4th AT LEWES

We went to Lewes, Delaware for the 4th of July and visited with Brian and his family. Brady was there with his family (picture above  Brady, Irina and Ksenia in front of Brian's house) and Chase was up with his girlfriend from Georgia.  Brian and Dorothy had a house full with their children and grandchild, so Brian put us up at the Home 2 suite for two nights.  It was only a few miles from their home. We were glad  Hershey Thousand Trails gave us permission to leave the RV unattended overnight so we could come and stay for two days. 

Three generations of Mathias. Brady Larry, Chase and Brian.

 Spouses and girlfriend. Elizabeth, Irina, Dottie and Dorothy. Ksenia on  "Aunt" Elizabeth's lap.

 

Brian and Dorothy took us out in their pontoon boat. We stopped by sandbars so we could enjoy being in the water and socializing with many other boaters who anchored nearby.

Chase and Brady.

Elizabeth and Dorothy.

Irina and Ksenia digging for crabs on the sandbar.

This poor horseshoe crab was so covered with barnacles. Irina and Brady tried to help remove some to save him. Not sure it worked.

In the evening we went out on the bay again. We watched the sunset and then the fireworks from Dewey Beach. It was a different experience watching from the water in the boat with family. It was a nice visit.

2025 PA VISIT

We left Florida on May 30. I bravely drove half of the way and Larry the rest. He drove around Washington DC and Baltimore on Sunday June 1st. We stopped at Circle M for the night and then went to Muddy Run Campground for a week.

Deer welcomed us to Muddy Run, right behind our site.

Mystique and her family were tent camping for 4 days at a site up the hill from where our site was. 

We enjoyed cookouts together. Eric making steaks on the grill.

Sitting around the fire telling stories.

and roasting marsh mellows. 

We biked to the splash pad with Hunter, Ashtyn, and Averie.

Hunter holding down the water.

Alivia and Averie getting soaked.

Eric playing with the kids. They had four nice warm sunny days and after they left it rained. It was fun camping with them.

Besides deer we saw rabbits

and robins. I miss seeing them in Florida. 

After Muddy Run we camped for three weeks at Circle M. Lynda came and visited and we celebrated her 79th birthday. The next week  I went to her house and stayed overnight.

  Larry and I went to Bob's and Felicia's house in Birdsboro. It was the first we had been there. It is nice and I forgot to take any pictures, so sorry. 

Fellow 3rd and 4th grade teachers from my days at Octoara:  Avis, Susan, and Mary Alice. Every time I come up to Lancaster we try to get together for lunch. It is good keeping in touch. These are traveling women and they sure are enjoying retirement. 

After Circle M we went to Hershey Thousand Trails for 10 days before heading back to Florida.

Mystique and Eric playing with the kids at the pool at Hershey Thousand Trails.

 Hunter playing ball with us in the water.  It was another good visit with the grandchildren before we left.

We meet Larry's siblings for lunch one day.  Lyndon, Barbara, Larry and Trey.

With their spouses, Tom with Barb, Loretta with Trey and Larry and me. Lyndon had a woman he has been dating come and meet us but she had to get back to work before the picture was taken.

We left Hershey on Sunday July 13th. We stayed west avoiding Baltimore and took 70 to 270 and then 495 by Washington DC. The traffic wasn't bad until we got past Washington and then it was bumper to bumper and not moving. I took over the wheel.  In Virginia on 95 I had the worst rain storm to drive through. So I have now driven through traffic jams, several rain storms and construction. We arrived  home safely on Tuesday  afternoon, July 15. 

 

DINING ROOM SEATS

The seats to the chairs to our dining room were sagging. We tried sitting on cushions or pillows but they weren't working. We looked into buying new chairs but they wouldn't match and were pretty expensive.

We located a man that lived close by that redid furniture. We took the chairs to him and between us we came up with a solution. 

 Larry would reinforce the bottom of the seats  from the underside with wood, and he would make us sturdy seat cushions to fit the seat. We chose the material and color. They were a little pricy but the best solution.

 

He had the cushions made in two weeks and came to the house to put them on the chair. The finished product.

The foam he used is very strong and comfortable. 

The cushion snaps unto the chair.  They are much more comfortable to sit on now and hopefully will last us awhile.

PUZZLES FOR SALE

The second Saturday of each month Community of Faith has a Market Day. Many of the women in the church have jigsaw puzzles, so we donated our "extras " to sell at the Market Day in May.

The money raised went to United women in Faith mission projects.

There were many puzzles, and only sold a few. 

 

SHOWS

 I saw this article in the newspaper about Bruce Hall and the Horizon West Theater company's play, Rock of Ages. I was not a familiar with the band REO Speedwagon but I knew their1980 hit "Can't Fight this Feeling"  and " Keep on Loving You". We went on Thursday evening to see the play.

We sat right behind Bruce Hall. His son was the drummer for the show. It was a good adult show, lots of songs, funny and a little loud. It was a long show, over 2 hours.  

Last Sunday at church a friend of Larry's told him about his daughters were going to be in the play Annie. So I purchased tickets on line. We had plan to go to this show before I got tickets for Rock of Ages. I thought the tickets were for Saturday. At 8 o'clock Friday evening we got an email from Brian, Larry's friend, saying he was coming out at intermission to see him. Oh no ,were are tickets for tonight? Yes they were. We really wanted to see the show so I was able to get seats for Saturday's show.

Davenport's School of Performing Arts goes from K to 8th grade.  The cast is all students. The tall guy in the center was Oliver Warbucks and is an 8th grader and Annie in the red dress is in 7th grade. Brian's daughter , Skylar was one of the orphans I think she was the one on the end in the brown apron.

Brian's other daughter, Julia, played  Lily St. Regis who ended up in jail, the girl on the left.  It is nice seeing students developing their talents and passions. 

LARRY'S PROJECTS

The garbage dispenser broke so Larry ordered a new one and installed it. Plumbing is never an easy job.
 

According to the HOA rules we can not have items stored on our RV port. We had a shelf with a few containers of things behind our RV. We thought of putting the items in the garage and then Larry decided to take items from the garage and store them in the RV port. When the RV is parked here there is no problem, but when we leave it needed to be covered. Larry designed and built this wall. He hinged it to the wall.

That end had to be open so we could reach the electrical box to plug in the RV.

He used fencing and made a steel frame.

A piece of wood  at the end that locks onto the wall. Wheels to open it up.

It works.

Perfect planning so the RV fits perfectly and nothing will be seen when we are not here.

MISSION STUDY AND SOUL CARE

Saturday, March 22 was the East Central District Mission study at Lakeside in Sanford. Linda and Paula did a very nice presentation on the material, Coming Home.

There were some art activities and even a scavenger hunt. 

For the soul care part of the day we had diamond painting, coloring, yoga and line dancing. It was a nice time to fellowship with others from our district.