Weekend at a Glance

Saturday morning we honored our fallen by helping the American Legion place crosses and flags on all the veterans grave sites. It was really neat to give back to the community in such a way. Of course, we forgot our camera and missed some priceless photo ops with Scott placing flags on the crosses. We met a half hour early and Ryan shared with our friends who also joined in the activity. He shared a speech written by RushLimbaugh's dad and then read the constitution before we spent a few minutes in prayer. It was very cool.

That afternoon, we picked up Kristin at the airport for a short but nice weekend of hanging out. We introduced her to life in the sticks as we know it. Of course, we made a quick stop while in civilization for a caramel frappuccinno and some new shoes for the little guy. We took the scenic route home (which means that we weren't on the interstate at all, not even the typical 20 mile stretch). On the way, we stopped several times which was good for my aching back and whiny attitude. One stop was for a potty break/tour of my office building. The next place was for a famous burger. But it was more than that. We also drove through the cemetary where we'd earlier placed flags and then stopped by the site of the Centre. The Centre has yet to be built but we drove around the location which meant it was an "over the river and through the woods" experience in a 4-cylinder, 2 wheel drive little car!

There is so much more to the sticks experience though. After Sunday church, we ventured off to a great little place for Chinese. However, that meant crossing state lines and crossing the Mississippi River too. On the way home, we stopped at the mansion on the hill, once home to Iowa Governor William Larrabee. Only by this point, I was too tired to tour the mansion. I know I'm horrible but I just couldn't do it. Instead, we walked the grounds, snapped a few pictures and got back in the car. Back at home, we piddled around the house. Of course, the "sticks" experience couldn't be complete without shooting something, right? The boys took Kristin out to experience the potato gun. Yes, a potato gun. She shot and aimed a PVC pipe contraption that fired a potato after filling a barrel with a something flammable. And knowing that she was willing to shoot that, I figured she'd also be willing to shoot a 20-gauge shotgun. The boys (Ben had been with us all day making up for the 4 weeks we hadn't seen him) got out the clay pigeons, the thrower, some shells and the gun. They proceeded with the rural experience. Of course, I had to try to hit a clay pigeon too. And of course, Kristin got a picture of it. It is the BIGGEST WHITE TRASH picture ever! After that, I asked the boys to put the toys away since we still had yet to hit the graduation party that started 5 hours earlier. A quick trip to that and then we stopped at the vet clinic where Kristin got a quick tour. Okay, FYI to everyone, Ryan has NEVER worked on a penguin in case any one else is wondering.

Monday was a lazy day. We hung out around the house, in our pj's most of the morning. Scott went outside with Ryan to work on the swing set thing. And while out there, Scott fell from 7' high, did a flip and landed on his back! Ryan brought him inside and he was crying. I thought he was just whining about having to come inside. Nope, he had reason to be crying this time. The poor kid had just been scared to death but otherwise seemed normal. He wasn't sure what he wanted - inside or outside, have mommy hold him or get down. After a shot of Tylenol and some time playing in the floor with Kristin, I was a bit apprehensive but put him down for a nap before we left to head back to the airport. We stopped for one more "sticks" experience at a local drive-in burger joint.

I had a great weekend visiting even though I was exhausted and very pregnant/whiny. My son seems to be a bit "off" the last few days. He doesn't exhibit any pain, has a little bruise on his hand and one on his back. Otherwise, he won't go up the stairs now without someone holding his hand and is a bit quiet the past few days. But, he still runs around like crazy for the most part. I tried to call the chiropractor about getting him in but they close at noon today. So, maybe the small fry can have my appointment for tomorrow and have a quick fix on the little guy. I hope its nothing else but we shall see.