Memorial Day and Our First Kayak Outing Together

Hello to all, and I hope you had a great Memorial Day. I would first like to pay honor to those who are and who have served in our military and especially to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. Our heart goes out to them and their families, I know it does not bring them back but we can ensure they are not forgotten. I hope you too took a few minutes of your day to remember them.
As for the rest of the holiday weekend, we did as most all of America did, had a cook out with friends and family. Our neighbors Brandon and Julie had us over. Talk about good eatin, ribs, beans, salads, chips and great company to share it with. You may say we had a good time as we started around 2 pm and were still going strong at midnight!!! however, I had to be a party pooper and head home at the midnight hour as I had to work in the morn.

The garden Sheryl and Cassie planted is coming right along, it sure sprouted up alot faster than I thought it was going to considering it started from seeds. Soon fresh veggies for all!!!

Wednesday we both managed to get the day off together, and the weather actually cooperated and gave us a great day, so off to the lake we went. We have been waiting to be able to go kayaking together, so today was the day. Temps were in the 70's with a good wind blowing (whats new!!.) We put in at a small cove and all was well till we hit the unprotected open area of the lake, wow the wind was just a kickin, there were actually white caps on the wind blown waves!! It turned out not to be so bad though, actually the waves made it kinda interesting and fun.Here we are in our now famous honey shot, taking the picture while sitting to 2 separate kayaks on the lake was interesting to say the least, but we were able to capture the moment.

Sheryl packed us a good lunch, sandwiches, Cheetos and watermelon salad,. We made our way across the lake and found a nice little secluded spot for lunch. The white you see in the picture is a layer of quartz uncovered by erosion with the red dirt both above and below it. It sure made a nice spot to sit and have lunch together.

Sheryl was enjoying her first real kayak outing, even if it was only for a couple of hours, the kayaks handled really good in high winds and waves. The more we use them the better we like them, lots of storage, they track really well and are good and steady, we'll never win a race with them, but they will be great for kayak camping now and in the future.

Yours truly, enjoying the day

A shot of the lake looking south from our lunch spot, we didn't realize there were some islands in the lake (you can see one here.) Like allover the US the lake is very low, partially due to several years of drought and also by the booming population. Here in the west, most all water comes from lakes and rivers, it's a double edge sword though, you need water to drink and water the crops, but it leaves low lakes and dried up rivers.

After pulling out of the lake, Sheryl spotted this dandelion, we both have never seen one so big, it's actually larger than Sheryl's hand!! it was growing in a pretty wind protected area, so we think that is why it may have gotten so big without blowing away.

During the ride home, we took a different route than on the way there, the fields were full of wild flowers, vast areas of yellow, purple, and red blanketed the pastures. It was a great way to end a great day on the water. The spotting of one small flower or gazing over a vast field of them, you can find beauty most anywhere if you stop and take the time to look. So take a few minutes out of you busy lives, to as they say "stop and smell the roses" you will be amazed at what you will find. So until next time, love your life as we do ours!!!

Wild Rainbow and New Garden

Earlier this week we had a rain storm come through (whats new for the Texas panhandle!!!) what was wild was the rainbow aftermath. This is not your ordinary rainbow, for if you look you can see inside the rainbow the sky is lighter and outside the rainbow the sky is darker, this is something we have never seen before and thought it really wild!!! You can also tell how big it is as it will not fit inside the picture frame.

Speaking of wild, Sheryl finally got a wild hair up her (well you know) and decided to plant a garden in the back yard. Her and Cassie worked away on it while I was at work (thank goodness...lol) how ever I did not come off that easy as I had to remove the dug up sod and haul it off to parts unknown. The end result however is going to be soooooo good!!! We now have squash, corn, green beans, watermelon, carrots and red onions, can't wait, fresh grown veggies in a couple on months. We also planted some tomato plants, strawberries and blueberries. As long as we don't manage to kill the plants off we should be "eatin good in the neighborhood", to steal a phrase from a popular eatery.

I was also busy myself, frustrated, mad and any other expletive you would like to put in there!! My skills in finding a stud behind a wall, well lets just say, leave something to be desired. Anyway, I decided to hang the Kayaks in the garage (got tired of them laying all over) and after making a mountain out of a molehill (nothing is ever easy when I do it) some calmer minds prevailed (Sheryl) I was able to get them hung. (oh ya, Sheryl did throw he stud finder across the garage) so much for calmer minds...lol we (she) decided the batteries were going south, so off to the store she went. Turns out she was right, we found the studs and all was well.

Ahhh, another day in the Lehmann household....what would we do without these little trials in our life which make thing more interesting. Just imagine how boring life would be it everything just feel into place and nothing ever went coo coo. I'll leave you with that thought...so until next time, love your life as we do ours!!!!

Pro-crasta-natin!!!

I know, I know, I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, call it being lazy, procrastinating, or I just haven't been in a writing mode, what ever the reason, it's been a couple of weeks. In all actuality not a whole lot has been happening, except for last weekend we visited Chris and Kaileigh in OKC for a weekend. A couple of weekends ago, we did have a gathering at the house for new friends and old, Cassies boyfriends parents came over (they are real nice folks). He is still active duty Air Force, so we have a few things in common and of course the ladies can chit chat about anything and get along. We also had our neighbors Brandon and Julie over, The menu was salad, fajitas, chips and all kinds of dips, we played games, chatted and just had a over all good time.

