Fun Times at Gold Manor - May 2018

Pam and I have been here in Virginia Beach for about three weeks now.  We are here to see daughter Kelly, son-in-law Jon and grandkids Brooks and Harrison.  We've been busy and have enjoyed every minute.  We are playing with the grandkids, doing projects around their house, seeing some friends from church.  We've generally making the most of our time here.

We also love doing projects around the house.  Some are more involved with others, but each project makes a dent in making their place (Gold Manor) an up-to-date home.  They purchased the property in November and have had some major renovations.

We've been concentrating on the smaller scale projects and helping out with the baby sitting and yard work.

This shows three projects underway:  Kelly is scraping the paint off the side door and garage door.  I power sprayed the garage door also and it is a long process.  Pam and I got an LED replacement light over the garage which she was putting up.  She finished that project quickly.  The rest will take a while.

I also power-washed the boat house and started with the back side.  It was a pretty nasty effort but it was a good start to getting the old paint off before we repair boards and put a new coat of paint on it. 

This tree/bush root was a particularly pesky one.  I had to dig and use the sawz-all to finally get it cut it off below ground.

I like mowing the lawn and it is a good way to get a workout!

Jon started laying some bricks for edging in the front yard and I continued the effort on the front walkway.

It is a fantastic piece of land with great neighbors and they are making it look great -- inside their house and outside on the grounds.  Can't believe they have only been here 6 months.  A lot of work but we they also are enjoying it.

In fact, we usually find ourselves outside in the back yard or down by the lake most days.

Last evening Jon, Pam and I took the boys out for a little excursion that lasted about 15-20 minutes.  Uncle Mike gave Jon a trolling motor that has replaced the oars so it is easier on all of us. Kelly stayed behind as we pulled away Kelly had cast off from the shore and was fishing.  Seeing that, Jon mentioned, "She gets prettier every day..." 😊 Jon managed to drop the hook a few times along the shore of the lake, but didn't snag one.  As we were pulling in,  Kelly said she caught one that got tangled up in the trees and weeds near shore as she was reeling him in.  He put up a fight until he broke free. Kelly was pretty relieved since she hadn't figured out how she was going to release him with out grabbing the slimy thing...

We've been here in VB a few weeks now.  It has not all been work work work.  Jon had a birthday 

and Kelly had a surprise birthday party for Jon.  He was truly surprised because it also dubbed as a Cinco de Mayo party that was 10 days before the real birthday.  Jon and the guys went on a short overnight camping trip and 30 or so guests were waiting went for him when we pulled into the driveway.

Everyone stayed for a few hours and we all had a good time.

 That's some of what we've been up to.  Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

The Next Steps

I thought a little bit about the title of this post and it could be, "Stepping On It" or "Working On the Steps" or "Regular RV Maintenance - The Steps".  But I settled on "the Next Steps".

We got to Virginia Beach for our next stay.  We are planning to be here until the day after Christmas and then head out West for the winter.  While here in Virginia Beach, we get to see the grandkids.  Its been almost four months and a lot has happened.

Brooks (2 years, 8 months) and Harrison (9 months)are both growing up like little people. Brooks turned the corner and know is glad to play with his little brudder.
They talk to each other (in their own language) and giggle and have a good time.  It is really fun to see.

We love being around and helping out and playing with them.  Sometimes they even help me...

OK - I took Harrison over to my laptop for a minute and then Brooks followed and wanted to see what was going on.  It was all I could do to hold these guys for a second while Pam snapped a quick photo.

So in addition to being around the grandkids, we are able to spend time with Kelly and Jon and get a few things done around the motor home.  I have had "repaint RV steps" on my To-Do list for a long time.  Last year while in Red Bay, I was anticipating getting the project done and I bought some reflective non-skid tape for the steps.

Last week I finally got on the project.
My list of steps to repaint/update the steps included:

• Wash/clean off the steps
• Peel off old reflective tape

• Remove sticky residue on steps from tape
• Use oscillating sander with 60 grit to sand off rust

• Try "The Mouse" Black and Decker sander
• Put small sanding drum on end of Dremel tool to sand
• Switch to flap wheel sanding bit in electric drill
• Clean residue
• Lop on Navel jelly, let set, wipe off, wipe off with water

• Fit cardboard box around the outside of steps and on ground (even with the drop cloth in place)
• Tape plastic drop cloth all over area
• Shake can of flat black Rustoleum paint well
• Fit cardboard box around the outside of steps and on ground (even with the drop cloth in place)
• Get wet rag ready in case needed
• Spray into extra cardboard box to get desired spray flow

• Cautiously spray entire step areas 
• Let dry for a couple of days
• Wipe off steps

• Cut new reflective tape to desired length
• Apply tape to steps
• Get small can of flat black paint
• Touch up as necessary

 And the final product - Looks better than it did a couple of weeks ago.

Lessons Learned:
- Tape up drop cloth ($1 at Dollar Tree) 4 times more than you think is needed
- Navel Jelly did well
- Best sanding tools were Dremel drum attachment and drill sanding flap wheel bit
- Reflective stair way non-skid tape:  $10 each step at Red Bay; $6 at Home Depot for 1 piece big enough for both steps.

That's about it for this edition of the Roadrunner Chronicles. We're enjoying the grandkids and getting some things done around the motor home.

