As an update, Becky is not going to Montreal, which is probably a greater earfull for me than for her, given that I can't go [work, work, work... this grown up game is for the birds, I'm tellin' ya! ;).. ]. Instead, we'll be clad in gear in my living room, hopefully breathing and not screaming through the entire 90+ minutes of tomorrows match-up.
In other news, I bought this today:
hellooo, new sleeping pad!
The first to use it? Probably Mike's daughter, this weekend for a family camping trip. No worries.. at least I'll know at that point whether it's worth keeping or not ;). My best guess is that it'll be fine. I'm pretty pumped!
I'm not kidding when I say that tomorrow will literally be consumed by daydreams of the US taking on Germany and bringing a win. I'll wear my Lloyd shirt either way and pretend like I know she's going to score a goal :).
Nana and Pappy are heeeeere!!
And Sydni's here, too! After her mini getaway with my parents, the three of them returned to our house today.
Before that, Rob and I were busy bees, running errands and cramming in some last minute tasks.
i got arrested.... [just kidding!!!]
^ Meanwhile, at Wal-Mart [I mean, are any of us that surprised?] The poor couple of elderly ladies parked next to me had something or someone scrape the back corner of their car, damaging both the paint and the body work. :(
I wish I could've referred them to my next destination, where I met up with Rob and his boss Chip, where they were transferring a motor for Chip's boat.
boat motor!
It wasn't long before all the errands were wrapped up and we were home, cleaned up and awaiting the arrival of Syd and my parents.
And then.. they were here!!
look at this little gardener!
Sydni was super excited to show Pappy her pumpkin plant, birthed after she and the kiddos "planted" pumpkin seeds last year. We thought it was just something fun for them to do while they were painting pumpkins at Halloween, but now we have an actual pumpkin and that's that. Oh well! :)
our pumpkin plant! :)
syd & pappy ♥
It was past the halfway point of the day when the party started, so we did dinner at the house and then headed out to see the new Pixar movie, Inside Out. We all know that Pixar is notorious for making us all feel things, so when I saw this online, I couldn't help but share.. haha:
truth!
Ya'll.. this movie was a cute one. Not my favorite of the Pixar family, but still super cute!
Sydni and Nana's favorite character [because would it be any other way?!]:
joy!
It's been such a fun little family night, and tomorrow we'll have some more adventure time before Nana & Pappy return home.
This was the first thing I wanted to see when I woke up today.
Throughout the day:
krieger
And...
leroux
And...
lloyd
Basically, I spent my entire day awaiting the 7:30 EST kick-off of this [and, my apologies if I've offended anyone with my lack of input/care/interest for the marriage equality bill...], but this just, for me, took insane leaps of precedence over that.
I wasn't entirely sold after the first 45 minutes as the teams marched off tied at nil..
The second half started with Abby giving one of her signature speeches [haha], and the team hit the field to see what they could do in the next 45 & change.
Finally..
captain lloyd!
YEAHHHHH!!!!
Congrats, ladies!!!!!
This World Cup has got me completely engaged. I. Love. It.
See ya back on the 26th!
Today started off with a downpour. Not a metaphoric one, but a literal, very angry lashing of the clouds above. A few thunder claps made us wonder if the power would hold out - we were lucky that it did, and within a couple hours, the rain had stopped all together.
It didn't take long at all for us to settle into a rhythm for the evening: Food, quality time together, and a flower-lined patio as a backdrop.
our perfect date nights: low key!
because nom nom nom nommmm..
We really did plan on Jurassic Park for a post-dinner outing, but because we're us and also because we decided to eat dinner just down the street from our house, we agreed that Netflix as a backup plan was more of a primary plan, and went with that.
.... This is why I love this guy. Get on our level... haha.
Netflix it is!
Between work and volleyball, there wasn't a wide open space to do much else other than analyze the USWNT World Cup bracket. Naturally, my money's on the US taking it all, but only time will tell, and if I had to pick a second choice, my money's on Germany.
world cup bracket funnnnnn
But I mean, the U.S. is gonna take the cup, but it's fun to pretend there might be a chance for another winner, haha.. ;)
Meanwhile, in not Canada, the local happenings of the evening [volleybal] at least went by with sunshine and happiness.
