Happy Friday!

With all the seemingly never-ending rotten news of the economy, what we need is a little sunshine and beauty! Thank heavens for the spectacular weather of the last few weeks. It's been alternating between mild, sunny, breezy days and days of soft, steady rain. A few days of howling wind have made an appearance, too, but overall it's been lovely. My husband and I are starting to think we have been magically transported to a resort town.







Shhh... please don't tell this profusion of flowers it's darn near the middle of October!







And what of these beauties...they've been fooled into thinking it's still August.

Those tall grasses! They're just too smart, spurting out their fall seed pods. Yet they are unmistakably retaining a summery green glow.

We had dinner on the screened porch a night ago and yes, this morning is gorgeous. This weather is what I'm talking about! I hope you have it, too. Happy Friday, everyone!

The First Days of Fall

Last night the thermometer dipped into the 30s. No denying it now, the seasons are a-changin'. We've had a month of what my husband and I have been calling "resort weather". High in 70-80s, low in th 50-60s. Pure heaven. It's funny though how living in the midwest, with it's distinct seasons, leaves you restless if one goes on a little too long. Here's a sweet adieu to summer.

With much anticipation we put in a vegetable garden complete with raised beds and a wind-blocking wall. We've marveled all summer at the bounty.


The first signs of warm weather brought out the neighborhood buddies to wrestle around.

An early season basketball game got the boys fired up.

More fun was had this summer in the canoe on the backyard pond. Not only this hual of fish, but swimming, splashing and general mayhem. Oh, and how could I forget...the leeches!

It was a summer of learning with Oldest and Middleman mastering kneeboarding. Youngest also jumped into the fray fighting for his next turn on the tube.

Aaaah! The evenings of baseball have now been replaced with evenings of football. I have a deep appreciation for baseball's non-contact element. It's also noteworthy, in that it's reminiscent of my youth, when I frequently attended Cardinal Baseball games in St. Louis. Now, it's my boys playing which beats watching the pros ANY day.

We enjoyed watching our nephew, Marshall, play Lacrosse. Youngest longingly watched and wished to move in with his cousins so he, too, could play.


As for me and enjoying a summer evening with my girlfriends, no worries there, we'll just move those antics right inside!

How can we not enjoy the dog days of summer??? However, in the meantime, we turn our attention to those unique cold weather activities that conjure memories, comfort and fun. For me, it's making hearty foods like soups and stews, and anything requiring the use of the toasty oven. It's fires in the fireplace. It's seed catalogs in January and of course, the holidays and all the tradition and...craziness that goes along. Summer, until we meet again...

Family Reunion - Part 2

Did anyone tell, notify, alert...uh, warn, the wonderful people at Marion Lake that our family was coming?

This was Reunion Command Central...the location of the food, the air-conditioning and the weather-wimps (just kidding Boppa (Jess) - 100 degrees outside, yummy food and drink inside - I'd say you were the wise one).

As I mentioned in Family Reunion Part 1, one fascinating aspect of reunions are all of the pictures and stories that are shared. We all enjoyed reviewing and discussing the pictures.

Let's talk a moment about food, shall we? Is it possible for two or more people to gather without an overabundance of food? I think not! One of the reunion traditions I enjoy are the family recipes. Here, Nana and Brook are making Momo's biscuits. We also had Momo's fruit salad and Tutti Fruiti Ice Cream.

Need I say more???

Well, maybe a little more...we had two additional delicacies that were beyond compare! One was the fried fish dinner, which is also a reunion tradition. John catches the fish at area lakes and then uses his special recipe batter and cooking method to make us all drool, fawn and beg him for more. Here he is between his two brothers, Ken and Brent.

Susie showed us how to make a special Swedish dessert, Osta Koka with Lindenberry Jam. It was wonderful and tasted like a custard or thick pudding with a sweet, tangy topping.

Taste aside, the real fun was making it.

