Richard's Visit Equals Staycation Part 4

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4 and we are still having such a fun time at Wahooz.

After the Go-Karts / race track, the bumper boats, miniature golf we decided to go bowling. 

Wahooz Pinz Bowling center was beautiful. The scoring is electronic and there is even an option to have bumper pads come up in the gutters. We didn't chose this option but wish we would have. It has been years since any of us bowled. We were terrible, but it was fun.  

 They serve you food and drinks there as well. We were getting hungry so we ordered some junk food like this huge and delicious pile of nachos. 

 I think that this was Hope's first time bowling. She did really well, she is very athletic and caught on pretty fast. 

 The screen shots by our scoring sheet was too funny. The bowling pins were laughing at us because we were so terrible and that made us laugh too. 

 Tymber did a great job as well. I think she's been before, but it's been quite a while. We all wished for the bumper pad in the gutters. 

 Yes, I think those darn pins kept jumping out of our balls way because we hardly hit them. ha ha ha!

 Richard did the best out of us, but he really paid the price. It was kind of iffy if he should play because he had back surgery this year and is still recovering. Unfortunately all our playing around that day kept him in bed the next day.

But, it was worth it because he played with us. It's been quite a while since he could play because he's been having issues with his back for quite a few years. It's was nice to see him doing so much better since his back surgery. Yay for Richard.

It was also fun having him coach us because normally he's a great bowler - he was on a bowling league when he was younger. 

Of course Rhonda, Rich's wife is taking the picture - so we don't have a shot of her. 

Get ready for it ... next is me. 

A most unflattering picture of my behind, but that is what you get when you are bowling. Humbly I attach it to my blog. 

It was a lot of fun. Rich was the only one to make it past a 100. I had a really tough time getting my footing down. I did get one spare. The first ball was a gutter and then next a strike. Too bad the first one wasn't a strike. 

It was fun! 

Wahooz Site Photo

Then we played Laser Tag. Rich and I have never played before, but Rhonda, Tymber and Hope had played it a few weeks before. They knew what they were doing. 

Rhonda and Tymber were on the RED team. Rich, Hope and I were on the GREEN team. It was super fun shooting at each other. The RED team won. One of the things that they did, that we didn't was shoot the team home laser flag. That gave you lots of points. I was busy shooting people and hiding and didn't even think about the home flag. Now that I know somewhat how to play I'd make sure to hit that. 

It was fun shooting each other. It went by really quick -- too quick. But it was fun. I guess the Laser Tag that Rhonda and the girls played was a whole half hour. Ours was about 10 - 15 minutes. 

We decided to do another ride on the Go-Karts. It was really busy so we went to the slick track instead. It is similar to the Go-Karts, but a smaller track and slicker. 

I was booking it around that course. I wasn't going to let anyone pass me this time. 

Richard however was in a wreck. Someone hit him and he flew into the guard rail. The controllers made all our cars stop so they could fix the two people who were in the wreck. Of course there weren't any injuries with the harnesses and bumpers on the cars. 

We spent about 6 hours there until closing. I'm so glad we were able to do that as a family. I wished that I would have done that with my boys when they were young. I missed them being part of my staycation. But, at least I was able to enjoy time with my brother's family. We had such a great time together!

Richard's Visit Equals Staycation Part 3

Part 1 here:

Part 2 here:

Continuing on with our Wahooz Fun Zone day:

After riding the go carts we decided to do the water boats.

 It was a hot day and we thought it would feel great and refreshing.

During the instructions they told us NOT to get the attendants wet. When Rhonda got into her boat, she grabbed onto the console and accidentally squirted one of the pretty girl attendants. Rhonda was so embarrassed, and sorry that she squirted the girl - but it was kind of funny too. 

As we left the docking station and into the pool, we weren't quite prepared to get as wet as we did. We got soaked!

I laughed so hard trying to squirt as many people as I could and maneuver the boat around the pool. It was really fun.

There were a ton of kids that knew what they were doing and kept getting us wet. 

Here is an after shot of how wet we were. There went the hair do for the day. Oh well, it wasn't a beauty contest we were there to have fun.

Richard was so tall that no matter how he tried to duck or get out of the way the water squirter directly hit him every time. There was a boy who had it out for Richard - he thought it was pretty funny. We did too - It was great!

Next we played miniature golf hoping to dry off a little.

 Tymber 

 We started out taking score, but half way down the course we figured out we were doing it all wrong and quit taking score. We really were just having some fun. 

 Richard

 Hope and Tymber. 

 Hope did really great, she even got a hole in one. 

 I like Rich's one handed putt - as he tried to hold onto his water bottle and score card. Too funny. 

 Sondra and Richard. 

It's such fun being with family, joking around, encouraging each other and cheering each other on. 

This day at Wahooz just kept getting better and better. 

There is more to come in Part 4. 

Richard's Visit Equals Staycation Part 2

Part 1 here: 

Wednesday of Richard's family visit and my Staycation was totally awesome!

I worked in the morning (cleaned 2 large houses) and when I arrived home, Rhonda had made lunch and it was there when I arrived - a BLT sandwich. Loved being pampered when I came home from work.

Then we headed over to Wahooz Fun Zone. Rhonda who shops at Ridley's grocery store saved up all her shopping points and was able to get 4 FREE day passes - a $150 value. Woo Hoo for great frugal deals. 

The first thing we did when we arrived was ride the Go-Karts. I've never ridden them before and I've sure missed out because it was a blast!

While I was waiting in line I sent a quick text to Brady - because I was thinking of him. Brady's summer job after his college freshman year was working at Wahooz doing the Go-Karts. You can read about it here: 

 Sondra in her Big Foot car, ready to go!

 Richard in his Cricket car ... he thinks he will win!

