Back in the Heartland

biggest wild turkeys ever at the GPNC in Wichita

4-14-15:  Arrived in Wichita this afternoon!  Glad to be back to spend some time with the grandsons and other McClintock's.  We left Edith mostly settled into her new apt, and feeling a little better -- tho she still has a ways to go in her healing.  She is surrounded by caregivers who love her!

Took a morning walk at the RV Park with Krista.  

4-16-15:  David's 60th Birthday!!  Love that old man!! Still a kid in spirit!!
Before celebrating, I got up and got 13,000 steps on my fitbit.  That was a bunch for me. I finally beat niece, Laci! (She and Nicole challenge me each day and they really keep me motivated!) Enjoyed many of those steps with friend, Krista Kirk.  Met her and Mike last year in Wichita and found out early on that we had mutual rv'er friends: Sue and Glen Jackson. Krista hooked us up with the ACRV gig last year.  She worked at JCRV this past winter, so she filled me in on all our Creeker peeps!

David's bday lunch at Jet BBQ in downtown Wichita

We haven't been able to see the grandsons (nor their parents) yet, but Andrew called and sang Happy Birthday to David.  That was definitely the highlight of the day!  We both loved talking to him and catching up!

David loves this sort of thing

4-17-15:  Celebrated David's bday at La Hacienda in Derby with Justin, Brooke, and the A's. What a wonderful evening of singing, sombreros, and the coolest kids in the world!

Asher

Andrew

Asher's loose tooth

the bday boy and me

4-18-15:  Met at Rose Hill for Andrew's soccer game.  Discovered a very nice new walking path around a pond next to the soccer fields.  I checked it out and it caused me to be a couple of minutes late for the game, which Andrew made sure I knew.

plenty of dandelions for the honeybees along this path

such a cool little wildflower with a cool little name

did I mention there were plenty?

Brooke and Asher introduced me to these - pickle-flavored sunflower seeds! Yum!

remember that loose tooth?

Mommy got it!

Grammy and Snaggletooth

Asher might get a little restless while Andrew is playing

Brooke's 3 kids camped out in the living room that night

We were prepared to drive over to Douglass for Asher's soccer game after Andrew's, but it got rained out.  That was fine with Asher.  He wasn't interested in playing this year, so they hadn't planned on it.  But they were short a coach, Justin took the job, and they twisted Asher's arm to play on Daddy's team.

Got a call from Doug tonight as he and his family were out at their cabin.  He was trying to reach Mac.   David went looking for him.  He wasn't at home, so David went over to Doug's house thinking maybe Mac had gone over to feed the cat for them. Sure enough, Mac was sprawled out -- backwards -- on one of their end tables.  Evidently, he fell and landed that way and couldn't get up. (and this was after falling in Doug's front yard and having to flag down a motorist to stop and help him up)  He hadn't taken his cell with him, so he was simply stuck.  For over 3 hours.  In a backbend position.  Poor guy.  That was heartbreaking.  David was unable to get him up and called an ambulance.  Doug came back to town and he, David, and I spent a few hours in the ER with Mac. His muscles had already started breaking down, so they decided to keep him in the hospital a few days.

Planking? Who's planking? Pam is!

4-19-15:  Today is Pam's birthday!  She, too, is still a kid at heart.  Love my SIL!
Also got a call that Edith had to go back to the ER for pain.  They checked her out and sent her home with pain meds.  Wish we could be everywhere at the same time!

heading to rehab

4-21-15:  Rode with Mac as the rehab transported him from the hospital to their facility in Derby.  On the way over, the driver rear-ended someone at a red light on K-15 and 63rd.  She really smacked em good.  I was shaken up the rest of the evening (David took me for Mexican food to try to calm my nerves).  But Mac took it with a grain of salt.  Airbags didn't deploy, so maybe it wasn't as hard a hit as I felt it was.

My baby girl, the mud wrestler

4-23-15:  Today is Laura Lee's 33rd birthday.  Dang, where does the time go??? Love her so much!

Asher getting off the bus at GPNC

Asher's first grade class had a field trip to the nature center this morning.  David and I met them there and did some exploring with them -- and learned some cool stuff.

This lady is teaching them a few things about snakes

Did you know snakes get cloudy eyes a few days before shedding?

she had a pretty spotted king snake that everyone could "pet" if they desired

do you know the difference between snakeskin's scales and scoots?

pointing out his new hiking boots to Grandpa

Asher and Grandpa

seeing how the hearing might be for some wildlife

ran into Becky Lynn and 3 of  her kiddos

their newest baby girl

milkweed arising

lots of honeysuckle - yum

red-eared turtles

red-eared turtle

there were a couple of new families of ducks

can you see mom?

they can stay hidden pretty well in the prairie grasses along the water

which is good because the males are constantly seeking them out

love this!

fizz burger and Hanks

Really enjoyed the morning with Asher at the Great Plains Nature Center.  Afterwards, David and I met Brooke, Greg, and Linda Sue at Fizz Burgers -- one of our fave burger and root beer spots in Kansas. And we ran into Voyt while we were there.  Fun visit with all of them!

