Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th! We spent the early afternoon downtown Jeff City. We visited all the booths and saw the carnival. They were having an old car show. Of course we spent most of our time there. It was a great day!

The boys were able to sit in this one. They really thought it was cool.

Hope you all had a great 4th as well!

Tea Time

Mom, Celie and I went to Versallies today to an English Tea House. We had the Queen’s high tea. What a lavash experience. They brew your own choice pot of tea, bring you courses of special tea type foods, and encourage you to relax and enjoy. It was so fun. I shall treat to a tea time when I get back. We also traveled though Mennonite country. What a simple life. Today was wash day. Clothes hung behind every house we passed. Not only do they simplify their lives, their homes and selves are a reflection of tidiness and pride. They also keep the greatest shops. We had so much fun. Finally a girl day, it was much needed.

On the River

First, excuse the pics at the bottom of my post. I don't know why they doubled and were laid over each other. But, you will get the point.

So, my last report was late due to the fact that I was unable to connect anywhere in the hills. Now that we are back in Jeff City for the 4th of July. I will make a double report. The Current River was spectacular. The weather was warm, the river was cool, and the wildlife was abundant. Even the crazy hillbilly wildlife. My favorite story from the river is Ellis and his exploration into the world of fish and wildlife biology.

My Granny’s sister Barb has a beautiful farm out in the hills. Granny, my mom, me, Ellis, Avery and Celie went to her farm one morning to see her “girls”. Her chickens. They are certainly a chatty group. She has one in particular that loves to ride around on Aunt Barb’s shoulder. Her name is Bitty. Ellis had the chance to hold her and she pooped on him. He just laughed. The chickens were a hoot. Ellis just watched, chased, listened to Aunt Barb and asked a TON of questions. That morning on her rounds around the farm she also found a baby rabbit. It was a brand new baby. His eyes were still shut. He was in the middle on the road, and still alive. Ellis held and cuddled that little baby. Again he questioned away. Celie carefully touched it and was amazed. Avery watched from a distance with both. The big garden was again a huge learning experience for Ellis.

Later that afternoon we went to the river. There was a man and his grandkids there with a minnow trap. He had trapped some and asked if the kids wanted to see them. He gave Ellis and Avery each a minnow to hold. Ellis spent the next 30 minutes investigating the inner and outer workings of his 5 inch minnow. Of course, this brave fish gave his life for the sake of childhood science. Ellis was hilarious! He found the fins, the gills (which we had a whole lesson about how fish breath), the eyes, the mouth, and where the fish poops. (Lots of animal poop this day) Once the fish expired, Ellis was able to use his fingers to move the eyes around and he discovered that if you squeeze the eyes together, the mouth will open and Ellis’ finger will fit in perfectly! HA! What a boy. The man’s grandson gave him another fish to play with. Well, he did not fair any better than his fellow fish. When it was time to leave for the day, Ellis did not want to leave his fish. He said, “ But I love them so!” But we decided that the river was their home and they needed to be at their home. We said goodbye to the fish and he gave them a good toss into the river. There is certainly never a shortage of learning opportunities on the river.

Current River

We had a very relaxing weekendat the Tulsa reunion. We really enjoyed visiting with everyone. It was fun to see all the cousins and for them to play together. We finished our Tulsa tour with the Oklahoma Aquairum. That was cool. We saw manta rays being fed, a huge shark tank that you walked under, and an octopus.


On our way back to Jeff City we stopped and visited George Washington Carver’s National park. It was where he was born and spent his childhood. What an amazing and inspiring museum. He did so much more for science than just invent over 300 uses for peanuts (peanut butter being one of them). His desire to explore and learn each and every day is truly inspiring. We all walked away seeing the world and each opportunity as a chance to learn and discover.


We are now at the Current River. We spent a few hours on the river today and will be going to an area Conservation Center tomorrow to do some fishing and other activities. Tonight we had a fish fry with our family that lives in the area. Fish fry, family, stories, singing, and beer…it is the way of the hills. It was great. We even had a wild hair and decided to make our own butter for our fresh picked corn at dinner. A table set with fresh veggies from the garden, foods caught with pride, and canned goodies made with love is a summer feast I remember fondly and crave often.