Sheryl's mom and niece came down from Kansas for a visit, Breanna brought her new little girl with her, it was Sheryl's first time to see the little one in person. Sheryl and Cassie had a great time holding her as well as giving mom alittle break!! It was a good visit, I had to work that day, so I came home in the middle of the visit. Sheryl loves spending time with her mom, and I was glad they were able to come down.

Almost forgot, the last tree for the front yard was planted this weekend, now we only need a few more things for the front and the landscaping will be complete.
The following weekend, we loaded up the trailer with various items for Chris and Kaileigh, hooked it to the jeep and off to OKC we went. Tell you what, we looked like the Clampets from Beverly Hillbilly's going down the road!!! We had a great visit with the kids and a wonderful meal at the best Mexican restaurant we have ever eaten at. The restaurant is called Teds and if you ever find yourself in OKC, check it out you will be pleasantly surprised!!! The rest of the time was pretty much just spent visiting, then it was back to Amarillo.

It was getting on dinner time so we stopped at a local I-40 tourist stop for a bathroom break and ended up doing dinner. After dinner the tourist trap had a fenced in area with 3 buffalo, it was actually kinda cool, Cassie had a great time and actually fed one of the buffalo we stayed and did the tourist thing for a bit before heading on back to reality. It sure is nice to get away once in a while, kinda gives us a small taste of how it may be in a couple of years when we hit the open road!!! Ok, until next time, love your life as we do ours...

Kids Visit, April 07

The kids have come and gone, we all had a great time and it sure was good seeing everyone again. This is the first time all our kids had been together in one place, it was really great. They all flew in from Orlando Florida, except Kaileigh who drove in from Oklahoma City. In the photo above, Me, Sheryl, Cassie, Michael, Kayla, Chris, Kaileigh and Charity in the middle!!! I have not seen Charity since she was just over a year old, and it was Sheryl's first time meeting her also. She took right to both of us and what a cutie she is, and smart to boot!!!

Michael and Charity arrived on Tuesday 24 Apr and Kayla and Chris arrived on Thursday, the 24th was Kayla's 23rd B-Day so Cassie had made her a cake and we had a little celebration Thursday night. Sheryl and also got to know Chris (Kayla's Boyfriend) we had met him earlier at Kaylas collage graduation but they were just friends back then. Chris is a great guy, he treats Kayla well (that is the most important thing), Michael gave us his seal of approval. He seems to be a genuine and honest person, so he has our approval and I hope everything works out for them and they will be together a long time. Ok, Chris, don't go getting a BIG HEAD reading this....lol Mostly we all just got in a good visit, chatting and sharing stories. Played games and cooked out with family and friends, what better way to spend time together.

We did however had to show everyone around the area, so off to Palo Duro Canyon we went. Poor Sheryl had to work so it was just the six of us The Canyon is just south of Amarillo and is known as the Grand Canyon of Texas. The canyon id several miles long and a mile or so across with several hiking and horse trails. It is also a state park with a visitors center and camp grounds.
At the visitor center Mike and Charity got to meet a real cowboy! ok a fake cowboy, but a photo op ensued. hrity did however get to meet a real cowboy later in the day, as we stopped to get drinks and hot dogs at the park store, Charity announced very loudly (as kids do) LOOK DADDY A REAL COWBOY!!! as one of the horse stable workers came in for a soda. He did come over and chat with Charity for abit and just made her day, it was too cute.

Of course photo ops were everywhere, this is me and Cassie.

Kayla and Chris, what a good looking couple!!!

While hiking a trail, a couple of horses came along, the people were very nice and even let Charity pet one of the horses, this was her first encounter with a horse or large animal of any kind. This should make for a great memory for all of us. Cassie showed her how to pet the horse and not startle him. The riders were thanks and on their way they went.

Michael, Kayla and Chris did alot of rock climbing (ahh to have the energy of those three!!!) here is Michael and Kayla on a outcropping.

Saturday, we decided to go to Lake Meridith for a picnic, swimming and to let everyone try their hand at kayaking. The lake is a national rec area just north of Amarillo. We did up a picnic lunch, loaded up the kayaks and off we went. Sheryl's sister Carol also met us there and got to met the gang from Florida.

Sheryl finally got to try out her kayak for the first time, we paddled out quite far before coming back in. She really seemed to enjoy it, can't wait till we can get out together for a longer day of paddling. Oh and just like her honey, she didn't flip once!!!

Everyone took turns in the kayaks, and enjoyed their rides, thinking Chris and Kayla may end up with a couple of their own, for as much fun as they had.

Her are the three amigos all proud of themselves after loading up the kayaks for the trip home, yes it is Captain Mike and his fearless crew Kevin and Chris!!!
That evening we celebrated not drowning at the lake with a trip to our favorite Mexican eatery in downtown Amarillo, a fun place with great food.

The ladies, Charity, Sheryl, Kayla and Kaileigh

The boys, Michael, Kevin and Chris. I ordered a large beer, so the boy did too, you should have seen the look on their face when they showed up...now that's a BIG BEER!!!

Charity decided she was going to dance to the live music, so gampa couldn't let her be the star of her own show and got up to swing a little also.
Wow, what a great time we had, can't put all the photos and laughs we had here, but rest assured we did. Sunday the kids were off on their trip back to reality and us back to work come Monday. We hope to do this again sometime, think it will be a trip to Florida for us though.

So until next time, enjoy your loved ones as we did and always do, and remember to love life for it is way to short to do it any other way!!!