After Dinner

After the birthday celebration, we went outside for more incredibly unseasonable warm weather.

Matt climbed the tree (this is him coming down, he was much higher at one time), and we explored the back yard. Matt threw Cole into the leaf pile, which is somewhat of a tradition for late autumn visits to the back yard. Zach insisted on going down the path to the creek, wearing his snazzy dog hat and jersey gloves.

And as all good times always end, we got to wave goodbye from the driveway.

Happy Birthday Dear Zachary

Zach understood and thoroughly enjoyed his birthday this year. We pushed the celebration to the 8th (even though he was born the 4th) so that Grandma & Grandpa could be there and the rest of the family could come over.

He loved opening the presents, but he really loved the cake. We made it together, and I must say, some of the frosting did not survive the transition from the container to the cake.

Once the cake was made, it sat on the table in the kitchen, and Zach had a staring contest with it. He was inches away, and only a constant stream of warnings from us kept him from digging in with hungry little fingers. Even though he was tired and it was near his nap time, he sat through the meal with us impatiently, because he knew there would be cake! at the end.

There are few things in life as wonderful as birthday cake frosting, and the singing of the birthday song when you are the little boy in the song.

Liggett Road Memorial

The flag pole at the start of the southeast entrance to the Lake View Trail at Lakes Jacomo and Blue Springs has this memorial near it. I've looked at it many times below, but was curious because many of the names are familiar. It has a Liggett in the names, and it's on Liggett Road. It also has last names that other local roads are on: Harris, Baird, Burrus, Morris, and Shrout. You always wonder where place names come from, and in this case, the history is not that old, only 130 years. I looked online and didn't find much about these people and nothing about this memorial, which must have been put up in 1940.

Between the time that I thought about taking a picture so I could look up some of these names and when I finally went back out and took the picture, the big rusty scratch was put into the monument face. It was pristine just two months earlier.

After looking at the monument, Zach and I walked a bit down the trail. It was clear, but a little cold, and Zach did not seem to mind until it was time to go back, then he wanted to be carried.

Record Warm Winter

There was an article in the Kansas City Star newspaper, on the front page, actually, complete with a graphic.

It showed winters in Kansas City over the last 50 years, ranking the severity of the winter by snowfall.

I found it ironic that the 3rd and 2nd worst winters were last year and the year before last. You have to go back 50 years to 1961 to find a worst winter.

So we went out and bought a massive snow blower, knowing that this virtually guaranteed that there wouldn't be as much snow.

The result is the warmest winter on record. I could have predicted this.

It's a really nice snowblower, too. I am dying to use it.

Barns and Hospital Cranes

Zach likes to point out the crane over the hospital and the barns on Colburn on the way to work.

One day, he was looking at the crane and missed the red roofed barn and was so upset we had to turn around and go back to see the barn.

Bumblebees

Zach would say something similar each day when we passed the transformer station. It took me several days to figure out that he was saying "Bumblebees!" whenever he saw the transformers.

Then I realized that the big ribbed insulators on the tops of the transformers actually did look a little bit like a bumblebee.

Christmas Day 2011

We went to Warren & Barb's for Christmas Day and had a good time.

The weather was amazing. It got up to 60° and we ended up playing in the yard before dinner.

Matt started a round of tree climbing competition, which he won hands down. He was about 3 stories up, Kyle was about 2 stories up, but Nick was only about one story up.

Skyping with Grandma & Grandpa

Here we have the call to Grandma & Grandpa after all the presents were opened.

He had to show them the great book he got from Santa.

Marbles

I don't know who enjoyed the marbles more, Zach or me. I got to pick them out individually at the Moon Marble Factory

Yetters!

Zach doesn't pronounce his Ls, he uses Y in their place.

He loves the foam alphabet.

Marble Towers

Zach got a marble game, ramps and ladders. He loved it, and so did Mommy.

Sippysaurus vs. Santa Claus

Zach's Christmas 2011

Here it is in a nutshell.

New Camera

I got a new camera for my birthday and took it out for a walk in the park.

Newton & Back Dodging the Storm

I had to get to Newton for a midday meeting and a winter storm was moving in.

The radar said that the storm was hooking down from the north, so I took a detour around the south of the storm on the way down and caught the rain soaked back side of the storm.

Then the storm hit while I was at the customer's place and I drove back through the edge of a blizzard.