we went to San Juan where Jim's sister Carla and her family stay during the summer. Wow, what a place. We rode in a sea plane to the island. Had a great time. Emily absolutely adores their daughter Lindsey. I got to do a six mile run that was just wonderful. San Juan is beautiful - very peaceful and restful. We picked cherries and made a pie that night. We played spades. That was fun. Emily put up with me taking pictures of her at the Lavender farm. We also got to watch some guys harvesting some of the crop. Our last day was spent on the boat and a couple of islands. Carla and Chris are quite the hosts and very enjoyable to be around.
Jim would have loved the whole trip. Everywhere we went, I could just picture what Jim would do or say. It was really hard to only choose a few pictures, we took a lot of really nice ones. Enjoy!
Emily's First Camp Trip
Emily goes on her first camping trip with our church. She was so excited getting to ride the bus and stay two days away from home. Her friends Olivia and Alea were there as well as Olivia's mother. Here are a few pics.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Dallas Trip
Last weekend we went to Dallas to visit Chris and Elaine Minich. We had a bunch of fun. We did the Plano Race for the Cure 5K on Saturday. It is always so moving to do that race. It is very inspiring. It was fun running with Chris and Elaine. I think we chatted the whole time. My favorite part was probably watching the survivors line up according to how many years they have survived cancer. Just awesome to see the strength and bonding that these women share having gone through such a horrible ordeal. One person had survived 35 years. Wow. After we got home, Elaine and I went on a very enjoyable 3 mile walk.
Sunday, we went to the lake. Emily just comes alive in the water. She wasn't shy at all getting on the tube or kneeboard. I think she has really misses going to the lake. Matt rode the tube with her for a long time and they had some pretty high air. Jim would have been proud. The boys, Chris, Elaine and Nikki all went above and beyond showing us a great time. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures. More pictures can be seen on Chris and Elayne's Blog
Sunday, we went to the lake. Emily just comes alive in the water. She wasn't shy at all getting on the tube or kneeboard. I think she has really misses going to the lake. Matt rode the tube with her for a long time and they had some pretty high air. Jim would have been proud. The boys, Chris, Elaine and Nikki all went above and beyond showing us a great time. Here are a couple of my favorite pictures. More pictures can be seen on Chris and Elayne's Blog
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Pond vs Pool
My sister visited last weekend. She cleaned out my pond and we decided to give away the fish and make it a little pool for Emily. Emily was thrilled My sister is a hoot. You always know exactly where you stand with her. She is very giving and caring. I am so fortunate to have her and am forever indebted to her. Anyway, here is a pic of her as she pulled in the driveway. You got to love her!
June is de-weeding my garden.
Our New Pool
Today Emily had her very own pool party with best friend Taylor and her brother Jackson.
June is de-weeding my garden.
Our New Pool
Today Emily had her very own pool party with best friend Taylor and her brother Jackson.
Silver Dollar City
We made our second trip to Silver Dollar City on May 24th, 2008. Had a blast. This time we bought season tickets. Emily only rode 2 rides. She really enjoys the Kids Ball City area, Grandfather's mansion, the Tree House and the Pottery Area. We spent the whole day and had a blast. She also liked playing in the water area and, of course, got soaking wet. She likes to be pushed in the stroller. We went to a fantastic restaurant. I highly recommend it. It is called Lamberts and it is in Ozark, MO. Home of the throwing rolls. Food and entertainment were great and so was the price. Anyway, thought I'd share some pictures.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Ambo's Girls hit the Lake for the first time!
Today we took the Jetski's to the lake by ourselves for the first time. I have a lot to learn. You see, I want to keep the jetski thing going, Jim loved his jetskis and so does Emily. In fact, I plan on getting good on the stand up - just for Jim. He would have loved that. But first things first, I decided to start with the Ultra 150 (we have an Ultra 150 and a stand up). I got it out of the shop a couple weeks ago. Two days ago, I decided it was time to learn how to do this on my own. I wish I had paid more attention to all of this when Jim was alive. He just took such good care of me/us. Anyway, I decided I would first start the Jetski, so I put a charger on it. That in itself was an accomplishment, since I have never done that. After a few hours of charging and a couple tries at starting and discovering the choke, I was able to start it in the back yard. Cool. Step 2 - now I will hook it up to the truck hitch by myself. Thirty minutes later and much sweat, the task was done. I don't know where the roll up thingy is so I just had to pick up the trailer to sit it on the hitch. Good thing I have a strong back. Next, I pulled it out of the back yard and backed it into the garage. Done.
