A few more visits

We made a few more visits before leaving West River. 

First, we had lunch with my best knitting pal Diane.  Unfortunately no picture since I had misplaced my camera.  We grabbed a table at our favorite restaraunt and had a great time catching up!  Thanks Diane!  Next time I'll have to bring my needles and yarn.

Then, over to the courthouse to see friends, coworkers, and the library!  Lot of changes happened to the library. I won't go into detail here but I was definitely impressed at just how much this community loves their library!

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J certainly enjoyed the collection of puzzles and other toys.

J and Annie!

J and Sheryl!  They had a great time together, like old friends getting back together.  Actually, they probably are because Sheryl knew I was pregnant before I had really wrapped my head around the idea.

I had such a wonderful time in Philip and was sad to leave.  I put it off as long as I possibly could until I just had to pack up and head down the road.  Thank you all for letting us visit for so long.  I felt so blessed by my time visiting and just wish that I had more time with all of you.

Wall Drug and a few more visits

J slept through most of Wall Drug. I enjoyed perusing through the many nooks and crannies contained therein.  Also, I had a great time chatting with friends.  I don't know that I ever spent so much time at Wall Drug in one day as I did this day.  However, when I lived in Wall, I could see these friends at any time.  Now that I have moved away do I realize how I wish I had much more time to spend with them. 

Later, J and I went to visit our friends practicing their rodeo events.  J loved to watch the kids and horses in action.

 

We also had time to visit Creighton and our dear friend Linda. 

Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit as many friends as we would have liked.  Please know that if we didn't get to see you it wasn't intentional, there just wasn't enough time in the day to see everyone.  We will have to plan another trip, hopefully sooner than every two years!

If You're Not from the Prairie - by David Bouchard

I found the book, If You're Not from the Prairie, at the Wall Drug bookstore.  The illustrations are beautiful and the words ring true with my memories of prairie life.  Please enjoy these words and pictures.

If you're not from the prarie,

you don't know the sky,

you can't know the sky.

The bold prarie sky is clear, bright and blue,

Though sometimes cloud messages give us a clue,

Monstrous grey mushrooms can hint of a storm,

Or painted pink feathers say goodbye to the warm.

If you're not from the praire,

you don't know the sky.

If you're not from the prairie,

you don't know what's flat,

You've never seen flat.

When travellers pass through across our great plain,

They all view our home, they all say the same,

"It's simple and flat!"  They've not learnt to see,

The particular beauty that's now part of me.

If you're not from the prairie,

you don't know what's flat.

If you're not from the prarie,

You've not heard the grass,

You've never heard grass.

In strong summer winds, the grain and grass bend,

And sway to a dance that seems never to end.

It whispers its secrets, they tell of this land,

And the rhythm of life played by nature's own hand.

If you're not from the prairie,

You've never heard grass.

These are a just three excerpts from the book by David Bouchard that highlight the beauty of the prairie.  This is a great book, "but you don't have to take my word for it" (Reading Rainbow)!  Check it out at your local library!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

After our trip to Missouri to visit family and hang out at the lake, J and I took a road trip to western SD.  We stayed with our very generous and gracious friends at their farm.  They have chickens (J's favorite), goats, dogs, cats, horses, ducks, and cows plus a large garden and lake!  We had such a refreshing visit and definitely feel renewed and ready to take on the last this deployment has to offer. 

J and a few goats.

J figured out how to climb the fence quite well.  He had no problems climbing up, over, and/or through.

In two years, I couldn't believe just how much some of our friends have grown!

J "helped" to pick lettuce, chard, and other herbs for our dinner salad.

A little Daddy Love

Having fun with Aunt Beth!

Visiting family is so much fun for Joshua and I but maybe less fun for Daddy.  I tend to get busy and forget where I left that silly cell phone.  Then I don't hear it ring, chirp, or buzz and unfortunately Daddy gets left out of some of the fun.  So, to make up, in a very small way, here are some pics for my sweet hubby!  The rest of you may feel free to enjoy them as well.  :D

Party Picture at Party Cove on the Fourth of July

Learning how to BBQ with the Masters

Beach Bum

He enjoyed the beach as long as he didn't have to get near the sand.

Swimming in the lake made the life jacket a bearable experience for J.

Yum! Oreo cookie!

Loving some time with family!

I figured out how to ski on one ski!

J felt he was an expert at driving the boat.  He really didn't want his Papa's help at all, thank you very much.

Another beautiful day at the lake!

"Helping" snap green beans

Chillin' with Grandma

He loves to play the "saxophone" just like his daddy.  He even tried to play it with his nose... :D

That is a brief glimpse of our trip to the Lake of the Ozarks.  More to come.  We love you and miss you!

My Office

A few days ago, I posted saying this was a bunker. This is actually my office. A post of the bunker is forthcoming.

Zoo Day!

I interrupt blog posts of R and R with some current events.  Today we went to the zoo!  The sun was out and we had a marvelous time!

In the distance you can see Puget Sound.

Meet the Budgie Buddies!  Every other time we have visited the zoo we have come at the wrong time of year or during cold rainy weather.  Today, however, with the sun the Budgie exhibit was great!  You can purchase a seed stick for $1 to feed the Budgies.  The directions are to pretend to be a tree, read, stand really still and don't touch the birds.  This is a pretty tall task for a 1 1/2 year old but he did pretty well.  At least until he shooed the bird off the stick.  He is more of a "Whomping Willow" than a sturdy unmoving tree.  I think he liked the experience anyway.

(Note how his hand is about to shoo the bird off our stick.  He tried but thankfully the staff didn't notice and the bird hung on.  I quickly transferred the bird to someone else's seed stick.)

In the heat of the day in the cool of the pool...  This Tapir really enjoyed his swimming pool in the nice warm weather.

The female Tapir and a Gibbon.  The male and female Tapirs are distinguishable by their markings.  The female Tapir has a distinct line where white meets black.  The male has more of a graduated color change.

Joshua saw the elephants and made a sound like an elephant!  In the past few days he has become more verbal and will make some sounds with signs.  Such a joy!

Another animal that peaked Joshua's interest, the Muskox.  I think that for Joshua to be interested in a zoo creature, said creature must be the size of a cow or greater.  Anything smaller and he feigns interest.

We watched part of the Wild Wonders show from the grass.  Joshua needed a chance to move and groove so I didn't want to try to take him into the stadium part.  The show is pretty funny and full of info about making environmentally responsible choices.  For example, I learned that we should avoid products made with palm oil because large areas of the rainforest are cut down to allow for processing the oil.  I didn't know that until now and I will definitely read my labels more closely.

When we ate lunch, we ran into our Doula, Dawn.  The other day I sadly realized that I hadn't taken a picture with Dawn and newborn Joshua.  I was pretty happy to meet her again today and snap this picture!

We feed the goats every time we visit the zoo.  Unlike the other animals whose activity level depends on the weather, the goats are always in the mood to eat and for this reason remain a very popular attraction for all visitors.  

Before leaving, we watched the Meerkats for a few minutes.  Joshua wasn't sure what to think of them.  He kept making the sign for "dog" and then would look confused and try the sign for "cat" but that didn't seem to fit either.  He didn't even try the two other animal signs he knows, elephant and fish, as those definitely wouldn't work.  We will have to learn the sign for Meerkat I guess.

I hope the sun shone where you were today!  We certainly enjoyed our first day of sunshine and no rain!