Aimee's Adventures
Message Board!!!
you were sure close to me one way or another. If you took intererstate when it runs close to me I am only 16 miles east of it. and if you took highways I am only a few blocks off of the one that runs through Hawarden!!
When you were camping did you camp in Iowa or SD. The little sioux is in iowa south of sioux City
And the Big Sioux acts as the state border from Interstate 90 in SD (the one you turn west on to go to mitchell) down to Sioux City IA where it dumps into the Missouri.
What were you doing over in my neck of the woods? Did you go to the black hills in SD?
We did last year with my dad and stepmom and all us bro and sis's and all our kids. Rented a house in the hills together and had a blast. All my kids can talk about is when we go back.
When you were on I 29 you going past Alcester ( that is the exit to take to get to Hawarden you were about 16 miles from me. Cool huh!!)
when did you go to the hills last summer ? we went the end of july beginning of aug. not heat wave weather but it did get pretty warm. We stayed in A house in Terry snow peak area by Lead and Deadwood.
I so agree that area is so beautiful. I loved just driving through the hills. We went and saw so much when we were there. Crystal caves, Thunderhead falls
Mr Rushmore, Reptile Gardens, Bear country. And storybook park I think that is what it is called. It is a park in the middle of rapid city. It has so many characters like pooh , dalmations, princesses, so many. did you guys go to that? your little guy would have loved I bet.
I wish I could go there and camp. But we don't have a camper quite yet. And there was nineteen of us going on the trip. The house we rented was beautiful and after we split it between all the families we only paid 300 dollars for 4 nights. It had everything from pots and pans and dishes to fully made beds. We just had to have the dishes done and the bedding and towels by the washer and dryer before we left. (I tell you that was the best part of the trip. I got all my laundry done before I went home!!!)
Unless we go with my dad's side again we probley wont rent a house. But I bet we will go in the next couple years again. My kids have been begging since we got back.
Just talking about all these vacations make me miss summer even more!!!
My Girls (I have all girls!!sigh) are 9, 5 and 4. My 5 year old will be 6 the end of may and the other two just had bdays in feb and jan.
I sure do miss camping like that. My parents (both sets there divorced and remarried) camp all the time. My mom goes about 1 and1/2 hours away from where i live every weekend so we usually go up their in the summer once. and then my dad and step mom always take 2 weeks off in aug/sept. and stay at a campground by each of us kids (between the two of them they have 6 kids.) and then they have all the grandkids spend the night at the camper and if they are in school they go to school with them. Its awesome.
When I was younger we went camping every weekend. My dad loved to rough it. He cookes everything he can on his outdoor stove or the fire. He makes the best campfire potatoe and onions. (I can't wait for those!!!)
anyway that is awesome you do all that with your kids. I know how much I remember our camping trips. they are some of the best memories I have. Your kids will never forget them.
I haven't been out east really I was to Alberta canana when I was 5. Missouri, Minnesota, South Dakota, Colorado a couple times. Never been very far away.
This summer we are probley going to stick around the tri state are for long weekend trips. in a couple years my husband and I both get another week vacation and we got all our stupid debt (credit cards, loans ) paid off this year. Just have the house, van, and all the bills you cant get rid of like the life insurance and heat bills. so we promised the kids a trip to disney land. Cant wait for that one.!!! they will all be about the right age too I think. Only thing, I have never rode on a plane in my life!!
I have flown on planes, but none of the kids have. DH and I spent our honeymoon in Alaska! That was almost 17 years ago...
Have you ever cooked using pie irons? Those are our favorites. It is a tradition to make pizzas in them. DD loves to roast marshmellows and cracks me up when she does it. She has this special roasting dance she always does. LOL
I know waht you mean about trying to get the bills paid down. It seems that we have been hit with so many unexpected bills lately. We are hoping to use that bonus money from the taxes to pay for vacation. I think we will get the $1200 for me and DH and then the $300 for each child.
