Robin Who?

A continuation of Coach's 50th birthday trip. 

We had many choices for our extracurricular activities; some of them involved actually going outside! 

(Some of you will get that joke; my children will be horrified by it.) 

All four of us were excited to try our hand at Archery. 

Our wonderful guides gave us directions on how to use these particular bows. This was nothing like the ones I used with my girl scouts years ago. 

Do you see the deep interest in mine and Kelly's eyes?

A little (and perhaps surprising) fact about Kelly and I; aside from being peaceful, orchid growing, nature loving, recycling divas, we're both obsessed with The Walking Dead. 

Yeah, as in the Zombie Apocalypse. 

One of our favorite characters on TWD is Daryl Dixon. Daryl is all bad azz with his crossbow.  

Kelly and I figured if we can master this bow business, we'd be good in the event of a zombie apocalypse.  And unless people stop using that damn Styrofoam, it's going to happen.

Practicing using regular targets prior to starting the archery trail. 

Of course, the boys were pretty darn good at this. 

But guess what?! Kelly and I were kicking azz as well. 

Oh, except that time when I accidentally shot the bear in his paw. I'm sorry Pooh bear!

As a matter of fact, Kelly was the only one to make a "Robin Hood" Shot. (when your arrow splits/piggy backs a previous shot arrow)

 At one point, the Coach was setting up, aiming his bow at a target when one of our guides told him quietly to stop. She saw behind the target several REAL deer and didn't want him to accidentally hit one of them. 

See, we're NOT real killers. 

Well, unless we're talking about zombies; then I'm taking as many down as I can. 

Our archery trail was almost 3 hours long.

We had so much fun, but this Robin Hood was ready for a nap...pretending to save the human race is exhausting!

Happy Monday!

XOXO

Turns out that Fly fishing doesn't require you to leave the ground.

A continuation of Coach and Don's 50th birthday trip extravaganza.

When we arrived at the lodge were assigned two 'guides' for the duration of our stay.
The guides are in charge of our fun. Remember Julie from the Love Boat? So, yeah, we were assigned two Julies' but these Julies' fished, shot guns and archery.....along with other things I'm sure. We assumed they'd give us male guides; I assumed all the guides were males, but I was wrong. We had two young ladies who were so knowledgable in things that I've never even thought to do. 

Jeff and Don spent more time with them than Kelly and I. After all.....there was a spa at the lodge. I didn't need a guide to get me there. 

The first thing the boys wanted to do was try fly fishing. They both loved it!

It's all catch and return, so don't fret over these lovely trout. I believe the Coach looks quite dashing in this get-up. 

Kelly and I decided we'd join them one afternoon and see what all the fuss was about.

This is us in front of the lodge prior to us catching ALL of the fish. 

Admit it, we look good in waders. They hide a myriad of things; I'm looking into finding a pair in  salmon or chartreuse for my spring wardrobe. 

I just couldn't help myself. 

Turns out, I only look GOOD In the outfit....I'm actually terrible at fly fishing. 

Can I use the excuse that my eyesight was still so bad at the time? I literally had serious issues with depth perception. But I think, I just don't have the patience for it. 

Don and Jeff caught lots of those babies. 

Even Kelly was a fish lover slayer. 

What I did catch was this Eagle watching us....he was most likely shaking his head in pity at my fishing skills.

 And later on, I caught my second wind while killing time in this hammock. I was already over my fly fishing pity party....I've got other things to do. Did I mention there was a spa?

 Still, it was a fun adventure to share with my Coach. 

"Here Suz, I got this for YOU!"

Has anyone else tried their hand at this elusive sport? 

If you just did it for the excuse to wear waders, fess up. 

XO

Celebrating a big number in a big way

 The Coach turned 50 on October 14th. I know. I can't imagine being that old; but I'll let you know in two years. 

We started planning this big trip quite a few months ago. We were coordinating it with our good friends Don and Kelly. 

