December Part 2 - USS Iowa, Xmas Day, Santee Lakes

December 2015 (Part 2)

December 21st, 2015

Ryan is off this week and went with his dad to play golf.  Neither of them have played for a while and I heard that they got their money worth and played the whole course!!!  I went food shopping with Tinnie to get the Turkey and other foods for Christmas.     A  camper at the park got his truck sideswiped by another camper pulling out.  Thankfully they managed to sort everything out peacefully.

December 22nd, 2015

We went to USS Iowa near Los Angeles.  It was interesting but an extremely cold, wet and windy day.

This ship had a lot of guns and weapons.

Awards that the ship won are shown by the letters and signs

Trystan wasn't impressed but did peek out for this picture

 Decorated for Christmas

See the Xmas Wreath

The Iowa is the only Navy ship that has a bath.  This was installed for President Roosevelt in 1943 for his trip to attend the Tehran Conference.  Roosevelt hid his immobility well but the bath was a necessity for him as he could not move well as a result of polio.

Ryan really wanted to go behind the scenes to compare to his ship but these corridors were not open to the public.

These bunks are similar to what Ryan has but I think they are a little bigger than Ryan's.  I believe his has the storage under each bunk for their belongings.  

 We had our picture taken!!!

On the way home we went to Olive Garden to eat.  It took a while to get there and back but thankfully we weren't driving.  Thanks Ryan for being the chauffeur.  

December 23rd, 2015

We saw three doves today walking around the empty site next to us.  We said they were Bryan's Dad and my Mum & Dad.

Here's one of them

The three of them are on the other side of the path.  Sorry this is a bit blurry!!!

 I put the hummingbird feeder back out and the hummingbird came up to the feeder as I was putting it out.  Little fella must have been very hungry.  He is very territorial though and only lets the other two feed when he has had enough.  I told him to stop being mean and share but I don't think he is going to listen to me.

This is the same hummingbird taken at a different angle.  It amazes me that from some angles he has red  and others you can't see the red.

December 24th, 2015

We went over to Ryan & Christina's this afternoon.  We are staying the night, so we will be there when they wake up in the morning.  We all put our Christmas pajamas on and opened one present each.

Everyone went to bed early in anticipation of an early morning wake up tomorrow.  The joys of parenthood.

We have arranged for someone to watch our sites and bathrooms for us tomorrow but as the park is closed it shouldn't be too bad.

December 25th, 2015

I think we all enjoyed Trystan's first Christmas as much as he did.  Look who came to wake me up and share my bed early Christmas morning.  That was the best Christmas present.

We watched him open his presents with a lot of help from Daddy.  He was a very lucky and happy little boy.

Helping to tear the paper

Look at that face

Our Christmas portrait

We skyped with Ian, Kris and Kai in Wales.  Unfortunately, we missed Bailey as he had gone to his mums already but we will catch up with him another time.

Bryan had made some Breakfast  Sausage, Bacon, Egg and Cheese biscuits.  Yummy, they were good.  We played with Trystan and all his presents and watched movies.

Trystan was dressed better than the rest of us, see how smart he looks.

Tinnie and I cooked dinner and that was yummy as well.  Of course we had to wear our paper hats from our crackers.

As we were up at 5.30am, we left at about 8.30pm to go home.  Bryan has to do bathrooms early tomorrow and we will have campsites to clean.

What a wonderful festive Christmas we had.  It was over all too soon.

December 26th, 2015

One thing I miss about the UK is Boxing Day.  I always enjoyed the extra day to play games and relax and eat leftovers with no one worrying about going to work.  At least the 26th falls on a Saturday this year and so there are probably many people who do not have to work today and that is a good thing.    

We had our daily visit from our hummingbirds.  They were actually sharing!!!!

December 27th, 2015

We went for a ride around the park today on the golf cart.  Santee Lakes has cabins to rent as well as the campground.

Floating Cabins

Standing in one of the sites in the Lakeshore loop

Camper Decorations

This was a handmade decoration in the East Oak loop.

There is a lot of wildlife here.  Unfortunately we haven't had the camera available when we have seen Coyotes, Raccoons and Rattlesnakes in the campground.  Maybe one day we will get pictures of them.

December 29th, 2015

RV Pro came and put new batteries in the motorhome for us.  We got 6v Golf batteries this time as they are supposed to be better.  Will be interesting to see how they work if we go somewhere with no hookups.

December 30th, 2015

Bryan bought me a fairy garden container for Christmas and so we went and bought plants, soil, moss and rocks for it and I had fun putting it all together. It is a memorial garden for Mum, Dad & Bryan's Dad.  I bought succulents and a cactus for it as they should be easier to keep alive in the motorhome.  I'm not holding my breath though but if they do die they were not expensive and can be easily replaced.   The ornaments were just ones that I already had and will probably be swopped for others that I want to buy when I decide exactly which ones I want.

Here's the empty container

The finished product

December 31st, 2015

Well, the last day of the year already.  We spent New Years Eve quietly at home and were in bed by 11pm as we have to work tomorrow.

Happy New Year everyone

 Take Care