May 2014 in Corsicana

Here we go...

May 20, 2014
(Lisa writing) Olivia, John, Addy and Lisa arrived at 9:45 ish and went straight to Braum's and then here. It was dark when we arrived so we can't see how anything looks. But the frog noises are out of control! We are gonna have to talk about quiet time. Addy has already run off into the dark once. The shade thrown at Lisa regarding Addy's morning walk (on October 10, 2013) was discovered when Lisa was catching up with the book. Lisa did not appreciate the shade throwing. Addy is 42 human years old. She should know better. Olivia and I will be riding soon. Will report back.

We just got back and saw two jack rabbits and smelled a skunk. Pitiful. Addy barked at the creepy statue downtown. Olivia taped it. It was hilar. 

P.S. Owen's graduation sucked. Lisa's still not over it but she will get there. She hopes. 

Now here's something REALLY unusual. In order to explain the shade throwing about Addy's morning walk....I'm gonna insert the October entry made by Olivia about the dog taking a walk. Which is very different from walking the dog. You'll see....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 10, 2013
(Olivia writing) The weather was fantastic today. Carrie and Emma arrived today. Carrie in the morning and Emma in the evening. Lisa mowed per usual. John did other things and Carrie and Olivia sat on the porch and did other things as well. We went on a ride at some point. It was a rather uneventful day. Olivia learned later in the day that Addy had gone on an adventure earlier that morning before Olivia was awake. Apparently while John was working on the lawn mower, and Lisa was doing something of equal importance I'm sure, Addy decided it was time for a morning walk up the gravel road to say hello to the goats. No one can say exactly how far she got, but by the time John saw her, she was just less than half way down the road on her way back! It must have been a long time of no supervision if the dog decided she better head back to the house. From this point on Olivia kept a much closer eye on Addy and the parents. We went on a night ride and tested out a new Q beam that worked pretty well for $25. We didn't see any animals though so that's a bummer. Actually we saw a regular rabbit so that's technically something. It's supposed to be slightly warmer tomorrow, lets hope it isn't. 
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Annnd we're back to the present. Who's to say it was my fault that Addy went on an unsupervised walk? I'm not saying it. I will not say it. I might could say it. But. No...I'm not saying anything. 

Now we are going back to the May trip. There may be too many flash backs and then further flash backs. And then....I'm so confused...

May 21, 2014

(Lisa writing) I woke up first. And went and got Collin's Street for breakfast. Cinnamon Roll, cinnamon twist, almond danish, and an apple fritter. It was fab. Then John, Olivia, and I went to Atwoods to buy apple-oatmeal treats for the horses. We saw chicks, and bunnies, and ducks there. I wanted them to be free. I did not release them. 

Free the chicks!

And the bunnies!

Then Olivia and I went to Walmart. We bought a lot of stuff. When we got home, John and Olivia went to Gander and I stayed here and dozed on the back porch. John worked on the lawn mower for most of the day and got it to cut grass better. So glad. Then Jimmie Buchanan came by and told me she bought an iPad mini and needed some help learning some stuff, so Olivia and I went to her house to use her wifi and help her learn about it. She was a patient student, but she knows NOTHING about her iPad.  


May 22, 2014

(Lisa writing) Olivia is really letting me down on the daily journal entries. Yesterday I woke up at 7 a.m. it was awful. I hoped sleep would make friends with me again immediately, but it did not. So I got up at 8 a.m. There is a lot of day to eat up when you get up that early. John and I finished all the mowing, the horses finally came to the fence to eat many, many, many apple-oat snacks. Many. Olivia sun-bathed. She was exhausted from it. (She's been lazy and ridiculous). We ate What-a-Burger for lunch, took a nap, and then Olivia and I went for a country ride. We tried a new road off from a familiar road, it eventually turned into a wash-board experience. The worst wash-board road I've ever been on. Well, we came to a house with three short legged dogs (looked like the same dogs as Queen Elizabeth has, Corgis) (I don't think they are hers.) I forgot to mention Addy was with us. Well Addy saw them, and they saw her, and because of the wash-board road, we couldn't race away. Addy was furiously barking inside, they surrounded our car, even with their short legs, terrorizing us as we creeped along the dirt road. At one point, they either started bumping or biting the running board of the car. There was a moment when I thought the short legs would win and then in a miraculous moment we hit a decent piece of road and I gunned it! Left their short legged selves in the dust! It was a good moment.  We got home safe and sound, showered, Carrie came, and we got ice cream, late night ride, ate Jiffy Pop, and came home and went to bed. Except for four deer and many cats, critters let us down on the ride. 

Ice creams: 
Olivia: Caramel sunday/with chocolate chip, 
Me: Strawberry Shortcake sunday,
Carrie: Banana split
All good decisions.  

Tomorrow is coming...  