... Okay, so that may be an exaggeration, but only because none of the neighbor kids know yet that we're building this type of Loom Band arsenal. Sydni's first order of business tonight was diving nearly headfirst into the box of bands, bent on creating whatever she could find.
We took to YouTube, per the suggestion of Betsy [perfect idea, btw.. thank you, Betsy!!], and settled on two projects for the evening: a milkshake and a pineapple.
Here's an example of what we'll likely spend the next forever doing:
We've had these things for just a couple of weeks now, but I am already finding them nestled into the corners of the couch, under tables, and hiding in other crevices and crannies around the house. Yay, kids! Hahaha...
Aside from our loombanding, Syd's bag is packed up and sitting by the door; she's shipping off for a mini getaway with Nana and Pappy here in a couple of days, and although we're all excited, I know I'm going to miss her for that short amount of time.
At any rate, it's been a beautifully simple day and night here, and we're just fine with that!
G'Nite!
I made it a point to tell myself this about once every 45 minutes today. Why? Well, the USWNT ladies were set to play Colombia tonight, and along with the rest of our country, I really wanted to see them win.
yiiiieeee!!
I couldn't tell you what happened at work that would've been anywhere near comparable to my excitement to head home and catch this game. I spent the early evening monitoring my TV to be sure Time Warner would hold out [it usually doesn't, I'll just be honest], but I was pleasantly surprised when it came through and brought the game into our house. Becky, Brandon, Clark, Mike & his girls Avery & Alyssa comprised our viewing party, and what. a. game it was :)
It was a wild first half, but no score to count after the first 45...
"i believe that we will win!"
The 2nd half was a different story! We were screaming at the tv by the time 90 hit, and after the few stoppage minutes to count, we were done, and HEADED TO THE QUARTERFINALS!! :D
I'm not kidding at all when I say that my childhood is re-living itself. I'm a little girl again, glued to the TV in admiration of our women's national team. My teenage years are back in swing again, too: back to 1999 when I watched the same Rampone that's playing now, alongside the legends of Mia, Christine, Brandi and the rest. We are BACK in the World Cup run, and I am 110% CERTAIN that WE. WILL. WIN IT!!!!
The sun was out and beautiful before we were even stirring today. It didn't surprise us that the day we would be departing would of course be the most beautiful of those we've seen so far this weekend, but it is what it is, and at least it made the offloading process a prettier experience than doing it in the rain.
even the ducks were out and about!
We rallied together to clean up the boat, collect trash and personal items, and sailed away from our cove back to the marina. It was nearly a 2-hour trip on the houseboat, but a great opportunity to dry off towels and other miscellaneous things that had managed to become waterlogged from yesterday's storms.
sunny day for a slow ride out :)
We hit the marina and began offloading everything.
we actually had more than this when we showed up.. haha
There had been talks of possibly taking the guys' boats for a final cruise around the lake once we got the houseboat back to the marina, but by the time that happened and we started counting the drive times that lay ahead, we all agreed to take a rain check on it, and promised to get back together for round 2 as soon as possible.
kenny loading up
It is rare that our leg of the trip is the shortest, but we lucked out this time with a trip home just shy of 3 hours, compared to the 7/8ish hour trip for the Illinois folks, and the 12+ hour jaunt for Mike and Esther back to Florida. We prayed for safe travels (done & done, amen!!) and hopped on the road for Ohio.
We drove... and drove.
And drove.
And arrived at home!
And then I went to WORK. For 2 hours.
uh huh... *sigh.
It's scary how adult-ish I've become, going in to work on a Sunday evening so that I'm not insanely overwhelmed tomorrow when I hit the floor after missing two full days last week. Haha.
At least tomorrow is the Colombia v. USA USWNT match-up. LET'S GO, USWNT!
