The Mighty, Mighty Evening of NOTHING!

I was just reading a blog about 45 minutes ago that had all kinds of depth to it; it was a memoir-style thing written by a gal whose journey right now is documenting her travels across the globe for the sake of missions. It was pretty emotional, actually, and just about everything else that this entry

IS NOT.

Gotcha!

That's right, this is one of those phenomenally non-phenomenal entries, that I write for myself rather than others, in the legitimate and very probable case that I'm at a mental crossroad some odd days or years from now trying to remember if I did anything cool on 6/16/16. 

Well, not really. We did housework, which included laundry, vacuuming and some other super-fun adulty things like emptying the dishwasher and taking out the trash. Oh, and I fished a handful of magnetic doll accessories out of a vase, because in real life [at least mine, that is.. ] these are the types of things that are pretty typical around here. 

Speaking of typical: 

If you know our dogs, you'll immediately recognize that this happenstance picture is a perfectly unscripted capture though of their personalities. So. Much. Accuracy. 

And, just in case Rob starts doubting his chronological recall of boat maintenance, this happened tonight too: 

That my friends, is 2 things: 1) much needed updates to the brakes being installed on the boat trailer, and 2) just one. more. reason that I am insanely thankful for the handiness of this secret master mechanic. People pay big bucks for this type of thing, but it's happening constantly under my own nose in the driveway more times than I realize, and I'm grateful for all the headache he saves our family for things like this. Plus, I think's it's pretty awesome when my man can tackle stuff like this on his own. Just sayin' :). 

And THAT, folks, is the super short, very much un-exhilerating chapter of my week, otherwise known as Thursday. 

Stay tuned; our weeks are chock full of these riveting tales.. haha ;) 

G'Nite! 

xo | cmd

Random Evening Cruises!

It's FRIIIIDAY!! Wooo!

What a week it's been! I had to admit that while this has been a wholly productive week at work, I was ready to welcome the weekend and the fun we've planned for the next couple of days. On top of that, Jesse's in town for the weekend, which is always a great time!

I met Rob and Jesse at the house after work, and on a last-minute decision, we piled into the truck with boat in tow and headed for the river. I texted Jessica along the way, who was at the Red's game with Jill, and agreed to hitch a ride with us.

on our way!

coming up to the stadium - cincinnati, you're a beaut! 

gorgeous.. 

We swung by the Serpentine Wall to get Jessica and Jill, then were off to Ludlow Bromley for dinner.

lovin' it! 

on the river!

the haaaaat ... thanks jessica! haha

We haven't been to LBYC in a little while, but it was the perfect night to kick back and relax with good people, good food and live music! 

we look a little ragged from the boat ride, buuuut.. i love this guy! 

Once we had dinner under the belt, we hopped back on the boat to drop Jessica & Jill back off. It was a karaoke ride back, in preparation for tomorrow's Tim McGraw concert! 

these two! :) :)
[and me... being creepy in the background?!]

mid-dance party shot.. thanks jesse .. haha

love her at night! 

so thankful for this guy. so, so thankful! 

What a perfect Friday night! :) 

It's canoeing tomorrow, and then Tim McGraw on the water! Gooood night! 

xo | cmd

#BoatProblems

It was so beautiful out today.

I kickstarted the gorgeous day by sleeping in until 11am. I have no clue how that happened, but I woke up to Rob nudging my foot at the end of the bed, with a plateful of breakfast in hand.

on the water! :) 

Yeah that's right, my man made me breakfast in bed.
I know for a fact that I don't deserve this guy. He is seriously.. the best.

It was a split decision after that to head to the water, but that's about how it happens half the time anyway. We loaded up and took off in the direction of Ripley, to meet up with Reuben and his two boys for the day.

Ripley is well past the passages of water that freak us all out here in the good old Ohio River. It's a bit of a haul out there, but as always, once you get in the water, the commute melts away and it all becomes worth it!

Jessica decided to join the fun, so she took off to meet us, while we rendezvoused for a bit with Reuben. Soon enough, we took the short cruise back to our drop in to load Jessica, and then it was back up river to the sandbar!

I don't give enough credit to the guy who brought us out here, and for all the work he does before and after these trips, along with everything else he does that we don't recognize him for as often as we should..

love this crazy fool ♥  

Reuben and his boys visit this area frequently, so they're familiar with the layout. The boys took Jessica and I to the other side of the sandbar, where there was a rope swing that swooped out over the bank and into the river. Interested? Well, DUH..

weeee! 

jessica taking a go at it, too 

We eventually trekked back through the brush of the sandbar to the bank where Rob and Reuben were in no rush to wind down. The lot of us hung out a little while longer, until the sun began to phase into that golden, pre-setting shade. Reuben and his sons took off, and we weren't far behind. It was a cruise back to where we'd started, so Jessica and I took turns to give Rob a bit of a break.

girls will be girls.. 

All was going just fine until a small sputter interrupted the otherwise smooth ride, and then a bigger sputter. Rob took over at that point, but with no luck of righting the noises. In an instant, the power stopped all together, and we were left afloat with no engine turnover in the middle of the river.