(Owen writing in the present day) (Let it be known that Owen had seen deer in the years' prior, but Lisa denied their existence). (Lisa's writer's Note) I just discovered this statement as I was editing some stuff. Owen was helping me transcribe some of the Corsicana entries because it's so hard to read and go back and type and remember and yada yada. It's so hard. But it is true that I've denied his seeing deer. For no other reason than over the years I have continued to enjoy his reaction anytime I told him he was seeing things.  

Landscape was all there was to take pictures of before the boys arrived. 

So picturesque. 

Country ride finds. 

Addy loves a country ride.

May 23, 2014

(Lisa writing) Woke up at 8:30 a.m. What is up with that?! John went to hunt arrow heads at Dan's. As I was going to open the gate for the horses, I found lots of water leaking into the little pasture. I knew I had to call John home. He found a hole in a pipe behind the little room, between it and the clothes-line. John fixed it, took three hours and two trips to Atwoods. Olivia had a fit when I asked her to help me fold a tarp. She remains ridic. We are currently waiting on Carrie, who has gone to get Bill's Fried Chicken for lunch for us. It's not our Bill, like it wasn't the queen's corgis.  

John and the not very deep hole. 

Before the final fix.

More to come...

John went back to Dan's this afternoon and found a pretty close to perfect arrow head. He was happy. 

Carrie, Olivia and I went on a ride and found a field of wheat. Going back sometime to take sunset picks of it. We found huge fields of beautiful firewheels. Took some pretty good photos. 

I forgot to mention Olivia has named the toad "Martin," we saw him in the yard last night so I guess Martin likes the night life, he likes to boogie. Martin needs to boogie less, and watch for snakes because one animal's body, is another animal's supper. YUM. 

Martin on his way to the pipe.

Addy had to be kept away from Martin. Toads are bad for dogs if eaten.

Dan stopped by this evening and we had a memorial service for the cypress tree that the jerk pipeline people cut down. He told us it ended up as mulch in a neighbor's yard. SO not happy for her, we still grieve...

Ice cream tonight: 

Olivia: Cherry Chocolate chip on a cone
Carrie: single scoop chocolate on a cone
John: two scoops peanut butter cup in a cup
Me: caramel sundae for the win.  

Night ride is coming...I expect nothing.

We saw an opossum, an armadillo, and a raccoon on the ride.  EH.  At least they tried.

I have no idea why I didn't explain who Martin was in the journal. One evening we saw a toad under Gran's window near the drain pipe on the back porch. I thought he was stuck between the drain pipe and the house and then we started watching him and we figured out he had quite the racket going for himself. Each night at dusk, he would make his way across the porch to the drain pipe, hop into the pipe, turn around facing out lying in wait for unsuspecting bugs as they came by his hiding place. Every morning he was nowhere to be found. He may be the most brilliant toad in the history of the land. And that's exactly who Martin is. Godspeed to you Martin....wherever you are right now. Hopefully not in a snake's tummy.  

May 24, 2014

(Lisa writing) Today was somewhat uneventful. We ate, we sat, we went for a ride, afternoon and night. John, Carrie and Olivia looked for stuff with the metal detector. They found so much stuff! A piece of house siding, a scrunched penny, and oh yeah, nothing else. I took a nap because I had a headache. Woke up better. Called Billie June for her birthday. Had ice cream for supper. Overall, nothing interesting happened.

Addy or any dog digging for moles/gophers amuses me to no end. 

Night Ride...We drove 20 miles to see nothing. Got home and saw a frog on the side walk. All the animals moved to the city. More visitors tomorrow! Come back to see who!

May 25, 2014

(Lisa writing) I've fallen down on the job. And I forgot what we did, but Emma got here at about 12:30 and Caitlin, Lindsey, William, and James got here about 3. It was a great afternoon and we sat outside and watched William explore the place. It was Jame's first trip (outside the womb) to Corsicana. We took some pics, played some ball, blew some bubbles, and ate some supper. James had little to say about the farm but I suspect he loves it. William loves loves loves it. Our night ride once again was a disappointment.  What are animal watchers to do?

I feel like these two together could get into a lot of trouble. 

A little light reading for the two year old.

Brothers at the farm for the first time. 

Buck naked resting.

The great aunties and William taking selfies. 

Went to Braum's, so many orders.  William was asleep for ice cream, it was so wrong.



May 26, 2014
We woke up to rain. (Insert sad face in your head here because I can't). But not long into the morning, it stopped! We spent the day outside playing and exploring the farm with William. He wore his frog boots all day and made friends with the horses! It was a great accomplishment. 

James stayed near the house but Emma walked him up to the barn and he was pleased. William joined them for a time and apparently he and Emma had a disagreement and William tried to tell his Mama (on Emma) but we aren't quite sure of what he was offended. 

Big brother taking aim....

Lindsey took James for this special picture. James Gibson Walker and Whitney share a birthday.