Don turned 50 on October 7th; Don and Jeff have been friends since they were 8.

As in 8 years old.

As in 42 years ago they started hanging out and haven't stopped. 

The plan was to have our trip span both birthdays and it worked out perfectly. 

Our travel agent searched high and low for an unusual/fun trip that would give the boys all the excitement and fun, while the girls would also have some excitement and fun. 

My travel agent is the bomb....he's also my better half. 

The four of us met in ATL and flew to Denver together. 

(We had two different destinations (WY & CO) planned over the 12 days, that included 2 nights in Denver; 1 upon arrival and 1 the night prior to our departure home)

The next morning we drove four hours to our first destination.

Ok, actually, Don was navigating, so we drove 5+ hours to our destination. Following directions from a smart phone is not his forte'. Making love connections is. Don and his high school girlfriend set Coach and I up on our blind first date in 1985. 

I know. 

I shouldn't give him hell for being a terrible navigator, but that's how we roll. 

 Our cell service went out about 45 minutes before we arrived at Three Forks Ranch and Spa.  

We knew that would happen and seriously, it wasn't even painful. 

I was still able to I-message the kids through wi-fi so all was well. 

 We were in Wyoming almost to our destination and we encountered our first traffic jam. Moo.

Besides being a hunting/fishing lodge with all the amenities of a five star hotel, this is also a working cattle ranch. 

The view from our room when we arrived. 

 The view from our room early the next morning. Apparently I knew I was on vacation....and add to that the time change and I was up early. This is not normal Suzanne behavior. 

I have some cute photos and stories to share of our adventures. I stepped out of my comfort zone a few times and for that I'd appreciate a plaque or a statue in my honor. Which ever is easier. 

Until next time.

XOXO

The renovation of renovations

Whew. 

Did you hear that? That was me trying to catch my breath. 

SO much has been happening....we had a fantastic trip to celebrate the Coach turning 50. 

IT might have been one of the best trips we've had....it certainly was the longest we've ever had. 

12 days. 

12.

Not too long though; it was perfect. Except for my struggling for breath; I'll share that with you at another time. 

But first, tell me, do you like what we've done with our place?

 A good amount of the time and $ has been put into reinforcing the truss system to make sure our roof stayed up since we took out a load bearing wall.  Details, ya know. 

 Did we make the house larger? Naaah,  only added about 100 square feet; stole it from the lanai. 

 Our bedroom literally has NO privacy right now. We didn't even want to do anything to our room, but the way the walls lined up, we had to move the wall out about 5 inches, so therefore....

 The goal for this renovation was to remove interior walls and ditch the small, unused, chopped up rooms and make it all one large useable space. A true great room. 

 We're living comfortably in the back of the house. A temporary door was put in the hallway for my safety. Ok, maybe it was to keep the workers safe from me. "YOU'RE TAKING TOO MANY SMOKE BREAKS. I NEED MY HOUSE FINISHED!"

These pics here, well I took them about a year ago when we started discussing this renovation....just so you know that I didn't bring Ozzie boy back from the garden. 

The generously sized kitchen, small breakfast nook and small family room. 

Same from kitchen view.

The small formal dining area

Side of small formal dining area looking into really small formal living room. (after the movers took our stuff)

I actually had the forethought to do two small videos of the area just before the movers came....you can hear them knocking on the door in one of them. 

The Coach and I struggled with the idea of downsizing. Honestly, we don't need all this space, but the idea of having to start over with another place was overwhelming. We love our home. (of course, I curse the maintenance of it on occasion) and we absolutely love our property; this can't be duplicated. So, we decided to make the house more livable and more valuable for when the time comes to sell. 

If you ask the girls; this house won't ever be sold to strangers. Apparently, they think we are just going to give it to them. HA. 

So, Thanksgiving will not be held at our house...only so much cooking I can accomplish in the temporary digs. Christmas? Well, we'll see about that one. 

I hope to catch up with all you good people soon.

XOXO