to grandmother's house we go....

larry was on a much earned vacation last week. as a representation of larry's character and drive he spent the first part of the week painting our neighbors house. it can never be said that larry is afraid of good, honest hard work. he worked so hard in fact that he got the house done in 2 days, half the time we were expecting. so what to do with the rest of the time?? that was the question. the answer - a trip to grandma and grandpa's house!! we packed up the car and headed to nw missouri where my folks live. living so far away from our parents we don't see them as much as we would like and as they get older, sometimes we are shocked at how much they have aged since the last time we saw them. i was so nervous when we pulled into their house late weds night. last year they seemed to have aged alot since the last visit and not feeling so chipper. but we were delighted to find exactly the opposite scenario this time.
they were anxiously awaiting our arrival and ready to play!!

we frolicked in a park where a large missouri spider fell from the tree and landed in my lap. did you know i am slightly arachnophobic?? and an angry swing grabbed onto brendan's shirt and ripped it to shreds.

it was really warm and muggy there and the kids were dying to get wet. but none of the pools were open so they had some backyard fun of bubbles and sprinklers. can you see the HUGE bubble on it's way up the stairs??

pictures from this cool park that has bison, long horned steers and tons of ducks and geese. some of the geese were as big or bigger than brooke. she could not however be coerced into a photo opp with them.

we went to a wildlife refugee that has all kinds of birds. however most of them seem to have flown the coup for the summer so the big sightings of the day were herons, turtles, muskrats and lots of water snakes. glad we didn't get out of the car at all.....

my brother and his family had already made plans to be camping all weekend with her folks not too far away. so we headed up there one afternoon for fishing and bbq. brendan caught his first fish ever!! it was not the fish pictured above but one like it and on a much smaller scale. that has to be the ugliest fish i have ever seen.

my sis in law is going to kill me for posting this picture of her after she had been camping for 3 days but it's the only picture i had. this is my brother bruce, his wife jami and their 2 kiddos morgan and aaron.

we had a great, but short little vacation. we forget how beautiful that part of the country can be. how hot, how humid and how buggy. the mosquito's were so big they reminded me of small dragon flies. but the culture there is so different from here. everyone is so friendly. i am not kidding you. everyone had a smile on their face whether they knew you or not. my mom and i had many conversations with total strangers in the stores or restaurants. it's such a nice place to live. if you don't mind bugs and creepy crawly things of course. i know it sounds like i'm harping on the bugs, and i am, but they are everywhere! they were even in our car. we were driving somewhere and brendan says in all sincerity "mom, what is the deal with all the ants. two have crawled over me in the 5 minutes we've been in the car." it was unreal. and i know that i grew up with bugs and snakes and all that marvelous nature but living away for 10 years i have forgotten. the only part of nature we didn't get to see were fire flies. apparently they aren't out yet and my kids were really disappointed. next time we well have to go a little later in the summer. then it will be REALLY hot and buggy. but spending time with my folks makes it worth while. thanks for a great visit. you spoiled us well as always!