Retirement……LOVE IT!

Well, we’ve “moved” again.  We left Springfield, MO, on Tuesday, September 19, and drove to Oklahoma City to spend a couple of weeks with our youngest son and his family.  We decided to go a different route because the KOA campground we were staying at is on I 40 about 15-20 miles east of the OKC (Choctaw, OK).  We drove to Joplin, MO, then headed south on I 49 to Fort Smith, AR, where we picked up I 40 west.  It took us a little longer than we anticipated, but it was a pretty drive.  Oh, well…live and learn!

By the time we arrived and set up camp I knew I wasn’t feeling the best.  I had been experiencing the telltale signs of a good ‘ole UTI. 😩  I immediately googled “urgent care clinics near me” because I knew I didn’t need to wait to start an antibiotic.  Fortunately I found one very near to our camp AND on the way to see the grandkids.  We stopped, I got in and out fairly quickly, filled my prescription, and headed to the kids’ house for a late supper of baked spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.  It was delicious! 😋 We visited for a while, but then it was time for grandkids to go to bed and for us to get back to our “home.”  Tomorrow was a BIG day – Grandparents Day at the school where Jackson attends!

We got up early on Wednesday, Sept. 20, and picked up Jackson and took him to school.  This school is pretty smart – they have Grandparents Day in conjunction with their Scholastic Book Fair.  It is before school, so they always have donuts and coffee which, of course, we had to have!  The students then take their grandparents to see their rooms and meet their teacher, then on to the library to shop at the Book Fair!  They KNOW that grandparents are suckers will spend money on buying their grandchildren all the stuff they want!  When it was time for school to start, all the students went to their classrooms and all the grandparents left.  Here we are right after making several purchases and before school started. 

Jack and I headed back to the RV because after traveling all day the day before, we were pretty tired.  Plus my UTI was making me pretty uncomfortable.  What I didn’t ‘t know was I had picked up a stomach “bug” somewhere which hit me hard that afternoon.  😭 I went 24 hours without keeping anything down (including my antibiotic!) and had to go back to the same urgent care clinic the next day.  The doctor changed my antibiotic to something that would be “easier” on my stomach and gave me medicine for the nausea and vomiting.  Needless to say, I lost nearly a week before I felt good enough to do much at all.  Fortunately I isolated myself early enough that no one else caught the stomach bug! 😊 

Once I was feeling better we started making plans with the grandkids.  Each one got to spend the night with us in the RV, but only ONE at a time (just not enough space in the RV for all three grandkids to spend the night AND Jack and I to retain our sanity!).  When each one spent the night, we played Skip Bo, walked Zoey, and, of course, ate lots of snacks.  We all had a great time, and we can’t wait to do it again…..soon!

Look at those skip bos in Kylee’s hand!  Grandma Little will be jealous!!  We really did have fun each night with each grandkid and can’t wait to do it again.

Monday night, September 25, Mike and Jennifer’s church (Journey Church) has what they call “Girlfriends” night.  It’s a special night where all ladies are invited and encouraged to bring their girlfriends, female coworkers, sisters, daughters, moms, grandmothers, and any other lady they can think of.  They really go “all out” for this special night, with food, drinks, special games, photo booth, special music, and a guest speaker to give the message.  Jennifer, Jade, Kylee, and I attended.  It was a great night and a good message.  We didn’t make it to the photo booth, but we did get a picture of all of us when it was over and after all the confetti was blown everywhere.  

On Friday, September 29  through Saturday, September 30, Mike’s church had a Father/Son camp get-away, called Camp WOW (Walk On Water), so Jack (father), Mike (son/father) and Jackson (son/grandson) went.  They had a great time fishing, playing games, hayrides, camp fires with s’mores, and, of course, devotional times to share God’s word.  And that cast did NOT keep Jackson from catching the most fish!  

We went to church on Sundays with Mike and his family, ate meals together, played LOTS of Skip Bo, talked, visited, and enjoyed each others’ company.  All in all, I’d say we had a doggone good time!  Now we are heading to Branson, MO, to meet up with some Dexter friends for about 5 days and then on to Springfield, MO, again.  

So, for now … “On the Road Again!”  

Betty