The day was steamy and the lake was inviting. Jarod was the hero of the day, he took all who were up for a ride out on the boat.

Jarod pulled my boys around for a little kneeboarding. Later others went skiing and just for a ride.

Later in the afternoon, Jennifer and Susie demonstrated an ancient family tribal dance with Maddox as the upside down princess.

Here's the whole gang. Aren't we gorgeous??? *You may click on the picture to see a larger version.

Thank you, Susie, for all your work planning this year's reunion. The lake is an undiscovered jewel, the food was, as always, wonderful and the time spent together, priceless. See you all in 2010! Did I hear Maine? Wyoming?

Family Fun at The Ozarks

It was a foggy, mysterious morning... ha. Not really, it was blazing hot and suffocatingly humid, and my camera went into shock and fogged over. Perfect weather for a mini-vacation at the Lake of the Ozarks. No, really! The water is readily available for boating or swimming until you are exhausted and then you can collapse in the air-conditioning of the cabin.


My father has a cabin at the Lake. I was surprised when my brother pointed out that this is the fourteenth summer! As I thought back on those first getaways to the cabin, I remembered my oldest, now fourteen, swinging in a bear swing hung from a branch of a stately oak growing up through the middle of the deck. Yep, fourteen years.

We had the pleasure of traveling to the cabin this past Thursday. We were joined on Friday by my brother, Marty and his family. We did, however, face a few challenges at the beginning and end of this trip. We started with a boat that refused to run and an attack on my sister-in-law of a chigger army and ended with a blown-out tire on I-70 in east KC and lost keys that found their way to the inside bowels of the boat under the engine. I'm pleased to say, we managed to pack some fun into the middle.

The chigger bites may have had something to do with the two furry characters in this photo. Leslie and I were the usual escorts when these girls needed to go outside. She's definitely sweeter than me, as her doctor told her it's the worst case of chigger bites she has ever seen. Itch, scratch, groan...

We have a double-decker dock and the kids love to jump off the top deck... love, love, love it. They endlessly entertained themselves making up different ways to jump. I supervised...well, I read my book and sort of supervised.

Saturday brought boating fun...knee boarding, wake boarding and tubing (in my brother's boat). Saturday evening brought a boat cruise.

Boating is such a wonderful experience.






Not only does it style your hair...

It brings out your children's desire for world peace.






Talk about styling hair.

On Sunday we piled in the boat and traveled to Ha Ha Tonka State Park. On a bluff overlooking the lake, a man built a stone castle for his new bride. As these stories go, the man died before he was ever able to live in the mansion and the house later burned leaving only a partial stone shell. Park visitors may climb 316 steps or follow a meandering path to reach the castle. Bart and I climbed the steps, something we did years ago. Funny how it seemed as though they had added 150 steps and somehow thinned the air.




At the base of the bluffs is a frigid spring. How do I know? My nephew took us all to a spot where the water from the spring rushes by out into the big Lake. The adventure is to jump into this water and float out. Say what??? Not wanting to be a wuss or a sissy, I jumped in. Suppressing a scream as thousands of needles pricked my body, I floated out. Refreshing was how my sister-in-law described it! Refreshing? All the boys jumped in over and over and over...can you explain that to me?



It was a wonderful mini-vacation filled with moments of contemplation...

and silliness...



Thanks, Dad, for having the cabin, taking care of it and letting us come visit!

Camping, Swimming and Goofing Around

When I was a kid, we camped for almost all of our vacations. Didn't everyone camp? I thought so. Many of our family's friends camped and we traveled together for many years to set up our tents for a week in Florida. My parents "had it down" even building a large, wooden camp box, which they painted pea-green. The sides folded down to reveal dozens of cubby holes all carefully packed with the essentials. The box stood on legs and with the flaps down provided "counter" space. As long as I can remember, my family also owned a boat, so we camped by the water. I have wonderful memories from this time.

