Monday Meanderings.

Donna was up and at em early she had coffee while me and the two mutts laid in bed, I went back to sleep and I opened my eyes and it was 05:45 AM and Donna had left for the truck company. I hate it when I miss seeing her off in the morning. Not supposed to be as warm today with a high in the 40's.

With the kid's gone for the week the house is very quiet again. no dogs running and kids running down the hall, No secret ops games on the xbox, just doesn't seem normal.

Both of the mutso's played together and then took a nap this afternoon. The weekends must wear them out.

I still marvel at the way Rigg's is so gentle in his play and how aggressive and fearless little Sadie is in trying to get a toy away from him, she will nip his ears and go right into his mouth after it and he just puts up with all she can dish out, she will grab a hold of something and pull it while growling up a storm and Rigg's is silent and just applies enough pressure to make her think she is winning.

Well this is another slow day, I guess in a few weeks I will be able to catch up on some yard chores and watch the grass grow.

Some of my fellow bloggers are starting for home already so I wish them all a safe journey.

Be safe out there... Sam & Donna..

Sunday Notes.

It was a gloomy cold wet start for today, Donna slept in about two hours, I was up by 05:30AM. As the day went by it started to warm a little bit and by mid afternoon the sun was out and it was inching up to 65 degrees.

Nicole and I went to the Model Railroad Club I belong to. For some reason her brother Chris got in trouble and Andy & Samantha grounded him. So it was just the two of us.

                Nicole at the Railroad club.

          She like the switcher at the quarry.

                    And the Veterans Memorial.

            The cows were out at the farm.

She liked the roundhouse with the little yellow car with Grandma’s name on it.

         The Fire truck was leaving on a call.

We spent about an hour or so and then it was time to leave, Nicole said were gonna have to come back soon and Grandpa told her he would put his passenger train on  and let her be the engineer.

Not much else, here in Dardenne Praire it’s a slow news day, didn’t even see the sheriff race by today so nothing is going on.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

SATURDAY MUMBLINGS.

The weekend is here, Donna & I were up and enjoyed a coffee, the two Grandkid’s slept in Nicole was up first and had a donut and some milk with me, then her brother Chris finally rolled out.

Nicole was going out with her Mom this morning selling Girl Scout Cookies, I told her when she got back we would make a run to the Wal-Mart to see about a dress for Barbie.

I want to give a big WELCOME to our latest follower, JOHN KITE, couldn’t find a blog listed so I don’t know if he has one, but welcome aboard to you John and your  pretty companion in the picture. I hope you enjoy the antics here at the Weeb Ranch and when we do get under way for trips too. If you are a dog lover, Rigg’s and Sadie will keep you entertained as there is never a dull moment with those two. As you might have noticed, what you see, is what you get, nothing fancy or phony, We are just plain country folk from here in Dardenne Prairie MO. We love  Family & Our Country, I guess what you would call us is what  former President Nixon referred to as America’s Silent Majority, but what I call the real face of America.

Donna will be going in to the restaurant tonight and I will have the job of the OOD (Officer of the Deck). The watch officer here at home. Nicole say she will be the JOD, (Junior Off of the Deck).

Was thinking of going to the train museum this afternoon, but it is cloudy and cold and gloomy so that’s put back on the shelf for a sunny nice day.

Haven’t decided on what to cook for dinner, the kid’s are pretty good about it, so since we had pizza last night, I’m leaning toward a Meat & Potatoes supper.

Not much else going on today around Dardenne Prairie, Sadie is climbing all over Rigg’s trying to wrestle a sock away from him, that he stole from the bedroom, as soon as this is finished with this post I will put the end to that game. It’s time to relieve the watch, Donna is leaving.

Everyone enjoy your weekend and be safe out there.. Sam & Donna….

TGIF.

Up early with my bride, Nicole stayed the night with her Mom, so at 06:45AM we headed out to Augusta, Nicole & I to get her to school, We had about 2 inches of snow last night and I was surprised they didn’t cancel school in her district as it is mostly rural, but I guess they had so many snow days so far they took a chance on it melting fast. The roads were a little slick and snow covered in places so it was 30-35 instead of 50mph like you would on dry country roads.

