Yep...the Cave Dwellers are still here..

To say this has been a "busy" summer is just the tip of the iceberg...and we all know what happened to the Titanic! After our trip to Destin, Dennis was due for his hopefully final colonoscopy August 7th. (which turned out OK, FINALLY!!)  At that time, he had an EKG and it was discovered that he has what is called A-Flutter..an issue with the Atrial chamber of his heart beating too fast...Bottom line is that could possibly cause a clot..and a stroke. This is not good news.
So, we made an appt with our Cardiologist and he put a heart monitor on Dennis, with a radio transmitter that sent EKG's regularly to ..someplace, maybe Oz....(it was like having a magic nurse watching your every move!) He had to wear this for one month...grrr.

We managed to fit in a trip to Zionsville to visit our Wolff Cub grand kids and watch them play some tackle and flag football while Dennis was bionic...

Our oldest Wolff Cub is #9..He is 8 years old and they play youth tackle football.

Above, the little blondie chewing on his flavored mouth piece is our younger grandson. He is in first grade, and they play flag football..As you can see, it's hard to hold the interest of first graders..

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 In the meantime, back home, we were in the process of tearing off our 40 year old deck and having a new one built..Of course, Dennis Cave decided to begin tearing it off by himself without help...and....well, he made a misstep, fell.. and broke his left arm..Dennis took an ambulance ride to the ER, where our daughter-n-law works and we know most of the people up there.( ya just can't keep anything secret in a small town) That afternoon, Den came home with a sling and an appt with an Orthopedic Doc a few days later.

We were lucky to have such good friends to come and help get that old deck down and removed!

As it turned out, the Ortho Dr. decided Dennis should have a cast for 6 weeks...Allllll righty then..

You can see how excited he was to get this..Hey, the nurse matched his shirt at least!

So, after wearing the heart monitor for a month, it was determined Den has A-Flutter AND A-Fib..They set him up for a procedure called Ablation, where a Cardio doc and his team go through the femoral artery up into your heart and cauterize the bad spots..a 4 hour procedure that has a 70% success rate. Dennis had this done last Tuesday...No wonder we drink. He will have an EKG in one month, and another a month after that. They really won't know if it worked for about 6 months..In the meantime, Den is on blood thinner....and so,knowing how klutzy my hubby can be, I wanted to put him in a padded room to keep from cutting himself somehow..One of my ploys was to make sure he got an ELECTRIC razor..and he did!!

 After our deck was completed began the process of staining it..with a brush...in the sun..We are getting too old for this stuff....Here is the new deck before we stained it...

 It turned out pretty good. This is the second time in our married lives that Dennis Cave hasn't done the work himself..Just 6 weeks ago we had a new furnace and Central Air put in our house..PUT IN, buy professional heating and air guys!! Den has a hard time sitting still and letting others help..as you can see....

...Well, he just had to do some nailing here and there..You cannot keep a good man down!!

Below is our deck after staining it all...

Turned out pretty nice...I did a good share of staining it, but MacGuyver helped me, albeit one handed, on all of those damn spindles...sheesh!!

In the middle of the hubbub, our granddaughter, Taylor, started college at Ball State University..

This is her dorm room...She and her mom decorated it. No dorm rooms I ever visited ever looked this great.

Above is our Taylor on the right, with a couple college friends..Too bad they aren't having any fun.

Also, our grandson, Peyton, began running Cross Country track. Pey is a Senior in high school this year.

Peyton is the second runner in black and white checked shirt..He really got tall this summer..Dennis and I finally got to go to a meet!!

Proud grandparents of this kid..He just had his Senior pictures taken:....

Peyton is "quite a catch" ..and of course I am not prejudice in the least..

Sooo, not to be giving lame excuses, but we have been a bit busy lately...However, I have to tell you that we are planning a Winter trip..hoping we can make it. We will be leaving end of November and traveling to Texas, staying at Texarkana, Jefferson , Canyon Lake, and possibly Bandera. Other spots are also in the works...I have made reservations through Jan 1st so far, but am still working on the rest. If there is any GOOD karma left , we could use some!!! But as we all know, plans are made in jello...

FINALLY!!! A DESTIN-ATION!

It obviously doesn't take much to get my shorts in a dither...Our entire family (all kids and most grands) took a trip for a Cave-A-Palooza....in Destin, Florida last week. This has been planned since early Spring and was hatched one evening during a Christmas get together...The idea was our children's..to see if we could co-habitate in one big spot ( meaning a large house) for a solid week without police intervention.  I have to admit, some times it was close, but we managed to finish our week by the ocean without any major disasters..and we are all still speaking~! Here are some photos of the good times...

One of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen...

Crystal clear blue water and white sand beaches..

It was seriously like a living inside a water color work of art!!!

This was our 7 bedroom, 5 bath, 2 kitchen house 1 short block from the ocean. There were bedrooms on every floor, including the "tower room" on the 4th floor...Our granddaughter, Taylor, got that one!

...and we had a long skinny pool at our house too!

Now this is quite a bunch right here!!!!

Here are all of the kids! Obviously they had NO fun at all!!!!! We had to sweep sand out of the house every day at least twice!

Frank Lloyd Wright, eat your heart out...Now THIS was a working sand castle complete with a moat!!!

 

Of course, raw oysters were a must have...for some..
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The "adult" table...We do clean up pretty good!!

Sophia and Landon loved boarding that surf!!!

Some went "Go Carting"!!!

Taylor had no fun at all..what a shame.

The night before we left, we all went to dinner then to the beach for some family photos as the sun was setting..

Kelly and Cindy Cave

Chris and John Wolff

Tim and Terrie Heiser 

Chris and John brought along what is called a Sky Lantern..It's much like a mini hot air balloon...You can hand light it and watch it fly..We did that our last evening on the beach...

....And finally it begins to fly!!!

This was so amazing to watch it disappear...It went really high!

I hear you are suppose to make a wish when it goes aloft...

 

Some of the "kids" couldn't contain their excitement!! 

 

The kitchen/great room with balcony on the second floor.

CHOW TIME!!Each couple cooked on night, and another did KP (clean up)..Yep, saved us a buck or two!!!This night was Chris and John's turn to cook and the made a wonderful Low Country Grill..shrimp, potatoes, sausage and sweet corn..YUMMOLICIOUS!!!!

 Tim Heiser was just asking to be dumped off that raft!!!

 

The "kid's" table at Happy Hour. 

Kelly and Cindy with 2 of their 6 grands, Sophia and Landon.

The Heiser clan

I know, I know...I'm not that great at "selfies"...and just look at me sweat!!!!

 

Our three rapscallion kiddos..

 

With 4 flights of steps to climb, we kept in shape..I wish they had thought to put in a slide on one of them...

 The Wolff family

The notorious Cave sisters...and no, they didn't plan on the same suit and hats...truly a coincidence. 

 

It all started in 1969, when I met Dennis and his fancy Chevelle...See what it got us?? 

 

Dennis and I ...OK, we normally don't look quite like this...

 Now THIS  is more like it!!!!

Thank you for tolerating my very long family blog. Obviously, we took sooooo many photos and made so many memories. This was probably a once in a lifetime trip and we are so very blessed to have such a crazy, fun group altogether in one place!!!! Cherish those moments!