Dennis and a new friend

Dennis spotted a man a little ways from us that he could tell by the patches on his vest that they were both in the Marines and in Vietnam at the same time. He went over and met him, he is a member of the America Legion in Mulvane. We may visit there sometime.

World War II Veterans

Most of the veterans were in wheelchairs and all were very happy with the turn out. We shook their hand as they went by. We thanked them for their service and welcomed them back home.

Honor Flight

I heard about a program that took World War II veterans to Washington DC to see the new WWII memorial and other sites. The trip was expense free to the veterans due to contributions from the public. The most recent flight left on Tuesday morning and returned Wednesday evening. The public was invited to come to the airport to greet the veterans. The Patriot Guard was there as was two fire trucks from McConnell along with a huge crowd. The fire trucks greeted the plane with streams of water shooting from each side that the plane went under. It was a very special evening and we plan to go each time this happens. The veterans were so appreciative of the turn out. The chief of police, Norm Williams was there, bagpipes played, an honor guard greeted them and there were many military personnel in uniform. I did feel sorry for the people that were trying to catch a plane or go to the baggage area as the crowd control was sadly lacking.

Laura's picture of Thunderbirds

Laura got a better picture

Thunderbirds

This weekend was the McConnell air show - the first one in four years. Saturday's events were canceled due to the weather but today cleared off and the Thunderbirds were able to do their show. Laura and I went over to the Derby Kohl's parking lot but of course forgot our cameras. The parking lot was a perfect place to watch - the planes came right over us - it was great. I took many pictures with my cell phone and one actually came out!

Another fun weekend

(picture I took with my phone at the Orpheum)

We had another fun weekend although things didn't go as well as planned, Jessica and I had a great time. ;) Stacy and family came on Saturday for her class reunion so Laura also came to see them. While Stacy and James were at the dinner and social time Jessica and I attended a sing-a-long with the Sound of Music at the Orpheum and Dennis took James Jr and Laura to the McConnell evening air show activities. The afternoon events were rained out so they were hoping the evening ones would be able to go on since the rain left. The clouds were too low though so the the flying events were canceled again but they did see a school bus go 245 mph in a quarter mile which impressed all of them.

Jessica and I had the best time at the Orpheum. It started about 8 and ended around 11:15 and by the end my jaws hurt from laughing so much. At the beginning we were shown pictures of different characters and told what to do when we saw them - hiss, boo, cheer etc. We were also given bags of props - a flower to wave during some songs, cards with different things on them and a firework popper that we were to pull the string when the main characters kissed. I had not seen the movie for many years so was glad that they had the words to the songs on the screen. Jessica - to my amazement - had seen the show many times and it was in her opinion the best musical ever. She was very excited to go.

Quite a few people came dressed in costume - there were probably five nuns but the best nun sat right behind us. This lady had no inhibitions and a very good voice. She was hilarious. Jessica said - Grandma we sat in the perfect spot. The audience would say things out at the show - some said some of the lines with the characters - we sang - we booed - we hissed - it was such fun. The best part was towards the end - when the young soldier had his gun pointed at the father of the children - it was silent in the theater - after all this was a huge scene of the show. Some forward thinking audience member had saved his/her popper and used it as the father approached the boy to make it sound like the gun had gone off. This brought the house down. I am so glad we went - Jessica and made a great memory last night.

Stacy enjoyed her class reunion but thought the food was awful - they went to a Mexican restaurant that I had never heard of. They didn't get home until after midnight and she was awake at 3 throwing up. I woke up a little after five and she came upstairs as I was going to the kitchen to take some tylenol for a headache because I couldn't sleep. I ended up sitting on the couch with her trying to figure out a way to make her feel better. By 8 she was a little better but didn't feel like going anywhere so the rest of us met Jimmy's family at IHOP and had breakfast. The vomiting has ended but she is just really tired now and very glad that James is driving them home now so she can nap.

Petting zoo

Audrey and Izzy
Originally uploaded by ssw751

Feeding the animals at the petting zoo is obviously a very serious job from the looks of Audrey and Izzy.