That is not where you want to be.
There was a lot of barge activity today, and my initial fear was that we'd wind up in the path of a load and be unable to move. After much effort, time and fruitless brainstorming on our end, we managed to flag down a couple on a jetski, who were kind enough to assist us with some fuel..

thank. you!!

As it turned out, the kid working the pump at the dock didn't put the gas cap back on correctly when we fueled up. It was an error that we should've caught, but noticed it only after it was too late - the point after which I'm sure gas had been coming out and water had been going in - the gas tank [aka, not.... good.. at all...].

The fueling didn't work, but our second saving grace was a family on a houseboat that ended up tying off with us and towing us in to the dock. Rob hopped off to go and get his truck, while Jess and I held down the fort. I must say we did a good job.. haha

 and jessica with the dismount! haha

Okay, so here's the deal - it's been a LONG day, and Rob is officially very much through with all of tonight's debacle. I would expect the next few days to hold some long hours of tinkering, but I have zero doubt that he'll have it diagnosed, fixed and reassembled before the middle of the week. That's just how he rolls...

Womp womp. That's the life of having big toys like boats, bikes and trucks... *sigh.

We'll deal with this later. For now, this is how we'll go ahead and remember today - from the fun side..

G'Nite...

xo | cmd 

Family Boating Day

We've launched into a new series of lessons today at SonRise, and I think it's really gonna be a good one! Cheers to Genesis, one of the most understated books of the Bible, and all that it holds for us if we really dig into it the way we should!

lovin' it! :) 

After church, we made a beeline back to the house and packed our gear, for a day out on the lake.

Raft and all, we made a day of it!

my girl 

my guy

an action shot! 

This girl cracks me up... 

Today was the first time Syd & I really tested out the raft together, & I must say it was a pretty good time! 

We're into our second season of boating lessons for Sydni, too - I'm wholly convinced that she'll have this down before long... especially if she stays at this pace.

It goes without saying, but should be reiterated basically all the time, that this guy is the reason behind days like this - this guy that I don't deserve, is the rock and reason behind fun days like this. He works his tail off every day to share with us and make sure that we not only live a good life, but that we can sprinkle in some extras to go with it. I'm marrying up here, folks. ♥

A day in the sun made for one tuckered out kiddo, so we were as quick as possible on the ride home, as we stopped off for some groceries before continuing on home for dinner, laundry and time to wind down.

It's gonna be a summer of sights much like these - I can tell already!

Have a BEAUTIFUL week, friends!

xo | cmd 

Yard Work & Bonfires

Rob and I got breakfast moving early this morning, as we anticipated a day full of yard and boat work. We chowed down and headed outdoor for a day of weed-pulling, grass-mowing, boat-buffing and other miscellaneous meanderings around the house.

i'm insanely in love

See ya later, weeds...

pre-weeding..

At some juncture in the day, I received a text from Chris, inviting us over for a bonfire later that evening, as one of their friends from Cleveland was in town visiting for the weekend. We happily obliged, and after the afternoon wore on, we cleaned up and made our way over for a relaxing evening of friends, loom bands, bonfires and smores.

The sun went down, and the sparks went higher! 

We sure have had a happy Saturday, and we hope you have too!

xo | cmd

City Flea & Cincinnati Meanderings

Rob and Dillon resolved early on to head out to the river. I voted to go my own way for the early morning, and took advantage of the semi-dreary day to check out this year's showing of The 513 City Flea. I made it down to Washington Park just as a downpour had made its way out, and was greeted by puddles, a drizzling remnant of the storm and handfuls of Cincinnati-enthusiasts who didn't seem to mind the sloshy condition.

Sunny or not, it was wonderful!

rain or shine! 

Becky rendezvoused with me a short time later, and after another few rounds of the City Flea vendors.

peruvian mochilas and kombucha

scavengers! 

It wasn't long before we took off northbound for REI, where Rob and Dillon met up with us. As it turned out, they'd not even made it off the boat ramp as the rain set in. They U-turned back to the house before joining us. The REI sales is still happening; Rob bought his hammock today!

uh oh... the hammock epidemic continues! 

and some yoga... ;) 

We parted ways with Becky and headed down to Findlay Market, where we grabbed Eli's and showed Dillon around the market grounds. There was a pitstop as well at Rhinegeist, where to our surprise, there was some major renovation well underway!

i'm sorry... say whaaaaaaaat?! 

I can't wait to see this when it's finished.

After Rhinegeist, we made our way back home, where the split decision was made to give the river a second chance. We dropped in and took off towards Ludlow. One of Rob's bosses and his fiance joined us for a couple hours, and then it was back up the river to the ramp.

The skies may not have afforded us the sunshine we were hoping, but it was still a beautiful night to be on the water!

beautiful! 

dillon & rob

We pulled off the river just as the rain started to threaten its return for the night, dried the boat off and made the trip back to the house. The boys wanted to venture back out to OTR, for the usual touring that occurs whenever we have visitors. I opted out of that excursion, and set myself up for a night of absolutely nothing on the couch - which I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed ;).

The boys will be back sometime in the early hours, but with any luck, I'll be out cold by that time.

Happy Saturday, folks!

xo | cmd