Living Our Dream

Christmas in Pittsburgh 2015

Pittsburgh, PA/Bushnell, FL - Events of Friday, December 25 to Wednesday, December 30, 2015

We were looking forward to Christmas morning with great anticipation. Although we knew Lydia still wouldn't be old enough to have developed a real excitement for Christmas, we also knew she would be much more aware than last Christmas when she was only 5 months old.

Sure enough, Lydia's face lit up with a big smile as she came into the living room on Christmas morning and saw the lights on the tree and all the gifts stacked underneath.

Big smile from Lydia on Christmas morning

Lydia's first gift was a new chair. It is just her size, and she loves it.

Lydia in her new chair surrounded by more gifts

One of Lydia's favorite gifts was J. Michael's old smartphone. She has always been fascinated by cell phones and iPads, so Lora and J. Michael gave Lydia J. Michael's old cell phone to play with. The phone has been deactivated, so the screen lights up and the camera works, but that's all it does. She knows how to turn the phone on and how to swipe the phone to unlock it. She also sometimes walks around with the phone up to her ear.

Lydia swiping the screen of the cell phone

Another of Lydia's favorite gifts was a Playskool Busy Gears.

Lydia opening her Playskool Busy Gears

Music plays as the gears turn. The gears can also be moved around and stacked.

Lydia playing with her Busy Gears

Toward the end of the morning when most of her other presents were unwrapped, we give Lydia the rocking horse Paul put together a couple of days prior. Lydia was excited, but as we suspected might be the case, she was also a little afraid of it because it's kind of big.

Lydia checking out her rocking horse

Several of the adults pretended to ride the horse in an attempt to convince Lydia it was fun. We even put Freeway on it.

Freeway on the rocking horse

We eventually coaxed Lydia to get onto the horse, but she was wasn't happy about it. We decided not to push it and to give Lydia more time to get used to the rocking horse before making another attempt.

Lydia wanting off the rocking horse

We normally take turns opening gifts until everyone's gifts have been unwrapped. Lydia, on the other hand, opened a gift and played with it for quite a while before moving on to the next gift. Of course, there's nothing wrong with that - it makes Christmas last much longer. Lydia didn't finish unwrapping all her gifts until late on Christmas evening.

One of the last gifts Lydia opened on Christmas Day was a set of large Legos from us. The box was almost as big as she is, but she only needed a little help from Dad to get it open.

Lydia opening a large box of Legos

Poppy showing Lydia how to put Legos together

On the day after Christmas, we headed over to J. Michael's mom's house for dinner and the annual family gift exchange. There was a lot of good food and a lot of good fun. Family members draw names and give gifts only to that one person. Kids, however, get special treatment and get gifts from all the aunts and uncles.

Lydia opening a gift at J. Michael's mom's house on the day after Christmas

Lydia playing with one of her gifts at J. Michael's mom's house

After we had dinner and after everyone had opened their gifts, Paul spotted a rocking horse sitting over in the corner. The rocking horse has been there for years and has been used by all the grandkids. Since it was smaller than the one we got Lydia, it was easy for Paul to convince her to try it. Paul started her off with slow, gentle rocking. She eventually enjoyed going faster and faster.

Lydia on a smaller rocking horse

The following day, it was no problem coaxing Lydia onto the bigger rocking horse at home. She giggled as we rocked it for her. Later on Sunday when J. Michael's mom came over, we got Lydia to pose for a photo on the rocking horse.

Paul, Margery, J. Michael's mom and Lydia on her rocking horse

By Monday, Lydia started asking to be put onto the rocking horse. She even started getting the hang of rocking it herself.

We spent most of Monday hanging out and playing with Lydia. On Tuesday morning, we said our good-byes after posing with Lydia for one more farewell picture.

Grammy, Lydia and Poppy

Since we took time to play with Lydia before we left, we got on the road a little later than usual when we headed south to Blueberry Hill. That was another good reason our plan to make the trip in two days instead of driving straight through was a good idea.

Not only did we get a late start, but there was also a longer than usual traffic backup north of Charlotte. That section of I-77 is always slow anyway, but this year, there is construction in that area which apparently contributed to several accidents. Fortunately, we checked traffic using the Google Maps app on our iPhone before we got too close, and we were able to re-route our travel using the app. It took us over hill and dale, but because the app takes traffic into account when calculating travel time, the app assured us it was at least 14 minutes faster than any other route. The other good thing about the detour is we were able to keep moving most of the time instead of creeping along in frustrating stop-and-go traffic. Traffic delayed our arrival at the Hampton Inn in Rock Hill, South Carolina, by over an hour.

We got up early on Wednesday for our second day of travel back to Blueberry Hill. There were only a few slow-downs on I-95 toward the South Carolina/Georgia border. However, after we got into Florida, another check of traffic on our Google Maps app showed heavy delays farther south on I-75. Construction to widen and improve that section of the highway started before we left Florida last year, and the narrow lanes passing through a couple of the construction zones again caused several accidents. Once more we were able to alter our route to travel cross-country for the last 15 miles or so to avoid the backup. We pulled into Blueberry Hill around 4:00. After we got the truck unloaded, we had some dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening.

