Cat tale

We have a house guest for the summer! Greg wasn't able to keep his cat, POTO, with him in Indiana at his summer job. POTO is a remarkable foosball player. He really picked up the game without any coaching. He loves to spend time practicing. From downstairs we just hear the balls rolling around.
He has a little trouble getting the ball back up on the table after his opponent scores.

Just today he figured out that the kitchen counters really aren't that high. While you're there POTO could you turn the radio down a bit.
After exploring the internet on my laptop he needs a little nap.
POTO is a very friendly cat. He follows me all over the house. Here he is listening while I play piano. One night as we were getting ready for bed we couldn't find him anywhere. Finally the second time we checked the garage he came to the door. I think he was planning to hotwire the car but he couldn't reach the garage door opener so he gave up. He must have slipped past me earlier when I was bringing things in from the car. POTO loves beanie babies and has been proudly dragging them all over the house. Is it August yet??

Four days of fun and games

On Memorial Day we drove up to Hannibal, MO to pick up our three precious grandchildren, Nate (6), Eli (4), and Ava (almost 3). We had four days together to play games, read stories, visit some fun places, and enjoy a lot of hugs and kisses. At the Memphis Children's Museum the kids got to send boats down a little river; check out the inside story on the human body; pretend to drive a fire truck, police car, motorcycle, hot rod, and airplane; climb in towers; dance disco; grocery shop with shelves at their level; do a stage performance; make and fly paper airplanes; fl and much more. Below Timm and the kids are boarding a Fed Ex plane at the museum.

Guess who's piloting this flight?? There were a lot of buttons that needed pushing but the plane never left the ground. (I never got to do this when I was a kid.)
Look out Top Gun these two look handsome and ready!

Dr. Ava do you think you can save this one?

The museum was great but playing in wet sand was like being at the beach. They were just getting started when I took this picture, there was some very creative river building yet to come.


The water park area was their favorite for the week. We spent part of three afternoons here. Ava is being very brave.
After a long day of play a story or two from Grandpa top off the day.
Ava loved to carry on conversations on her dazzling pink cell phone. I hope Mom & Dad have enough minutes to meet her needs when she has the real thing. Thank you Ben and Kate for letting us enjoy your children for a few days. We loved every minute of it and can't wait to do it again sometime. They are every bit as adorable as they look.

Petit Jean, Arkansas (May 2008)

During Greg's few days home between school and summer job he went with us to Pastor's conference at Petit Jean in Arkansas. Timm attended meetings and Greg and I checked out the hiking trails. The weather was perfect and we saw some of God's beautiful handiwork. Greg couldn't resist climbing up on this tree that crossed our path.

I was grateful that Greg loaned me his walking stick. It really made the trails more navigable.
This was the end of the trail for me in front of a beautiful waterfall.
Shortly after taking this photo Greg climbed around on the rocks to enjoy the mist sitting right next to the waterfall.