Got home and checked the blogs, then at 02:00PM I headed back to Augusta to pick Nicole up at school and we stopped to do a little grocery shopping, at Shop & Save. Nicole is a great shopper and knew exactly where, the donuts, pop tarts, cereal, ice cream and other weekend necessity's were,we had originally stopped because we were out of milk. But it’s a Grandpa’s duty to spoil so I told her okay.

When we got home it was Friday, pizza night, and I had remembered to take a shell out to thaw. I asked Nicole if she wanted to attend Grandpa’s Pizza School and she said yes, here is Chef Nicole in training. She did all the steps herself..

                     Spreading the sauce.

                 Some grated Parmesan on.

                      Adding the Oregano.

 

Adding the Provel & White Cheese Topping.

Graduation, The Finished Pizza, And it was Yummy..

Who was the French singer that sang, “Thank Heaven For Little Girls”. The chance I am having now of having another Granddaughter in my life is truly a gift from God and I am enjoying it so much.

Adam couldn’t make it this weekend, he is having a couple buddies from school over for a sleepover at his new house, so Grandpa understands, As the kids get older they need time with friends too.

Rigg’s the stealer was at again and while we were making pizza, he stole one of Nicole’s Barbies and decapitated her at the waist, Nicole was understandable upset, but Grandpa performed emergency surgery and got her lower body reattached and so the only damage was to her dress , so me and Nicole are going to Wal-Mart to see about a new dress for Barbie.

That’s the news from Dardenne Prairie for today, I hope everyone is having a great day. Please, be safe out there..Sam & Donna….

THURSDAY HAPPENINGS.

What a great night and day, about 06:30PM, Karen & Stevio, RV'ING,SMALL HOUSE BIG BACKYARD, arrived at the Weeb Ranch after a long drive from the middle of Wisconsin. After a few minutes of introductions, we jumped in my truck and went over to JJ’s Restaurant where my bride, Donna was working.

We had a great meal where Donna even took some time to dine with us.

Steve & Karen, with Rigg’s racing into the picture before leaving for dinner.

          Karen & Steve, Sam & Donna at JJ’s.

Then when we got back Steve & Karen retired after a long days drive and said they would see us in the morning.

At about 04:45AM They joined us for coffee and breakfast and Donna got to spend a short time with them and talk before she had to leave for the truck company.

After she left we had a lengthy conversation of course Rigg’s had to have a bunch of playtime, Sadie Mae was just too  shy for a meeting of two new faces so after about 5 minutes of barking she was banished to the bedroom.

Steve & Karen are just such nice and personable people, like almost all the bloggers we have met and socialize with on the blogs.

They brought Their two dogs Duke & Duchess in to meet and play with Rigg’s and then after a couple hours it was time to say See Ya Later.

              Some of the furry kid play.

Before they were leaving I was given the tour of their rig, it is a really sharp ride. With a lot of custom appointments that Steve has made to make life easier and safer.

                Karen at the co-pilot station.

The furkid’s are already in their travel stations.

                  The Rig’s on the driveway.

All too soon we had to say “ADIOS AMIGO’S”.

But the good news is in seven weeks they promised to stop on their way home so Donna could take a couple days off and we could sightsee and have more time together. Thank you, Steve & Karen for a wonderful visit, we really enjoyed meeting up with you guys.

See Grandpa, I can be good, I was just scared this morning.

After the company left Sadie came out and immediately took her place by Rigg’s just to show she could be a good girl when she wants. Rigg’s was played out and the two of them went to sleep after I got the picture.

It is always so much fun to meet the people you know from the blogs and be able to visit, I hope everyone out there enjoyed there day, and maybe got to meet someone like we did. We are fortunate to live only a few minutes from I-70, the major East – West highway here in the Midwest, so if any of you bloggers are heading past the St Louis area, get a hold of us and we will try to arrange a meeting.

That’s about it for today. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Wednesday Musings.

Started this fine day early with my bride, today was the day for me to get caught up with Donna and my laundry, a task that I am happy tom report was completed by noon. It was a cloudy and cool day. but again no snow or rain.

At about 02:15PM I got an e-mail from Karen of RVING SMALL BIG BACKYARD she said they were about 200 miles out and wondered if the driveway was clear, I E-mailed them back that all was cleared no snow, they could make a straight in landing, I’d leave the lights on for them.

