Depending how things go, I will try to update y’all on things going on with me and mine at the end of the month. I thought this would be a good time since I have photos to share in this report.
So, what’s been going on. Aside from copying files to external hard drives and to cloud storage. We spent the first Saturday this month with our son, his wife, and our grandson in Gatlinburg. We ate breakfast at the Logcabin Pancake House on Airport Road. DH and I went there last fall. We got there very close to their opening time with no line and was able to be seated right off. It was good but what made it great was having breakfast with our kids. After we ate, we drove to Ripley’s Aquarium. Again, we were able to get in before the crowd became too bad. It helped that we bought our tickets online and were able to skip the ticket line altogether.
You can touch some of the stingray in this area. There were two kinds I saw with spots and without spots. One you warned to not touch. We didn’t touch any. 
The stingray and other sea creatures came right up to the window below the water level for visitors to get a closer look. 
This little penguin was very social. 
The penguins wore name bands 
Giant crab 
Jelly Fish 
Piranha 
Shark swimming toward us and on the bottom is a very large stingray 
Seahorse are so cute! 
These sea creatures had the word “dragon” in its name and I betcha see the resemblance. 
Swordfish 
Shark and other fish 
Menacing teeth 
Sea turtle 
Stingray
We knocked around Gatlinburg after touring the aquarium, got donuts at the Doughnut Friar and went to the Smoky Mountain Candy Kitchen. On our way home, we stopped at the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge. That was the first time in probably two decades for us to step inside the store. It was so much fun! We wanted to do more but LA2 was fussy, so we called it a day and vowed to make plans to something again soon. We learned on Monday that LA2 had an ear infection which explains why he wasn’t too happy. Poor little fella, he’s such a sweet baby!
We celebrated our 45th anniversary on the 9th. I got DH a Stihl electric lawn mower. It’s such a chore to keep fuel on hand and change the oil. There is some maintenance required for the electric mower but not having to make a trip out to get gas is a huge plus. DH was very happy that this electric mower is quite stout and the bonus is it weighs less than our gas powered mower. Hooray! He got me a new Apple iPad Pro and Pencil. How did he know? My old one I got 7 years ago and the battery has grown super weak. I don’t understand why the battery dies easy, do you? 🤣 Replacing the battery wasn’t an option because soon it won’t be able to get anymore updates and that’s a potential security risk. Anyway, I’m really enjoying doodling every opportunity that I get, reworking old drawings or creating new ones with my new device. I love it!
Other creative ventures took place in the kitchen, a Heilala Vanilla Pudding Cake with Mascarpone Buttercream for our anniversary, home-made Italian sausage and onion pizza for Father’s Day, french bread and home made cheese cracker (copycat Goldfish recipe) for snacking. The cracker recipe needs tweaking but the first attempt was good. I’ll share the recipe once I’m feeling good about it. I love cooking and baking! DH doesn’t seem to complain, other than he doesn’t like the extra pounds nor do I.
This month round out with doctor appointments for each of us, DH’s dental follow up and I two appointments a follow up with my Dermatologist and an eye exam. These are thing that needed tending to and no biggie. Wrapping things up, I want to share DH’s last living uncle was called home to be with the Lord this past Sunday. He was 95, a Korean Vet, an apostle for Christ, a character of sorts, and a jack of all trades. We sure are going to miss him. Until we meet again, Uncle JD, may you rest peace in the arms of the Lord!
Coming your way next time is Monday’s Music Moves Me on Sundays. Why not come join the 4Mers and hit the dance floor!
Have a wild and wonderful day!