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

So I didn't realize that the picture that I posted with Mom & Dad O. was not the best one that I had. I didn't figure out that Bruce actually let me snap one with the cup not in front of his face. So here is hoping you all have a great Tuesday. I personally have a date with my middle "favorite" college son after work Tuesday and am looking forward to it. What can I say? I miss the kid every single day and now he is way closer than last year. So if he wants to spend some time with Mom and have me spend some money on him I'm all for it! Right now I am looking forward to next weekend as Bruce and I each took Tuesday off and don't have to leave the river Monday night when everyone else has to pack up and go. That itself makes taking the extra day off that much more special!

Yep these were my hubby's feet Saturday night in Helen & Louie's boat. With their NEW carpet that is very light as you can tell by this picuture. He is so lucky that his black grime didn't rub off on the carpet. We still have no idea what exactly it was, but thankfully it pretty much came off in the shower Sunday morning. And actually some probably wiped off on the sheets and I didn't even look. Guess I might have to soak those, huh? Have a great week everyone!

So we took Mom & Dad O's pontoon out for a ride Saturday and literally the "darned old motor fell off" as Bruce put it! We were pulling into the sandbar at the cove and he was pretending to be the Flinstones and pushing the throttle up and all of a sudden the motor fell off the back of the pontoon. Luckily friends were there to help and they saved the motor and roped it up so we could get towed in. Bruce and Louie of course had it pretty much fixed completely a couple hours after we got back in to the dock. They are awesome. This is a great picture of Mom & Dad enjoying the pontoon ride even though Bruce is being a total dork and not wanting his picture taken. Happy Birthday Dad Odneal. I hope you enjoyed your day with family and friends as much as I enjoyed the weekend with you!

I totally stole this photo from sister in law Sharon as she posted it on FB. This is me and my brothers last weekend on our annual (well we try) weekend at the river where our houseboat is. We had wonderful weather and a great time and I love all of them. And if you look at this picture thinking that none of us look alike don't worry about it. We gave our Mom crap for years saying that it was the milk man, post man, gas man, etc. etc.! She was a good sport about it but really never told us we were wrong. HMMMMMMMM........Everyone have a great weekend. You know where we are headed!

Yesterday I posted some of my favorite gals and thought today this would be a good picture to post of "some" of my favorite guys from my Caley weekend with my brothers. I think Cole and Rick are the only ones missing from this pic that were actually there. We had an awesome sandbar and so much fun. In this picture you can see the tent campground behind the fire pit the guys are sitting around. The trees and bluffs around the Lansing Mississippi area are the best. I really came out of last weekend with a very positive attitude about most everything. Thank you my awesome brothers for helping me realize how special weekends can be spending them with not only friends but family also. I had such a special and fun time with each and every one of you. I wish all of our extended families could have been with us for the weekend also. But they couldn't so maybe we can plan and shoot for that next year? We can always hope!

Here we have my daughter in law Ashley, and my brother side sister in laws Diane, Pam, and Sharon on our houseboat ride Sunday when we were ending our weekend. All of these ladies are great and I enjoy each of them for many different reasons. Ashley really loves me for how close I am with my kids and the time I put into being involved with their lives (at least I think she does-she has told me how different we are than her family), Diane has known me pretty much FOREVER (okay, I was like 3 and had hair down to my rear in MN and she thought I was cute then and still loves me now!), Pam I have almost known FOREVER (I was in their wedding like before puberty or something-Sorry!), and Sharon that is the awesomest photographer I have ever known and has always taken care of our kids when needed, or really done anything with pictures and that the many years I have known her. So I know this doesn't do any of these wonderful ladies justice since they are on a houseboat after a weekend on...

I want to post pictures from my awesome "brothers weekend", but I know that my SIL Sharon is sending me ones that she took so I'm waiting to do a slide show until I have all of them. Here is a picture that I took of Gizmo in one of my flower pots last week. These flowers still bloom very nicely when the sun is out, and she just kind of cleared a spot and flattened it out to lay in and claim as her own. Well in her defense it is right next to the front door, and close to the water bowl that I keep on the deck for her when it is this hot! I am very glad she didn't claim this pot early in the spring when all of my pots were full of blooming flowers. And yes, that was before all of the torrential rain and heat wiped out most of my outside plants and garden! Happy Tuesday!