 Hope in the Patriotic car ... looking sassy on her first ever driving a car. 

 Me again, 

 Richard and Hope

 A picture of Rhonda - Yay cause we never have pictures of her, because she is usually the one taking the pictures. 

It was so much fun racing around the track trying to pass one another. We loved every minute of it! Hope really was a speedy driver her first time driving. 

We went in to get a drink and lost Tymber. We waited for her and waited, finally we decided to go find her. Guess where she was? 

Taking another drive around the course - that silly girl. 

It was fun watching her go past, but I pointed a naughty finger at her because she didn't get us to go with her. 

Stay tuned for what we did next in Part 3

Richard's Visit Equals Staycation Part 1

My younger brother Richard and his family, Rhonda, Tymber and Hope came to see me on their vacation. It was a huge bonus for me because it ended up being a staycation for me too. 

They arrived on Monday, July 13th. After unloading their car we visiting and barbecued some hamburgers and had some yummy dinner. They had been planning and saving for a school shopping trip. We planned to have all our activities low cost and that is just what we did.   

That evening we headed over to Meridian Pool for some free swimming. It was their "Free Swimming Canned Food Drive" event. We were able to swim free if for bringing 2 cans of food or 1 jar of peanut butter. After re-doing my storage pantry, I had a ton of canned corn. It was nice to donate some of that to the Meridian Food bank and letting us swim for free.

The pool was freezing though, but we had a fun time. We went during the free swim 7:15 pm - 8:15 pm. It was a great way to start off our vacation. 

Tuesday I went off to work while they went school shopping at Gordman's one of our favorite  places to shop.

When I returned home from work we met up for lunch. I took them to lunch at The Village in Meridian to Grimaldi's Pizzeria. We sat on the patio so we could enjoy the fountains.

Tymber took a video of the fountain dance while we were eating. Loved the classical music.

While Richard, Rhonda and I sat and visited after lunch, the girls headed over to "It's Sugar" to buy some candy. Here are some Minion pictures of the girls and a couple of big candy shots. Too much fun!

 Miss Minion Hope

 Miss Minion Tymber

 Now that's a big box of Nerds. 

Tuesday evening we barbecued some chicken, had garlic potatoes, veggies and watermelon. Sharon was able to stop by and visit. Jason was scheduled to work every evening during their visit so he wasn't able to come for a visit. We sure missed him, but was super glad Sharon was able to come after work and join us for dinner. 

Day one and Day two of my Staycation! We had such a ton of fun!

Rain, Beautiful Rain!

Rain, beautiful rain!!! After so many days of 100 degrees, it's a welcomed sight! Plus, it smells so good. It's 66 degrees and my air conditioner is turned off. My windows are open and I'm letting all that fresh air in. LOVE this beautiful rain!

My back yard soaking up all that beautiful rain!

Boise had 1.22 inches of much needed rain from one storm. It is quite unusual for Idaho to get that much rain at one time and we loved it!

I didn't have any flooding in my neighborhood, but these pictures from other parts in Boise that did have some flooding. They are quite funny and I'd thought I'd share them. They all came from KTVB website of people sharing their photos. Enjoying the beautiful rain!

 It reminds me of when I was a young girl and the rain wouldn't go down the gutter drain, so all of us kids would play in the rain puddles. I love it that some kids do the same things now and are pulled away from electronics - ha ha ha!

Idaho loved getting all that rain!

A Rare Day Off

Today I had a rare day off. The customer I had scheduled to clean today canceled because they just got back from vacation.

My cleaning policy that is on my quote for business and I always make sure my customers understand that even if you cancel, I still need to be paid. 

This is what the clause on my quote says: "Because this is my livelihood, cancellations need to be paid. I will try to switch your cleaning as needed, but I require payment on a cleaning that is canceled. If I cancel, I will waive the payment. However, I always try to reschedule. 

So, today was a paid day off and I really needed it to get some things done. Last Friday and Saturday I did the move out clean which is really labor intensive and I was completely exhausted from all that work. Sunday ended up being a Sunday nap / lazy day to recuperate. Monday I cleaned 2 houses and a business that evening. 

This morning when I received the text that I didn't need to clean today I was so happy. I stayed in bed a little longer for some much needed sleep. Then I worked in the yard pulling weeds and trimmed and mowed my lawn.

I normally mow my lawn on Tuesdays after I get home from work because Wednesday is my garbage day. I hate having the grass sit in my garbage longer than that. 

 My flower beds are looking beautiful! Everything is growing and it looks so great with the daisies blooming. My red, white and blue garden. 

My berm along the side of my house is looking awesome too. It's the best it has looked for a few years. I am so happy that I decided to put geraniums in the berm this year. This spring I took out a lot of perennials that had expanded and kept the middle and side for annuals this year. I'm really happy with the results.  

 I've needed an oil change in my car and after I showered I went and got that done. It ended up being and expensive trip because my battery was on it's way out and I had them replace it while I was there. My oil change ended up costing $180. Yikes, but at least it's done and I had the money available in my emergency/savings fund. 

I can't stress enough how much an emergency fund has saved me. Dave Ramsey Money Makeover steps have helped me so much with getting my finances in order. Money and emergency stress are a thing of the past and it has made life much easier and lots less stressful. 

 I wanted to get my freezer full of cookies for company that is coming next week, but I ran out of vanilla extract after 1 batch of chocolate chip cookies. I couldn't believe I ran out of something in my food storage. I looked and looked everywhere thinking I had some extra on hand. But, I'm out which is just a crazy thing for me. 

I also made some spaghetti sauce to put in the freezer because I was out and made 2 loaves of bread. 

Of course I did a few batches of laundry to dry on the line outside. 

It was a productive, rare, paid day off. It makes me happy. Now I need a nap - just kidding. Yea me for having some extra time in my busy life.