A Day With Zane

We've been waiting for this day.  

A day to take a grandchild on a special trip with Gramma and Papa.  

We chose this day a trip to the WildLife Safari and the Air and Space Museum.

It's a couple hours driving so Zane came prepared with coloring pages which lasted until we got out of town.  

His first, "Are we there yet", was not quite a hour on the journey.

Our first fill up stop netted Zane a new spiderman car to play with.  Sadly, it was lost later.  

I intended to start this trip paying attention to my photos for quality purposes.  You would think the thing in the way would be a car seat, not my finger.  I mean, a finger in the lens, after all these years!!

Our first wildlife was this herd of elk.  They are magnificent creatures.  It seems impossible that those bull elk can carry those enormous racks.  

This was Zane's favorite, turtles sunning themselves on logs in this algae covered pond.  He was convinced the water must be solid.  He called it "frozen" and had to throw a stick it to see.  I'm not sure he was totally convinced.  

Pelicans have a dark band of feathers that isn't visible in repose.  

The wetlands were populated with Canadian geese, sandhill cranes, and several duck varieties. I couldn't see any ducks, and I've seen too many Canadian geese, therefore no photos.

There is a little "petting zoo" and picnic area.  We were there at goat feeding time. The keeper feeds them on the rocks so visitors get the thrill of watching climbing goats.  She was letting some of the kids hand feed some and Zane thought that was a good idea until he actually had the grain in his hands.  

We finally got him to pat a goat, but all he wanted to do was thump on the side of this soon-to-be mama.  I hope the kids were already awake!

No trip with Zane would be complete without remembering his super-active personality.  This shows it well. 

Also, the day wouldn't be complete without a picture on the John Deere tractor. Zane made Papa's day by shrieking "a John Deere", as soon as he saw it. 

  

Zane hardly knows what these are for. 

I wanted photographs to remember this day by, and Zane wanted one with the antlers.  He wanted the biggest ones, but he couldn't be still long enough for a photo.  One thing done, and he's on to another. 

 It wasn't too hot that day, but eagles must like to be in the shade.  I'm not sure what kind this one is, but the Bald Eagles are almost hidden.  Look for the white heads. (second photoi)

This is Zane.  

I would have liked to get a lovely photograph of him full face with the bright smile he has in the second one.

But, really, this is Zane, too busy, too quick to sit still long enough to record that little memory.  What we get is the best we can get, action, and a memory in the heart. 

Some birds of prey are caged, these screech owls for example, they are all huddled up blinking sleepily.

American Black Bear, this may have usurped the turtles. 

We knew before we went that we would be seeing these scenes through the eyes of a five-year old.  Sometimes that means very quickly, as he runs through the exhibits and we trot after him.  

Even here, he reminds us of the simple joys of childhood running a hand across a fence to feel and hear that strange thumping sound it makes. 

Many wild flowers were marked.  These weren't

And what is a trip to any wildlife area without the buffalo, which are called bison nowadays, and perhaps always.  Who knows why they were every called buffalo anyway?

A barn owl peeking out.

Porcupine

Next stop: Air and Space Museum

At the base of a missile.

The first thing Zane saw in this building were the escalators. He would have been happy riding up and down the rest of the day.  

Except for one small break for the elevator.

It happened to be kid's day at the museum and I was afraid that would take Zane's attention away from the planes.  There were all sorts of games and things to play, but he didn't have enough patience to wait in the sometimes very long lines.  This was a bouncy house/space shuttle slide, and you can see by the photo, that he was moving quickly.

At last, something to get into and move!!

 We ended our day with ice cream.

Except...we missed the featured plane of the month.  So we went in.  It was rather a bust for Zane, since we could only peek at things, not go the length of the plane and touch everything in it.  It was a training plane for navigation.  Instead of seat, there were columns of desks with equipment mounted on them. 

Views from the museum.  It was mind-boggling to see the size of these missiles.

Surface-to-surface missile perhaps?

Sometime in there when we were walking around under the planes, looking at bombs, the size of the planes and an air raid shelter that it hit me, this is war.  These things are here for us to remember. 

To remember a time we don't ever want to see again.  

I can't describe the feeling that came over me.  

It was a feeling that I was touching a piece of history that was long gone, yet at any time might come too close.   

We need to visit these places; we need to take our children to them.  We need to remember those who have given so much for their country.

Even to the ultimate sacrifice.  

We need to remember what war means.  

There was peace in our car on the way home. 

The end of a big day that started with doughnuts and a new car and ended with ice cream and new planes.

A day that was in Zane's words, "Awesome!" 