My husband and I have wanted to share the camping experience with our boys, so when we heard a family reunion was being planned at a lake, camping came to mind. The departure day arrived and we began to pack and pack...and pack...and PACK...AND PACK! Clearly we do not "have it down".

We were forced to do some unpacking, so we could fit the kids into the car. Jeez, you need a lot of stuff to camp...at least we thought so!

All that packing was forgotten when we found our campsite.

Ahhh...the water. We sat at the water's edge and enjoyed the view, while the kids explored.




Get a look at this table! Stone posts also line the top edge of the damn on either side of the road. Some campsites had stone fireplaces with cooking grills. Several of the camp areas have old concrete pads with a raised edge...we thought old cabin foundations. No, they once would be filled with water in the winter for ice skating!



This is the...,you guessed it, the potty hole. I kept thinking Civil War-era jail and left the door open just in case.

I neglected to take a photo of the fully assembled campsite, so please conjure your own imagine. It will be better than the real thing. Friday night, Bart's cousins, Rick and Susie, and Jim and Jenni joined us for storytelling around the campfire. Jared, Rick and Susie's son, helped our boys fish and make s'mores. We were all shocked to learn that what seemed like a half an hour had stretched to nearly midnight.

Saturday morning we hit the swimming beach for some surfing,...

jumping and...

Super Hero flying.

Saturday afternoon was the family reunion and Sunday was exploring and boating...more on that later.

This sun-soaked guy, like the rest of us, was sad to leave the lake but ready to be home.

July 4 in a Small Town

Growing up in the city, July 4 was an enjoyable, low-key day with relatives visiting, sparklers and fireworks in the park. The fireworks were similar to the ones we all shoot off in our backyards today!

So for me July 4 in my small town is something of a phenomenon. It's not just a day off from work, it's days and days and days of hoopla! This year, we enjoyed the carnival, fireworks in the backyard, dinner with friends, fireworks in the friend's neighborhood, a car show, a parade, dinner with family and... fireworks at the city ball diamonds. The highlight for my boys, you guessed it - fireworks!

4th of July holds special memories for me as last year my Mom and sister, Pam came to visit. My sister came to visit again this year and we had a wonderful time!



Also, last year my mother-in-law, Lauranell, was honored with the Citizen of the Year Award and was Grand Marshall of the parade. My husband was driving the car and my three boys rode with grandma.


A little side story: as the crew in the car waited for the parade to start. Nancy Boyde, Kansas State Senator walked up and extended her hand to my husband. She said, "Lawrence, congratulations on being named Citizen of the Year." My husband chuckled, swung his thumb toward the back seat and said that would be my MOM, Lauranell. hee hee

Our parade is a long-running affair, not just in terms of the length of the actual parade, but also in terms of consequtive years of parading. It draws a crowd and a motley crew of entries. This year was no exception. Our parade was in top form with antique cars, garganchuan trucks, antique tractors, heavy machinery, themed floats, unusual tractors, politicians, horses and state-of-the-art tractors.

You've heard of funny cars...this is a funny truck. The back-end has it's own driver who seems to have had a few too many libations prior to the parade. The K-State paintjob may explain it!

Woo hoo hoo, hee hee hee...this guy cracked me up. He was so serious about riding.

Here's some of the family after about an hour of watching...something tells me they are thinkin' about dinner.

Horses, now that's my favorite part! Not just because they are beautiful beasts, but because they are the second to last entry in the parade. The last entry...


The pooper scoopers!

Our little town's parade seems to be a big deal...not just the number of entries, which has some limits, believe it or not... but because of the wide variety of entries. At least that's my story. In all truth I'm not sure I fully understand it. I will add that election years, like this one, are particularly amusing as ALL of the candidates come out...local, county and state!

Another memorable 4th! A time to appreciate our incredible nation and the freedoms we enjoy, and a time to celebrate with family and friends. I'll be signing off now as I need a nap. I still have not fully recovered, and I do hope someone will wake me before the next 4th of July.