We now have 1 1/2 feet of snow and it is still coming down. No church tomorrow for us. All of ths area has basically shut down. Little Guy broke his glasses today and I tried to call the eye doctor to see about ordering new ones and the office was closed due to the weather. Is it one of your girls that recently got glasses? Little Guy got them last summer right before he turned 5. He was so funny. After they fitted him, he came out and took a look at his dad and announced to the ENTIRE waiting room, "Boy Dad, you're wrinkly!" LOL Little Guy is farsighted, so he was never able to see detail. The whole ride home he kept looking out the window and talking about how things had lines on the edges. Poor kid. The world looked very different. He loves his glasses now because he can finally see. I am so used to them, that he looks odd without them. I wear glasses too.
Uki
I love to make camping food. Especially pie iorns we usually use them to make fruit pie. butter the bread and put pie filling in the middle then cook it and when it is done put sugar on it.
We have also done grilled cheese that way
some of our other favorites are bread on a stick and popcorn over the fire. And dutch oven cake.
For bread on a stick you mix up bisquik and put it on the end of a sanded down broom stick. Cook it up nice and golden and then fill it with meat and cheese or pie filling or what ever you can think of.
We've been bugging my dad to get some broom sticks so when he comes next we can do it.
I know the feeling of broken glasses. my oldest got glasses when she was six so three years ago. She has broken them so many times usually the bow so we can relplace just that but it is so frustrating. She just got new glasses 3 weeks ago. Then she got influenza A. Terrible headaches with fever and sorethroat and upset stomach. Even 1-2 weeks after the flu she is still getting headaches. I brought her in for a recheck to the eye doctor today and they said they put prism in her glasses because her eyes wont cross when looking at something close and they should. So she has to do exercises where she stares at a pen and brings it in till she sees double then bring it back out and do this over and over till her eyes converge and cross. So in a couple weeks if her headaches dont go away and her eyes don't converge any better they are going to do a visual test again (it tests some neurological stuff) and if she doesn't get a better score they may have her get a cat scan to rule out anything neurological causing her headaches. I so hope the headaches taper off.
I also have glasses and so does my husband. I have had mine since I was 5 . I have a lazy eye and I am terribley nearsided. I will never be able to wear contacts or get rid of my glasses.
By the way my husband wants to know why you all call your husbands DH's.
He makes fun of me because I am always posting on here. I said hey, it is either I talk to all these women or I talk in your ear all night!!
LOL DH stands for "Dear Husband." So, it really is a compliment!
I am near sighted too. I was able to wear contacts as a teenager (I am 40 now), but I have a terrible astigmatism and can't anymore. I see better with my glasses anyway, so I am okay with that.
I am so sorry your daughter is having such a rough time. I hope they can figure ut all out! Do you have good vision coverage? Ours is pretty good, especially for the kids. It pays for a newpair of glasses every year and they have a terrific warranty on them that covers everything. For adults, I can get a new pair of glasses every 2 years. And i pays for the exams 1 time a year. I suspect that it would pay for additional exams if there were a problem.
I got a version of that flu too and it was terrible. It literally flattened me for about 2 days. Then I was functional, but not much better than that.
The snow storm is over and now we begin to dig out. We hired a guy to come a plow the driveway, but we will still go out today and get the porch, steps, and around the cars. No church today - we can't get out of the driveway. Our church is tiny, so we called the pastor to let him know. DH plays in the praise band, so they needed to if we would be there or not.
Talk to you soon!
Uki
Dear husband huh, thats awesome. My husband thought it stood for Dumb Husband 
My daughter isnt really getting headaches at home much this weekend. And sometimes she over exagerates so I don't know what to believe sometimes. we dont have a vision plan. My health insurance is supposed to cover about 50 percent of an exam so 25 dollars. And it doesnt cover glasses or contacts. I have Flex Spending account at work where they take out 20 dollars (or more if you want) every week and it goes in to an account. So in a Year that is like 1000 dollars. I can use the whole thousand anytime in 2008 and just keep paying through out the year. So that is what I did to cover our glasses this year. Daughter got a pair. Then me and DH got regular glasses and precription sunglasses. I have always wanted some and never had extra money so I used my flex this year. When ever I go to the pool the sun is always in my eyes so I cant wait to go this year.
Best part is the flex is tax free!!!
SO happy your snow finally stopped. That would totally shut us down here in Iowa. Hope you are all digging out okay. It should sure give you a workout. Last time I shoveled for Dh I had sore arms for a week!!
Well of to a birthday party. I keep telling myself, I will not have cake, I will not have cake
Well, did you make it through the party withot the cake? If you did, you are a far stronger woman than I could ever be. Honestly, cake (especially cake from a bakery, not homemade) is my BIGGEST weakness. I LOVE the buttercream icing on a bakery cake. I have to have a corner piece, and one piece is never enough.
DH and I got the driveway shoveled out. It took a good 2 hours. We worked on it this morning then took a break an finished after lunch. It was unreal. We have been married almost 17 years, and this is the most snow we have ever gotten at one time.
I am glad your daughter's headaches seem to be better. I thought about prescription sunglasses too, but wound up getting the magnetic sunglasses that attach to my regular glasses. I got them last summer right before we went to South Dakota. I was really glad to have them for the drive there and for all the siteseeing we did.
Does your family have any pets? We have a cat, 2 hamsters, a turtle and 3 birds. The kids and I are suckers for a cute face. We would probably have a zoo if DH didn't put the brakes on us. He is the logical one when it comes to this stuff.
I was reading your post on the exercise thread and I think you are being really smart about not setting your time goals too high. It will just set you up to skip exercising. I read somewhere that 20 to 30 minutes 3 times a week is really fine to strive for. Anything more is great, but you can get by with that. I remind myself of that sometimes, and cut myself some slack. Even if you only exercise 3 times a week, you are still doing WAY more than most folks, and you are still doing a good thing for your body!
Uki
Sorry to say I didn't make it through the birthday party with out any cake but I had 2 in by 2 in piece and shared it with DH. I am just the opposite of you and I don't like much frosting so I took one bite and that was enough. So I didn't make it with out but I let my self have just enough. (To tell you the truth it was the smell of the french fries frying that was getting to me. Then I knew I needed to get out of there !! We were at a bowling alley)
After we got back from the b day party I was kinda hungry but I had such a big dinner I knew I really shouldnt have anyhting but water and maybe some carrots till supper so instead of eating I clipped all my daughters and my finger and toe nails and we painted them all. So now we all have pretty finger and toes. and I am over that craving
I have also had the clip on glasses. They didn't work for me because I would set them down and forget about them or put them in my pocket and sit on them
Kinda like my mp3 player today. I had just picked it up then I went and did something, and I lost it. me and DH looked for 40 minutes for the dumb thing. I was so mad at myself for being stupid. Went to switch laundry and Dh came downstairs with it. It was in the silverware drawer with the teaspoon and tablespoon measurer. He had asked me how much a table spoon was (he is trying to watch his calorie intake too) and I had set my mp3 down in the drawer to look for it. LOL
I do that with things quite often. Like put the remote in the fridge!!!
We don't have any pets unless you count all the stuffed animals my kids collect. my middle daughter is facinated with kittys. We have told her she may have one when we move into our next house. The one we are in now is quite small for 5 people but we make it work. We wanted to get all the bills paid before we went and bought a more expensive house. We are hoping to do some work on the exterior this summer and put it on the market next spring. cross my fingers all goes as planned!! It kinda sucks to move we are a block from the pool, park, and elementary school where the kids go. So it is a great location but just not big enough.
You live out in the country? I just wondered because you said you had someone plow you out. My husband wants an acerage because he dirt bike races. We'll see because they can be really expensive with propane and all.
Well I better go make supper, we'll talk to you later