So it is now 05:00PM and I am waiting to hear from them and see them hopefully tonight.

I will report tomorrow on if they make here tonight or when.

Not much else going on. I hope all is well in new Zealand with MARGIE -ANNE and her family.

Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Tuesday Thoughts.

Up early with my bride, watched the terrible news about the quake in New Zealand and right away thought of one of my fellow bloggers MARGIE ANNE -NEW ZEALAND DAIRY she lives in the country outside of Christ Church NZ. Luckily later in the day she posted and said her and her family are all accounted for and okay. Her two sons live In Christ Church and she says their homes were damaged, but no one injured. From The looks of the news it is a real mess there. Fires and buildings collapsed, I would imagine broken natural gas lines fueling the fires till they can be shut off. I told Donna I hope we have an aircraft carrier or big ship nearby to assist them in their time of need, my Dad spent some time in New Zealand and Australia , also New Guinea, During WW2. So I always considered them our allies and friends.

We pray here all goes well for them.

Not much going on today at the Weeb Ranch it is cooler but pleasant it is supposed to reach 40 today but that will be it with a low tonight in the low 20's. But we missed the snow action this week..The satellite shows clear skies all the way west past Kansas so we should have a nice day tomorrow too.

Went to Walgreen's earlier, Donna had a prescription that needed to be picked up and she said to get the printout for my prescriptions for 2010 for the taxes. That was the only time I left the house today.

Finally got my Google Chrome to work, right after I replaced the hard drive it crashed and would not open the browser I would get a screen that said snap, or oops. I tried deleting it and reinstalling it and it still didn't work, so today I deleted the whole thing again and then after the it said the program was deleted in control panel, I went into my computer and checked document and settings under Identities, All Users, Owner, & Donna, and found some folders named Chrome so I deleted everything with Google chrome I could find. After I was satisfied that nothing was left. I redownloaded and installed the program and it runs just fine.

I know there are a lot of IE lovers out there, but I seem to get a lot of popups with IE. When I use Chrome I never see a popup. It also seems to be faster with finding the websites.

That's about it for today, I hope everyone is doing fine. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Monday Meanderings.

First things first I want to WELCOME our newest follower, ROSS, it appears Ross is about to start full timing and is anxiously awaiting the delivery of a Tiffin Coach, take at a look at his blog. Hope you enjoy the daily antics at the Weeb Ranch, never a dull moment when Rigg's is around.
I'm sure there are at least a few people that looked at the St Louis Post Obituary to see if my name appeared in it yesterday. I completely lost track of time and space and forgot to make a post of the blog. Don't ask me why, I really wasn't that busy and Adam stayed close to the house and we didn't go anywhere, just because it was still a mild and nice day I guess. Speaking of Adam, while he was spending the weekend with Grandpa & Grandma, his Mom was moving into a new to them house she found to rent, They had been staying in a small apartment in Warrenton MO. She found a house for rent on a farm outside of Warrenton, and the house is really neat, it is a two story with the inside all freshly painted and new carpeting throughout, A really nice kitchen,and 5 bedrooms. The outside is sided and it looks like it has been kept up well. It sit's on about a 40 acre farm with two ponds and plenty of room. The only down side is that Adam's nearest friend is a one mile walk down the driveway/road, it is a very level ground and bike riding will make that easy.


                    Adam's New House.
Naturally Adam was all excited all the way home and couldn't wait to see his new bedroom and take Grandpa on a tour. It looks like a great place for a boy to grow up, time will tell.
So on to today, Monday, Got up and had my coffee with my bride, then she was off to work at 05:30AM, it is raining slowly and in the 40's and that will be the forecast for the next couple days, no snow but colder temps, so the mild spring days may be over for awhile.
Samantha got up and went to work this morning, this is the first since she found out about the broken sternum. We enjoyed her staying with us, and Nicole too, and I was so glad to see how much my son Andy helped her while she was recovering and sleeping. Maybe there's a new nurse Ratchet in the family.
I see Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Chicago all got snowed in again, we didn't get a flake and I for one am glad for that. It looks brown and cold outside but no snow left.
I can only hope with March not to far away we can hope for just a wet rainy month and no more snow.
Got a couple of pictures of my Granddaughter Allie in New Jersey at the firing range

                          Allie with handgun.

