german food and more family news

We had our lunch at the Alpine Restaurant. It was very good. If Eileen ever comes here, we know where to take her out to eat. It was a German cuisine for the most part. We both had the sausage platter. We picked different sausages and sauerkraut and I got mashed potatoes while Leo picked german potato salad. We both enjoyed our meal very much, and may even go back tomorrow for the very nice priced all you can eat buffet for dinner. After our lunch, we went to the Wildlife Sanctuary. The trail part of it is free to the public, so we went on a little walk through the woods. We didn't want to overdo it for my sake, so we did one of the easier trails. We then came home and received a call from my sister, Kari, who is now engaged. That means next year my parents are having two new grandchildren and a wedding to help plan. Good thing my dad retired.

Staycation

Leo is on vacation this week. Since we didn't travel anywhere, we have been referring to this week as our staycation. Not that we are staying home all. Yesterday we went to Cooperstown, NY to go to the Baseball Hall of Fame. We were a little disappointed in the layout of things. It kind of jumped around and I would have like to see a little more modern history of things. They did have some cool things in the Babe Ruth room. It was also interesting to see the old gloves, and they had some contracts from the beginning of the century on display. They have sure gone up in price. We also got mixed in a crowd from the Boston area that were there playing baseball. There was a youth tournament of some sort going on. Well, it turns out the one lady was friends with Mike Timlin and actually took a picture of his picture that was hanging on the wall and sent it to his cell phone. We also walked around the downtown shop area. We didn't find anything we wanted to buy. The drive there and back was real nice. We were mostly traveling on back roads in the mountains. The only navigational problem was getting around deer that were playing in the road. Today we decided to go out to lunch. We ate at the Boat House Restaurant. It was very good. I got a pound of steamers and a pulled pork sandwich that also came with fries. Leo got the ranch buffalo chicken sandwich. We also both got homemade lemonade. The whole lunch was fantastic. We then went down to the lake since we were right in that area. We watched some people pit their boats in which was probably as exciting as Harry watching the big trucks today. We came home and then watched the birds at our bird feeders including some hummingbirds. We put up the feeders the other day. We'll see how long it lasts before the bear discovers that they are there. It seems that it has been avoiding our yard, so we figured that we would try to put out the feeders. There were also some deer eating out there also. Tomorrow we are going to try the Alpine Restaurant for lunch and probably go to the glass museum and wildlife sanctuary. We want to get memberships, so we can use the trails. It is nice to live in an area where there is much to do.

Busy Shopping Day

We decided to go look for new furniture today. We went to the best furniture store that I have ever been called Van Gorders. They have two locations. We went to the one by Lake Wallenpaupack. It had many floor models to give you an idea of what you had. We had to decide what type of living room set we wanted. We decided the best route for us to go would be a sectional. The next step was picking out what kind. The salesman started asking us questions about our lifestyle and it didn't take long to determine with the dogs, cats, and kid on the way, a sturdy microfiber was in order. Well, the brand we chose had tear sheets that you could take with measurements. Also, we picked the sectionals that you build yourself meaning we could choose what we wanted in the sectional. Leo and I came home to measure and decided on what size would work and then we ran back to the store to place our order. We decided to have a sectional that is a couch with a recliner on each end. We also got a new coffee table that matches the pieces of furniture that we already have. I also got complimented on my choice of color combination. We picked a rust color for the sectional and I picked fabric that went well with it. I got told that I have a good eye for the match. Leo thinks they tell that to everyone. The pillows that come with it are free. That was a plus. Even better is that the turn around time for the company is rather quick, and we should have delivery in three weeks. We also took a walk on the path by the lake while we were in that area. We also made a run to Home Depot, so that Leo could buy bug spray for the yard. He also had to buy hornet spray as we have a large nest we noticed today that needs to be dealt with. While there, we started looking around and bought some bird feed and a hummingbird feeder since we have a few of those that hang around. We are going to put up my feeder. Leo cleared some brush which will eventually be turned in to a garden path and horseshoe pits. We then bought what we needed to make the tree protectors from the deer and we added two burning bushes to plant. We may go shopping for some other trees this week since Leo is on vacation.

Happy Birthday!

Today is Wrangler's 6th birthday. He seemed to like Leo singing Happy Birthday to him. I don't really think he knew what the song reall was. I think he just liked the attention. He spent most of his birthday on deer watch. He likes to stand or sit and look out the windows. Now, most of the time he barks and there is nothing there. The deer that do come on a regular basis like to tease him and stand right outside the window that he is looking, and get him all riled. Today, they didn't come. We did have some bucks around, but they weren't in his line of sight. Funny thing about the two of them was that one was a three point. He decided to try to take on the bigger buck that was on the hill. Needless to say, the little guy lost that battle but it was sure funny to watch. I think that it won't be long before the bucks are out more often. They are already doing small scrapes. I guess when the time comes Wrangler will have plenty to watch out of the window.

Little Gymnast.

I was watching the Olympics last night. For those who haven't seen or read the news, the men's gymnastic team medaled after no one thought they could. Well, all three men had high bar routines that were terrific. The crowd went crazy, and apparently the baby thought it was good too because the baby started moving around like crazy. It was right on cue. The baby was moving before, and has done it after but not like this. When the replays were on tonight the baby went crazy again. Apparently, the kid wants to do the high bar when it gets older. Hasn't done it tonight during the women's competition. For those who think American youth sports are out of hand, the Chinese have us beat. They take kids at age three and train them like elite athletes. These kids also only see their parents once a year, and it is kept this way until their Olympic careers are over. I know other countries have similar programs, but the Chinese seem to start it at the youngest age. In other news, my parents are going from one grandchild to three. My sister, Kelly, is pregnant and due around my birthday. It will be nice for the baby to have a cousin that close in age. It is also nice that we live closer now, so they can spend time together.