Hearts for this...

Except for the horrible yellow, this blurry picture of 212 almost makes the house look OK. It is not. 

Float like a butterfly...

Wide eyed excitement.

American cutie pie.

The rain came back for a time and tried to dampen our spirits, but we didn't let it.

John cooked hamburgers and hot dogs and and we had roasted veggies and ice cream (homemade) and we enjoyed the whole evening outside. 

Lindsey was trying to get a cheek sugar. Caitlin said no. 

They decided to go fly a kite...

It didn't quite go up to the highest height. 

And did a family photo.

Some sidewalk chalking.

William re-did Olivia's hair while riding atop her shoulders.

America...we are the best ones....

There is concern because Martin the frog didn't show up at all. So. Worried. There was an incident with a too loud firework that marred William's night experience. So sorry it happened. But before that happened we had s'mores and he was praising Jesus for chocolate, graham crackers and marshmallows! Bath time came for the boys and the rest of us bathed larger bodies. It was movie time, Barney, bedtime and night ride time. We saw a raccoon and an armadillo. And while we appreciate their effort, we were hoping for more. The day ended with everyone snug in their beds. 

It was a good day. 

May 27, 2014
We have awakened to more rain. Will let you know more. John went to Collin St and William has had donut holes. He is not happy with the day so far. I think it will improve though. Will update as soon as more happens. More happened. I forgot to write it down. It finally stopped raining and we were able to go outside under very cloudy skies and chilly conditions. Olivia, William and John threw the dip net and found some sunfish and crawfish. William didn't like the sunfish so much but would touch the crawfish. We spent most of the day outside but it never got warm. We, John, Lisa, Carrie, Lindsey, Caitlin, Emma, Olivia, William and James all went to OMI. It was delish. We came home, fed the horses and finished the day out well. This is the Swanders and Emma's last night. So sad. Night ride: a opossum in town. Really?! I give up on critters. 

P.S.  
An owl did fly across the road in front of us, but he landed in someone's yard. Didn't want to get shot so we moved on. 

I love this sequence of William and the sunset.

He's walking away...

Pauses to look back...

Notices the lovely evening sky...

And points it out.

I don't know if that's what he was doing, but that's what it LOOKS like he was doing. 

And it was quite lovely. 

Then it was time for some final selfies with the horses.

And then we were done.

May 28, 2014
The Swanders and Emma left about 11 and arrived safely back home. It was sad. I am officially Sasa to William. I like it. Olivia is Yaya currently. After we dried our tears, Olivia and John went to Dan's looking for arrowheads. They found none. While they were gone Carrie went to mail something and browsed the town. Lisa mowed and Caitlin jerkily sunbathed. We spent the best day weather wise outside. So annoying since the others had to leave. This afternoon John finished the mowing and the girls went for a ride. Cardinals dotted the countryside throughout the ride. We have arrived back to the house and gathered wood for fire and a book burning. Old rotted books. Calm down. It's been a good day even though William wasn't here to call me Sasa. 

Hat wearing before he left. 

Will report on the pitiful night ride later....
Just when you think it's never gonna get better...we saw a family of feral hogs...2 adults, 3 babies, one big toad, a skunk and some rabbits. Best ride yet. 

May 29, 2014
Without 2 little boys to liven the morning, mornings are boring. Caitlin and Olivia just aren't as much fun. We are starting the process of cleaning and closing the house. It's a sad day. Lunch has been had. Sunbathing is being done. The day gets sadder as the day gets later. Carrie, me, Caitlin and Olivia went for an afternoon ride. We saw multi rabbits, one painted bunting...a first for Carrie...and many horses I want for myself. John flintknapped while we were gone...and all week. It's been a great vacation. And even though it's been 10 days, we still aren't ready to go home. John and Olivia are currently shooting at eggs on golf tees in the pasture...keeping it classy. Cleaning is ongoing. Night ride. One more, to come. We saw nothing. It was pitiful. 

May 30, 2014 
Caitlin and Olivia left for Dallas at 8:15 a.m. Carrie and I sat on the porch this morning. It's the most beautiful day which always makes it harder to leave. 

 We are leaving soon. 

 Until next time.

That's it folks. This took forever to finish. I looked for photos of this trip from multiple phones. Some of my photos were duplicated and that made me have to stop and remove the duplicates. Then I saw they were out of order. Don't even get me started on that! But hopefully this post flows and there weren't too many flash forwards, backwards and sideways. 

We are very soon about to start packing our car. We have gasoline, clothes, chairs, money, suntan lotion, goggles, swim suits, sunglasses, and so much other stuff I can't say. 

While others are already beach bound, we will be leaving very early in the morn. 

Safe travels to all in Jesus name. 

It's gonna be so much fun! 

See ya at the seaside!!!

P.S. This may be my longest post ever on record...