No Bugs at the Outdoor Theater!

We went to the Outdoor Theater last night and I'm EXHAUSTED. I can't handle those late nights anymore, I'm such a wiener. Evening activities just totally wipe me out for the next day. Part of my "crud" I guess but annoying nonetheless!

We saw Toy Story 3, which was fun! There weren't a ton of people there because the fair is in town so many had gone to that. We'd already gone to the fair on Wednesday and deliberately chose last night. The weather was perfect!

We could have our window open the entire time.

We had purchased an OFF! clip on and put it on the dash. It has a little battery operated fan and we sat in bug-free comfort. Everyone else was swatting and spraying themselves big time. Bottom line ... I recommend the OFF! Clip On. I couldn't detect an odor. Read the directions though. It says you shouldn't have it around food.

Speaking of food.

The popcorn was typical theater fare but yummy anyway. I didn't eat dinner so popcorn was my entree! I overdosed on hotdogs when I was in college and haven't been able to eat them since so anything other than popcorn was out of the question.

Yep, I had caffeine too! What a mistake! Between the Dr. Pepper's effects and my hip  being sore from sitting in the car so long it took me forever to settle down once I got home. In the wee hours of the morning I finally dropped off. So today, I'm Zombie-ville Arizona!

Ryan and I had a great time though! We sat in bug-free, gorgeous July weather watching a great movie. It's the kind of night memories when memories are made. Hints for the future ... bring the Gameboy next time. Box office opened at 7:30 so we went at 8:30 to get a decent spot (we like to use the old fashioned speakers instead of the radio to get the full effect.)

They've done some work on those speakers. They were pretty good ... relatively. All the poles are tipped this way and that from people driving off and forgetting to hang them up. What a hoot!

Anyway, the movie started around 9:45. Some neanderthal in a wide body, extended cab pickup pulled in so close to us that Ryan couldn't have gotten out of his door if he would have wanted to. Honestly! Some people's kids. In all fairness, though, I parked a little distance from our speaker so I could get out with my crutches so I wasn't blameless.

I'm rambling so I'll depart now. Take your special person to the drive in this weekend. It shouldn't be too busy with the fair on in Chippewa. There must have been only about fifty cars when the movie started. Nearly all the teens were at the fair and the rest of us there were primarily families.

Have a good time!

Much love and joy,

Karen

Where the Wild Things Are

When we went to Rice Lake the other day we stopped by the Bear Paw outfitters. Ryan wanted to look for fishing gear. They had a ton of stuffed wildlife including some African animals. I always feel a little sad when I look at them. They're so regal to suffer the indignity of adorning someones wall.

So the next day I took Ryan to see some live tigers at the zoo.

And I think I might have feel even sorrier for these animals. The picture doesn't show the sheer size of this cat. It was enormous with huge paws. Because it is native to Africa I have a different view of it than I did of the bobcat or the bear.

These are bobcats, and we have them in nearly every county in Wisconsin north of I-90. Yikes! The fact that they were caged just mean two less to be out in the wild near me. I feel the same way about bears.

When I lived in the country we had bears sleep across the road in the wild plum bushes. The dog and I would freak each morning they'd been there and some nights she wouldn't go out and I knew the bear was out there. When we moved to town I relaxed significantly, but we even get them in town sometimes, wandering around the clinic or somewhere else.

At any rate, we went from the zoo to the botanical garden-like farm market and wandered through their 27 greenhouses, then I felt more like myself. Ryan wanted more flowers for some pots on the patio and for his raised beds. He's really embracing this and even has a pair of cheap WalMart Croc-like shoes that he wears only for gardening. Too cute!

We planted more onion sets last evening but it was so mosquito-y outside we came in. I'll have to fog today if they're bad. I refuse to be driven indoors by them. We bought some of those OFF! clip on repellents. We haven't used them yet but when we do I'll let you know how they work.

Now I really am going to be late for church if I don't fly.

God bless you and yours,

Much love and joy,

Karen