Thursday, 13 Things about the New Old Truck

1) We had been looking for months to find ADR his birthday truck, and finally just gave him the cash. In less than 5 days, he found the old truck of his dreams! The truck was in a small farming town north of where we live, and had never been out of the small community where ADR found it. Only two other people had ever owned the truck, and now, ADR gots it.

2) ADR Absolutely Loves It. Happy Birthday, baby! Super & I are so happy you are happy.

3) SRR Absolutely Loves It, and Loves that ADR Loves It. How totally fabulous!


4) It is a 1966 pick-up truck, and that is the same year Jay D was born. When Mrs. Hanson saw the pick up truck, the distinctive style brought back tons of memories of those days. The last time it was titled was in 1979, the year ADR was born.

5) GMC made the pick-up truck, and it has pretty darn much original stuff on it & in it. The Custom logo was a factory option (like a Limited) and therefore has a little bit of finishing and trim that are standard.


6) It is pretty fun to drive, and is a V-6 engine. Super nice and very cool.

7) The shifting is "3 on the tree," and ADR had to call someone for help before he could drive it home. :)

8) The pick up truck bed is a long bed, excellent for hauling all kinds of things. The long bed is made of wood, lined with a heavy rubber mat.

9) ADR got a 1966 license plate and will be licensed to run with that plate, a "Year of Manufacture" plate.

10) Pinky loves to ride with ADR, and lays down on the long front seat - because he can! In fact, everybody likes to ride in the pick-up truck.

11) Mr. Bryant and ADR hauled their first load in it this past weekend, and that is something!

12) People stop ADR when he is driving the pick-up truck - in the parking lots, in his driveway, they pull up beside him - all to tell him - "Man, I like your truck! Cool!"


13) And Ms. Jaya Pearl? She likes to climb in the bed.

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A Charleston Quick Trip

Two very VERY beautiful people.

I got to take a trip to Charleston with some of the most beautiful people I know.

It all started with Rosie's birthday, and wanting to do something grand. Before the discussions went very far, we had set up a quick weekend trip to Charleston and off we went - me, Steph, Ama, and the kids. We zipped down on Friday and back on Sunday and filled up every single moment we had with nothing but fun!

We stayed right in the historic district and though we all agree that we need to take a longer weekend for our next visit, staying at the corner of Market and Church streets was an excellent place to be.

Charleston is one of our favorite places and is even more wonderful when there is time to leisurely walk through the galleries, tour the old homes, examine the museums, and learn more about this place and its colorful history.

Our first day we walked down streets and looked at sites on our own. This is my beautiful family outside of the Circular Church on Meeting Street. [Later on this trip we were in this graveyard at night (yes, it WAS spooky), and we learned that the graveyard was established in 1681, making it one of the oldest cemeteries in Charleston.]

We strolled down the cobblestone streets and walked through a memorial park where the mother of Andrew Jackson was honored.


We came out on Broad Street and walked past famous shops, homes, and restaurants, and eventually turned up East Bay street, passing by the old Farmer's and Exchange Bank.



Love the interesting building designs and details!

We had lunch at Sermet's Corner on King's Street where we have eaten many times before, and were not disappointed. We did some shopping for dress-up clothes and shoes and found Steph a wonderful dress at White House Black Market. Asa was not happy with the book store, though, and so we vowed to find another one over the weekend.


The next day after a fantastic breakfast at Toast, we walked through some of this historic areas of the city on our way to The Griffen for a Butterbeer. We strolled out on the River Walk, past toddlers playing in the fountain.



We could see Fort Sumter to the right down the Cooper River, and the amazing Cooper River Bridge to the left.


While almost right across from us was Patriots' Point, where the USS Yorktown rests.


We took a break from all our walking with our scheduled Carriage Tour.


Of course, we had to agree to abide by the rules before the tour began....

Our guide was great, giving us a new perspective on Charleston with his stories and a more intimate history about the homes, people, and events of historic Charleston. We all admired unique architecture of the houses, administrative buildings, churches - and even the layout of the city.

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

As we came down Legare Street we approached the Cathedral of St. John - and in all my trips to Charleston I had never passed it, nor had I ever heard the story about the Cathedral's fire and reconstruction. I had; however, been by Two Meeting Street and heard the history of this lovely home that has now been transformed into an incredible Bed & Breakfast.

Two Meeting Street - a Very Fine Bed & Breakfast destination

Other architecture and sites that we saw on the Carriage Tour below....

Mills House

Just like the houses in Charleston, the porch of our house is painted Haint Blue.

***

After the tour we walked back to the hotel and changed into our dress up clothes to make it to our dinner reservations at FIG. We all recommend you go there. It is fabulous!

After dinner we zipped back to the hotel AGAIN and changed clothes (again!) for our Ghosts and Graveyard Tour. Excellent and busy busy day!

Some exhausted kiddos!

We got up early Sunday and had a fabulous Happy Birthday Amanda Gift Exchange and Breakfast at Joseph's. We has to wait in line a bit for breakfast, but they gave us coffee and juice and that made everything a-ok.




After filling up and celebrating, we walked through the market and then headed to the Exchange and Provost Dungeon, taking the tour there.

Waving goodbye to Charleston from the balcony of the Old Exchange

Once done, we stopped back by the hotel for final check out and packed in the car for home - but not before stopping at Blue Bicycle Books for Asa to find something special to read on the way. :)

Birthday Boys

Mr. Hanson and Mr. Rentschler, kicking back.