Meanwhile, we're about to get real busy.  Stay tuned.

Thanks for joining us!

Its a Zoo!

It was a great day to go to the zoo! The Virginia Aquarium had a reciprocal pass promotion with the Virginia Zoo and we took advantage of it.

It was a big success.  Pam, Kelly and the boys and I went to the Virginia Zoo shortly after 10:00 AM on Friday.  Maybe Friday's are a big field trip day for the local schools because there were probably 10 groups of kids at the entrance.  But that was no probably - its a good sized zoo and we got around without too much congestion.

We only had time for a few of the exhibits but they were great!

The first one on the trail was the Trail of the Tiger.  

We didn't see a tiger but did find a orangutan or two

 I thought the whole zoo and layout was very well done.  The walkways and suspended overlooks into the cages and animal exhibits were safe, kid proof and good viewing.

 We saw a couple of bears who were quite active in their compound.

We took both boys and the double stroller and Brooks got out of his seat about 5 minutes into the zoo.  He had a great time running around.  He couldn't wait to see the "amals" and was not disappointed.
It was impressive to see Kelly keep up with him and keep him hydrated and fed and entertained to stay ahead of the dreaded meltdown.  He's an active and curious 2 year old.

An added bonus was meeting up with one of Brooks' buddies - Owen (a few months older that Brooks).  He was there with his mom and grandmother.  It was nice to see them again and spend some time together.

After the bears, we made it over to Africa exhibit and saw the giraffes and rhinoceros.

And a sleeping lion.  You can barely see it on the right under the tree.

About lunch time, Brooks had seen enough and we headed out.  It was a beautiful day and we all had a good time at the zoo!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Another Birthday!

It's been almost three weeks since Harrison arrived to join big brother Brooks.  Since that time, Brooks has found plenty to do including one of his favorite pastimes like

playing in the mud puddles in the backyard while wearing his blue Croc boots.

Interestingly enough - his second birthday was last week.  He stretched the fun out with a little celebration mid week as well as some things on the weekend.  On his actual birthday he opened some presents and had a birthday cupcake.

I don't know which he enjoyed more.  Blowing out the candle again and again, or eating the frosting off his cupcake.  He had a good time with both of them though.

On Friday he went to school (for 3 hours) and was given a nice prize to commemorate his big day.

 He proudly wore his Birthday Hat home from school and then put it on a couple of times during the weekend.

If you had a hat that cool wouldn't you?

On Saturday morning it was such a nice day that he played in the front yard.  Then his mom Kelly brought out his lunch for him to eat on the front steps.

He has his own way of doing certain things which is always fun to watch.  He took the one peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich that was cut in half and he carefully separated it.

He then had four pieces he meticulously set on the steps behind him and then began to eat the jelly off each side before he eventually devoured them all.

Brooks had already finished his lunch but he helped supervise serving some beef sandwiches on the back deck.

 Later in the day after afternoon naps, Kelly filled up some party balloons and Brooks waited for his buddies to show up.

They did and had a good time.  Here Brooks is determined to go up his slide from the bottoms.  The heart was willing but the new Crocs were to slippery.  But he still tried 7-8 times before he went around and climbed up the back way.

 And the boys also checked out the new basketball goal that was set up on the deck.

And Jon (with Heath's help) was grill some of what is becoming his legendary meat recipes.  Saturdays mouth watering treat:  beef tips.

Everyone had a good weekend and Brooks is getting used to having his little brother.  We are enjoying it all!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

This is What We Are Here For!

A while back Kelly and Jon told us there were pregnant with our second grandchild.  We decided that if there was any way possible, we would be there to help out.  And that's what happened.

Almost a week ago, Harrison Warner Goldman joined us!

Kelly was notified the previous week that the doctor would be inducing her on Tuesday morning.  So Pam and I came over and planned on staying a couple of nights with Brooks.

It was quite different than almost two years ago when Brooks came along.  This time Kelly and Jon handled it all like pros.  Very excited and like they had done this before...

So off they went and we waited for updates.  We even picked hours of the day when we expected the baby to be born.  It seemed to go pretty slowly until the mid afternoon, then before we knew it, Harrison was born at 3:52 PM.  Healthy and about as precious as he could be.

We were able to go over for a few minutes and hold him and see him.  It was another beautiful baby boy.  Quite the same, yet a lot different.  He had no complications, started eating right away and was just sleeping away and getting used to everything.

We were trying to remember how Brooks looked as a new born and Kelly did a side by side picture of both boys:

The next morning we took Brooks over to see mommy and daddy and meet his new little brother.  He wasn't sure what to make of all of it.  I caught a photo of him near mommy's bed.

This photo needs a caption:

 What title would you give to this photo??


Here's a photo of some proud grand parents with their newest and second grandson;

 Mom and Dad checking out Harrison.

 Kelly came home on Thursday and Brooks got to see more of Harrison.

And everyone is adjusting well.  Tomorrow he will be one week old.  And Brooks can't wait to show him some tricks on his iPad.

We are having a lot of fun with Harrison and adjusting to his schedule and spending time over at Kelly and Jon's when we can help out.  So far it's been a busy week but an exciting one.  We think we'll probably be here in the area until mid-May.  We'll see how things go.

That is for now - thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!