The 4th of July usually finds me tending the BBQ pit during a visit from family. This year, we had a last minute change of plans so we decided to head out of town to Big Cedar Lodge in Branson, MO.
In spite of the kids missing their cousins, we had a great time at the lodge. We swam and boated on Friday, rode horses and toured a Titanic museum on Saturday, and vistited Silver Dollar City theme park on Sunday. A pretty full weekend indeed.
The kids say they had the most fun tubing behind the pontoon boat that we rented and I have to agree it was the highlight my trip as well. Here’s a shot of the girls experiencing tubing for the first time!
We’re celebrating a milestone birthday for my father-in-law by spending a week at a beach house in Florida with the whole family. The place we’re staying is in Carrabelle Beach. We’re right on the bay across from St. George’s Island. At low tide, the water recedes and you get an idea of all the marine life in the bay.
The locals told us that the fishing is good at high tide. Just wade out into the surf to your knees and cast a shrimp out to catch Redfish etc. So this morning, my brother-in-law hit the surf at 6:30am to try his luck. After about an hour an half, something took the bait and he fought it for about 10 minutes before spotting a dorsal fin. At that point, he headed for shore and for gloves and something to cut the line.
Turns out, he’d hooked (and landed) a 3 ft. long shark. I believe it’s a Hammerhead, but you can judge for yourself.
Guess I’ll be swimming in the pool the rest of the week!
I just returned from my bi-annual trip to Branson, MO to attend the Ozark Mountain Fiddler’s Convention. For the past 9 years +, I’ve attended this event with a handful of guys that I know who play guitar and enjoy camping and pickin’ for a couple of days.
The crowd seems a little smaller than it used to be and there are certainly some faces that aren’t there any more. But you have to remember that the generation that has carried the tradition of the old tyme fiddle music, folk songs, and spirtuals is aging. A lot of this music isn’t necesarrily written down or recorded. And as these older folks pass on, so do some of the traditions and music.
I’m already looking forward to the September trip!
For the past few years, I have been meeting my Father & my Brother on Kentucky Lake for a little spring crappie fishing. It never fails that we’re either a week early or a week late. So we typically end up bluegill fishing, which can be a lot of fun in itself.
This year was no different. Given the weather conditions and water temps, we were probably a week early for the spring spawn. So we focused on bluegill fishing and cleaned about 150 fish over the course of 3+ days.
Dad with a big RedEar
The view from our cabin at sunrise
We fish, we eat, and we laugh. I look forward to the trip every year and even though I’ve only just gotten home, I’m ready for the next trip.
On the last day of our ski trip, we were joined by some friends who live in Denver. Our kids enjoy skiing together every year and we usually hang out at the condo afterward and spend some time catching up. This year was no different.
After lunch, the kids were all making a final bathroom stop before hitting the mountain again. That left me with time on my hands, so while I waited I checked out Twitter. I saw that @KeystoneMtn had just tweeted that they were giving away a pair of skis and that to win you had to fin a guy named “Flip” at the top of the Gondola. That’s exactly where we headed!
When we unloaded from the Gondola, there was Flip. We approached him and claimed a new pair of K2 skis with bindings (a $1250 value). I gave them to our friends who live here since they get 15-20 days each year and could get much more use from them than I could.
I haven’t always gotten the whole Twitter thing, but the customer service/appreciation aspect of this social networking tool makes a ton of sense. Especially, when it’s me that won!
Today, we loaded up the gear and made the drive across Swan Mountain Road to Breckenridge. We skied hard nearly all day. The day finally came to an end after I took a pretty good spill near the top of Peak 8 on a blue run. I just caught an edge, spun around, and landed hard on my back. I banged up my elbow, hit my head on the ground, and bent one of my ski poles nearly in half. Needless to say, after that I was done for the day.
Before my tumble, I did manage to shoot a little video and spent the evening putting together this clip.
We are in the middle of our annual pilgrimage to the Rocky Mountains to get in a little skiing. All those years of schlepping the kids gear around and hanging out on the beginner hills is finally paying off. The kids are able to go straight to the top of the mountain and ski all day. I’m finally the one who wears out first.
Here’s the girls on the first morning of the trip at the top of the mountain at Keystone, CO.
I guess I’d forgotten that we had Easter decorations. However, the girls reminded me on Sunday, so we drug out a bin of baskets, bunnies, and whatnot. We even have an Easter Tree, so the girls put it together. Now we’re ready for Easter Sunday!
Well it’s definitely springtime in St. Louis. I don’t know of very many places where you can have 70 degree weather on Thursday and 3 inches of snow on Sunday morning. Even better, I don’t know of many places where you can have 3 inches of snow on Sunday morning and and shirtsleeve weather by dinnertime.
This little stub of a snowman was all that was left by sundown and the only evidence that the ground had been covered with 3 inches of snow just 8 hrs earlier.
I snapped this picture as I pulled out of the driveway this morning. If you don’t like the weather in St. Louis, just wait a few minutes…it’ll change.
Last night, Carie & Mackenzie attended a camp-in at the St. Louis Science Center with Mackenzie’s scout troop. It sounds like they had a good time. They spent the evening with some hands-on activities and a movie on the Omni-Max screen. Then they settled into their sleeping bags in one of the galleries after a midnight fire drill. This morning, they had a continental breakfast and a trip to the Planetarium before heading home shortly before noon. The girls who attended will receive 3 scout badges (I think) for their participation and experiments they completed.
Needless to say, it’s been a lazy day around my house. I don’t think anyone slept very well, including Madison who didn’t care much for being home without her mother & sister. I guess I’m the only one in the family who had a good night’s sleep!
I just returned from my bi-annual trip to Branson, MO to attend the Ozark Mountain Fiddler’s Convention. For the past 9 years +, I’ve attended this event with a handful of guys that I know who play guitar and enjoy camping and pickin’ for a couple of days.
