Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially to my husband Kevin. Our two boys are lucky to have him for a father.

My dad passed away eleven years ago this month. It's so hard to believe he's been gone that long. I would give a lot to be able to spend just one more day with him.

The weather lately has been hot and humid. With that type of weather come frequent severe storms. Last Monday we had a line of storms come through late in the afternoon. We had some very strong winds which uprooted a large hickory tree in the park. Luckily, it fell in an open area, but was pretty close to one of the campers. Could have been a real tragedy.

The hickory tree hit an oak on the way down, which brought down a pretty big oak branch to the left. You can see how big the tree is compared to Kevin walking next to it.

After the storm, we had a beautiful sunset.

The sunset created a very red rainbow.

Wednesday afternoon brought more storms. It looked so scary. The picture doesn't do it justice. We were very lucky that the storms went around us, and we just had a few small branches down. There were eleven tornadoes confirmed in Wisconsin that afternoon. None did any major damage.

The campground continues to be very busy, keeping us on our toes. We're completely booked for the next two weekends. We'll see what the rest of the summer brings. We're already one-third of the way through our six month stint here.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!

Our Ruby Anniversary

Today is our 40th wedding anniversary. After a little online research, I discovered it is the ruby anniversary. We don't have any big plans, but will be going out to dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Eric gave us a gift card for Christmas, and we will finally be using it. Since it is our ruby anniversary, I feel obligated to have a red drink to celebrate, maybe a strawberry daiquiri. It's 6 am, and I'm already planning my cocktail for this afternoon :)

I've always loved this picture from our wedding ceremony. The photographer did a little magic and superimposed one of the stained glass windows of the church above us. It really made me feel that God was blessing us that day.

Our big anniversary celebration will be at the end of October. We're taking our kids to an all-inclusive resort in the Maya Riviera area of Mexico. We've never done an all-inclusive, so are really looking forward to a great time with the family.

I was 19 when we got married. People definitely married younger way back then. So, I've been married twice as long as I was single. In some ways, the time seems like it flew by, but so much has happened in those 40 years. Kevin and I have had a wonderful life, and are looking forward to many more years together. Of course, everyone has some hardships in life, but I can't complain. We've been incredibly blessed with a happy, healthy life and wonderful children.

The weather has improved, and the park has been quite busy the last few weekends. Most weekends for the summer are fully booked or close to it. As is typical in Wisconsin, it seems we went from winter to summer overnight. The spring was much colder and wetter than normal. We had a few really beautiful days last week with highs in the upper 70s and low humidity. Absolutely perfect. On Friday it got hot and humid, and it's expected to last through most of this week with highs in the 90s. Wisconsin weather is never boring.

A few weeks ago, we had some crazy thunderstorms come through. The clouds looked like a shelf.

Last week was the end of an era for Eric. He purchased a crotch rocket motorcycle when he was 25. I was so nervous at the time, fearing for his safety. He rode it for 11 years without incident, and decided it was time to sell it. Someday, he may buy a more traditional motorcycle, but for now he has given it up. I have to admit, I breathed a sigh of relief. I think Eric was a bit sad to let it go, but he hadn't used it much in the last few years, and was ready to move on.

Don’t wish upon a star – Reach for one!