Took this photo from inside Helen & Louie's houseboat while on a ride this afternoon. Isn't it amazing what images you get from the inside looking out? Or is the saying "from the outside looking in"? Had an awesome weekend with my brothers and family at the river. I think everyone had a great time. Or seemed to anyways. Played lots of ladder golf, bocce ball, and just spent time bonding together. Nothing like family time that is for sure. Everyone have a great Monday and week. Looking forward to "normal" even though I'm not liking the amount of laundry from the weekend that I haven't even touched. Oh well......that is one thing that is for sure never ending !

Well last weekend Bruce finally laid the tile in front of the shower on the houseboat. It looks phenomenal compared to the stained carpet from before (at one time the drain leaked and stained our carpet). We (Bruce) fixed it. It looks so good I can't wait to take a shower and step on it. Problem being it still needs to be grouted and that has to sit before anyone "steps" on it I'm sure. So Bruce has the grout ready to take up this weekend ( hello.....Did I tell you my brothers are coming or what??????? ) so I'm thinking we will grout it Sunday before we leave to come home and everything will be fine. The shower can still be used by all. However please remember that "river baths" are the cleaning up of choice unless you own the houseboat. Or actually even if you do own the boat! THANK YOU GUESTS IN ADVANCE! Everyone have a great Friday and weekend!

We stayed out on the sandbar Saturday night and this is the only picture that I snapped of the Lansing Fish Days fireworks. They looked awesome from where we were at (what we could see with all the trees around us!), but this is really the only one that came out at all. The famous Lansing bridge is on the right. Looking so forward to next weekend spending time with ALL of my brothers in Lansing on the sandbar. And their wives of course! Wish they could all make it up more often, but everyone knows how that goes. And since my one sister in law is taking over the food pretty much, I kind of feel like I'm just going to be the hostess with great Bloody Mary's and drinks if anyone needs one. Nothing wrong with that is there? Usually I am always cooking, so it will be nice to have the food brought to me for a change. Hope you are looking forward to your weekend like I am to mine! And I pretty much win hands down on the best Bloody Mary's around in the marina (well i...

I finally went up to the office and got my pictures off of my memory card. I know, such a big chore. But I had to clean the litter box and check out Ty's room so I thought I should get it done. On Saturday it was an absolutely beautiful day on the river. Early in the day I went with my friend Linny on a backwater boat ride just to relax and chat. It was fun. We ended up meeting up with Bruce out on the sandbar he parked at with other friends of ours. They always set up a net and we play either makeshift volleyball or badmitten (also makeshift with a little rubber ball), but we always have a great time doing it and stay cool in the process. I asked Bruce to get some pictures with my camera since I was playing at first, and the only one I seemed to see me in was the top left of this collage and I'm sitting out having a beverage! Oh well, and least he took some. I just better get used to the fact that I am the picture taker and not usually in them. One day when I'm ...

This is pretty much what I have picked out of the garden so far for this year. Usually (well except for last years fail!) I pick TONS of tomatoes and peppers every year that the garden produces like it should. I've picked some other jalapenos this year but my garden honestly looks pretty sad. I think next year we need to bring in some new black dirt and manure to get the soil rich and good again. Won't that be fun? I know you are all very jealous now. My sister in law Helen has been giving me cucumbers like crazy and I am going to pickle those next week. She wants some jalapenos so I'm really hoping that the whole one (or two) plants that actually are producing has more on there next week! If not I guess I will be heading to a local farmers market and buying some and telling her they are mine! Don't worry, if I did do that I can't keep a secret like that very well or lie very good for that matter at all, so I'm pretty sure she would know they weren...

Helen sent home a yellow squash with me from the river last weekend, and I love them and refuse to waste great things that grow in our gardens, so.......I chopped it up with some onion and a pepper from my garden and sauteed it with some seasoning salt, garlic, and pepper. Well it was part of our supper that night of boneless chops marinated with carribean jerk and "my" grill potatoes and lets just say supper was phenomenal. I know, when is it not at my house, right? Well, Ty isn't a big squash fan but will try anything and loved it. Bruce totally really only likes potatoes and peppers stuffed with something meaty and normally won't try anything "yellow" and with the name of "squash". Well, guess what......he thought the stir fried squash was great. I think he may have even taken leftovers of it in his lunch. Wait, I think I did and there was hardly any left. I love summer veggies and gardens. We should live somewhere that I can grow or get fresh ...