                       Allie with AK-47.
Looks like she is taking after her Grandpa, all my boys were trained in the proper and safe use of firearms as they became teenagers. Better to learn from a Police Firearms Instructor,than from someone on the street. When she completes her college studies she is thinking of joining the New Jersey State Police.
Not much else going on today, I will say see ya until tomorrow. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Saturday Mumblings.

My bride and I were up about 05:30AM for our morning coffee, she went back for a nap and I decided to hit the computer for some blogging. About 09:00AM Adam asked if he could call his friend Brandon who live behind us, in less than a minute I heard what sounded like and elephant coming down the stairs and it was Adam, "Grandpa can I go out and play with Brandon he's on his way over", I said sure make sure you have a jacket it's only in the 40's, out he went like his pants were on fire.

Nicole and Chris are at their father's for his weekend. Seems like most kid's today have parents that are split up, I thank God Donna & I weathered all of life's storms so far.

Here is some news, while I was picking up kid's from school and stopping at the McDonalds with the playpen on the way home, Sadie was at the groomer's, wow, what a difference it makes , you can see her face now and her fur isn't dragging on the ground.  What do you think?

            Grandpa what does pretty mean?

               My Big sister Nicole is holding me.

This is my big brother Rigg's, He is my best friend & protector.

Donna has the restaurant tonight, but this morning she said those word's that strike fear in every man's heart, I am going to target is there anything you need, I said no honey, unless you happen to be stopping at the John Deere dealer, I could use some plugs, and air filter, fuel filter,oil and oil filter, and oh yeah three new blades for the deck. All I got out of that one was a "Yeah Right".

That is on my list of things to do when I am sure the plowing season is over and I go back to the cutting mode, probably the first of March.

Here's a news tidbit I found today,

                           SS Admiral Showboat.

The Main Ballroom with Bob Cuban Brass, what a way to spend a night after a great Dinner in one of the dining rooms.

     In it's last days as the President Casino.

How many out there remember the SS Admiral showboat, for many, many years. It was a fixture at the St Louis Riverfront, Making daily cruises and evening Dinner and Dance cruises, It was the largest riverboat on an inland waterway in the US powered by three 900hp diesel engines. It's 1930's art deco styling was a classic, that still seemed modern in the 70's when Donna & I used to cruise it.

In the late 1970's it failed a Coast Guard inspection for seaworthiness so it was converted to a floating Casino.

That lasted until 2006 when the Casino face changed in St Louis and it became out of date.

In about two weeks it will be towed north near Alton Il, where it will be cut up and scrapped. The end of an era as there is nothing like it left on the river today.

I know nothing is forever, but somehow to this old guy the riverfront will never be the same without the lineup of riverboats from my youth. SS Admiral, SS President ( not to be confused with the renamed Admiral after it became a casino), SS Mark Twain, SS Becky Thatcher, and yes they even had the MacDonalds Barge. The last cruise we took was on the steamboat SS President it was a great night with friends Barb & Rick Ferron and their daughter from PA. It was filling in for the Admiral that was being repaired and it had the Bob Kuban Brass,  playing in the Ballroom.  All I can say is a know a 15 year old teenager that had stars in her eyes when she got home from that night on the river. The band is what really made it happen, they would fill that ballroom with sounds you couldn't get anywhere else, Rock, Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, Swing, you name they could belt it out and the night just seemed to go on and on.

To bad you can't bottle those kind of memories for a special occasion, I would line up to buy a bottle.

Before I forget, I got a request for a progress report on my sister Wendy, she is still on the walker but she is being allowed to drive and the strength is coming back to her ankle to where she is able to put more weight on it. She hopes that by April the walker will not be needed and she will just take a cane for when she is tired. Also Samantha is taking her medicine and says she is feeling better so maybe the injured list will be shrinking around here.

That's about it for today, Adam had spent the day running and trampolining so he will sleep good tonight. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

TGIF.

Another nice sunny day, it only got up to about 63degrees today but we'll take that gladly over the freezing temps we had been having. Donna was off to the truck company at 05:30AM. I got Nicole down to Augusta for school at 07:30AM, then just a lazy day until 1:00PM when I drove out to get Adam and then we went to Augusta to pick up Nicole, and Grandpa was done with the kid transportation.

We will just have Adam this weekend so it will be a little quieter for a change, haven't decided what will occupy our time yet.

