A Fishin' We Will Go!!!

It's Sunday afternoon, and we have just returned from another annual trip with my family to Bennett Springs State Park. We have been meeting there for a weekend during the late summer or early fall every year for about 10 years now, and it is always so much fun. With 3 little boys, it's been more work than play for the past, oh, eight years. And, each year I think, "Next year will be SO much easier!"

Well, this year, that statement came true. All three boys slept through the night, I was able to shower each morning, and Jeff and Owen made it to the trout stream both days before sunrise! ( I should mention, lots of this came about due to the free childcare provided by nearby aunts, uncles, and of course Grandma Bootsie and Grandpa Coach!) The kids had so much fun playing with all their cousins! When Isaac awoke from his afternoon nap at home today, he said, "Ah...I want to go back to the cabin!"

Also (drumroll please), Owen caught his first trout! He has been trying for 5 years, and is always so downhearted when the weekend ends before he catches one. But THIS year...he caught 2 or more on both Saturday and Sunday! He is struttin' proud! Levi didn't catch one, but he's determined to next year (or next visit, whichever comes first). Isaac didn't even go fishing this year, but he LOVED feeding the fish in the hatchery!

We feasted like kings on trout, buffalo burgers, salads, homemade breads, and gourmet omelets. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention S'mores by the campfire (before our late night visitors, the skunks, ran us off to our cabins! Better safe than sorry!) As always, I have pictures to make up for the 1000 words I cannot express. I hope you had a wonderful weekend, too. Hug your family...what a precious gift!


Until next time,

Leslie

Here and There and Everywhere!

Hello again! Here are some pictures to show you what we've been up to lately. For Jeff's birthday (9/9), his folks treated us AGAIN to an evening at Silver Dollar City. We had so much fun. The boys enjoyed getting soaked on the water rides, and I enjoyed taking pictures!

Then, this past Saturday (9/15), Jeff and I took the boys to the Ozarks Steam Engine Association steam engine and antique tractor show. I used to drive past that event every year and think, "YUCK! All that smoke and dust and dirt!", but I love going to it now. We've taken the boys a couple of years, and that has made all the difference. Evidently (news flash!) boys LIKE smoke, dust, and dirt! They were a little too intimidated to stand by the monstrous tractors for a picture, but here are a few snapshots of the event.

It was such a slice of Ozarks' history. There were demonstrations of sorghum making, wheat threshing, lumber milling, and corn/wheat grinding all using steam powered machinery (insert "Tool Time" grunt here!). Wonderful aromas filled the air (not from the engines, but from the concession stands)...there were corn dogs, cinnamon rolls, hamburgers, and kettle corn all for the taking! There was even an Amish family selling homemade ice cream made with a machine powered by an antique engine. They're called "Hit and Miss Ice Cream", and if you ever see them at a local fall festival, give them your business! It's delicious! Mix that with the faintest scent of pipe tobacco from a gentleman in bib overalls, and you have yourself the makings of a great autumn afternoon! We headed back to the van just as a good soaking shower began to fall...perfect timing!

Anyway, I just thought you'd enjoy some photos. Hope you have a great week. Oh, and feel free to join me in prayer that it frosts on the ragweed...and soon! (Ach-oooo!)

Wear 'Em Out!

We have been extra blessed with rain lately...just extra blessed. All that to say that the boys haven't been able to really run themselves ragged for a good long while. Just in case you don't have little ones who are bursting with energy, or perhaps you have forgotten what happens when energetic children are kept inside for a week or two, we have had THE worst case of cabin fever since last winter's ice storm.

Anyway...today it is beautiful! Sunny, 70 degrees...just a perfect day. I loaded up the boys along with their bikes and took them to our city park. They biked, they climbed, they played tag, they climbed some more, they took turns on the swings, they biked again...and then, too tired to bike any more, they pushed their bikes back to the van and we headed home. I was anxiously awaiting a good 2 hours of preschoolers napping, during which I could do laundry, tidy up the house, get dinner ready.

Guess what? The only one tuckered out is ME! The boys are wide awake...ready to go. I'm just ready to sit. In retrospect, I did as much running at the park as they did! I followed the riders (a good brisk walk), I helped the vertically challenged across the monkey bars, the timid ones down the fireman's pole, the unsteady ones down the "hill" on their tricycle/bicycle, and then I pushed those same "cycles" UP the "hill". Now I'm zapped (and enjoying a well deserved, fully caffeinated Dr. Pepper), and THEY"RE ready for round 2! Go figure! Well, it'll be a 7:00 bed time tonight! (for the kids...for the kids!)

I am thankful, though, for healthy children who are able to wear me out, and beautiful days to enjoy! I can fully relate to Dave Ramsey who, when asked "How are you?", always replies, "Better than I deserve!" Have a wonderful day! My break is over....

Whew!!!!!

Hello again! We have had such a busy and enjoyable time the past few weeks. We traveled to Newburg last Sunday to hear Jeff's family sing at Jeff's daddy's church. We all had a good time visiting and eating (I love church dinners), and the boys had a blast playing with Jeff's cousin, Deidrea's, children.

After the singing, Jeff took me and the boys to Mill Creek recreation area of the (Mark Twain, I think) National Forest. There was an artesian (sp?) well that the boys enjoyed, and then Jeff told us about a "really cool" cave just down the trail. Well, after what seemed like an eternity, I asked Jeff if we were nearly there. He replied, "Well, I've never ACTUALLY been to the cave, I've just heard that there's one out here." EXCUSE ME?!

I was hobbling along with a pulled muscle, and the boys were covered with stick-tights and cockle burs, but onward we traveled...up another hill, over the hill, down and back to the right, across the creek, back up another hill, and then....TA DAH!!!!!!!! There really was a cave, and it really was cool, but the brave little hikers weren't nearly as brave when we actually arrived. Had you been a bat on the wall, you would have heard,

"You go...",

"I'm not goin'! YOU go!"

"Let's go together?!"

"Uh uh! You scout it out, and let me know what you find..."

"Dad...you go!"

(They knew better than to ask me...I was running recent news stories through my mind about the locals spotting black bears and mountain lions...I was on the defensive...hobble and all!) Anyway, as it turned out the cave was apparently vacant, and the boys loved listening to the water dripping WAY back in the cave.

We took some pictures, wiped our brows, and headed back for the cool water of the well. As it turns out, if you go past the cave on the same trail, we were only about 400 yards from the park road, and within eyesight of our van. We had taken the...um...scenic route IN to the cave. It was very fun, though, and the boys love all the pictures we took. Here are some for you to enjoy.

Add to that a new school year, a baby shower, a doctor's visit, caring for our baby darkling beetles (which we are raising from larvae in a tiny barn on my counter top...um hum...big fun), learning that you really cannot see if your head is covered with a blanket...and you just might run into the hearth, and that sometimes, Missouri goes for MONTHS without hailstorms (job security), and we've had a busy "end of the summer". We are extra blessed, though, and are eagerly awaiting the cool, crisp days of autumn. I hope this entry finds you and yours happy, healthy, and enjoying life. Leave me a note if you want. Until next time...