Bridge Out

They redid the deck of the bridge behind our house.

The highway was closed for about 2 months and it looked like a pretty extensive rework of the decking and surface.

Traffic on our road, the best alternative to the highway, went up dramatically until there was an accident on our road, then they changed the constructions signs to make it appear that both our road and the highway were closed.

I went outside one night and noticed it was extremely quiet outside. It took me a few minutes to realize that the silence was a complete lack of traffic.

Now the bridge is over and everything is back to normal, but it was strange how nice "abnormal" was.

Powell Gardens in Late June

I took Zach to Powell Gardens on a nice day in late June.

It was sunny and not too hot. We rode the trolley bus, as it turns out all the way around the loop, because he loved it too much to get off.

The flowers were bursting out in bloom and Zach chased butterflies and popped bubbles in the fountains. We fed bread to the fish off the patio.

And he did it all looking really snazzy in his stripedy pants.

Bonkers

Zach led me to the Chapel at Powell Gardens, first because he liked the geese on the pond and then because he liked the path into the woods, next because he liked the fountain, then because he wanted to go through the big doors.

Once inside, he went straight to the restricted area, the stage around the pulpit in front. He saw the pond through the massive floor to ceiling window and was drawn to the view of the lake beyond.

He bonked right into the glass and fell down.

It was so clean, you couldn't see it, so it wasn't so much a little kid mistake as something anyone could do.

But not everyone could do it as cute as Zach.

Moon Marble Factory

We finally went to Bonner Springs to see the Moon Marble Factory. There was a railroad right next to the factory and a train went by right as we parked.

Besides selling marbles, the factory had a demonstration of marble making by hand. This was fascinating, but also amazing was the vast supply of vintage old toys and games. There were board games that I haven't seen since my childhood.

We left with a bag of marbles and some toys and a sense that we would be coming back before next Christmas.

Westgate Branson Woods Resort

We went to Branson for my Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob's 50th wedding anniversary and stayed in the Westgate Branson Woods Resort, as arranged by and generously supplied by the hosts!

There was a nice pool and we were able to get Zach into it with only a minimum of fuss. He had a little floating chair with a sunshade.

He didn't like the fountain/waterfall things at all.

Branson Resortwear

We went to Aunt Sharon and Uncle Bob's 50th wedding anniversary bash in Branson Missouri. Zach was dressed up to go to the swimming pool, but there's something about his apparel that says "Golf Pro" to me.

Culvert Fox

This red fox lived in a culvert right in the middle of a big resort. He would come out and get a handout, coming very close to us, but he would retreat quickly at the slightest flinch.

Green Machine

Zach loved his new green machine.

Stripey Pants Motorcycle Man

Fashion is very important for motor cycle riders.

Little Foreman Dude

This is little executive Zach making decisions and taking actions.

Last Sighting of the Missing Cat Duo

We lost 3 cats in June or July. Squeal and Fuzzy, the black and white one in the pot and the one on the left on the glider. It was really hot and they just suddenly were not around anymore. Another one, shown on the table behind Zach, Bruiser, showed up about two weeks after he disappeared weighing a lot less, but clean and uninjured. Our neighbor's cat disappeared around the same time. There had been fox and bobcat spottings in the area recently, so they may have been taken, but there is also speculation that some disease swept through.

If you can't stand not knowing, there's a lot in life that will drive you nuts.

Sneaky Snapper

We walked to the lake's edge at Colonial Gardens. Zach likes to walk on top of the rocks along the edge. We walked right up to the edge and I looked straight down and just happened to come out right on top of a huge snapping turtle, eating weeds off the bottom of the lake. I'm not sure if Zach understood what it was.

Memorial Day at Marion Lake

Like we do most Memorial Days, this year we went to Uncle Paul & Aunt Sally's Marion County Lake cabin.

We took a stroll around the lake with Cole and Zach. Zach tried to get into everything and Cole displayed his airborne jumping skills on the bike.

Bovine Stare-Off

Nick likes to occasionally have a staring contest with the Longhorn cattle in the field across the street. I can never tell who wins.

Tornado Swarm

We spent a fretful day just 3 days after the Joplin tornado, watching a swarm of small tornadoes go through the Kansas City area. There were rumors of funnel clouds on the ground in various places and the sirens went on and off about 4 times.

No work got done, we spent the middle of the day looking out the back doors or standing on the high ground out be the street in the parking lot next door. We were keeping a close watch on the clouds, but did not see anything suspicious.

The next day, we got an email purporting to be a funnel cloud from a business just a half mile away. It wasn't a funnel cloud, it was a cloud with a piece hanging down, just like the picture here. People overreact to these things. I say that, but Joplin teaches us to error on the side of caution, because no one there was taking the warnings seriously and there was a large loss of life.

Baby Canadians

These guys were right next to the road walking down the sidewalk, unconcerned about the fact that a mighty hunter might come along any moment.