Alpaca

three day old alpaca
Originally uploaded by ssw751

Last year and this year there were Alpacas from a farm in Haven. They also had yarn for sale from the alpacas on exhibit. I bought a package last year and bought two more this year and plan to make a cowl. This little three day old alpaca was just adorable

More duct tape projects

State Fair 2010 008
Originally uploaded by ssw751

The black dress had matching gloves and was all worn to a prom by the maker

Duct Tape Dog

State Fair 2010 006
Originally uploaded by ssw751

This is one of the many projects that were made from duct tape. It was adorable

Fun weekend

Our weekend started off Friday afternoon - I left work a couple of hours early and we went to Ponca City to take some tubs to Laura and get her mattress that she no longer wanted. We took the van so wasn't able to get the box springs too so we will need to go another time with the truck. She followed us to the trailer and we had a barbecue then we all came back to the house. She loved the trailer - especially the screen porch of course. We had a really nice time.

Saturday morning we got up early and went to Jimmy's to follow them to the fair. We went last year and took the little wagon and were quite the spectacle, getting a lot of comments and attention. This year the girls just walked along with us and we managed to see the exhibits without feeling like an exhibit. :) The only time someone asked about the girls was hilarious. Dennis and Maranda went to the ticket booth for the train while the rest of us stood in line. The man in front of us turned and looked at the girls very carefully then asked "triplets?" and we said yes. Then he looked at Jimmy and said, "are they yours" of course Jimmy said yes and the man said "yo the man!!!" We all cracked up - Jimmy said he had never had that reaction from someone and it was the funnest reaction yet. The man was a twin so visited awhile about multiple issues.

We had a really good time in-spite of the overwhelming at times heat. I do not remember a hotter visit to the fair. The best time was sitting under the shade trees and having ice cream. After Jimmy's family left, Laura, Dennis and I toured some of the industrial booths and the Domestic Arts building. I didn't have anything entered this year but the project I am working on was entered by someone else and didn't win. The most interesting part of the Domestic Arts was the duct tape projects. Jessica loves to make things from duct tape so we were really wishing she was there.

On our way home, Jimmy called and wondered if the girls could come for their first sleep over so he and Maranda could go to the drive in. So three very excited little girls came to our house and all slept in the fish room. I had Izzy and Audrey in the futon and had a cot for Lily. It went very well especially considering it was the first time they had done anything like that. We had a really good time this morning playing. They love the grandkids room with all the toys.

Loved this weekend!

First weekend at the trailer

This weekend was our first weekend that we went to the fishing trailer and relaxed instead of worked. No painting, no cleaning and (thank you God) no dead mice. Or live ones. We started the adventure with a trip to Walmart. We bought a lot of frozen items to have for anytime we go there - breakfast, lunch or snacks. Also small bottles of juice and pop. I don't want to pack food every time we go. I say we didn't work but actually I didn't work - I sat on the screened porch and knitted but it seemed like Dennis kept finding things to do until I finally said - enough - go fish! And he did. He didn't catch anything but enjoyed himself very much. We had a firepit in the evening - the neighbors down river (or up river, not sure which) were playing music and we were directly under the milky way. I was surprised at how many street lights were were along the dirt roads - more than at our house but the stars were still very bright and beautiful. I even discovered how to listen the race broadcast on my phone. :)

I planned to sit on the screen porch this morning and have my coffee but it was too dang cold! We enjoyed sitting at the table though and seeing fish jump in the water. Dennis fished a little more this morning and we saw a couple on the river in their little boat.

I would say the weekend was a complete success but the water situation still needs to be resolved. The pipes are white pvc pipes and the water smells awful. We forgot to take bleach - put that and a few things on our list. The bed is made of cement so it has to go. We both woke up stiff and sore this morning. But that will get resolved in time too - at least we had no critters this time. knock on wood


Sunrise and fog on the river - taken from the porch

Construction behind AMAC

Cargill is building a new office building to the west of AMAC (my office building) I thought it would be fun to take pictures of the progress. The sun was shining very bright Friday when I took the pictures from my office on the 6th floor and they came out awful. Then I remembered that I could change the settings on my camera. My son is laughing right now if he is reading this - he can change a setting on a camera in his sleep and does quite often I'm sure. But shoot and click is shoot and click to me and if the picture doesn't come out good, I think dang wish that would have come out better. I kicked myself last week because the pictures of the grandkids in the sunflowers came out so bright and thought afterward that I should have changed the settings. So Friday I changed it from normal to "beach" and the difference was amazing. They have these settings for us dummies that don't know how to change the settings any other way but I even forget to do that sometimes.

