Vacation Time

We made our summer trip home last week. We left out on a Wednesday morning and came back the following Wednesday. It was nice to spend the 4th with our family again this year. We went home after the fourth last year because my sister got married late July. The first few days were kinda chilly for us and at night cold! I went into town on Thursday to have lunch with my best friend Aimee. I also got see the new salon that she works at. My old boss opened her own salon in Kendallville and I was so happy I got to see it. This is Aimee and I at the shop!
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On Friday my dad,mom, sister, and I went to Fort Wayne in the morning to go to the beauty supply and to take Dad shopping for Father's Day. Deric also went to Fort Wayne to spend the day with Justin. After we got back I did hair and the salon. Yes, I know on my vacation! I don't mind it though... I love being able to do my family's hair especially because it only happens maybe 2-3 times a year! And it was so neat to be able to work with the girls again. I thought it would be so weird to be in the same salon with these girls again after 3 years of being away but NO.... It was like nothing had changed! I colored and cut my sister and mom's hair and the I did Jennifer's brother in laws hair too. I loved how I did Jen's hair. It almost makes me want to cut mine! LOL


Later Friday night Deric was still with Justin in Fort Wayne but I was going to watch the Wolcottville fireworks with my family. Deric's sister Kim brought the kids over to me and I took them with my family and I to the park. We had a GREAT time with Nikohl and Nate at the park before the fireworks started. They are such cute and funny entertainment! While we were waiting music was playing over the loudspeakers. Nate and Kohl sang and danced. We danced to the YMCA and then Gostbusters theme song came on. Nate loves this song and stood up all by himself and sang while bouncing his head up and down to the beat of the song. He didn't loose his concentration at any time! I wish I have a video of it, so funny and priceless!


Once the fireworks were done Nate was so sleepy. So Jen and I decided we would take turns piggybacking Nate back to the house. Nate is about 65 pounds so we had to take turns! Sorry Nate if you are reading this... I have to tell this story! So we are walking back to the house and Nate is on Jen's back. It is dark out and crowed. I am walking behind Jen and Nate and looked up to see Nate's butt crack hanging out of the top of his jeans! I said "Nate you feeling a breeze back here" He said "No, don't talk about it" So I pulled up his pants as best as I could and then pulled his shirt down" About a 1\2 mile down the road Nikohl and I both notice once again Nate's pants falling down. This time Blake, my BIL, had a flashlight and shinned it on Nate's butt. I kept calling him "Plumber Nate" and how everyone could see his little butt. He thought it was funny until he noticed that the light was shinning on him! Now Blake is a tall guy and Nate is 5yrs old. Nate grab Blake's shirt told him to shut-up and nearly knocked Blake off his feet! Its a good thing this kid knows when you are joking. Nate and Kohl can take a joke just as well as they can give them!

So Saturday we spend most of the day with Deric's family. We got the house and yard ready for the party with all the family on Sunday. Saturday night we went to the Rome City fireworks with my mom and dad. I was kinda sad the kids weren't with us. But we met up Aimee, her husband Jeff, and their little boy Jaxson. It started to rain a bit but stopped by the time it got dark. The fireworks were pretty good but there was no wind so it got really smokey but the end of the show. It is really funny to me how when we go back home I always run into the same the people. It is nice to see them but it makes me realize how small that area is.
On Sunday Deric and I went to Church. It is always so nice to see everyone there! Then back the house to help my MIL get ready for the party. I did sit out in the sun for a bit. It was the first time the whole week and it was nice enough to do that. Around 6 pm we had just about everyone on both sides of the family show up. My parents and Jen came too. It was a great turn out and a wonderful party. It was nice catching up with everyone. Our oldest nephew Nick set off the fireworks at dark. Speaking on Nick.... I can't believe he is going to be a senior this year!!! He has decided to join the service after HS. He will be the first person in my family that will be currently in the service.It is so scary to me but a honorable thing to do.
We am so proud of him! Here are some pictures of the party




Monday turned out to be such a beautiful day. That afternoon we went over to Kim's to see the kids again and their new super cute puppy lab. Then we went over to our friend Ashleys. Deric and Ashley went to HS together and then she got married just about a month after we did. You can find her blog along the side of our page. She and her husband,Andrew,just had their first child, sweet Audrey. She is 5 months old now and we finally got to see her in person. Audrey is such a cutie and seeing her was one of the highlights of my trip! She defiantly knows what a camera is. Every time we held one up to her, she just smiled away! So sweet.


I kept telling Deric that Audrey needs a little Bidwell friend!! Ashley and I decided that when NOT if she comes to AR and we are going to sit at every Sonic waiting to see Kelly and Harper (fellow bloggers). You can read Kelly's blog, Kelly's Korner. I think that Ashley and I would become fast friends with Kelly and Harper!

Tuesday was our last day home. It always seems our time goes by so fast, but we are usually ready to get back to the normal routine. I went to into town again to have lunch with Aimee and Donna. Then Aimee, Jen and I went back to the Bidwell's and laid out in the sun! Finally, a nice day and it was our last! The pool was a bit chilly but it was nice to cool off in. Kim brought Kohl and Nate over to swim about 2 pm. Then Jeff, Aimee's husband, brought Jaxson over to swim too. Jax was a bit scared of the water but after holding him in the water and swimming around with him, he didn't want to go! That night we went over to my parents for dinner and then back over to the Bidwell's to say goodbye to everyone.


Wednesday we got up about 4:45 AR time so we could get a head start on a long day. I moved the truck over to the house and backed it up so we could load everything. It took us about 20 minutes to load everything and then we were ready to hit the road. Deric was going to start driving, we got in the car and he turned the key and NOTHING... the truck was dead. So he tried it a few more times. We got his brother,Jeff, to help us jump it and it took off right away. We let it run a bit then went up to the barn to check the battery. It was showing bad but his brother said to turn it off and start it again because it had been charging up for awhile. Turned it off and tried to start it agian..... dead. They jumped it again and Deric got out and shut the door. Not thinking the dogs were in the car. We were standing out there for a bit and I was playing with the barn kitten. I went to the car to get the dogs out and the doors were LOCKED!!! Divot had locked the doors.The truck was running and my keys were in my purse inside the car!! Deric starts freaking out immediately while Jeff and I start laughing! So not only did we have a dead battery but we had locked everything in!!! We had the idea of holding the kitten up to the window because if Divot could lock the door I was going to try to get him to unlock the door. And besides that Divot goes crazy around cats, so he would do anything to get to the cat. I know he is just a dog... but he is MY dog and I had a lot of faith in him! After about 20 minutes of us holding the kitten up while saying "Divot get the kitty, get the kitty Divot, and Divot going crazy trying to get to him the back passenger window went down!! We all yelled !!! But to come to find out it only went down about 10 inches. But thank goodness for good pointer sticks!!! Jeff brought me the longest screwdriver I had ever seen! I reached into the open window and hit the unlock button!! All the while the dogs still going t crazy in the car! I had to let Div out to see the kitten... it was his prize for being such a good dog!! Of course he scared the poor little guy because Divot kept barking at him. We got in the car a prayed we make it to the auto parts store. We got there safe and sound and they replaced the battery. The rest of the trip went perfect. The dogs slept the entire 12 hours. Birdie didn't even want to wake up when we stopped!! That is all they have done since we got home SLEEP. We are glad that we are home but I am sure we will be ready to see family again in a month!!! We aren't planning on going home again until Christmas but hopefully we will have some visitors before that!! Thank you to all of our family and friends for making our trip so much fun!! We love you all and miss you guys!!!