Side note

I forgot to mention that I was able to post some of the pics I had on my camera finally. LONG story. Check the post titled, We are back in the US. I added pics of the boys being chased by a trex and of Mt. Rushmore.
Thanks

OKC

We felt lost not driving for such a long time so we hit the road again on Monday. Off to OKC this time. Tuesday was the OKC Zoo with Uncle Andy, Aunt Elizabeth and cousin Noah. We went right away in the morning so to catch the animals at their more active time and to beat the heat. Lucky on both counts. Cousin Noah is a HOOT! He just turned 2 in April and he and Ellis are the same height! They were sooo cute together. Noah is such a happy guy. We had a great time together.

See the lion behind the kids on the hill? He was awesome!

After the zoo we went across the road to the science museum. It has undergone a complete renovation from when I lived here. We spent about 4 hours there and still did not get to explore all the areas. I had to drag Brad and the boys away from this space exhibit on Newtons laws. They were totally intrigued. Ask Brad about it sometime. I am pretty sure he is going to try to recreate it when we get back. It was that cool. The pictures are of Avery, Isaak and Brad in the tornado tube. The number on the screen inside is the speed of the wind that is in the tube at that time. It was pretty cool. The other is of the boys doing an experiment with energy vs. gravity. It think there was some magnetism thrown in also.

Today (Wednesday) we took the kids to White Water. Cousin Diana and her son Alexander met us there. Alexander is 7 months old and is the happiest baby! What a cutie. Ok, so White Water was pretty neat when I was in middle school. I was expecting to be there for a couple of hours before everyone was tired of the wave pool and the lazy river. I didn't expect what we saw when we arrived. It was a water extravaganza!!! We splurged and rented a cabana for the day so the little ones could nap in peace and so we had shade available all day. It was TOTALLY worth it!!! We stayed for 7 hours. Sun burn you ask...no, I did not. Neither did Celie, Ellis, Isaak or Avery. Of course we applied alot and often. Brad looks like a lobster. Isaak and Avery only have a bit on their cheeks. Now, why does Brad look like a lobster and we don't. Because Brad made fun of my 85+ SPF I bought. He requested that I get him a low SPF like 30 or something so he can still "tan". Well my friend, how is that tan working out for you now? (Insert sinister laugh)

All in all, we are exhausted!!! Tomorrow is a laid back day here at Bev and Daves. We might go on a snake hunt. Apparently Brad found one in the driveway a bit ago. We will recoup for the upcoming family reunion this weekend in Tulsa. Till then....

Aunti Em, Aunti Em

Yes, we relived the epic saga from the Wizard of Oz last night. Ok, so it was not quite as exciting as Dorthy's experience, and we didn't meet any little people or talking lions. But never the less, it was quite exciting.

We took mom and the boys to vacation bible school and then headed to Old Navy for a quick stop. When we got home and were ready to watch WipeOut, the area weather guys were stating that they have been cleared for the next hour or so to cover and report the increasing storms and wall clouds in the area. Great. Just what we need. Wall clouds. So Brad, Dad and I watched for a while. The wall clouds were not really around us, but they looked to be headed our way. Judging from the map, we had two choices. One was to go get everyone from church now before the storm got to JC, or wait until the storm passed to go get them. The storm was moving slowly, so it could be hours before it would be safe to venture out.

Then the tornado sirens started to go off. Great. Just what we needed.

We decided to go get the VBS'ers and bring them home. Brad volunteered.

Brad delivered the boys back safely before the actual storm hit. Mom stayed at the church with the rest of the group. The church was a safe place, but we were unsure how the boys would handle it all. Good thing Brad went. Avery was pretty upset and it took a while to get him calmed down back at the house. As the news reports went on, they commented (and I stress commented like it was no big deal) that a funnel cloud was spotted in JC on Missouri Blvd, but had not touched down. Ok, so Missouri Blvd is about 1/2 mile from the house! We all calmly went to the basement with our emergency bag and my Dad went to the front porch. Typical.
Then night wore on, the storm blew threw, it rained like crazy, and someone from church brought Mom home. WipeOut came on after the weather guys were tired of reporting and we all slept soundly.

Not quite the Wizard of Oz, but exciting enough for us!