Birthday Weekapalooza!

Hubby's Birthday

Definitely homemade!

Well, it's here again--my husband's birthday!  Where has the year gone??  We try to have a week of fun when our birthdays roll around, which is usually a fun time.  So this week has been his Birthday Weekapalooza!  He requested a blueberry pie for his birthday, instead of a cake, so I was busy Friday baking.  I made the pie, and I also tried a new recipe for Strawberry Bread, which turned out very well.  It was a delicious recipe!  (Note: The link for the bread will take you to the recipe in my recipe blog.) I gave him his gift, and surprised him with a trip to the African Safari Wildlife Park in Port Clinton, Ohio.  You drive through a large, fenced-in area that holds deer, llama, bison, zebras, and giraffes, and you are allowed to feed them all!  As you enter the gates for your first trip through, you are given a cup of animal pellets, which is included in the admission price.  You are also able to buy carrots and more food, and feed the animals as much as you want--they come right up to the car and know exactly what you are going to do!  It was such fun.  We'd never done anything like that!  Check out the pictures below:

"Hey, you guys have air conditioning in here??"

"C'mon, guys, I just want a carrot..."

Quit using my car as a napkin!

Whoa!

No caption necessary.

After the trip through the safari, we went back to the park for some Naspig races at Pork Chop Downs.  Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died after the safari, and I didn't get any pictures of the pig races, but trust me, it was fun!  There were also animals in the park to see, and we spent a while walking around and just enjoying the beautiful day.  Hubby had a great time, and a great birthday!


Hail Is For Houses

We are finally getting somewhere with the hail damage claim.  On Tuesday, our insurance adjuster was finally able to come and inspect the damage.  We had our contractor there to meet with him as well, and the insurance adjuster agreed with most everything that was suggested.  We had an insurance check in our hands before he left that day!  I can't say that I've ever gotten to deposit a check that big before, but sadly, it will all be gone in time.  Oh well, easy come, easy go!  As of now, we have bundles of shingles and other roofing materials in our front yard, waiting to be installed.  We thought they would come Friday and replace the roof, but no one appeared, so it might be Monday or Tuesday of next week now.  We are still waiting to hear whether the siding can be matched or not.  The contractors we hired use Amish carpenters to do the work, so we know that it will be done well and correctly when it is completed. 

Missing couch

We gave away our couch and recliner chair last week.  Why, you ask?  We gave them to family members who needed some furniture, and we had been wanting to replace the couch for a while.  It worked out that they wanted them, and they were able to come and get them last week.  We did shop for and purchase a new couch, but we are waiting for it to arrive, and it could be several weeks yet before it appears.  In the meantime, we do have one chair and ottoman in our living room, and we pulled out a desk chair and footstool from our other rooms, and we have a somewhat comfortable temporary situation.  While we are waiting for the new couch, we plan to repaint some walls and do some redecorating, so that we will have a fresh new living room once everything is back to normal.  It will be nice to update a little--I tend to get a stagnant feeling when I can't or don't change things around every once in a while.  I'll try to remember to take a few pics and post them on here later!