Jeremy McClintock

Stopped at QT to see Jeremy on the way home!

4-24-15:  Yesterday I bought some edible crickets at the nature center and sent them home with  Brooke and asked her to give them to them as an after school snack.  They called me last night and said "next time you want to send us an after school snack, would you make it something good?". They sounded kinda stressed about "having" to eat them.  Of course, I told them they don't HAVE to eat them.

Tonite they sent me a video and they finally tried them.  They both agreed they weren't bad at all! Next, we'll have to get Grandpa to try them.  I was introduced to them one year when we volunteered at Branson.  Morgan and I gave them a try at a nature class for kids. I've told Edith if she has to go back to rehab where the food is totally crappy, that  I'll bring her some.

Interesting afternoon.  David ran some errands this morning while I walked and came back to get me to run some more.  When  he came to pick me up, a couple of detectives walked up to his car and started drilling him with questions about where we're from, why we're here, who all drives his truck, etc, etc. He got a little short with them because he didn't know what was going on.  As I was walking up with Rocky, one of them met me to talk to me separately with the same questions. To make a long, but kinda funny story short, one of the other rv'ers -- with a white truck and TX license -- is part of the Irish Travelers (gypsies) that scam people and write hot checks all over the country.  They finally caught up to this one, but weren't sure exactly which camper was his. He wasn't home, so when David pulled up they thought it could be him.  Even though they had a pic of the guy.  They quickly figured out we weren't the ones they were after and set up some drive-thru's to try to nab the guy.  A few days later they did indeed,  They arrested him, and a day or 2 later went though his camper and had it towed.  It was all over the Wichita news and I"m sure glad there was no clip of David and me being questioned.  I mean, I do like attention, but not so much that kind. haha!

looking it over at Town & Country

Decided to go chillax after all that!

4-25-15:  Another soccer game in Rose Hill.  This time Rocky got to join us at the request of Andrew and Asher.

It was a little warm for him

But he sure like the attention he got from Asher 

 The PA eaglets in the pix above are at about 3 weeks old.  Asher and I enjoyed checking out their pix and videos during Andrew's game.

And we still got to watch the soccer game

Go Andrew!

a break

Asher and I took Rocky for a walk around that pond next to the fields

Rocky loves Asher

Wonderful day on the soccer fields. This time we got to watch Asher, too!  His game was in Douglass after Andrew's.

ok -- grandpa is gonna try a cricket

here goes............

yum -- tastes like chicken

prayers for the people of Nepal due to a major earthquake

5-2-15:  Last soccer games for the season!  Andrew did great even though he fell on his arm.  Asher was totally not into his.  But he made the game-winning (oh, wait, they don't keep score. yeah, right) goal!  It may have been completely accidental, but it was awesome! To top of the end of the season, Grandpa ate some crickets for the boys after the games.

5-5-15:  While David played golf with the guys this morning, Rocky and I slept late then had a big hand monster fight!

Then he spent the rest of the day watching for his daddy.

sil, Karen snuggling with her granddogs

Karen with newest grandbaby, Hunter

5-8-15:  Got to visit with sister-in-law Karen today.  She came to town check out senior living choices for her dad.  We met her at Mac's rehab, then went to La Hacienda.

my sweet mother -- Juanita Goff

still miss her every day

my sweet stepmom -- Edith Goff

thankful for her

5-10-15:  Mother's Day

5-11-15:  On our many trips over to see Mac in rehab, David discovered Derby High Park. Pretty park with a great walking path.  We can easily get in 3 miles ,,,,, more if  time and weather permit. Might be one of my new fave walking spots around Doo Dah.

5-17-15:  I got in a couple of hours (6 miles) at Derby High Park and saw my first 17 year cicada. I read on kake.com that people in Derby have been calling the cops because the cicada sound is so loud.  How funny!

Rocky isn't sure that's his daddy

This month, along with all the fun we've had, we also had some back "luck".   The fridge in the camper went out.  That's prob the most expensive thing in a camper.  The day we had it replaced, the ac went out.  Luckily, the temps outside were pleasant.  Turns out the fan motor just needed to be replaced.  We kept our fingers crossed that this streak wouldn't run in 3's.  About that time the turbo on the truck had to be replaced.  Woo, dang.  David's awesome brother Doug works at the dealership we took it to and was able to use his employee discount on us.  That saved us about $1400! And he let David pimp around town in his truck while ours was in the shop. THX, Doug!  We could've bought a LOT of yarn and golfballs with all we've spent on that stuff this month.

Lots more to do between now and when we head back to Texarkana!

Much Love from "Not the Irish Travelers"