First Senior Moment

And that is what happened to the dinosaurs.

Sunflower Field

Within a mile of our house are three sunflower fields but they are on a two lane road with no shoulder which makes it a little dangerous to try and stop and take some pictures. One field is next to a house with a long drive that went to both that house and another house farther back. Dennis and I stopped Friday night and I rang the doorbell of the closest house but no one answered. There was a sign as you drove in that said "Hancock" and the address. I looked it up on the internet and it was Bill Hancock's house - he went to my high school but was two years older. I called the house and left my number and his wife called back on Saturday. She said they lived in the house farther back but the people in the other house were gone and she was sure they wouldn't mind us coming and taking pictures.

So Monday morning about 8 am we take three cars over to the long drive and drove back behind the house near the barn as Bill's wife had suggested. This way we could just walk a short distance behind the house to the field and set up. I led the way and when I got out James and Jimmy both stayed in their own cars and rolled their windows down and said "are you sure this is alright?" I said, oh sure she said they weren't home but of course if they came home come out with a shotgun then we might worry. So we took the kids over and started taking pictures. After about 15 minutes I happened to look over at the back of the house and here is a man with no shirt, sitting on his patio with a cup of coffee. I right quick went up towards the patio apologizing and he waved his hand and said "you're alright - happens all the time" I told him I had called the Hancocks and they said it was ok and he was so nice - said he loved that field and is was just fine that we were there. I told him that I was concerned that someone might come out with a shotgun and he got a big laugh from that.

Love the friendly country folk around here. :)

Pictures from Labor Day

Made some great memories this weekend

Tonight is like the end of a great vacation - you plan for it, work for it, enjoy it so much and then it is over so quick and the let down is hard. The last three days were so great - the whole family had not been together since Christmas so we were ready for some fun.

Saturday started with me going to Jimmy's house very early to babysit so they could enjoy a day in Manhattan with the K-State band and watch the football game. Stacy's family got here around 2:30 and came up with Dennis and we loaded up the triplets and went to Exploration Place. After Exploration Place we went to Godfather's Pizza where Laura met us and had pizza. We got home shortly before Jimmy and Maranda made it back. Since it was the girls bedtime by then, we headed to our house after a short stop at Blockbuster to rent The Blind Side which is a really good movie.

Sunday Jimmy and family came up and we grilled steaks and had dinner. It was so fun to just sit back and listen to all the conversations. We barely fit around the table with the 12 of us. Since Jimmy's family had stayed at Stacy's house this summer a few days on a mini-vacation, it didn't take long for the girls to warm up to her family (especially Uncle James) and they are old enough now to really have fun playing in the basement play room with Jessica and James. After dinner the girls went home for naps. Stacy, Laura, Jessica, James Jr. and I went to Towne West to do some back to school shopping. My mother often went with my kids school shopping so it is fun to keep that tradition going. The kids got some cute things. While we were shopping Dennis and James Sr went to the range to do some target shooting. We then all went to Jimmy's house to have snacks and play cards.

Monday Jimmy and family came to our house and we went to visit a sunflower field not far from our house. When the picture shoot was over we came back and had bagels for breakfast then we all scattered. Laura went with Jimmy's family to Tanganyika Wildlife zoo and the Renfores left for Texas with us leading them to see the fishing trailer. I think it was a little more rustic than Jessica and James could appreciate but Stacy and husband thought it was just right for us.

Going to post some pictures of the weekend - but trust me when I say it was fabulous. I have some great kids and even greater grandkids and I love them to pieces. Had a lot of tears of happiness this afternoon just thinking about the weekend - was a great memory making time.