June/July -- Day by Day

What started out as a really neat idea is turning out to be more like a nightmare.  

Well, not really a nightmare, but certainly more stressful than I imagined.  The busier I get in the summer the more I forget to take a picture on the day. However, things happen and sometimes over and over again, not just on the one day.  And really, who cares, these photos are for me to remember my days.  

You just get to take a peek. 

The nightmarish part came in because for some reason picasa would not recognize a few photos I had already edited on that program and had to re-do them. Arrgh.  It made what should have been a quick an easy post into one that is taking half the day.  

Of course, the fact that I have three grandsons here at the moment, might have something to do with it.   

June

15. Father's Day

16. First harvest of the season, spinach!

17. I cut this clematis way back and wished I hadn't, but it is growing like mad and blooming. 

18. Lynette decided she wants to learn to sew. 

19. Using a pattern.  (She is pretty good, too.)

20. Handprints make a butterfly decorated pot. 

21. Christian

22. My roses are blooming.

23. I've decided to alter some skirts.  This one is a little longer than I would like, but the fabric is so pretty.

24. A skirt of Lynette's for me.  I love it.

25. A dress into a maxi skirt.

26. Barry is a goof.

27. I love these blue eyes and the cute little teeth and the great big smile.

28. These clematis are more purple than they were in the first photo,  I don't know why.

29. Here we are a little mixed up.  On the 28th I spent the day with the boys at their house while the mama and daddy worked.  Jim came in the afternoon to give me some help and to see the boys, too.  But, I liked the photos and I missed a few days.

30. Zane making a shower on his play set. 

July

1. I've been putting a lot of strawberries in the freezer to use in homemade ice cream and on my cereal. 
2. Zane is blowing up four balloons at once.  He can't blow them all the way up, but I thought it was pretty neat that he could get air in four at a time.
3.Laundry is a part of everyday life.  This basket has been with me since I've been married.  It has a crack in it and I'm going to hate to give it up.
4.  O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
5. Awww, from my daughter.
6. I love this color!  Some nice people gave me this plant.  I hope it blooms again.
7. On the road to Texas!
8. It was hot there, and the pool water was perfect.
9. On the lake.
10. My brother and sister-in-law in their home.  We are heading to ours.  
11. First zucchini scramble of the season, yum.
12. First dill pickles.
13. De-tasseling is going on, and so are the blisters.  Sore feet!!
14. Purple and orange sunrise.  
15. This is COLD for the middle of July!
16. Library craft day was yesterday and I decorated a bag.
17. A pair of red-headed woodpeckers has moved in.
18. A corn plant is growing in my flower garden. 
19. The Blue Angels at Offutt Air Force Base.

Road Trip to Texas with Three Little Boys

July 7, 2014
We got off to a good start.  Lorene arrived about 5:20 am.  We hadn't been up very long, our alarms went off at 5.  I didn't feel ready yet, and Lynette was still in bed. We were all packed and ready.  Jim packed our things in Lorene's van, checked the oil and the windshield washer fluid while I quickly packed some cheerios and the muffins I made for our breakfast.  Come to find out, those boys don't like blueberry muffins with big blueberries and crumbled them into a mess trying to eat around them.  We were on the road at 6 and going strong when Jim noticed he didn't have his phone.  Thankfully, we were hardly out of town so back home we go.  We dropped Lorene and Lynette off at Wal-mart so one could buy a book for trip entertainment and the other could get a syringe for the Tylenol Christian was needing for teething troubles.  The rest of us whooshed on home and we were back on the Texas road at 6:20 am.

Unfortunately, C took offense at his mom leaving and began to howl.  Fortunately, Zane asked for a toy and began to talk to him which stemmed the tide for only a few minutes.  We were on the road a half hour before he finally succumbed to sleep.

8:32 am
We are south of York, two hours on the road.  C is asleep, Ly is asleep, Lo is trying to sleep, Barry would sleep if he had his paci, and Zane is quiet.  It is now broken by a fussy, wakeful C and Ly didn't get her nap.  The corn is tasseling here and wheat harvest has begun.  It doesn't feel like we are very far south yet, but they are ahead of us here.

9:59 am

We are a little more than a quarter through Kansas. We just passed the Solomon River.  It's so green down here; they must have had rain down here, too.  The little river cuts through white clay banks with trees hanging over the water.  Somehow it reminded me of the Plum Creek, a wide shallow creek in the Sandhills that runs through my grandparent's ranch property.  I have many happy memories of the summers spent splashing there with my cousins.  The best place to swim was a few miles away from the house so it took planning and effort to get someone to take us there. 