Not much going on in Dardenne Prairie, except the kid's are all playing outside to take advantage of the mild weather.

That's about it for today. Hope everyone is enjoying themselves, Be safe out there, Sam & Donna...

Thursday Happenings.

Another beautiful day here in Dardenne Prairie it was 60 degrees at 04:30am which is really warm for this time of the year, got Nicole off to school at 0645AM, it is a 30 minute drive, I think she will be glad to go home and only have a 15 minute bus ride.

After I dropped her off in Augusta I came home and blogged for awhile and then took the truck to get it washed, it hadn't been washed since once up in PA. so it had a lot of salt and dirt from all the snowy weather we have had. it really looks good. All except for the black step rails I had put on when I bought it in 2004, they are rusting out, no way to save them , so I will either have to replace them with new rails or some kind of steps especially for Donna. Me and the son can get up easily but Donna struggles a little or if you are short like my sister it is a climb.

Had to go to Walgreens to pick up prescriptions and replenish the cold & flu medicine supply in the medicine cabinet, seems like all of us have had a turn and the supply was just about gone.

I went this afternoon back to pick Nicole up from school and surprised by taking a detour around my shortcut home, which just happened to pas a Quicktrip which I knew had an Ice cream cabinet, Nicole got a snickers cone and I got a Nutty Buddy, I wish we had Seven-Eleven stores here, Nicole had never heard of a Slurpee, Imagine never having had a Seven Eleven Slurpee. That will be on my list when the kid's are traveling on vacation with us to find them a Seven Eleven store. They used to be in MO. but QT is the big name now. and they don't have frozen drinks. My favorite was the root beer flavor.

Got home and was glad to see the last two piles of snow at the end of the driveway are just about gone, if it's warm tomorrow they should be history.

The Riggster and Sadie are enjoying the warm spell and spending more time outside, it's that time of the year though where you have to watch them for dragging mud in and keep a towel handy to wipe paws with.

Donna has the restaurant duty tonight so I have to think of some kind of a meat and potatoes supper for us,her at the home front.

Samantha is feeling better she is getting a lot of rest with me taking care of Nicole and cooking and is not in as much pain.

Here for those that miss the snow are a couple of sledding pictures from two weeks ago,

                Samantha (left) and her girlfriend

           Andy & Adam with Samantha watching.

            Adam just about airborne in middle.

This is a pretty good hill about three blocks from the house and it can really be a fast ride. Plenty of trees to stop you if you get carried away. It was below zero wind chill that day so everyone was in Carharts or snow gear.

Hope everyone is having fun wherever you are, Life goes on here at the Weeb Ranch in Dardenne Prairie, Until next time, be safe out there. Sam & Donna....

Wednesday Musings.

Don’t know what’s happening to me I woke up with Donna, and I felt Rigg’s jump up on the bed and snuggle next to me, so I thought well I’ll just relax a few minutes until Donna finish’s her shower, and we’ll have a coffee and talk. Next thing I know I look and the bedroom is dark, Rigg’s is snoring and it’s 05:45AM and Donna is gone. I guess she thinks I am tired and need my rest but I like a few minutes each morning, since Wed-Fri she goes to the restaurant right from the truck company so we only have a few minutes together each day.

The day here at the Web Ranch went slow, At 06:45AM I took Nicole to school, it is a half hour drive to Augusta MO. where she goes to school. Like most rural districts they start at 07:35AM and get out at 02:45PM. When I got back home my son Andy was installing shelving units in his new bedroom, and Samantha was resting and sleeping. I just piddled around and watched a movie, then I left a little early to fill the truck with fuel and get it washed, just as I was finishing filling, they put barrels in front of the car  wash and said it had broke down. The truck looks terrible. Oh well.

The big news here in Dardenne Prairie is the temperature reached 75 degrees today, unless it was pile really high the, all the snow is gone, I just have two small pile at the end of the driveway about a foot tall now.

Got Nicole from school and stopped at a convenience store at hwy D and hwy DD for an ice cream, guess what, no ice cream, both Nicole and Grandpa were disappointed, what a day.

Not much going on Nicole is going to do her homework and I am going to start supper, which will be baked cannelloni tonight, Nicole has never had it before, but is willing to try it.

