~~ODNEAL FAMILY BLOG~~Port of Readlyn, Iowa

This guy is picking me up Friday at 5 minutes to 5 to head to the river and our houseboats. Yep, Bruce is going to be busy working on countertops all weekend, and I am missing our boat, so I'm hitching a ride up with Louie. I will get some more cleaning done inside and sorting through crap, and maybe even scrape some paint on the walkways of the boat that need re-painting. I miss my boat and am not going to spend another weekend at home cleaning and doing laundry all weekend. I am so looking forward to a quiet, solo weekend just doing whatever the heck I want. And Bruce and the boys will fare just fine at home I am sure. Not sure what they will actually cook and eat, but hey, that isn't my problem. I feed them a good, hot meal every day that I am home. Everyone have a great weekend! I might even throw a fishing pole in the water like Bruce does! And I even bait my own hook and take my own fish off. Who needs a man anyways??????? I guess I do Friday afternoon unless I want to dr...

The weekend that we helped Louie & Helen with their ceiling and moved the boats, we also went up town Lansing to eat at TJ's and it was awesome. My camera batteries died so I didn't get all the pictures that I wanted, but here are a few that I snapped at the restaurant. The food was good as ALWAYS, and we are just glad that the houseboating season has begun and we have a nice place to go to for dinner when we are preparing our boats for the season, and when we just don't feel like cooking during the season. We are glad that Lansing welcomed us all back as usual. Cannot wait for the summer temperatures to arrive so that we can get rid of all these sweatshirts! Isn't it bikini season soon?????????? Okay, not so much for most of us. But at least it should be t-shirt and short weather soon, right? RIGHT??????

So I gave the guys their choice of burgers on the grill or homemade pizza and they chose pizza. Kyle decided that he was going to make it for me. So, I got the crust ready and spread out on the bricks, and then he went to town. I had the sausage browned, peppers and onions chopped, and everything else ready to go for him. Lets just say that I thought the pizza was the best ever. The boys however said that they couldn't tell the difference from mine. I think they were just being nice because Kyle seasoned the pizza sauce on his own, and I personally think that it had a little something that my normal out of the jar sauce doesn't. The pizza was great and I am so glad that he is interested in cooking and experimenting in the kitchen. His Grandpa Bill was a great cook and I'm hoping my boys will love creating things in the kitchen like I do. When you throw the right ingredients together how can you go wrong? Thank you Kyle for showing interest. It means the world to m...

So today was my birthday. My 42nd birthday . Just another day as far as I was concerned. Our family doesn't make big deals out of birthdays usually. Just the way that we are. Of course when the kids were little and such it was a big deal . But now, well, just not so much. At work today my friend Julie called to see what I was up to and to wish me a happy birthday. Then later she called while I was filling up my car and told me to meet her in Dewar at Kathy's for a birthday drink. Well, I hadn't seen Julie or Kathy for quite a while so how could I refuse? When we walked in our friend Carol Wermy was there so we chatted with her for a while and I got my free b-day drink from Kathy. I then said that I needed to leave and visit my SIL Helen as I had talked to her earlier also and told her I'd stop by after Dewar. So Carol & Julie went on their way to G'ville and I headed to Louie & Helen's. My oldest brother Dave called me on my way to Helen...

Took this picture (and many more) of this eagle when we were on our houseboat ride last Sunday. There were quite a few of them flying around when we went through the "natchway". I took a ton of pictures but the sun, yes I said sun, was blinding me so I just had to snap away and hope I got some good ones. I haven't messed with any other pictures but lets just say I think I have enough eagle pictures to put together a book. Guess I just think they are cool and like to take pictures of them. Could be worse-I could take pictures of people passed out or something when at the river having a good time. Oh wait, I do that too when given the opportunity! Everyone have a great weekend despite the weather forecast around here. Sunny days will come again soon. But not soon enough!

