Heading Towards Texas – Pt. 1

At the end of April 2011, Richard and I started our journey towards a campground in a small town called Waller, TX.  Our first stop was at our membership resort in DeFuniak Springs, FL called Sunset King Lake Resort.  At this resort, we have come very close to some who now reside at this resort.  It was very good to see our ol’ friends and spend time with them.  About 30 minutes west of DeFuniak Springs is a town called Crestview.  This is where our niece (Kelli), her hubby (Kevin) and their 3 younguns’ live.  So it gave us time to visit with family too.  What was cool, too, was that friends who we haven’t seen in about 2 years were coming to the resort on the same day we were arriving.  Whoo hooo!  We went to Cheeseburger in Paradise, Ed’s Restaurant and probably a few other places that my mind just can’t remember.  But our 10 day stay was absolutely wonderful.  It was sad to leave our friends/family behind to head west.

Fun at Cheeseburger in Paradise with our good friends, Doug and Lois…We always have a blast with them…

Our family comic and fun girl, Kelli…She is such a joy to be around…She loves me!  lol

While visiting Kelli and family, we were lucky enough to be invited to their son’s/daughter’s birthday party.  Lil’ Kevin (Boo) and Shyler were turning one year older.  Their birthdays are about a week or so away so Kelli & Kevin decided to combine the parties.  It actually was a pool party and their friends were invited to enjoy in the fun.  We took them and their older sister, Bayne, something from Disney that we thought they would like.  The cakes were pretty awesome.  Spongebob Squarepants for Boo and Fairies for Shyler…

 

It was pretty awesome to see 2 different kinds of birthday decorations…All their friends came and the first thing they wanted to do was hit the pool…We didn’t take our swimsuits and I didn’t want to swim with kids, all the yelling and screaming and having fun splashing water…The kids looked like they were having a blast…

The kids were having such a good time…Kelli and Kevin were preparing the cookout meal of hamburgers and hotdogs…When lunch was over, it was time to get on with the party…There were pinatas for each of them…They were strung earlier between 2 trees…The boys and girls took a turn each trying to break open the pinata…Finally, after battling the hard put-together pinatas, all the candy went tumbling down to the ground…Kids were scrambling to get all the candy that they could put in their hands…As you can tell, Spongebob was still in one piece..

Present time…Presents were all brought out on to the deck and piled up in their perspective areas for each of them to open…Boo & Shyler each took a turn opening up their presents…It seemed like forever until all the presents were opened up…I do believe the kids had a good time…

At the end of the day, it was time for the adults to play Cornhole or Beanbag Toss…I didn’t play cause “tossing” the beanbags makes it tough on my back & shoulders…but it was fun just watching Kelli, Kevin, Richard and Kelli’s dad, Lou, play the game…I enjoyed a beer while talking with one of Kevin’s work mates…The day was winding down and Kelli & Kevin were ready to play Pegs and Jokers, a game we taught them several years ago…We always play girls vs boys and that night the girls whooped up on the boys…They were whining cause Kevin thought we were cheating…Wahhhh!!!

Hey Kev, I think that bike is too small for ya…!  lmao…and not quite  your color…lol 

This was the end of a very good day in Crestview…The next day was Easter and we were getting ready to dye eggs..This will be a Pt. 2 story so stay tuned…

Southeast Texas Attitudes

Along time ago, more like 35 years, I was living in Killeen, TX near Ft. Hood…Back then I remember people waving and being friendly…Thirty five years later, I find myself in Waller, TX (about 30 miles northwest of Houston) working at a Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground…The campground is about 15 minutes south of US Hwy 290 & FM1980 (Prairie View)…The campground is a pretty good sized park with rv sites and lots of cabins (Yogi, Cindy & BooBoo cabins)…There is a Fun Park/Splash Zone for the kids along with an Adult Pool…There is Miniature Golf with 18 holes, an Outdoor Theater, a Yogi Stage where Karaoke takes place, Yogi’s Kitchen where the Ice Cream Social takes place and the Crafts Center (where I work)…There is a U-shaped lake with 5 cabins in the center with the lake going around them…Trees are throughout the park along with lots of sand…The Ranger Store/Office area is pretty big compared to some store/office that I’ve been in..The only thing I see is that most of the souvenirs are centered around Yogi, Cindy and BooBoo…But there are some nice keychains with saddles or cowboy boots attached to them…Pretty cool!  I may have to buy a few and send them to some family members…lol  The grounds are flat for bike riding and golf cart riding..But in the way back are the woods with lots of hills and flat areas where golf carts can go but they have to be careful of the hills and not tipping over…

Every weekend lots of camper/tenter/cabin people come in the campground…There are about 1000 – 1200 people in the campground every weekend, at least…They are from all over the area probably no more than 2 hours away in all directions…They all have their bikes, pets, toys for the kids, grills, coolers, beer, food, more beer and other amenities for them…Every weekend come all new attitudes..Most think the employees are here to “serve” them..Some constantly complain about how this is wrong and that is wrong…If something didn’t work in their cabin, can I get something for free…Moaners and groaners all day long..Even during the week, we get weekly people who come in and they gripe too…Now there are some who have a good time, they don’t let little things interrupt their good times…They now what is going on around the park at what times…They laugh with you and have fun…Then there are the ones that you have to hand them a schedule to cause you can’t remember everything that they ask you…Friendly, some are…Snobby, most are…Uppidty Up, most are…Do they think they are better than you, most are…