Hope everyone out there had a fine day, be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Tuesday Thoughts.

Up early, had coffee with my bride, and then at 05:30AM,Donna headed out to the truck company, it was another nice day sunny and 55 degrees this afternoon. Took Nicole to school, and then at 03:30PM picked her up. She is staying with her new Grandpa this week while her Mom is still recuperating and trying to get as much  rest as she can and take her med’s..Of course Grandpa doesn’t mine the drive, and as soon as she got home she set up a desk in the kitchen for her homework, just like when Adam was living here.

               Nicky at her homework desk..

Tonight were having cube steaks and hash browns, now is that a country supper or what. Andy got his carpet finished and has his room back together. Him and a buddy changed out the light switch and all the outlets in his room from white to black and black covers since the trim is black. This morning he said the light switch didn’t work and all the outlets were on all the time, where before the lights switch controlled the top plugs and the bottom plugs where on all the time, I found out that they had installed the wrong outlets instead of the ones for a switched outlet. They had bought the regular ones with both side ganged together. I was able to cut a space in between the screws on the one side so the red and black wires weren’t together. Then I looked at the switch and they had a three pole in place of a 2 pole so I took the ohmmeter and found out which 2 poles were on-off. So without having to tear everything apart I got his wiring straightened out.

Not much else going on I hope everyone is having a good day. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…..

Monday Meanderings.

Up early I didn't have coffee this morning with Donna because I laid on the bed with Rigg's and Sadie while Donna was getting ready for work and must have dozed because when I opened my eyes it was 05:45AM and Donna was gone to the truck company.

I want to extend a big welcome to my latest follower here at the Weeb Ranch, WAYNE&ROBERTA, They have a blog just click on their name, I hope you guys enjoy the antics of the Weeb Gang, and sooner or later we will be back out in the 5th wheel for seeing some more of this country.

The house is like a tomb this morning no kid's noise. Samantha had a Doctor's appointment and he said she is to remain off work for a week and continue to rest and not disturb the healing process. But that sounded like good news to us.

I guess the pooches were watching me read blogs and saw me reading KAREN"S blog, She had pictures of Duke & Duchess in the tub getting a bath, They wanted equal time, so here is a picture of them sharing some quality rug time the other morning.

          Rigg's and Sadie sharing their rug.

When the kid's aren't here I become the center of their universe and the competition for attention is fierce, no fighting, but Sadie will jump up and push Rigg's away, or worm her way between us, she is so feisty for being so small and is absolutely fearless in getting her way, I have to think if I was Rigg's I might get tired of it, but he is such a gentle Ben he just takes whatever she has to dish out. She will be growling away pulling on her end of of toy, and you never here a peep out of Rigg's he controls his strength so she has a chance to pull.

Then if I jump up the bed and put a movie on, they both get up with me and either snooze or in Rigg's case I sometimes think he watches the show too, by the way he follows the action with his head.

My son is finished with all the paint and trim work and is tearing out the old carpet out of his room today, tomorrow they deliver and install the new carpet and we will be able to move his furniture back in and I will have some space back in our house. I have to say he did a great job, I think he is going to rehab one room at a time, He keeps saying he wants to buy the house, so only time will tell. It would be great for him as it has plenty of garage space, and an out building and he would have plenty of room tor his tools and race cars.I told him if he bought it I would let him have John Deere and leave the compressor and most of the big tools for his car hobby.

JUDY-TRAVELS WITH EMMA mentioned in a comment that the picture of the kid's showed them without jackets and no snow and wondered if it had been taken last summer. Well no, we have had three days in a row of 50-60 degree temps and I did make them wear hooded sweatshirt jackets, They wanted to go out without them, but I said no. But the parking lot was clear of snow except where it had been plowed into piles and that wasn't in the picture. We have had a lot of snow melt and it is 60 again today, I have most of the snow on the grass gone here, but the piles along the driveway where we plowed will be here for at least a couple more warm days. There is also a lot of running water across the front of our property and out into the street.

That's about it for today I hope everyone is safe and having fun out there. Just be careful out here. Sam & Donna...

Sunday Notes.

We were up about 06:00AM, had our morning coffee, the kid's slept in until about 07:30AM. Donna had to go in to the Restaurant for a day shift so had to leave about 09:30AM, before she left she gave the Grandkids their Valentines Day presents.