Here are some pictures that I snapped last weekend of the ceiling project in Louie & Helen's boat. It will look great when done and was a good project to get taken care of early in the season. Their boat will be better than new with the new support I'm sure. Had a great weekend helping out what we could!

If you've never been to this place-Lansing, Iowa-you need to check it out. What a beautiful little town in northeast Iowa. And it is already crazy busy on the weekends. ALWAYS something going on for everyone. I snapped this picture on a houseboat ride with Ray & Tracy today. Someone converted this old (REALLY OLD) building into condos or apartments and it looks really cool right along the river. Wouldn't we love to rest our heads here! Well I guess we will have to settle for resting our heads on our houseboats. They may not look fancy and such, but at least we all can call it "home" for the summer. And we cannot wait EVERY weekend to get back to our summer homes!

The guys (Bruce, Louie, and Ray) moved Mom & Dad O's boat today to their slip and set up most of the outside grass area decorations for them. It was a beautiful weekend in Lansing and we were all very happy to get back to our slips at the marina this morning. Bruce and Louie weren't going to tell Mom & Dad that they moved their boat, but I insisted they let them know so that they wouldn't worry about getting it done themselves. As it turns out they were very happy to know that their boat is in its spot, and they can just come up to the river for the first time and enjoy not having to trouble with hooking everything up and moving it. I will say though that Bruce didn't bring it in quite as fast as Jr does so we didn't have to shove it away from the dock when he got close! Yahoo to another year of houseboating!

These are just a few more of my favorite family shots from our family Easter photo shoot that Sharon did. She tried to catch Ty jumping and this is just one of my favorites out of all of those shots. And of course we have Cole and DIL (daughter in law) Ashley being cute. I do love the one of the 3 boys together, and might have to put that on my FB profile. Everyone have a great weekend. We are headed to the houseboat. Cannot wait to spend the first weekend of the year at the river with Louie & Helen! I will torture anyone that happens upon this site with pictures. I promise! Helen is entertainment usually that you cannot pay for. It just happens randomly! Cheers!

She is such a baby. And totally loved and spoiled by everyone in our household. And those that visit to be perfectly honest. And who wouldn't fall in love with a cat that can curl up and sleep anywhere, or lay in the dirt and dead plants in last years flower pot, and be totally comfortable? Her favorite places to lay and sleep are definitely those that are unusual, but she also just likes to curl up on our laps while we watch TV. And yes, she does snore and make noises when sleeping just like some humans in this house! I think they choose to remain anonymous at this point since noone actually has the proof of such incidents happening. At least I don't think anyone does!

So I know there are a lot of pictures in this collage, but just click anywhere on it and it will make everything bigger. Probably larger than you want! These are the very first pictures that I took when we got up to our houseboat, and then the pictures of the cleaning and work that we did on Good Friday before we headed back home. The Nuk N Futz fared very well once again, and we are looking forward to moving it to our slip just as soon as we have power for the season. And check out our new table and chairs for the patio. We got them online through a link Louie sent us this winter delivered to our door for around $200. Very early this spring when we were at Home Depot they already had this same set on display for $399. We saved a ton of money! Remember that when shopping for outside furniture. Clearance and closeout stuff can save you a bunch. We cannot wait to get back to the boat, and finish getting her ready to go for the summer. Maybe this weekend? We will know soon. Checking the f...

I just love the small random stuff that shows up every year around the yard. Every spring as I am picking up sticks out of the yard, or garbage left over from the winter, it makes me really appreciate all that we do have. And the beauty of it all. I don't even know what these little flowers are, (although I'm sure I've asked my SIL Helen many times), but they pop up in the very same spot that my peonies do every year. And they are so pretty. I guess every spring makes me thankful for one more season to enjoy it all. Hopefully many, many more to follow!

Loving the great weather and weekends spent outside doing things around the house, and whatever time we can get with the kids. Soon once again school will be done for the year, and the house will be noisy all summer long. Cannot wait for that noise to be back again. Have a great Monday and week. And get out and enjoy the weather. Sounds like it will be a great one! Enjoy!!!!

