THIS DAY WAS FOR THE BIRDS….

  Well, I finally got to sit out on our deck, sans my blue boot,  and get some much needed sunshine…

 

I’m not going any larger with my foot picture..You don’t need to be subjected to my blue veins running like roadmaps through an Atlas…Let’s just say that I was THRILLED to be outside soaking up some sunshine with both feet exposed…Please note..I even managed to apply polish to those chubby little toes!!

 

  While I was enjoying ‘ol Sol, I remembered to take my camera with me..just in case I saw something photo worthy do a “fly by”….And….sure enough, a young Robin decided to join me.  He was keeping one eagle Robin eye on me while he used our fountain to take his bath…Hey, Dude..this is NOT a birdbath..HELLLLOOOOO!!! Obviously, he wasn’t listening…

I was sitting almost right above the fountain, so I got him to give me his best side..He was very vocal about me taking pictures as he was bathing..I didn’t have a towel to hand to him, so he jumped down and continued his hygiene on the ground just below me…

I could tell this was a young one…Evidently his mother didn’t teach him “stranger danger” and he could have cared less that I was standing inches away, recording his fluffing routine….GOD IT’S GOOD TO BE OUTSIDE AND ACTIVE AGAIN..!

I have to say that my foot is still pretty sore..I tend to gimp around when doing yard work, and the Doc won’t let me start doing my daily “walk” for a couple more weeks..He did, however, give me the “all clear” to ride my bike!!!

Look out…I’m mobile again!!

While I was outside sunning, I had the opportunity to see my little friend, Mr. Wren, who was busy building nests in 3 different spots…He was singing his little heart out as he was loading each different birdhouse with little sticks….hoping to attract a female into one of them..(some women like wine and candy, some like neatly placed little sticks…??)

Last year he built nests all around our house…and didn’t use ONE of them….Wrens mystify me…I’m sure  Judy totally gets what the Heck he is doing. I haven’t a clue..What lengths some males will go to for our gender!!

As you can see, I had a great day outside….relaxing….Our weather here is just beautiful today…sunny and 70’s…and NO RAIN!!!

I AM FINALLY THE CAPTAIN OF MY OWN SHIP…

I CANNOT HELP IT IF IT’S ONLY A DINGHY.

GRADUATION PARTY FOR DYLAN..ANOTHER “CAVE FAMILY” EVENT.

  After a stressful and sad week, our family ended it on a very high note..Dylan (our step grandson) had his high school graduation open house…and we all celebrated a milestone in Dylan’s life…

I made 7 lbs of spaghetti salad for the party..(right)..That’s A LOT of noodles right there!!

This would be Dylan..”The Graduate”..(remember that movie?)..Sparklers on his cake…

Left..Terrie and Ronnie (Scotty’s Dad)…Right is , in foreground, Tom and Leanne,( our niece and her husband).

Steve, another nephew, and Dennis in the back…

 

 

 

There was lots of good food, fun and laughter….much needed at this time…You can always count on  kids to get you in a great mood. Left are two hungry ones!

 

 

 

 

 

These two photos say it all..”Hide and Seek”..Campbell counting to 10…, his brother, Peyton, hiding..LOVE IT!

After  some chow, Kelly hooked up their karaoke machine, and what fun that turned out to be!!

The kids had a ball….

 

…as did some of the adults..Kelly and Terrie did a duet…OMG, WHAT A HOOT!

Another crazy Cave family fiasco…attended by raindrops and mosquitos, as well as friends and family…

This pretty much sums up how we all felt by the end of this week….

CAVE KIDS AND SPOUSES ARE WARRIORS!!(MUDDY ONES)

  First of all, thank you all for your kind words for the loss of our nephew Scotty.  His quality of life for the past 5 years wasn’t what you would hope for a young man in his prime…I do feel he is in a much better place now,and the past 2 days we have been celebrating his life, not mourning his death. Also, the family donated his electric wheelchair to disabled Veterans…Scott would have liked that….

And now, on to the Warrior Dash, which took place last Saturday afternoon….WHEW!! I am exhausted and I didn’t even run the darn thing!!

  Chris, John and their 2 boys got to our house about 8PM last Friday night from Zionsville..Kelly and Cindy stopped by to greet them…Translated into sleep time for the older Caves, this means midnight to bed and up again by 6AM..(The 2 kids are on Indiana time, which is 1 hour ahead of us.)

