Pictures From Jan-Jul 2023 - It's All About Having Fun!!

Monday, June 30, 2025

Sunday 6-29-25 New Pinball Challenge, Games & Having Fun

 


We had a great day with the high of 95 degrees. 

I spent the day playing games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 1 hour and seconds, which put me in 29th place in my group. I played Angry Birds. 

Larry got a head start on his monthly projects. He backed up the computers and pinball cabinet.

Today is a start of a new week for my pinball challenge. Last week it was Fish Tales and this week it's The Walking Dead. We had The Walking Dead as the weekly challenge back in October of 2024. We had taken it off the pinball cabinet so he had to download the game. Once he did this he installed it on the cabinet in both 2D and VR. The VR room is very nice and the game looks great in VR. I only play our pinball games in VR but Larry installs the games in 2D so if we have visitors they can play pinball without putting on a headset. Larry played The Walking Dead after he installed it and had a super game. 

Before last week's challenge of Fish Tales had finished I played it to see if I could get a new high score. I was unsuccessful. I came in 26th place out of 75 participants. I played The Walking Dead a few times. My first high score for the week is 55,544,980, which put me in 5th place out of 5 participants.

 

Fish Tales

 

The Walking Dead

 

 I played six other pinball games. They were Jaws, Rambo, Superman and the Justice League, Great Houdini, Big Bang Bar and The Lord of the Rings. Four of the games were developed by Marty, which were Jaws, Rambo, Superman and the Justice League and Great Houdini. While playing Great Houdini I came in as the 3rd high score and Jaws I came in as high score #2.

 

Big Bang Bar

 

Great Houdini

 

Jaws

 

Rambo

 

Superman and the Justice League

 

The Lord of the Rings


I worked out for a half hour with my Synth Riders. 

I played one game of Asteroid Outpost in Bounce Arcade. I was surprised I earned a gold trophy considering I lost the first ball very fast. I mined the asteroids six times and was successful three times to start the three modules. I played four different multiballs but they didn't last but a few seconds. I did practice on using both of my hands instead of just the right hand when I play the multiballs so they will last longer. I had a lot of fun.

 

Asteroid Outpost

 

I continued working on my diamond painting of a hummingbird.

In the evening we watched YouTube videos. We watched technology videos, music videos and more. Then I watched Crocodile Dundee II and R.I.P.D. from our movies collection. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.  

 


 

     

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Saturday 6-28-25 Happy Saturday, Playing Games & Relaxing

 

Happy Saturday

 

I had a laid back day. I wasn't motivated to do much. I didn't do much of anything today. 


Relaxing Day
 

I played my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event today was Event: Spider Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 41 minutes and 16 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

We started to watch the X-Games but they had so many commercials we stopped.  

Larry played some pinball. He installed a new game on the big cabinet. It was Jaws, we played it on the real pinball machines and had fun with. I love Marty's games and we have many of them. Jaws is his new game and he did another outstanding job on it. It took Larry a bit to install it in 2D, he had to change some of it's code. Once he did this it works great. When he installed Jaws in VR he had no problem. He also read that Elvira Scared Stiff was updated again. So he updated it. Once he finished working on Jaws and Elvira Scared Stiff he played them. He also played Creature From the Black Lagoon. 

I played three games of pinball. They were Jaws, Scared Stiff and Fish Tales. I got a new high score on Fish Tales and I put my initials on the board as high score #3. I had a great time playing Jaws, it's a lot of fun and challenging. In the weekly challenge of Fish Tales with the new high score of 183,082,920 put me in 19th place out of 57 participants.  

 

Elvira Scared Stiff

 

Fish Tales

 

Jaws


I worked on the diamond painting of the hummingbird.

 

The hummingbird so far


 

In the evening we finished watching the 10th season of Grantchester on PBS. Then I finished watching the Jesse Stone movies. The two movies were Jesse Stone: Benefit Of The Doubt and Jesse Stone: Lost In Paradise. I ended up doing 13,500 steps. 

  

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Friday 6-27-25 New Router, Workout & Games

 

Let's do the happy dance

 

We had a wonderful day.

Larry continued playing with the caster. 