10:20 am 

We stopped 20 miles before Salina for a rest area bathroom and "let the kid's run" break. There's sluggish creek here with a wooden bridge over it.  It was a nice place for a photographic moment, but Z wanted to look too closely and lean right over the edge.  We saw gauzy blue dragonflies and another kind with black and white wings.  

12:25 pm

We stopped for lunch at the McDonald's in McPherson, KS. The boys played in the play area and ate their lunch when we were back in the van.  Jim wanted a Big Mac; we don't eat at McD very often.  Not much there works for me.  I got the Southwestern salad with grilled chicken and no dressing, but I got it anyway.  So, I ate the chicken and some dressing free lettuce. I should have had a bunless grilled chicken sandwich.  I bet I won't remember.  

C finally fell asleep again, who knows how long it will last.  B and Z are doing pretty well, they are chatting and drawing pictures.  I don't know how long that will last either, there's a lot of trip left. 

3:04 pm 

Edmond, OK

We stopped for gas at Perry. It is HOT out here.  We aren't used to that kind of heat.  I don't think Oklahoma believes in "Welcome to Our State" signs.  Either that, or I missed it. We haven't had much heat yet this summer. The convenience store there was dirty and crowded.  We had to go to another one to find milk for C.  It wasn't much better.  He was having some bad moments; he's quiet again now.  Z and B are doing really well, fussing very little, they just want snacks every 15 minutes.  Z asks, "are we there yet?" or else, "is this Texas?" Barry sits without complaint.  We saw a rock shop at Edmond with the kind of rocks Jim wants for his backyard projects.  We will have to go where they have rocks to buy them.  You have to have rocks in order to sell them. C is talking to himself now.  It is better than the screeching he was doing earlier for his own entertainment.  We are passing through oil pump country and I missed the best photo op.  The rest have been too far away.

4:33 pm

Arbuckle Mountains/Wilderness Area.

We had slow going in the Moore area with road construction.  We were merged into one lane marked off with cones on either side.  Creeping along for a few miles we suddenly emerged into two lanes with a "End of Road Construction" sign.  All along there, we saw no workers, no machines, no torn up roads.  I wonder what that was all about.

The interstate here is cut through these high hills. I find it hard to call them mountains, since I have seen the Rockies.  The rocks look pretty rugged towering over the road, but it isn't a natural ruggedness, dynamite is the cause. 

We are within a half hour of the Texas border.  I've tried again in vain to photograph an oil well.  We really are going too fast for my digital camera with not so instant response time .

4:48 pm

Ardmore, we aren't in Texas yet.  I just heard Ly complaining that her hair was like a rat's nest.  She said another old saying earlier, but I can't remember it now.  She's the one who remembers more of those old sayings that have been passed down from my grandmother, to my mom, to me, to my daughters. Ly and I were talking earlier about knowing a prospective husband well before marriage, and I was giving her my "relationship lecture of the week" and she's rolling her eyes.  So, just now she and Z are talking Disney movies and marrying bad guys.  She says,"That's why you need to know someone really well before you get married, there's your lecture of today." That makes me laugh.  How many, many lectures (talks) I have given to a then non-appreciative audience. 

5:50 We are in Texas!  

We stopped for another kid run and potty break at the Information Center.  I took photos of the kids by the rock Texas sign.  There is only one with all three looking the same direction. 

We are all tired and C has screamed since we got back into the van.  Poor kid.  He's plumb tired of being strapped in.  He is settled down now and we should be at my brother's in a half-hour.  

9:08 pm 

After a tumultuous evening the house is quiet. Lo and Ly are exhausted. C is not.  I'm going on nerve I think.  We are wondering about our sanity is wanting to drive all this way with this age of kids. It takes so much energy to keep Z occupied and out of trouble.  He is so curious, but much of what he investigates ends up making a mess.  My brother's boys when with all the rest to the park after supper.  They are such nice boys. The girls are thinking it would be a good idea to drive at night on the way home, so the boys will sleep.  Ly starts detasseling the day after we get home and will need some sleep. C is not a good sleeper at any time. I hope we survive. We will, of course, but we will need to pull together.  I just hope Lo can get some sleep.

We did leave early. We left at 8:30 pm Wed. night instead of the early Thurs. morning as originally planned.  The trip home was much calmer. 

Day by Day--May/June

If I thought last months day by day was a mess.  This one is worse.  I am finding it harder and harder to remember to take a photo everyday.  I am busy watering, gardening, hanging out clothes,  and doing the usual, cooking, cleaning, laundering, resting. 

