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

So this is the wonderful SIL I am picking up tomorrow afternoon to go to Sam's and try to get all of our shrimp for the summer before the prices sky rocket due to BP's DISASTER ! Helen always has the shrimp boil at the river every summer, and we have made our annual fall float a tradition for all of us river/boat people. So I snapped this picture of Hildegard a couple weeks ago when she was preparing dinner for us at the river. We discussed getting to Sam's a few weeks ago but both got too busy. So tomorrow I have a date with my SIL to go to town and stock our freezers with shrimp for the summer, and of course we will hit Aldi's and Target and wherever else my Milan takes us. One thing is for sure.......we will have a great time even though I am fighting a terrible cold. I made the mistake of bragging that I had not been sick in years the other day, and I even knocked on wood, but I am fighting a sore throat and chest cold. I cannot be sick for Memorial Day...

Some flowers I picked along the railroad tracks in Lansing. I was worried that I was breaking the law picking them, but on the way up Friday night Bruce & I saw them all over along the highways and EVERYWHERE ! Apparently they are wild and not "illegal" to pick. And they smelled wonderful and looked pretty. This picture is of our table on the deck of the houseboat. Bruce hates frogs (or I should say the frogs I decorated our deck with), so I pretty much have them all over our front deck. They are adorable you have to admit. I guess if he can have his fishing pole and worms out all the time I can have my frogs. Give and take, give and take! Everyone have a good Monday and a great week !

Yep, I knew it would happen. Bruce had to work on the boat this weekend, and it was so windy we didn't take it out to the sandbar as planned. Here are some pictures of the before and after walkway. Now if only the other side and everything else that needs repainted was already done. Oh well. Had an awesome weekend and got some work done on the boat. Can't ask for much more. Looking forward to the Colorado crew (some of them) coming next weekend. Everyone have a great week!

As much as we enjoy every minute (usually) of the weekends spent on our houseboat at the river, these boats do require maintenance and work! Our side walkways were never ground down to nothing and were kind of bumpy and nasty looking under that white paint. So Bruce decided that this year we (him actually-lucky me!) need to strip, grind, and put a new coat of white paint on them to make them look pretty! Well I'm pretty sure "pretty" isn't his idea of what it will be but you get the picture. Anyways, the former owners had GLUED carpet down on every possible space, and let me tell you it is not easy to get that crap off. We knew the guy seemed a little "different" when we bought the boat from him (it was decorated all over inside with PINK!), but who in their right mind would glue down carpet on every surface that people walk on? Well he did. Bruce had grinded pretty much everything else and so this year it is the sides. Then next year he will prob...

We planted some flowers and plants at the river last weekend. Jr. was digging in the dirt and I decided to help him. We put in some bulbs, tomato plants, marigolds (geraniums I kept calling them), and filled the pots at the end of Dock 1. Helen & I made it a competition but really I think both looked the same since we put the exact same colors and amount in the same spots! And there was no prize awarded. Oh, and Jr. from the front deck of his houseboat told me the marigolds were crooked. The nerve!!! So guess what I did? Dug those suckers back up and made them be in a straight line or it would have bugged him and I all summer long. The little "river garden" looks pretty good. I should probably get my garden planted at home or it will be too late. If I could just find someone to till it for me. I told Bruce we shouldn't have gotten rid of that old tiller of my Dad's. Maybe today would be a good day to take the afternoon off and play in the dirt some mo...

I took these pictures off the back of my houseboat the weekend I went up alone. At first I just thought that I saw a gar fish swimming near the water surface. Then on closer examination I saw that it had like a fungus all over it, and was not bothered by my noise. So of course I had to go get Louie to see it (remember Bruce wasn't there), and we decided it must be sick or something wrong with it. I then of course had to snap some "blogworthy" pictures to gross everyone out for Friday Fotos! Aren't we having fun now! And we all actually swim in that water every summer weekend? Oh boy! Everyone have a great weekend. And good luck Wapsie Valley track boys and girls at districts Friday night!

So here a some of my favorite pictures of the weekend I rode up to the houseboat with Louie. The weekend of the Pool 9 river clean up that I participated in, helped Jr. get his water hooked up on his houseboat, supervised the guys working on Louie's ceiling, and managed to clean up and go out with great friends for a pizza supper that would try to kill me (in the middle of the night by MYSELF) on my houseboat. Oh yeah, it was a great weekend. I can't say that it was totally relaxing, but I got a bunch of stuff cleaned out and gone through, and got to finish the spring cleaning of the boat that I usually do, without Bruce having to be there and feel like he needed to help. Oh yeah, and that picture of the Lansing bridge? It was the view off my front deck looking down river. Very soon there will be more boats in the marina and my view will not be so beautiful. And that is one of many reasons Bruce & I do not stay in the marina on the weekends. We prefer the view fro...

Happy Mother's Day to everyone! Here are some pictures from my weekend at the river. What an awesome weekend we had with family and friends. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend my day. And check out the picture of Kevin in the middle. We got him this Mister "get somebody else" To Fix It t-shirt because basically Bruce, Louie, and Ray are his personal boat helpers/fixers! We think that he really did like the shirt, and knows that without these guys at the river he would be literally "sunk" without a paddle! Everyone have a great week!

Love this picture of Ty sitting in a tote in the water while the waves are rolling in. Temperatures are going to drop into the 30's tonight, so I'm guessing we will be running heaters on the houseboat this weekend and not even thinking about heading to the beach for a swim! Oh well, this picture gives me thoughts of times to come this year. Everyone have a great weekend!

Today is my SIL Sharon's birthday. I totally stole this picture from her FB profile, but I don't have very many pictures on the laptop until lately, so thought this was perfect! You are a great friend, SIL, and photographer and we so appreciate everything that you do for us. And you must remember that you and/or Bart ALWAYS have an open invitation to stay with us at the river on the houseboat. Thank you for all that you do, and especially just for being YOU ! I hope that you have a great day and do something special for yourself. You deserve it! Happy Birthday!

This weekend at the river was a great weekend. Saturday afternoon Tim & Kris (our good friends) stopped by the houseboat and made me stop cleaning and working to go on a boat ride with them. Well I am very glad they did as we saw many turtles on logs, and deer running on an island. I couldn't believe how many turtle pictures that I got with many lined up upon a log. Unbelievable! The weekend was a great time and I thank Tim & Mike for letting me tag along with them on the Pool 9 River Cleanup. I had fun with them and was so glad to be able to help since Bruce was stuck at home working all weekend. It is amazing how much garbage volunteers can get rid of in a few hours. And it makes a person feel good to lend a hand in keeping the riverbanks and parks clean for us river users! Anything to do our part. I know that every weekend we stay on a sandbar we end up hauling away other peoples garbage that they leave. Come on people-GET A CLUE! If you don't take it wit...

So Kyle has started moving some of his stuff home from the dorm so that he doesn't have to do it all the last day. He took apart the couch so that we could wash the cover, and of course Gizmo found a new spot to claim. She always goes for the unusual or "new" place to hang out. Kyle got it moved to his room upstairs at home and put back together, and ended up putting a blanket over it as the cover is black and she claimed that spot in his bedroom. Everything the boys have in their rooms gets taken over by the cats, and lets just say we should have stock in 3M lint rollers because with the cat hair they leave behind we definitely go through them like crazy! But we love our cats so I can't see us doing anything about their shedding for quite some time. Everyone have a good week, and I had a great weekend at the houseboat "alone", and will put together some pictures and stories soon!