Let me just state this fact-this kid (and all these kids) is an athlete. Yep that is Ty in the pink shirt and white shorts going up for the basket. Even though I want him to continue wrestling (and I think he will), he is good at basketball along with all of these school mates/friends that were here today and put together a game. What an awesome group of kids gathered in our driveway this afternoon to entertain us. Yes, Bruce and I looked at each other and exclaimed how enjoyable it was just to watch them. We had fun. Small town living sometimes doesn't seem so bad at all!

TYLER - Need I say more? You have to admit this is an awesome photo! Everyone have a great weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

Today is my sister in law Diane's birthday. I searched through my photos on my computer forever and could not find the picture that I wanted from the river (a rum dumb night with Ann!), so you just get a bouquet of flowers! May you have an awesome day and I hope Dave takes you out for dinner. Oh, and buys you diamonds! Isn't that always the perfect gift?

Here are some pictures from our Easter Sunday at Bart & Sharon's house. We had a great time, and as you can see David got a haircut that almost EVERYONE had a hand in. I hope he is still talking to all of us! And Tyler and Uncle Rick had to throw grapes to each other and see who could catch the most. Not sure who won that one! As usual we had excellent food and beverages, and really enjoyed spending the time with family. And thank you Sharon once again for the photo shoot. I love the pictures!

This is what we had laying in the grass after the hail hit. Bruce got his truck and Ty's Jeep under the carport, and my car was in the garage. It sounded pretty bad on the windows and such but really we didn't have it so bad. I told Bruce that maybe if it was really large hail the runabout would be wrecked and we'd just make an insurance claim and get a new fish & ski. He didn't like that idea. I guess he is maybe looking forward to getting it running and back at the river this year so the boys have something to come up more often for. We love having the houseboat to ourselves most weekends, but would love it if the boys showed up regularly instead of random. Glad that the severe storms didn't hit us too bad at our house and I hope that you weren't in the line of severe weather where you are either. Have a great hump day!

Well apparently the wind blew like crazy on Friday when the thunderstorm came through because our deck was covered with buds from the trees at home, and later that night Cole called and said he had a tree on his house. So we went over to check it out and yep, he definitely had a branch fall directly onto his roof. The funny part is that when Ashley got home from work later that night she didn't even notice it. I think she must have been tired or something to miss that. Well Saturday Cole had to work so Bruce headed over there with ladder and chainsaw and took care of getting it off the roof and cut up into moveable logs for them. Ashley helped him and somehow they managed to not break any windows or fall off of the ladder. Bruce and ladders sometimes don't mix too well! Glad this time was good!

Happy Birthday Barb. May you have a great day and treat yourself to something fun!

So, we spent Easter Sunday at Bart & Sharon's. I cannot tell anyone how much I love my sister in law Sharon and her photography skill. She always is game for whatever I ask her to do and today she went above and beyond even though we were all at her house for Easter dinner. We had such a good time and even though I had to ask the boys for photos.....this one turned out exceptionally well. I LOVE this shot of me and my "boys". Thank you Sharon and your excellent photography skills!

May you all enjoy the day with your family and/or friends. We are going to Bart & Sharon's for lots of good food and conversation. And of course a few totties! Have a good one wherever you are today!

We went to the track meet at Waukon, had dinner with our good friends Tim & Kris in Lansing, and just overall had a great time. We opened up the houseboat for the season and are ready to roll for the summer. This picture is of Bruce hooking up the plumbing in the "basement" of the boat. We are ready to ROLL and looking so forward to it!!!!!

May you all enjoy your day rather you have to work or not. Here are a couple of pictures of my daffodils that I took when they were all bloomed. I hate it that they all bloom at the same time because usually I cannot enjoy all of them in vases. May you all have a nice Friday and weekend. Are we not loving this weather? I think I need to clip some more flowers and take them to my co-worker tomorrow for her Easter table wherever that may be! Happy Iowa weather to all!