I also had a hard time getting enthused about doing those things.  I felt sluggish and like I was dragging myself along. So, I didn't get as many of the afore-mentioned things done as I should have. So, probably the real reason I had a hard time getting the "photo-a-day" done, was not the busyness, but the laziness. 

May
11. Happy Mother's Day with an original pastel drawling on my card.  
12. I loved the Fisher Price little people house when I was a kid.  I played with it all the time.  Now I have one for the grandkids.
13. Lynette's last day of "real school".  I watched her drive way many, many times the last few years.  
14. I know the National Honor Society evening deal was not  on a Wednesday evening.  I think it was Monday, but I got tired of editing these photos.  Besides I could have taken the picture of the medal a different day.
15. When you have chickens, you have deviled eggs.
16. Our Christian-baby is now ONE-YEAR-OLD!!  
17. A very good friend sent me an encouraging card as we were preparing for the BIG WEEKEND.  
18. This day is graduation day.  No, I do not have a photo of the graduate.  She got her own blog post.  This photo is part of the flower garden that I about killed myself off getting ready for the day.  I know I really wouldn't have needed to do it, but there is nothing like a deadline to get a project done.
19. Marigolds by the mailbox.
20. A favorite breakfast, cracked wheat with fruit cooked with honey.
21. Plants to plant. I'm not planting a huge amount this year.  I am spending all my energy on getting the weeds out of the flower garden.  I have a 5 perennials and some lobelia for the deck.
22. This perfectly balanced broccoli came that way from the store.  No alteration needed.  Cheesy broccoli soup is my soup of choice at the moment.  It is easy-cheesy.
23. You know, now that I think of it this was yesterday.  I had the best time watching Christian man-handle that push toy.  He tipped it up and down, pushed it and pulled it, knocked it over and put it back up again.
24. Watching the arrival board at the airport.  We are expecting our traveler home.
25. Measurable rain!! .30"
26. We have our garden planted.  Beans, beets, okra, yellow and zucchini squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. We have reduced our garden in size. And the corn is planted.
27. Hair long enough for a braid!.
28. Three boys in one place at the same time.  This doesn't usually happen, and it isn't my photo.  But, it's my boys.
29. Toad in the garden!  I watered him out of the ground.  He didn't like being drowned out. 
30. Baby boy overnight and too many blueberries means a diaper wash.
31. Mini blue goose pies (blueberry/gooseberry) for a potluck.  It was Lynette's idea, and she helped.
June
1. I have a dessert maker here now.  She's pretty proud of the fancy two-layer cake she made.  Recipe found on pinterest.  It was delicious.
2. Everyday this little black kitty is waiting for a handout.
3. Fantasy self-portrait (not me)  
4. Jim and I went walking out back of our property where the city is building a new sewer project.  Coming back I got a look at our property from a different angle.  
5. We have a new member in our household.  A tablet for the business.
6. I thought 70* as the high of the day was pretty chilly for June.
7. Finished two graduation gift afghans.
8. 27th Anniversary
9. Flowers from the boyfriend (not mine)
10. My climbing roses on the arbor have never looked better, just when I'm thinking of getting rid of them.  
11. My first harvest, spinach from by the front step.
12. Sandhill crane lawn ornament from my dad.
13. My daughter has earned her nursing assistant certification.  In two weeks. Good job!!
14. The storm building up here stayed east and south of us.  We got .90" of rain out of the deal.  Three miles away at our shop, we got 3.10"    

View From Home

I love our place. 

 It is beautiful to me in early spring. 

 These pictures aren't great scenes of beauty that would be published in the pages of magazines.  They are pictures of home.  

I've taken a lot of photos of the front of our house.  I've taken a lot of photos from our front stoop. Those pictures tell only part of the story.  They say a lot about what we see when we walk out our door, but there's a lot of life that happens in the back.  

We were looking after our Christian-grandbaby one over-night because Mama was sick and said grandbaby wasn't sleeping well at night.  We figured the one who should be sleeping was the sick one.  So, along with watching (and he's worth watching) this little monkey, I set about tiring him out.  

Deck steps-back of the house.

For many years we wouldn't even consider taking photos back here behind our shop.  It has been cleaned up some since the chickens live back here and we are planting a windbreak.

Town is less than a mile away now. 

 The garden and the backyard.

I just love the expression on this little boy's face. 

I love this, when I came out to join the fun and take pictures, there was no sign of anyone watching this little critter.  There he is, dancing in the street.  

Actually he is a long way from the road, and Papa was in the shop and could see him.  

 I don't think Papa knows what this boy is doing.

 Home is where your people are.