24 hours at Grandma & Grandpa's

The grandkids came over and their goal was to wear out Grandma and Grandpa!  They did a pretty good job!  I don't have pictures of everything we did but it sure was fun! As soon as they walked in the door they wanted to go swimming.  So off we went to the neighbors pool.  We ate some dinner and headed to the lake for some paddleboating.  They bought new boats this year that were much better.  Last year the steering was broken and we mostly paddled in circles.

The next morning they opened a restaurant on the front driveway.

Lyla kept a close eye out for customers.

They really wanted to swim again, but since it was only 9 am. and I was barely awake, the sprinkler seemed a good alternative.

At 10am I couldn't hold them off any longer so off we went to the pool!  Lots of fun for everyone!

Food and Lanterns

Two weeks ago we packed up Tommy & Jena  so they could head back to the bright lights of Hollywood!  But first we needed food and fun!  Jena's parents and sisters came up to help with the packing (and the food and fun part).  The first meal was Mexican.

 The next meal we added Karen & Vince and son Mike and headed to the loop to eat at Pi. Great deep dish pizza, salads and shakes.

 After dinner we went to the Botanical Gardens to see the Chinese Lanterns.

 Jena and her mama.

 The 2 giant dragons were made out of dishes.  Look closely and you can see the plates and bowls.

 Jena's dad Paul is taking a break.

 I love to take pictures that have water reflections.

 Tommy & Jena



Here there and everywhere!

Steve and I took the girls to Powder Valley last Thursday.  We went on a short hike.  It's our ritual!  Whenever a new grandkid is born we take the older kids on a hike.  

We found this deer just laying next to the creek enjoying the nice weather.

The rest of the pictures didn't turn out.  Steve took quite a few but I forgot to change the setting from manual to automatic for him and they were all blown out.

 

When we went to the zoo a few days ago the kids wanted their picture with the gorilla.

The real ones were pretty active and we spent a lot of time watching them.

Catherine practiced holding a ball on her nose like the sea lions!

Brought to you by....

A few days ago I took the oldest 3 grandkids to the Zoo.  The weather was nice and I thought we could give Amber and Gus a little quiet time.  Catherine loves to take pictures.  I hope she makes a lot of money at it since she is going to be taking care of me and Steve! (see previous post)  The following photos are courtesy of her.   If you're wondering where pictures of Mary are, she chose not to be a model on this particular day.

Baby Gus

I've been remiss in not posting pictures of my newest grandson!  Here he is! Baby Gus!  He is quite the handsome boy.  I barely got to hold him because his sisters have appointed themselves his care givers! And they do seem pretty good at it.  Now I know who will be taking care of me and Steve when we get older!



Dinner and a song

"What do you feel like eating for dinner tonight?"  How many times have we asked each other this question?  Since we were in Branson we decided to go someplace new.  So we headed off to Mels Hard Luck Diner.  Our waitress took our order and the music started.  I thought it was the sound system.  But no.  It was the waiters and waitresses!  The would periodically pick up a microphone and start singing!  And they were good.

One young man started singing How Great is Our God.  This is one of my favorite songs.  He encouraged everyone to sing along with him.  Oh, how wonderful!

And I started to tear up.

How Great is Our God, Sing with me
How Great is Our God, and all will see
How Great, How Great is our God


Here we are sitting in a diner in the middle of America singing praises to our Lord!  And He is Great!

Hawn State Park

I'm a little behind on blogging.  Actually, I'm a lot behind!  A few weeks ago we took the RV and met some friends at Hawn State Park.  Even though it was hot out that didn't stop us from hiking.  The stream behind our RV was shady and peaceful. Our hike took us on top of these bluffs through the forest.

The next day Steve entertained me with the Swan Song.  I believe it was something he made up!  Now I  know where the granddaughters get their ability to make up songs on the fly!  What in the world does that mean?  On the fly?

Silver Dollar City

Steve and I went to Silver Dollar City on Monday.  We have a season pass and decided to take advantage of it since we were in the area.  They had some unique ways to keep the animals cool. They had buckets of ice that the rabbits snuggled up to and some of them had fans!

Only in the hills of the Ozarks do you find people laying in the streets when they get tired!  Actually, I think he was part of a skit but I never saw anything.

Steve said he had one foot in the grave!