The attitudes are terrible…If you tell them NO, they are at you like a cobra snake…Head up, snarling at you or hissing at you…They are ready to strike if it don’t go their way…If you tell their kids to stop doing something cause the parents aren’t watching them, you are wrong…The kids 14 and under are sent to the pool without adult supervision which is not the rule…14 and under, YOU MUST HAVE AN ADULT WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES…but the 14 yr. old is watching the 6 yr. old..Sometimes the little ones “loses” their parents and we have to find their parents…but yet it’s our fault that the child is parentless…They want you to move out of their way…They tear up screen doors on the cabins…They take pillows…They make very high fires…They drive the golf carts too fast…All of which the staff here is suppose to tell them the rules but it don’t pertain to them…None of the rules pertain to them…After 8 weeks, one finally realizes how to deal with people like these…One – Don’t wear a red shirt (the park’s color of employee shirt), Two – Wear a tye dye tee, for some reason the guests seem friendlier, Three – Hand them a schedule when asked questions cause you just can’t remember everything, Four – Post all you can on the boards outside the crafts room or in any of the 5 bulletin boards around the campground…and still they dont’ read and still ask questions…

We’ve worked at a park before where the campers thought they were better than you and we learned how to deal with them too…So we do our best to deal with the attitudes and the snears and the “what’s your name so I can tell on you” look…

I hope all of Texas isn’t like the people here…I think they leave their good manners in their house when they leave to come here…Even the kids dont’ have manners which is a shame in this day and age…There are no Thank You’s, No Yes Sir or Yes Ma’am…The kids act just like their parents…Even the parents have temper tantrums when things don’t go their way…It’s funny to see a parent “stomp” off cause their kid can’t sign up for Karaoke at night at the stage when they had all day from 10am – 4pm to sign up in the crafts center…It’s not our fault that the parent can’t get their kid to the craft center in time…but they blame us cause “they didn’t know”…

Will we come back here…Possibly…Why?  So that we can save up money to head out west and to the west coast to see our 2 little grandchildren who we have not seen yet…Once we know how to deal with the people, the rest is easy…Maybe not cleaning up after them, but we know how to deal with the attitudes…

Ya’ll come back now, ya hear!

Two Grandchildren So Far Away…

It’s tough choosing a lifestyle where you decide not to have a house and a yard and all the things that go along with a house…It’s another to have children spread out who have kids which are now our grandchildren…It’s tough not to see those grandchildren but via pictures over the internet or being able to talk to them by phone or chat online…But is wonderful to have 7 great grandchildren who live in 3 different places who like to post pictures of what they are doing and how they are doing…It’s how one keeps up on how big they all are getting…There are only 5 out of 7 grandchildren that I get pictures to see how they are doing…It’s tough getting the oldest 2 grandchildren and their parents to post any pics of them…Pictures are a blessing…Two of our grandchildren live in Sicily until October of this year…Then they head to San Diego where it will be easier to call them and chat with them and there won’t be a 7 hour time difference between us and them…The collages that I am going to post are how they are growing up so far…The fun things that they do with themselves or with their parents…

Laurianna and Nicodemus, Poppy and I (Mommom) love you very much and can’t wait to “meet” you one day…It was wonderful of your mommy to post pictures of you guys so us and everyone else can see how big you both are getting and the fun things that you both do…

As one can tell, this our princess with beautiful blue eyes…She has lots of fun with her Daddy and Mommy…She loves to play with and in boxes…She got to take a train ride with her family to go to Rome, Italy for a Supernatural Convention..Well, the convention was more for her parents…hahahaha…Then she wanted to see how tall she was compared to stacks of soda in the commissary…She’s getting very big…

The little pride and joy of a newborn…Nicodemus was born in March just after his daddy got home from Afghanistan…Big sis, Anna, looks like she is telling her little brother a story…The biggest smile and cutest smile is always on a newborn…Ah, to see that in person would be a blessing and the giggles that they make…I can’t tell if Nic looks like his daddy or his mommy…What big teeth you have their Nic??  The better to drink your blood or baby’s milk…hahahaha…What an awesome and odd pacifier…The love you can see between Anna and Nic is so precious cause in about 10 years, she will not want her baby brother hanging around her and her friends…hahahaha…

Time sure does fly and it has…I remember when Misti was waiting to give birth to Anna and then time flew by again and she was waiting to give birth to Nicodemus…Now he is 4 months old shortly, July 8 and Anna is almost 30 months old…They won’t remember Sicily much except via pictures and even then they won’t remember….but their Mommy and Daddy will have great memories of them being born in another country…Richard and I can’t wait to meet our youngest 2 grandchildren one day…We can’t wait to have as much fun with them as we do our other 3 grandgirls…The oldest 2 grandchildren are in Maryland and are in their teens…Can’t have much fun with them…hahahaha..

Lots of love, hugs and kisses are sent your way…Enjoy their lives and the fun and the laughter they make…When you get as old as me, you can’t wait to have grandchildren so you can hear that all over again…