We'll have another update sometime after the first of the year. In the meantime, we want to wish everyone a...

...Happy New Year!

Off to Pittsburgh for Christmas

Bushnell, FL/Pittsburgh, PA - Events of Sunday, December 20 to Thursday, December 24, 2015

As we have done in previous years, we headed north to Pittsburgh to spend Christmas with family again this year. Also like previous years, we left the rig in Florida and stayed at Lora and J. Michael's house.

Prior to last year, we always drove straight through taking turns driving and sleeping. At about 16 hours, it was a little grueling, but it was doable. For the first time last year we stopped overnight on the way back because, not only does the drive south take longer due to heavier traffic after Christmas, but we would be driving much slower since we had a new truck whose owners manual recommended driving under 55 mph for the first 500 miles. After having made an overnight stop last year, we decided we liked the less-grueling pace, so we decided to make it a two-day drive from now on.

We left around 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and stopped at the same Hampton Inn in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where we stayed on the way back last year. After a departure from Rock Hill around 8:00 a.m. on Monday, we pulled into Pittsburgh just after Lydia's nap. The drive was uneventful except for a little rain the second day.

Lydia sure has changed since we last saw her in September. She is no longer a baby, but a toddler. It's really a lot of fun interacting with her.

Our first Christmas celebration this year was to go to lunch with Paul's step mom on Tuesday. We had a delicious lunch at Empire Palace in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh.

Like we said, Lydia is growing up. She loves to use a straw, and the waitress was able to provide her with a light weight styrofoam cup with a lid.

Lydia with her cup

Lydia also does a pretty good job of feeding herself.

Lydia feeding herself

Lunches range in price from about $7 to $9 and include a choice of soup or egg roll, and either steamed or fried rice. We both had General Tso's chicken, Paul's step mom had lo mien and Lora had sushi. Everything was delish!

Margery, Paul's step mom, Lora and Lydia

On Tuesday evening, we took a drive about 20 minutes north of Lora and J. Michael's house to Clinton, Pennsylvania, to check out the Christmas Light Up Celebration, which is a light display set up entirely by volunteers in Clinton Park. Proceeds from the $10 per car donation go to help a variety of local charities. We've gone to see the display several times before, and it is well done and well organized. Lydia, who was too young to appreciate it much last year, really seemed to enjoy all the bright lights and Christmas music this year. It was nice and warm, so we could drive through with the windows open so we could see better without freezing. The following photos show just a few of the many dazzling light displays.

Tunnel of lights

Tractor

Lights down in a ravine

Santa driving a race car

On Wednesday, Paul went to Cranberry to have lunch with some of his former co-workers from MSA. It was good to see them again and to reminisce about the good old days.

When Paul got back to the house after lunch on Wednesday, his assignment was to assemble the rocking horse we and J. Michael's mom got for Lydia for Christmas. We got the one by Radio Flyer. It gets the best reviews, but many people commented it is very complicated to assemble. It took Paul 15 minutes just to get all the parts unpacked and organized.

Parts for the rocking horse

The Radio Flyer rocking horse is very well designed and very well made. There are lots of parts, but it didn't take Paul all that long to put them together.

Paul assembling the rocking horse

On Christmas Eve, we headed over to J. Michael's brother's house for a family gathering. We had lots of good food and good conversation.

Lydia and Margery at the Christmas Eve celebration

When we got back to Lora and J. Michael's house, we got one more photo of Lydia in her new Christmas PJs before she headed off to bed.

Lydia in her new PJs on Christmas Eve

In our next post, we'll tell you about the rest of our Christmas.

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas

Beyond the lights, decorations, and frenetic activities of the season lies the true meaning of Christmas ~ the celebration of the birth of Christ, the Prince of Peace. As the world spins out of control, we pray that His priceless gifts of forgiveness of sins, a relationship with God, and the promise of freedom from sin and death are yours.

"May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope." Matthew 15:3.

We wish all our readers the eternal blessings of Christmas.

 

 

 

 

5th Wheel Project: Add New Shelves to a Couple of Closets

Bushnell, FL - Events of Monday, December 7, 2015 to Friday, December 11, 2015

Over the past week or two, Paul has been working on a project to add some shelves to two of our closets in the 5th wheel. The closets, which are narrow and fairly tall, each had only one shelf leaving wasted space.

Paul worked on the project between doing other things, so it took several days to cut and fit all the pieces for the shelves and supports. He used some cherry plywood we got last year and used some of the cherry lumber we got when we drove south to Winter Haven several weeks ago. After cutting the pieces, it took Paul several more days to apply the stain and two coats of finish.

Shelves and supports

Last Monday, the final coat of finish was dry. Paul started installing the shelves in the late morning.

Bathroom closet before and after

Bedroom closet before and after

It was mid-afternoon by the time the shelves were done - a perfect time to head over to Beef O'Brady's for lupper.

Beef O'Brady's

The reason we decided on Beef O'Brady's is it was Burger Monday when build-your-own burgers with one side are $5.49 instead of the regular price of around $8. Margery had her burger with the works and had onion rings for her side. Paul had his with American cheese and fries.