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Medium Mayhem Mini of 15 games. It took me 43 minutes and 5 seconds, which put me in 21st place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

We received an e-mail from The UPS Store telling us they had a package for us, it was our new router. After getting the router we went into Walmart to pickup a few items I forgot to get the other day. 

When we got home I did some housework, which took me an hour. I hadn't done any in awhile. 

Then I worked out for a half hour with the Synth Riders. I played one game of Gunpowder Gulch with the Bounce Arcade. I earned a silver trophy. I played four different multiballs, which were the Post Bust, Safe Crack, Jailhouse Breakout and the Saloon. I played the barrel event once and the shootout twice and failed but I was successful in breaking the safe and Gunfight events. I had fun.

 

 
Working out
 
 
 
Gunpowder Gulch
 
I played seven games of pinball. I played Monster Bash, Dr. No, Nightmare Before Christmas, Metallica, Road Show, Attack From Mars and Fish Tales. While playing Dr. No and Nightmare Before Christmas I entered my initials as high score #1. 
 
 
 
Attack From Mars
 
 
 
 
Dr. No
 
 
 
 
Fish Tales
 
 
 
 
Metallica
 
 
 
 
Monster Bash
 
 
 
 
Nightmare Before Christmas
 
 
 
 
Road Show
 
 
I worked on my diamond painting of a hummingbird.
 
In the evening we watched three episodes of the 10th season of Grantchester on PBS. While Larry was flipping channels he came across an advertisement about the Summer X-Games. So we watched the Ladies Skateboard Pike. Then I watched two of Jesse Stone's movies, which were Jess Stone: No Remorse and Jesse Stone: Innocents Lost. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.  
 
 

       

Friday, June 27, 2025

Thursday 6-26-25 Grocery Shopping, Working Out & Games

 

Happy Thursday

 

We had a great day with the high of 92 degrees.

We started the day out by going to town to do a few errands. First we stopped at the UPS Store to get our mail. Next stop was Walmart to pickup items we were getting low on. Then we went across the street to HEB to pickup an item we needed. Last stop was at Mobil station to fill up the car with gas. 

 

Doing errands

 

When we got home I put the groceries away. Then we loaded the new television in the back of the truck to return it to Best Buy. The gentleman asked Larry why he was returning the television. Larry said that the television was perfect except it didn't work with voice recognition to turning the television on and off. The gentleman was surprised because it was a 2025 model. We will stick with the old TV for a bit, it works fine. 

On the way home we stopped by Little Caesar's and bought a pizza for lunch. We also had the pizza for dinner. 

Larry spent part of the afternoon working on some small entertainment issues. 

I worked out on my Wii Fit for a half hour, Just Dance for a half hour (20 minutes with 2015 and 10 minutes with 2016) and a half hour with Synth Riders. I hadn't used the Wii Fit for a week.

 

Working out


I played two games of Monster Manor on Bounce Arcade. I didn't do too well. The first game was the best, where I earned a bronze trophy and stunned the manor.

 

Monster Manor


I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Free Cell Adventure of 20 games. It took me 2 hours, 25 minutes and 16 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. Then I played Angry Birds.

I worked on my diamond painting of a hummingbird. I'm about halfway through the painting. 

In the evening we rented a movie from Amazon, which was Inferno. Inferno is the third movie of Robert Langdon starring Tom Hanks. It was a good movie. Then we watched a 5 minute piece on the News Hour on PBS about Bill Moyers, who died today. Then we watched another episode of the 10th season of Grantchester on PBS. Then I watched a couple movies of Jesse Stone, which were Jesse Stone: Sea Change and Jesse Stone: Thin Ice. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.   

 

 

Relaxing in front of the television


 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Wednesday 6-25-25 Virtual Square Dancing & Games

 

Happy Wednesday

 

We had a wonderful Wednesday. The high temperature at our house was 91 degrees. I don't think we have reached 100 degrees yet this year in Belton. We got close, we got up to 97 degrees.

I attended three virtual square dances. First was Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly Plus at 10:00 for an hour. They took turns calling five tips to 10 participants. During the fifth tip Di worked on a couple of moves dancers requested. They were Spin-Chain-Thru and Flip the Diamond from different positions. She also worked on Coordinate during the third tip. Terry and Di are very flexible they watch the dancers on a television and will work on moves the dancers have problems with. They help dancers by dancing while they call and cueing the moves. I had a super time dancing to Di and Terry. 

 

Get a partner and dance

 

When the dance was over Larry and I stayed on the call to talk with Robin and Di. Robin offered to pick us up at the San Fransisco airport next Wednesday. We will stop for lunch and get to spend time with each other. They will then drop us off at the hotel. We have been dancing to Di and Terry with Robin over five years and we have never met them in person. This is a perfect opportunity to do so. Very nice of her. We are looking forward to it. 

The second was Ett McAtee's Weekly C1 at 1:00 for an hour. This week she called five tips to 16 participants. I did very well dancing this week. Ett called a few four couple concepts we don't do too much virtually. The concepts were Triangle, Make Magic and Siamese. Siamese concept is where one couple works as couple and the other couple in tandem through the moves. I had a fun time dancing to Ett and with friends.

 

Dancing with friends


 

The third was Dave Eno's Weekly C1/A2 at 6:00 for an hour and a half. This week Karin Rabe and Greg Moore called the dance because Dave was at a concert with his daughter. They took turns calling three tips of C1 to 5 participants, three tips of A2 to 7 participants and two Trivia questions in between the A2 tips. I had a great time dancing to Karin and Greg and with friends. 

 


Larry spent the day working with movie stuff. Our collection is now correct on both of our streaming devices. We use a program called Nova. It displays artwork for each movie and information about the movie. It looks amazing.  

In between the dances I played games. I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 57 minutes and 46 seconds, which put me in 25th place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

I played three games of pinball, which were Fish Tales (weekly challenge), Cactus Canyon and Dark Chaos. While playing Fish Tales I got a new high score of 152,124,910, which put me in 16th place in my group of 36 participants.

 

Cactus Canyon

 

Dark Chaos

 

Fish Tales


After the last dance we started watching the 10th season of Grantchester on PBS. When Larry went to bed I watched a couple of Jesse Stone movies. They were Jesse Stone: Stone Cold and Jesse Stone: Death in Paradise. Jesse Stone: Stone Cold was the first movie done of Jesse Jone but actually you should watch the second movie Jesse Stone: Night Passage first. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.

 

 

Relaxing in front of the television

 

I worked on my diamond painting of a hummingbird.

 

 

  

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Tuesday 6-24-25 A2 Dance to Di and Terry, Television & More

 

We had a terrific Tuesday.

We usually go to Liberty Hill to dance C1/A2 with friends. This week it was cancelled because of the 74th National Square Dancing Convention. It runs from June 25th to June 28th at the Shreveport Convention Center in Shreveport LA. Instead we attended Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly A2 dance virtually. Di called four tips and Terry called one tip to 8 participants. Larry danced four of the tips with me. Di worked on Cross Trail Thru because Larry and I had problems with it because we kept thinking we were four couples until two couples. We had a great time dancing with friends. 

 

Get a partner and dance


Larry spent the day working on the television project. We decided to take the new television back to Best Buy. We loved everything about the TV except not being able to turn it on and off by voice. Larry spent two days trying to overcome this issue. He did lots of research, talked to the Amazon FireTV folks, called Hisense, experimented with our Harmony remote, he even posted a question on a heavily followed Reddit group, after all of that he is convinced it will not work. We really like the TV and hate to return it but after discussing it this is something we use every day and we would regret not being able to do this.

We had kept all the original packaging. Larry wiped all the information from the TV by resetting it. We removed the TV from the stand, covered it with the original bag and put it in the box along with the accessories. Larry taped the box up. In the next couple of days we will return it.

Next we took the old television out of it's box and put it on our bed. Then Larry took the stand in his workroom, took off the extensions we made and modified the stand to fit the old television. Next he put it on the table and started to reinstall the television. He had a lot of cables and they were a mess. He organized the cables. He took the cables he didn't need and wrapped them up and put them away. Then he connected the sound bar to the television. He got the surrounding sound working. Next he installed the applications he had on it before and got them to work. He connected my Wii Fit to the television, now I can use it again. In trying to get the new television to work with our remote he had reprogrammed it and finally even removed it from Alexa, this required him to do a bunch of stuff to get it back working with the old TV. Everything is now back the way it was. We can again have Alexa turn on the TV, the FireTV, the Caster or my Wii simply by asking her. We would have hated having to use multiple remotes to do this.

While Larry was working on the television and he didn't need me I played games. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Two Game Tango Mini of 10 games (5 Free Cell and 5 Pyramid). It took me 1 hour, 10 minutes and 26 seconds, which put me in 19th place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

Larry plugged in the pinball cabinet and got it to work. Then he installed the upgrade of Elvira Scared Stiff game. Then he played it to see the changes. They added a spider web in the playfield and skulls on top of the cabinet. It looks great. 

 

The skulls on top of the cabinet in the VR room

My weekly pinball challenge is Fish Tales. We already have the game he just had to change the number of balls from five to three. My first high score was 126,981,340, which will put me in 14th place out of 31 participants. I also played five other games, which were Elvira Scared Stiff, Monster Bash, Iron Man, Mission Impossible and Rambo.

 

Elvira Scared Stiff

 

Fish Tales

 

Iron Man

 

Mission Impossible

 


Monster Bash
 

Rambo


I worked on my diamond painting of the hummingbird.

In the evening we watched Dr. Strange. I watched The Matrix Resurrections out of our movies collection. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.

 

 

Relaxing in front of the television


  


 

      

      

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Monday 6-23-25 Dancing with Di, Fire TV & Games

 


We had another manic Monday. 

Larry had an exciting morning. He watched the deer come though the backyard. He said there were two sets of twin fawns, a single fawn, their mothers and a couple extra does. He said it looked like a deer playground. 

Later on we saw a doe and fawn walk though the backyard through the neighbor's gate to the trees. We watched the hummingbird drink from the homemade feeder. We actually caught the squirrel taking off the lid of the feeder to drink the nectar. For awhile we weren't sure what animal was taking the lid off. We have been putting the lid on a few times a day. We saw the hawk while watching television. Almost every night we seen the fox walking on the driveway and through the backyard. 

When the wildlife doesn't show up for a couple of days we are very disappointed. The wildlife makes our day and put a smile on our faces.

We started the day off by attending Di Green's Weekly C1 dance at 9:00 for an hour. Di called five tips and danced with Terry to 12 participants. Michael from Washington D.C. was back from attending his grandmother's funeral in Italy. It was nice to have him back. Larry danced with me for four of the tips. We had a super time dancing with friends and joking with them in between the tips.

 

Dance participants


Larry spent the day working on trying to get the television to work the way he wants. He couldn't get it to turn on or off using voice commands. He finally called Amazon to get their help. He found out, that even though the television is an Alexa Fire TV it wasn't compatible with the on/off command. On our old TV he was able to make this work using a Harmony hub, however this will not work via the new TV. He worked on this almost the entire day. 

I didn't do too much. I played the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Easy Street Mini of 15 games. It took me 29 minutes and 19 seconds, which put me in 10th place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

After lunch I took a couple of hours nap.

I made barbecue beef cups. I substituted the beef with pork sausage. I hadn't made this dish in a very long time. It's an easy dish. You need biscuits, barbecue sauce and pork or beef. I didn't have the dry onion so I didn't use this ingredient. I didn't use as much barbecue sauce as was called for because I thought the pork had enough spices in it. This dish came out delicious.

 

Barbecue Pork Cups


After dinner I played three pinball games on the mini pinball cabinet because the bigger one is still down. I played James Bond 60th Anniversary, Deadpool and Playboy. While playing Deadpool I became high score #1. I enjoy playing on the big cabinet but the mini one is just as enjoyable and I can sit down playing the games.

 

Deadpool

 

James Bond 60th Anniversary

 

Playboy


In the evening we watched Sherlock Holmes 2- Game of Shadows. When Larry went to bed I watched The Matrix Revolutions and Jesse Stone: Night Passage. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.