Today, when Emily got out of school, I backed the truck up and heaved the trailer on the hitch. It went on the first time. WOW! I then figured that I need to hook up brakes, etc. and pulled it out of the garage. Done. Emily and I drive to Oolagah, 15 minutes to the ramp. We stopped at the store first to get gas, I am assuming it needed gas. When we pulled up, I told Emily, I don't think I know where the gas tank is. She said she thought she remembered it being under the top. Sure enough, I found how to open it and there it was - a gas tank and and oil tank. I am assuming we want premium gas at a whopping $3.84 a gallon. Oh my gosh! I opened the oil tank but no oil stick to check it so once again, I am assuming it is full. It only took about 5 gallons of gas so we could have bypassed this step. Oh well, I now can ask someone how to check the oil.
We get to the lake and a truck pulls in behind us with 2 jetskis on the back. I am somewhat relieved because I have someone to ask for help if needed. I have been fighting the boat cover but finally resolved to the fact that you must have to put it in the water, get it off the trailer, then remove it. However, when I was side by side with the other jetski owners, I decided to ask. I just didn't remember Jim having to leave the cover on to get gas, back the trailer down, etc. Sure enough, the guy came right over and showed me how it came off. That helps! We now have our life jackets on, the jetski unsecured from its rope stays (or whatever they are called) and backing the down boat. The other guy has his girl friend or wife guiding him. It took them about 15 minutes to back it down. One thing I do know is how to back up a boat. I stood there thinking about the specifics of how I would manage backing the boat, keeping Emily safe and reparking the truck. I remembered seeing the jetski tie down in the front flip up where the gas tank was so we decided we would back it off the trailer, drive it to the ramp, tie it up and then take care of the truck and trailer. Everything worked out pretty good. After figuring out a couple of missed steps, we started the jetski and parked it, put the truck/trailer up and headed out to sea. We were both yelling 'woohoo'. However, after clearing the buoys, the ski would not go over 9 miles per hour. Something was wrong. Despite Emily wanting me to keep going and to go on the other side of the lake, I decided to play it safe. Good thing, as I was going back to get the ski to drive it on the trailer, the other couple seemed to be having problems too. I told them I couldn't get any power. The guy said they were taking on water and remembered that they didn't put in the drain plugs. I asked, 'There are drain plugs?'. Sure enough, when I pulled the boat up, there was water running out of the jetski through the drain plugs. I think I will make a check list. Anyway, I still feel like it was a success although I still need to call the mechanic to be sure I did not hurt anything and ask how to check the oil. We plan on going back Memorial Day.
Today, when Emily got out of school, I backed the truck up and heaved the trailer on the hitch. It went on the first time. WOW! I then figured that I need to hook up brakes, etc. and pulled it out of the garage. Done. Emily and I drive to Oolagah, 15 minutes to the ramp. We stopped at the store first to get gas, I am assuming it needed gas. When we pulled up, I told Emily, I don't think I know where the gas tank is. She said she thought she remembered it being under the top. Sure enough, I found how to open it and there it was - a gas tank and and oil tank. I am assuming we want premium gas at a whopping $3.84 a gallon. Oh my gosh! I opened the oil tank but no oil stick to check it so once again, I am assuming it is full. It only took about 5 gallons of gas so we could have bypassed this step. Oh well, I now can ask someone how to check the oil.
We get to the lake and a truck pulls in behind us with 2 jetskis on the back. I am somewhat relieved because I have someone to ask for help if needed. I have been fighting the boat cover but finally resolved to the fact that you must have to put it in the water, get it off the trailer, then remove it. However, when I was side by side with the other jetski owners, I decided to ask. I just didn't remember Jim having to leave the cover on to get gas, back the trailer down, etc. Sure enough, the guy came right over and showed me how it came off. That helps! We now have our life jackets on, the jetski unsecured from its rope stays (or whatever they are called) and backing the down boat. The other guy has his girl friend or wife guiding him. It took them about 15 minutes to back it down. One thing I do know is how to back up a boat. I stood there thinking about the specifics of how I would manage backing the boat, keeping Emily safe and reparking the truck. I remembered seeing the jetski tie down in the front flip up where the gas tank was so we decided we would back it off the trailer, drive it to the ramp, tie it up and then take care of the truck and trailer. Everything worked out pretty good. After figuring out a couple of missed steps, we started the jetski and parked it, put the truck/trailer up and headed out to sea. We were both yelling 'woohoo'. However, after clearing the buoys, the ski would not go over 9 miles per hour. Something was wrong. Despite Emily wanting me to keep going and to go on the other side of the lake, I decided to play it safe. Good thing, as I was going back to get the ski to drive it on the trailer, the other couple seemed to be having problems too. I told them I couldn't get any power. The guy said they were taking on water and remembered that they didn't put in the drain plugs. I asked, 'There are drain plugs?'. Sure enough, when I pulled the boat up, there was water running out of the jetski through the drain plugs. I think I will make a check list. Anyway, I still feel like it was a success although I still need to call the mechanic to be sure I did not hurt anything and ask how to check the oil. We plan on going back Memorial Day.
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