                   Happy Valentines' Day.

After Donna left Grandpa was in command. so I decided, that today would be a fun day so at noon The kid's and I jumped in the truck and headed to.

Planet Fun, it's a kid place at Mid Rivers Mall in St Peter's MO. It is like Pizza street but in addition to the arcade they have a two level play cage and maze and the charge $6.00 a kid admission. Grandpa's are free I guess because they know were buying lunch and maybe supplying cash for the game machines.

                                Planet Fun inside.

That upper deck tunnel and maze circles a huge store front and is pretty impressive.

                          Pizza again for lunch.

           After 3 hours the gang is winding down.

Nicole said Grandpa, I'm all sweaty and yucky, I said good if I bring you guys home sweaty and dirty your Mom & Dad will know we had fun. Anyway we have plenty of shower water so you can all have a bath later.

They must do okay on a weekend as the place was packed and the pizza's were selling like hot cakes.

Even without climbing and running through the tunnels and mazes after 3 hours Grandpa was whipped too. Except I wasn't all sweaty.

Got the kid's home and found out Shana was going to be in O'Fallon at a girlfriends house and she called and said she would pick up Adam, so I didn't have a drive out to Warrenton and back.

That was the story of a great weekend I got to be with the kid's, I know one guy that will sleep good tonight.

Oh and before I forget Samantha said thanks for the well wishes, I am sure glad she got to rest with the kid's away, I could tell this morning when she got up for breakfast she is still in a lot of pain, I offered to have her recuperate here, and I would take Nicole to school and pick her up, so maybe that will let her get more rest than at home. Here Andy can wait on her and I can be the babysitter.

I hope everyone had as much fun as I did this weekend, be safe out there, Sam & Donna.

Saturday Mumblings.

Well we had a night of it here at the Weeb Ranch, Andy's girlfriend Samantha woke up in extreme pain in her chest, Andy took her to the E.R. and after test they determined she had a broken sternum, the Doctor thinks she did it last weekend when she was sledding with the kid's, so she is ordered to bed with pain killers. And has to rest for awhile. Grandpa rode to the rescue this morning and told all the kid's that condition Zebra had been set around the house so Samantha could get as much rest as possible, she is knocked out anyway by the pain medicine. So Grandpa took the three kids and headed for Clarksville MO on the Mississippi River to Lock and Dam 25 for a chance top find some Bald Eagles, When we got there I  got a grab shot of one on the tripod really up high on 200 zoom, He ended up flying across the river and besides 4 others over on the other side that were to far away for a picture that was it for eagles, I was afraid of this because this is the time of the year they start heading north. Although last week they said they were all over the place.
I did shoot a dark colored bird that looked like a heron, maybe Judy can identify it, but beside gulls that was it for the larger birds.


              Lock 25 Clarksville MO.

                My only Eagle shot.

                    Is this a heron Judy?
We spent about two hours up in Clarksville but it wasn't a complete bust, the kid's met up with a bunch of other kid's their age and they ran and played and climbed snow piles and wore themselves out to the satisfaction of Parents and Grandparents alike, Clarksville is on Hwy 79 just south of Hannibal Mo. and has a great visitor's center, tours of the locks when the barges are running, and clean rest rooms and pavilions and picnic area's. I have been up there in the summer when the river was busy and it is neat to watch the barges going through the lock.As an added bonus the BNSF RR has a track right next to the park and coal trains to the Machens MO. power plant go east full and west empty. So the kid's can watch trains and boats.
We saw one coal train but as you can see the river is frozen solid west of the Lock & Dam and there is no barge traffic north of St Louis yet, probably be in March before it starts up again.
All in all a fun day and we didn't get home until 04:30PM after a late lunch at Steak & Shake, Nicole and Chris surprised there Mom with a Double Chocolate Ice Cream Sundae, So she was feeling better. They are really good kid's and they all behaved and got along with all the kid's they met. I look forward now to the camping season starting and taking them all to the Lake for the weekend.
Hopefully we can go someplace tomorrow to let Samantha rest, I'll have to give that some thought, maybe one of those kid places that has a play area and you can get a lunch or a pizza, someplace where they can be around kid's and cut loose a little.
Hope everyone is having a fun weekend, I know I am. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna...