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

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Wednesday 7-2-25 San Francisco & Meeting Di, Terry & Robin

San Francisco

 

We had a long exciting day.

We started the day out very early. I woke up at 6:45 and got dressed. Larry was already up doing his morning routine. I made a quick breakfast. Then Larry bagged the electronics we're taking on our trip. Then Larry empty the ice bucket in the freezer and turned off the ice maker. Afterwards he turned off the water going to the house.  

Our flight was scheduled to depart at 10:38. We don't fly much, Larry hadn't flown in about 20 years. American Airlines said we should be at the Killeen Airport two hours early. We left the house at 7:30 and got to the airport at 8:15. We didn't have to check-in because Larry had already got our electronic boarding passes yesterday on our phone. When we walked into the airport there was no one at the American Airline counter and the gates weren't open. The gates finally opened at 8:30. Our flight was on time, the flight to Dallas was 35 minutes.

The application said it would take us about 10 minutes to get the gate. It took us about that long. We figured it would take less time because we arrived at Gate B33 and we only had to go to Gate B11. We had to walk farther then we expected. We had an hour wait but it ended up being a half hour longer. They had to work on a minor maintenance issue. It was the restroom in the front of the plane. They didn't fix the issue so they kept that restroom closed the whole flight. The flight was a 3.5 hours. Because we were going to San Francisco we gained two hours. We arrived in San Francisco at 2:45. 

While waiting to board the plane we snacked on granola bars we had brought with us. We weren't sure if we were going to get a snack on the plane. We got a complimentary drink and a bag of pretzels. 

When we landed Robin called and Larry told her he would give her a call to tell her where we would be standing. We didn't have to go to the baggage area because we carried all our luggage on the plane. Robin had told us that she, along with Di & Terry would pick us up at the airport, we would go to lunch and spend some time together.

We have been virtually square dancing with Di, Terry and Robin for over five years. We've hoped to get together and meet but it's very hard. When Larry found out that Di and Terry were going to be in San Francisco it was a perfect time to meet up.

We went to dinner/lunch at Jack's, a restaurant close to the airport and our hotel. It was exciting to meet Di, Terry and Robin. We had a super visit, just the five of us. 

 

Larry and Robin

 

Terry and Di


After eating Di drove us to the hotel. We checked in and got our room number, which was on the 11th floor. The gentleman, who checked us in told us to take the yellow elevator up to the 11th floor. Another gentleman rode the elevator with us, he had scanned his room key and punch the floor he wanted. By scanning the key the floor button would light up. Larry asked him about it. He said you just scanned your room key. We weren't told to do this.

The room is very nice. It has a couch, desk table, queen bed, dress drawers, safe and small refrigerator (no microwave). It also has an iron, ironing board, coffee maker and coffee, cream and sugar/sweetener. They charge for WiFi but Larry bought our Mobley (hot spot) which is working great.

I played my Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 57 minutes and 30 seconds to complete, which put me in 13th place in my group. I played a little Angry Birds. I'm happy I can play my games. Thank you Larry.

I ended up doing 12,000 steps, which is my daily goal. 

               


 



Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Tuesday 7-1-25 Happy Tuesday, Mowing, Games & Router Project

 

Happy Tuesday

 

We had a terrific Tuesday. 

When we travel we normally spend six to eight weeks on the road and we can't be home to mow. We hire a landscaping crew to do it for us. We have used the same company every since we have lived here. They have been really reliable and show up every other Thursday to mow. But the last few times Larry has had to call and tell them that our yards have not been mowed. When he does this they do come out and mow. Today it has been over two weeks so I went outside and mowed. I mowed the frontyard and half of the backyard. It took me an hour to do so. Larry came out halfway through the mowing and filled the mower with gas. 

 

Backyard after it was mowed


Larry spent part of the day playing with the new router. He is still testing and learning.

I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. The event was Event: Free Cell Adventure of 20 games. It took me 4 hours, 19 minutes and 39 seconds, which put me in 13th place in my group. I played Angry Birds.

I played seven games of pinball. They were Deadpool, Willy Wonka, Road Show, Theatre of Magic, Big Buck Hunter Pro, The Lord of the Rings and The Walking Dead. While playing Deadpool I came in as high score #3. This will be the last time I play the weekly challenge in pinball of The Walking Dead. I didn't get a new high score but I'm in 19th place out of 29 participants. I had a fun afternoon of playing pinball.

 

Big Buck Hunter Pro

 

Deadpool

 

Road Show

 

The Lord of the Rings

 

The Walking Dead

 

Theatre of Magic

 

Willy Wonka


In the evening we watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Later I watched Aladdin. I ended up doing 13,500 steps.

I finished packing for our trip. We'll being flying out tomorrow morning and be gone for five days. We're going to San Francisco to attend the 2025 IAGSDG Convention. 

 


  

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Monday 6-30-25 Dancing with Di and Terry, Trip Preparation & Games

 

Busy Monday

 

We had a busy day.

We started the day out by attending Di Green and Terry McCann's Weekly C1 dance at 9:00 for an hour. Di called five tips to 13 participants. Larry danced four of the tips with me. Last week Di decided to celebrate the United States 4th of July and Canada Day by dressing in red, white and blue and red and white. She forgot to remind people to do so. Larry and I wore our red, white and blue shirts and hats. I wore my belly dance belt. Michael asked if we were suppose to dress for the 4th of July. He went and put on a red, white and blue lei and a Canadian flag for Canada Day. Terry and Di put on their red, white and blue lei. Deborah from Florida wore her 4th of July outfit. We had a super time dancing with friends.

 

Dancing with friends


After the dance I started doing laundry for our trip. 

Larry measured one of our carry on luggage and found it was a little too big. He went to Walmart's site and found one that was the right size. So off to Walmart we went. We couldn't find it on the shelf in the suitcases area. We asked one of the ladies working there to help us. She found out there were three of them in the back. It took her awhile but she found them. She brought two of them out and unboxed the suitcase we needed. She was very helpful and friendly. We had a great experience at Walmart.

 

Shopping


When we got home I finished the laundry. I packed everything we were taking with us except our electronics and snacks. I will do this tomorrow. 

 

Doing laundry


I did the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I did all the games in Solitaire and Mahjong for the month so I got a perfect score. I did the event, which was Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games, it took me 1 hour, 5 minutes and 5 seconds, which put me in 12th place. I played Angry Birds.

Larry played a few games of pinball, Jaws, Time Lord and World Cup Soccer. He had a good time. He tried to fix the volume in VR. When we play the games in 2D the volume is very loud but in VR it's soft and we have to turn it up almost 100 percent. He wasn't successful.

I played three games of pinball today. They were The Walking Dead, Jaws and Time Lord. While playing The Walking Dead I got a new high score for the challenge of 73,915,650. This put me in 16th place out of 25 participants so far. When I played Jaws I came in as high score #2 and Time Lord I came in as high score #3. I had a great time.

 

Jaws

 

The Walking Dead

 

Time Lord


We watched some YouTube videos.

In the evening we watched Conclave, which is about appointing a new pope. Then I watched The Sound of Music. I ended up doing 13,500 steps. 

 

 

   

 

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