The Score

Yes we are keeping score!  The score is 3 to 0.  The beach is winning!  Sea water and sea air are terrible on anything that can rust.  We have had our share of things rusting.  First, one of our bikes; it was a piece of you know what anyways, but it worked.  That is, until we rode it on the beach.  Over the course of a few days the gears locked up and the chain fell off.  I am so glad we did not spend a small fortune on this piece of battle ship.  That is what Cory calls our bikes because they are so heavy.  Second, one of my cast iron Ebilskivers pans.  Rusted!! How can you live without Ebilskivers?  We will have to replace it with a non-stick, non-rusting version.  Thirdly, our awning!  I can't say that it rusted but it just stuck in one position.  Now don't get me wrong, having to write about our awning being some what extended while driving out of the park this morning would be something of a greater interest to everyone and much more funny.  But, we needed to not have that experience if you know what I mean.  We were sooooo close, just a bit more to push  it in...oh, we pushed....SNAP! the part broke.  Yep; one more thing to fix on the trailer.  What is so awesome about repairs on the trailer is they are usually easy, do it yourself and not time consuming (unless it's an electrical problem...LOL)

Did we learn our lesson?....Hopefully!!  We are hoping that we can fix my bike with some DW40...doesn't that fix everything?  I think it must be a relative of duck tape, which we have not had to use...YET!!!  Oh, I am sure the time is coming.

The funny thing about the bike and the beach is that I kept commenting on how we never saw any bikes at the beach...haven't those beach cruisers made a comeback in the last year?  Well, apparently they are for those who WANT to be at the beach and NOT for those that live at the beach.  Crazy!

We traveled 8 hours today in the truck.  Mapquest said it would take us 7 hours 14 minutes.  The Watson's have yet to even come close to this estimation.  I was starting to wonder how they came up with this odd number.  I just assumed it would be a 10 hour drive.  Yeah, it's not a good time in the truck with three kids, a cat and a dog, once we get past 7 hours. We either have screaming and gnashing of the teeth ( that's the parents) or I am going to torture you with my whistling (usually Drake), Isabella is singing at the top of her lungs and Rye is needing new batteries for her MP3 player because she has played it so much trying to tune out the whistling and the singing.  Are you starting to get the picture yet?

 Well, surprisingly today's drive went quite well and in almost the required time period.  I had to lay the law down and say we could not stop every 20 minutes (some trips, everything goes wacko).  We gassed up, got drinks, used the potty and ate ONLY when we needed gas...ONLY!!!!  and it worked.  We all survived.


The next few weeks will prove challenging for Cory and finding a new job.  He has several leads but they require him to take some tests, get a top security clearance and interview at the top of his game.  While he is still teaching, and he loves it, he wants to do more.  We will let everyone know how things turn out when the time is right.  We are just grateful for friends and family who are sending their best regards our way.  We will continue to enjoy this ride no matter what life has in store for us.  This is part of the excitement and adventure.

The kids are gearing up for school to start.  I need to do something, what I can't decide yet.  I did complete a Sudoku puzzle yesterday...LOL  It is challenging finding time to do anything for myself.  I thought it would be easier but I still fill my day with cleaning and cooking.  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I am outside a lot compared to my old lifestyle and this is where my spare time is spent.  As you can see we are still trying to figure things out and trying to fit things into our busy schedules.

We are blessed and feel very lucky to have had this time together so far.  I can't believe September is already here...the time is slipping away!  To my Swiss Days friends, enjoy the next few days!!  We will miss  you and your friendships.