We took a Saturday to celebrate our wonderful birthday boys. It had been a really busy week and we had not had any time to buy groceries or make wonderful picnic foods, so we got up super early and made our grocery list. After running to Trader Joes and to the regular grocery store, we had to make salad, cake, and burgers, and pack everything up for the party.

As you might imagine, we were running late.

By the time we got the car packed, it looked like we were heading off for weeks. Good Grief.


We had drinks and paper goods (plates, cups, napkins), folding chairs, bathing suits and towels, wonderful turkey burgers and condiments (cheese, ketchup, mustard, pickles, lettuce, fresh cut tomatoes), a yummy Asian Noodle Salad (recipe from the Pioneer Woman), and a Texas Sheet Cake. We were off to the lake at a good clip. When we arrived most of the family was already at the picnic site. We took three picnic tables to hold all of our wonderful goodies!

As we got things unpacked, we realized that three of us had brought different styles of salad with pasta! Good Grief! Each salad was yummy and different, but we had not expected that we would have a Tale of Three Pasta Salads to tell!

Mr. Bryant got the grill going and we chatted and munched on snacks as the food got ready.

Ryan took the kids down for a quick swim, and by the time they got back to the picnic area the food was ready.

Loaded Turkey Burgers, a family specialty

I can't smile, the sun is in my eyes!

ok, I'll try cause I love you.

Yum Cake!

Mr. McFadden and Mr. Bryant kicking back.

The lovely Mrs. McFadden and Mrs. Hanson

After yummy lunch and happy birthday singing, and the awarding of the gifts, Rosie and Ryan had to skip out to work. Mr. Hanson got a new Kindle and some books (among other things) and Mr. Rentschler got a new wheel barrow and the $$ to buy and Old Truck (among other things)!!!

We all shared more stories and laughed at most of them, and eventually Stephanie and I hung out with the kiddos at the lake for another cooling dip.

It's hot out here!

We had a blast! Thanks for the great excuse to have a picnic, gents. And Happy Happy Happy Birthday! We love you!

FantasyQuest

Picture from here. Fabulous face, Mr. Li.

We went to Mr. & Mrs. Rentschler's on Friday to play FANTASYQUEST. This game was designed by Asa, and with all the skills and imagination of an 11 year old. We had a BLAST!

We ate a light dinner and got ready to play. Asa described the rules - which are a little bit like Dungeons and Dragons - and we got started. He had us close our eyes and he described the scene with his prepared speech, complete with sound effects, echos, and fade outs. Nice! Our first task was to create our characters. Asa described the races he had created and the skills that we could choose, and as we were thinking he handed out paper and pencil so we could draw our characters. As we got started, several of us fussed that we weren't such super artists. And so, as Asa went around the table he started saying things like, "choose your character and think about what they might look like, then pass your paper down to dad so he can draw it for you!" Dad, of course, was really into his own character, very very cool, but was willing to stop and draw based on a few descriptions. His greatest piece of work was FireWings, for Jaya Pearl. What a fantastic glittery creature!

Not Mr. Rentschler's work here, instead this is from LayoutSparks. (Who Knew there were all these fantasy images on the net? Obviously I have missed a whole subculture!!!)

Mr. Bryant didn't waste any time with who was going to draw what. He decided to be a GNOME, and called his race the G-NOMIANS. While we were all thinking of heroic names, he chose his name and began drawing. By the time I looked over his shoulder, he had a picture of his character (Barry, the G-Nome) flying a bubble saucer (yes, a little flying saucer that shot bubbles out the back through two mufflers), shooting a thought cannon (almost bigger than Barry, causing all who are caught within its dreadful rays to immediately Sit and Think About What They Have Done), winning the Tour de France, and climbing Mt. Everest! Before we were all done with this part of the exercise, Barry had even acquired a PPPistol - and each time someone had to leave to head to the rest room, Barry shot them.

As you might imagine, this entire activity was filled with lots of laughing and Asa was filled with absolute joy. Once our characters were drawn and our skills were determined, we became a company of companions - Barry, Ajax, Priscilla, Pongo, Firewings, and the Dungeon Master, who came with us to help out if needed. We started through the town, purchased some goodies (like a cloak or two, some daggers, you get the idea), and as we walked out of the store we all fell into the first dungeon. Asa laughed and laughed, and then soberly brought out the dreadful dungeon map.

Play went on for another hour or so, and we had lots of fun braving the dungeon pathways and getting to the final battle. Amazingly, Barry completed an around the world tour and built an ice palace during the trip.

Barry the G-Gnome wearing his Rocket Pack, doing a fly-by over LA.

Thanks Asa, for the FUN game and thanks ADR & SRR for hosting a great family fun night!

September's Tree House - A Month in Pictures

One Handsome Treehouse Building Man!

The guys have been going big guns on the treehouse, as you can see from yesterday's photo. They are in a rush to get the roof completed and the siding done. At that point, Mr. Bryant says that they can relax and move forward at a bit less urgent rate, because all the critical wood will be protected from the weather.

So they have been working at least one full day each weekend, sometimes more. Mr. Bryant is happy to have both ADR and Mr. Duke to help, because every hand makes things go faster at this point. Even Jaya Pearl has been managing the nail inventory, while Pinky runs around and gets in the way.

We were invited to Helen Georgia for Ocktoberfest, but it looks like getting the roof on the treehouse has priority. So there will be new pictures soon, just as soon as we can keep things dry up there.

In the mean time, here is the progress from the beginning of September, each week seeing us get a little closer to the finished state!

The team converses on next step design


A few site seers enjoy the treehouse "porch"

Mr. Bryant cutting for the roof.


We have a roof frame!


The loft is getting built, and the roof.

Looking down from up above.

The view from the treehouse front porch.