Margery with her burger

We made a stop at Walmart to pick up a few items on our way back to Blueberry Hill, then settled in for an evening of TV.

Our friends, Pat and Mike arrived at Blueberry Hill last Wednesday. We went over to their site to say hello, then we and some of their neighbors gave them a hand getting hooked up. After chatting a short time, we left so they could get settled in.

On Friday, Pat sent us a text asking if we wanted to join them at Coyote Rojo for lupper. It sounded like a good idea to us.

Coyote Rojo

The pick-two combo was specially priced at $5.59 (regularly $6.89), so that's what we both had. Margery had a ground beef burrito and a taco, and Paul had a ground beef burrito and a chile relleno. Rice and refried beans were included. Pat and Mike split a Super Coyote Burrito.

Mike, Pat and Margery

Everything was yummy, and we had a great time catching up with Pat and Mike. It's great to have them back in the neighborhood.

Because just about everyone will be busy with Christmas activities for the next week or two, we probably won't have another update for a while. Stay tuned.

 

 

 

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A Little Bit of This and a Little Bit of That

Bushnell, FL - Events of Saturday, November 28 to Friday, December 4, 2015

On Saturday, November 28, we drove up to Brownwood Paddock Square, which is the closest of several town squares in The Villages. Each of the town squares has shopping, restaurants and an entertainment pavilion. Shoes Margery had ordered from the SAS Shoe Store in Brownwood were in, and we needed to pick them up. Brownwood also has a farmers market every Saturday from 9:00 to 2:00, so we walked over to check it out after stopping at SAS.

Farmers market at Brownwood Paddock Square

In addition to produce, the farmers market has baked goods from artisan bakeries, a few craft booths and several vendors selling plants.

Margery checking out plants at the farmers market

In the end, we bought just one tomato for our lunches, but we always enjoy browsing that type of market.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the guests who are already here at Blueberry Hill are beginning to decorate for Christmas in earnest. We keep our Christmas decorations fairly simple, but we decided we wanted to expand just a little and were considering the possibility of draping a garland along the front of our island. After finding only "bottle brush" artificial evergreen garlands (not bad from a distance, but ours would be only a couple feet away from our faces inside the 5th wheel) at Walmart, we decided to drive down to check out the Hobby Lobby in Zephyrhills about 40 minutes to the south.

Hobby Lobby had beautiful, realistic artificial evergreen garlands; but unfortunately, they were too bulky for what we had in mind, and they were way too expensive. But the trip wasn't wasted because Zephyrhills is only about 10 minutes from San Antonio where Pancho's Villa is located. Pancho's was the first restaurant we went to when we arrived in Florida about three weeks ago. Obviously, we didn't get enough Mexican food when we were in Amish Country over the summer because we were still hungry for it.

Pancho's Villa

We both had ground beef chimichangas again, this time substituting queso sauce for the rojo sauce (a type of molé sauce) that normally comes with the chimis. Chimichangas and most other dinner entrees include refried beans and rice as well as a little guacamole, sour cream, lettuce and chopped tomato on the side. Everything was yummy, especially the corn chips. We had two baskets.

Paul with his chimichanga

Since we were unable to get garland we liked at Hobby Lobby, we decided to enhance our outside decorations instead. While we were out on Monday, we stopped at Walmart and got a string of 50 warm-white LED lights to add to the wreath we hang on the shed. Last year, we put a floodlight on the wreath, and we decided that was a bit too bright. On Tuesday, Paul added the lights to the wreath and put it up.

New lights on our Christmas wreath

As we hang around the RV park, we get to enjoy visits from wildlife that are primarily attracted by the water retention ponds around the campground. We occasionally see turtles, and there was even a 5' alligator that visited during the summer. It was relocated elsewhere by the Fish and Wildlife Commission. The ponds also attract aquatic birds including fairly large numbers of ibis as well as an occasional great egret or blue heron. Like the egret and heron, the ibis feed mostly on aquatic life like crustaceans, small fish and aquatic insects. Ibis can also sometimes be seen on land feeding on beetles and grubs.

Flock of ibis feeding on beetles and grubs

Blueberry Hill frequently has sandhill cranes foraging around the campground and the ponds. The cranes, which are large birds standing about 3 to 4 feet tall, get their names from the Nebraska Sandhills where they mate and spend their summers.

Sandhill cranes

We also have a couple of small brown anole lizards that we frequently see flitting across our patio when we step outside. One day, Paul happened to have his camera with him, and one of the lizards stopped long enough for a photo.

Brown anole lizard

Paul has been doing a little bit of gardening. Last Friday, he planted the calibrachoa he started from cuttings before we left Berlin, Ohio, earlier in the fall. Although there were a few cuttings that failed to take root, most of them did quite well.

Rooted cuttings of calibrachoa

Paul planting the calibrachoa

The plants are still small, so it will take a while for them to flower, especially with cooler weather ahead. However, we look forward to seeing what they do. As a reminder of what calibrachoa look like, the next photo taken last summer shows the plants from which the cuttings were taken.

Calibrachoa

Paul has also been working on a small 5th wheel project. We'll tell you about it in our next post.