Kayaking the Coast

On Sunday we guided a day trip for Adventure Times Kayaks up near Suart, FL in St. Lucie State Park. It is a wonderful paddle across the intracoastal waterway through the mangrove tunnels to the beach.

We tie up the kayaks and hike over the dunes to break for a picnic lunch on the beach and a dip in the ocean.

Emily loves instructing basic kayaking. It's not a bad gig for a weekend job.

We found some neat driftwood sculptures with a built in bench and view of the ocean.

We also found some bulldozers on the beach. Which was a shock! Usually that place is so remote it feels like you are the only people on Earth.

Today it was just us, the workers, their loud equipment, a huge drainage pipe, and the waves crashing on the beach.

Our Newest Project

Well we certainly aren't bored or lacking in things to do, but when opportunity knocks....



There is a large wild life preserve that is open for hunting season in late fall. All sorts of Florida rednecks gather in hunting camps, drive around on their giant swamp buggies and hunt for wild boar, deer, and ducks. The season ends January 1st and they have to have all their gear out by that date. Anything left is up for grabs or has to be towed out at the preserve's expense.



We heard from a friend of the Youth Camp where Emily was an instructor last summer that he got an abandoned RV after hunting season and fixed it up to use at another hunting camp up north. So we did some post-season hunting of our own and came across this abandoned trailer. As you can see it needs quite a bit of work, but the axels, tires, and frame are still good. A bonus feature is that it has already been partly stripped out inside so part of the work has already been done.



So far we have cleaned out the inside and washed the mud off. Our next step is to get new windows and prime over the lovely graffiti covering the outside. I'm sure it will take us a while to get this fully functioning, but it should be a great Key West camping mobile just in time for the warm summer weather.

Fair Fun Twice A Year!?!?

The South Florida Fair is a far cry from the Iowa State Fair that we went to last August, but it was still an "oinking" good time!

We got free tickets for working in the Pine Jog booth in the conservation tent for a couple hours last Saturday. Once our work shift was up we went out exploring.

Emily quickly found the 4-H display isle in one of the buildings. It reminded her of her old stomping grounds back in Iowa. She was a 10 year 4-Her and took several projects to the state fair.

Jonathan had a good time feeding carrots to the bunnies in the Rabit Tent.

We also saw baby calves that had just been born in the Mooternity and watched some 4-H and FFA exhibiters auction off their hogs.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Jonathan salvaged several mahogany pallettes bound for the dumpster that were used for delivering mahogany doors to one of their job sites at his work. We have put the wood to good "reuse" in the closet.

In this picture you can see one of the pallettes that we took boards from and made a custom fit shoe rack.

We used some of the wood to trim this belt rack. One of the ladies at Emily's work had left over green paint from a remodeling project at her house. It was just the right amount to paint the shelves, belt rack, and drawers in the staff house where Emily lives.

Jonathan also used the wood to trim the closet shelves.

In the end we re-did the entire closet with supplies that normally would have ended up in the landfill. It has turned out to be one of the favorite rooms in the house!

Last Year in Connecticut

Last year in June we went to Connecticut to visit Jonathan's family and celebrate May birthdays. There are lots of May babies in the group including me, Jonathan, his father George, his brother Pete, and his nephew Andrew. This picture was taken after church on the back deck at George and Pam's. As you can see they have a very beautiful back yard. We had lots of fun hanging out and playing with Jonathan's nephews Andrew and Will. Here is a good picture of Jonathan and Andrew goofing around.

Ski the beautiful Rockies

We had a fabulous time skiing our way into the new year. It was Jonathan's first time to Colorado and he was impressed. Our favorite slopes were the long runs and night skiing at Keystone. We also spent a day at Breckenridge and enjoyed the high altitudes and ridge top vistas from Arapaho Basin.

Reunion at the Gray Farm

Being with family and friends is definately one of Emily's favorite things in life. The holidays are always a good opportunity to connect with people you don't get to see very often. Below is a great shot of Jonathan, Emily and Thea at Van Arkel Christmas.



Later in the week we had the chance to go over to the Gray Farm and meet up with some friends that Emily grew up with that now live all over the country.

This is what I like to call a "Jon-sandwich". Jon and Susie (Gray) Dyck and Emily and Jonathan posed for this fun shot.


Lauren, Susie, and Emily back together again. Lauren lives in D.C., Susie is in Georgia, and Emily is in Florida.

Susie's sister Jennifer lives in Brazil with her husband Josh and daughter Vivi. We missed seeing them, but got to look at pictures from their blog spot. They are the one's that inspired us to jump on the bandwagon and start blogging to keep in touch.

Farm Lessons

So this where milk comes from!?!?

Earlier in the trip on our way from Lockie Christmas in Northeast Iowa we stopped at Thea's friend Jackie's dairy farm. When they found out Jonathan had never seen a dairy farm we bundled up and went on a tour.



Later in the week it was shearing time for the ewes at Van Arkel farms. The ewes get shorn several days before they are due to lamb. It helps keep things more sanitary for mother and baby lamb.


There were 3 shearers working hard. They had their work "cut out" for them...they had about 230 ewes to shear that day.









Emily's cousin Zack and several neighbor boys were there helping out.













Jonathan asked lots of questions and probably now knows more about raising sheep than the average person. By the end of the day he even figured out how to catch a sheep on the first try....he's a natural!

A Hike to the Timber

The day after Christmas we all got cabin fever. We doned some old chore coveralls that we found in the basement and went outside to explore.



Much to Jonathan's dismay the racoons that were terrorizing Debbie in August had taken up residence somewhere else for the winter, so he shot at an old tree stump instead.











Look out! This is one Iowa farm girl you don't want to mess with :-)












After some coaxing, Emily convinced everyone to go for a hike through the pasture to the timber. Here is a nice shot of Thea and Emily with the blue Harvestore in the background. When we were little Dad said we could hike as far as we wanted as long as we could see the Harvestore to find our way home.


Jonathan and Emily tried to pose for a picture on a log across the creek. Needless to say it didn't hold and Emily went for a dip in the drink.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning at Emily's house always starts with presents from Santa and stocking stuffers. We got lots of good stuff this year including Tide to Go, travel coffee mugs, and a much needed change sorter!


After some homemade cinnamon rolls and egg nog we open gifts from each other under the tree. Emily's mom, Debbie, got a warm gift from her daughter Thea this year. We always have to open every gift and try it out right away. Here is Debbie trying out her new gift:

Looks like it will keep her warm during the cold Iowa winter still ahead!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

It is a tradition at Emily's house to make homemade cinnamon rolls together on Christmas Eve. This year Jonathan got to be part of the action.

Emily decided to capture part of the process below:

It takes a lot of hard work....

....but those cinnamon rolls sure are good!

This is our first blogspot entry. Hopefully this will be a good way to share our pictures and adventures with you. Enjoy!