So it stormed last night like I haven't heard it storm for a long time, and this morning we awoke to the leftovers of the storm. Tables, chairs, plastic bins and grill trays were all brimming with freshly poured water, and the mist hung around for a better part of the morning. Despite the early hours, there was already plenty of activity onboard:
that time the boat ran out of WATER... [in the tank]
And this...
old hot dog fishing..
It was barely drizzling when we collectively decided to go ahead move the boat to another cove, closer to 76 Falls. Rob and Kenny took off in their boats, while the rest of us enjoyed the view from the patio as Ryan captained us to the new destination.
boys running circles around us
From there, it was a late breakfast and then off again towards 76 Falls where we tied off to a couple of other Bajas and took in the experience of a full-blown boat party.
here we come!
My Way, the catamaran that took the LOTO shootout title, came coasting through at one point too, which was a sight for all of us!
my way
boat party! :)
The clouds started to gather again, so we decided to make it an early afternoon and head back to the houseboat for lunch and determining our next moves. With no hiccups in direction today, we all made it back at the same time, fixed up lunch and then spent the afternoon lounging and fishing. The guys and Esther took off on a mini fishing excursion around the cove, which ended just as they ushered in the sunset.
**Fishing pix - others **
I caught an IG capture of it that the Lake Cumberland page regrammed! Small things, I know, but I thought it was pretty cool ;)
thank you, lc!! ♥
The evening hours rolled in, and I found myself parked on top of the houseboat with my book in one chair, and Taryn in the adjacent seat. The gang was preparing to head out to a club for the night, but Taryn and I opted to hang back, a decision I still don't regret.
The stars were out in full force, with a perfectly clear viewing of the Venus & Jupiter Conjunction! It was GORGEOUS!
Taryn and I covered a lot of ground getting to know each other a little better tonight; I've always liked her and while we've spent a good amount of time together in casual outings, we've never really had the chance to dig in and get to know the other. It was refreshing, and I'm really thankful for that time. Thanks, Taryn! :)
The gang eventually came cruising back in, with some fun stories of other bar-goers and lake regulars from the stops they made. We all convened downstairs for a couple more hours of fun, including several hilarious rounds of Heads Up. My apologies in advanced for the video quality. Our double-wide-on-pontoons looks extra classy here too, I know ;).
With that being said, I think we've had enough action for one day.
Good night, beautiful Cumberland!
We all awoke to Tawny and Ryan on board; the post midnight journey back across unfamiliar waters went off without a hitch, thanks to GPS! We woke up today to a sky threatening rain, but decided to spend it outside regardless of the weather.
good morning, beautiful cumberland :)
We started out with a little early morning fishing. Well, Rob did. I was mid-page reading through Phenomenal when my Paul and Elisa called, while simultaneously Rob managed to catch a fish with another fish. It was a really strange short series of events.
morning fishing... with fish! crazyyy... haha
By mid morning, we were on the boats and cruising towards 76 Falls. We made a stop off at the marina to fuel up and grab a few essentials, before continuing on to the Falls.
marina
We finally arrived at the opening of the falls, and carefully navigated our way through strings of other boats already anchored down for the morning. It wasn't a huge cove, but it sure was beautiful!
76 falls!
We anchored down and spent the early afternoon doing what we came here to do - kick back and relax!
The skies started to cloud over, so we loaded back up and started heading back to the houseboat. We thought we were on the right track, until we realized that Kenny had peeled off and we found ourselves soaring through the lake in the wrong direction, while the sky opened up and rained on us as though it'd never rained ever. Haha.
We were a little miserable, but once it ended and we were back at the houseboat - and dry, it was nothing but a laugh. We spent the evening grilling out and admiring the local visitors; they came in droves and it made me wonder how Ali would be handling this situation.. haha. :) Turtles everywhere!
We opted to wait and relocate the houseboat tomorrow morning, once we have some light to navigate our way to a new spot closer to the Falls.
see ya there, rob! :)
For now, we're wrapping up the day here, listening to the fish flop around out there and hoping it stays dry tomorrow. The radar keeps telling us it's going to be raining all day, but we're hoping for the best and relaxing for now.