So I added captions to all the pictures but apparently they didn't stay on them for this upload to the blog. They pretty much speak for themselves. The ones that look short are the cuddy cabin down below and sleeping/storage areas. It would be a new project but having that much extra width and downstairs sleeping would be awesome! The sleeping quarters of course for the kids and not having to put up tents, the wider boat for me!!!!

Football started Monday this week for Wapsie high school. And with this humidity I think it has been a little rough on Tyler. The kid who was used to spending most of his summer playing PS3 every night until 4-5 AM! So he has been on the couch looking much like this both days that I got home this week. I know he is eating great and loves that it is again football season, but I think he is a little bit out of shape and maybe a little depressed that school begins the 18th. Can he really be a sophmore already? Where did my baby go? The day he graduates all that I know is he'd better not say his famous saying from when he was little......ME OUT! ME OUT!!! I'll have to cry!

I took so many pictures that were failures on the way to Ferryville and back Sunday trying to get some of the seagulls (again corrected from pelican) on the buoys. This one seems to be pretty good and shows how bad the weeds are this year. We had to lift the motor on the back of the pontoon to get them off every so often on our little brunch trip. But we had a great time and I love getting pictures of the wildlife as you all know. We listed our houseboat on Craigs List today and I sent pictures and a description to some people we met from Guttenburg Marina that said they would make and post something there for us. We really can vision gutting another houseboat, and liked the one we went to look at Saturday. So I guess we have to get serious now about getting ours sold. If it is meant to be sold and us to tackle another one then it will happen! Happy Tuesday you all!

I sit here uploading pictures on the computer this Sunday night and I just can't help but think about how blessed I am in my life. We had such a busy and fun weekend that I just told Bruce I am too wired to go to bed yet. Friday we went out to the beach with friends for a couple hours and then ended up with a party of sorts on our boat. Saturday morning we got up very early and headed to Alma, WI to look at a houseboat we are interested in buying (pictures of that to come), and then we took our houseboat out to the beach in the afternoon and spent time with family and friends. Cooked awesome steak and other food in the marina Saturday night and ended up partying on our boat once again. Then today (Sunday) we left around 9:30 on our good friend Steve's pontoon boat and went for breakfast/brunch in Ferryville, WI. When we got back we did some more cleaning/work on our houseboat to get it ready to sell so we can buy the one we looked at on Saturday. Yep, we are very blessed...

Not sure if I posted this on the blog before or just on FB. Here is the Colorado cuties hanging out on the tube the weekend they were back. Oh to be young and that carefree again! I think they were enjoying their time here in Iowa, what do you think? Everyone have a great weekend!

You always hear about "party coves" around lakes and everywhere. Well, we have our own "party cove" in Lansing. When the water is up runabouts and houseboats can drive right into it and park. This weekend we parked on the corner to the cove both days that we took the houseboat out. It was perfect! And what beautiful weather. We had a great time with great people and friends as usual. So for all of you Prairie people that line up that "party volleyball sandbar" (the one that quite possibly might have been the end to many a marriage over the years!), we have a good time in Lansing too and have many more sandbars than you will ever have. Check us out. On second thought don't! We kind of like not having to fight for a spot every weekend. Happy Hump Day!

We definitely eat better at the river than at home. Saturday night we grilled up some squash and grilled pork and had an awesome supper. Of course we also had baked potatoes, and salads. We seem to never go hungry when at the houseboat. I think maybe that has something to do with the fact that I can't seem to get the scale to budge on those 10 pounds I would love to lose. Although I did lose a few pounds on vacation so maybe we actually eat "better stuff" at the river????? But I cook pretty much the same whether there or home, so that busts that theory wide open. Maybe it is all the "beverages" consumed that actually keep the weight loss non-existent in summer. Guess I'll maybe never know for sure since I refuse to give up any of the awesome stuff on the weekends at the river. Oh well!

Yes I was at the houseboat on their actual anniversary of August 1st, but I definitely thought about them and even meant to text both. Well I failed miserably as we got busy with company and I forgot. So a very "Happy Anniversary" to Cole and Ashley. May you have a hundred more (well okay lets be realistic!), but I hope you enjoyed your first one celebrating it together. You both are very special and I love you both to death. Always respect each other and be that extra little bit of overly "nice" to each other and you will do just fine. Now can you get working on those grandbabies already???????? People were laughing at the amount of sandtoys that I have on the houseboat and my kids are 24, 19, and 15! Grandma needs someone to play with the toys already!!!!!