Saturday all our kids and spouses had plans to run in the Midwest Warrior Dash, held on a farm in Channahon, IL…(about 30 miles from here)…Originally we ALL planned on going to watch, including me and all 5 of our grandkids…However, I decided that my foot would not allow me to do all the required “rough ground” walking, so I volunteered to stay home and watch the kids…As it turns out, this was a VERY wise decision…for me AND the kids…

Dennis went with the “warriors” to make sure we got some photos…and boy, he got some great ones!!   The dash was 5K, (3.27 Hellish miles), with 10 obstacles to get over, under, around or into…..The 10 obstacles included jumping over fire, running through tires, blackout trenches, up and over hay bales, running through a river, climbing a cargo net, scaling staggered logs, a mossy maze, and the grand finale….muddy mayhem.

Below are some of the pictures Den got….What a challenge this was!

John Wolff at the top of the cargo net…       John, bottom, in the mud…

(By the way, that is barbed wire over the muddy pit…)

 

Tim Heiser going over the cargo net….               Tim in the mud pit..YUCK!

Chris Wolff (gray tank top) on the cargo net..      Chris in the mud pit…

Terrie Heiser (stripe shorts) on the net..        Terrie doing the muddy crawl…

Cindy and Kelly Cave(right) into the mud..       Now that is togetherness……

                            BEFORE……                                             AFTER……….

                                

Obviously….they had fun…and a beer at the car afterward.   They had people with a fire hose at the end of the course to hose some of the mud off the “Warriors”….Also, at the end of the course, everyone got a warrior hat, a medal, a T-shirt..and….. a free beer….

 

 

Terrie, left, …feeling like she really earned her hat….

I didn’t mind staying back..I got to spend quality time with all my grandkids…and got to know our youngest grandson, Maddox…10 weeks old….JUST GOTTA SAY IT…I LOVE OUR FAMILY!!!!

Rest peacefully Scotty..

Our dear nephew, Scotty, passed away in his sleep early Monday morning…I know he is now walking , talking, eating, having a beer….and cheering on the Chicago Bears and those darn White Sox in his new Heavenly home….

YOU CAN FINALLY REST EASY , SCOTT…YOU PUT UP THE GOOD FIGHT…

WE WILL  MISS YOUR LIVELY SPIRIT…

THE WANDERING WEIBEL WAGON ARRIVES!!

  Yesterday about noon, Sam,Donna and Riggins the Wonder Dog arrived in their Chaparral 5th wheel.  I let Dennis direct them into our narrow drive…I wanted no responsibility for crashing someone elses RV…and besides, Sam would probably take offense to  my use of hand signals

We made all of our introductions, and after Riggs inspected us (we passed), we all went inside for some light lunch of chicken salad, taco dip, crackers and Tostitos..

I gotta tell ya, Riggins is one of the most beautiful (and huge) Black Labs we have ever seen….Not to mention that he was one of the best behaved dogs for being only 2 years old…He is 14 years old in people years, and most 14 year old males are lots more antsy pantsy and aggressive..Riggs is a pussy cat.

After Sam got his fix of train horns from our South kitchen windows, we moved onto our front screened porch for some ice tea and great conversation…(Have  I mentioned?? It’s hard to hear each other over the trains)

Riggs took to Dennis right away, and let him take him out into our backyard on his leash to “check the smells”…

Before we knew it , it was after 4PM…We had a real jaw wagging good time…But it was now cocktail hour, so we had a couple toasts and headed down to the Bull Moose for some burgers and more conversation..Sam took some great photos of the original train car….I think he like it…d’ya think??

After solving the world problems, we came back to the Cave Dwellings and sat at our kitchen table chatting until almost 10PM….I know for a fact none of us heard any trains that night…!

We had a great visit with Sam and Donna, and they left this morning about 10:30AM,  after a 7:30AM coffee and breakfast pizza, courtesy of Casey’s General Store….Yummo!

…Notice Sam’s train shirt…imagine that!

Safe travel to our blogosphere friends.. who have now become actual acquaintances…It was sooo fun to finally meet  you both, (oops again…the 3 of you) in person…Remember to follow that dream of travel as often as you can…life is too damn short…And…Riggins…you were a perfect gentleman..(thanks for the wet kisses, it’s been years since I’ve had those Lab lips smooches!)

RIGGINS THE WONDER DOG….WITH A TONGUE LIKE A PLATE…

WE WILL MISS YOU ALL!