Our Summer Vacation---Missouri

So, I am now sitting in my living room, thankful to be home. Mike, Cas and I left on the 2nd of July to head towards Missouri. We went to visit my Dad, Kim(my step-mom), and my step siblings. When we headed out on the 2nd we drove to Little Rock, Arkansas. After many, "Are we there yet?"(From me), and Cassidy saying, "The movie is over, what can I watch next?", we heard the voice on GPS say, "YOU HAVE ARRIVED!" The evening of the 2nd we took it pretty slow, we ended up getting in around 8:30 that night, so we were all pretty tired. We got some rest and drove into Cape Girardeau on the 3rd.

Once we arrived in Cape, the festivities began. We got in shortly after lunch time on the 3rd, and so my Dad was off for the afternoon. It was great. We all got settled in, and we able to catch up some. On the morning of the 4th, Mike and Dad went out to Dad and Kim's golf course and helped with a golf tournament. Mike and Dad both said it was really neat because the kids that were playing in this tournament would probablly be seen later on the PGA tour. The evening of the 4th we decided to go see fireworks out at the park. We put on a TON of BUG SPRAY, and headed out. It was really nice. Cassidy has never liked many loud noises, so Poppy Dick helped solve that problem. (Thanks Dad!) You can see from the picture(s) below. Cas could hardly hear a thing! It was pretty funny.

I can't remember all the exact days for what we did, but I can tell you what we did. Guess I am getting old =-)

On Sunday, we went to church, and had a wonderful lunch. We relaxed a little as well. We even loaded up the car and headed down towards the Mighty Mississippi River. Cassidy thought it was really neat to see all the barges go by. It is a beautiful river at night. We also were able to see the new bridge that was built. The architecture is amazing.

On Monday, we loaded up the car and the five of us headed towards St. Louis. We took Cassidy to the St. Louis Zoo, and the St. Louis Children's Museum. We had a blast. We saw Lions and Tigers and Bears Oh my! Cassidy's favorite animals at the zoo were the flamingos...At The Children's Museum, Cas got to run around and see and do there as well. Once we finished there, we headed out towards dinner. We ate at an awesome Pizza place. It was Chicago style, and boy was it yummy!

On Tuesday, Dad had to work, so Mike and I got our teeth cleaned. Cassidy got to take a ride in the dental chair, and Dr. Poppy Dick Swartz checked her teeth out as well. It was nice to get that done by my dad.

Unfourtanetly, Kim's Step Dad passed away, so Dad and Kim had to head off to Nashville on Wednesday for a funeral. Thanks to Kim and Dad's friends Bill and Becky Ogborne, we did however have our dinner taken care of and got to go swimming. It was nice of them to open their house to us and do that.

On Thursday, Dad worked again, so Kim took Cassidy, Mike and I down to the library, and Cassidy took a class. It was really neat. It was all about color, and different ways of using color. Cassidy got to do shaving cream art and painted with icing (and then got to eat it). Yummy... that tasted good!

On Tuesday , Mike, Cassidy and I headed down to Caruthersville. We were able to see Ted and Sue Streete, and Donna and Henry Hayden. It was great to see them all. Ted came in from farming, and spent some good time with us. Ted and Sue are exactly as I remember. We also had a special treat. One of Ted and Sue's daughters Ginny and her daughter Katia (who was adopted from Russia) came over to see us as well. I love them all so much. We visited for a long time, and then headed back to Cape Girardeau.

We were going to leave on Thursday, and head back to Memphis, but do to the earlier week's circumstances, we decided to stay an extra day. On Thursday, while my Dad was at work, we decided to take Cas to a movie. We went and saw the movie Ice Age
2. It was a little scary for Cassidy although some parts she really enjoyed.

We left Missouri on Friday, and drove to Memphis. Once we got there, we headed straight towards the hotel. The Peabody Hotel that is. We got their early enough to see the ducks swimming in their pond in the lobby, and of course for me to spend some money in the gift shop. It was amazing. The hotel is beautiful, and the tradition was amazing. Once the show got started the ducks walked down some stairs onto the red carpet that is rolled out for them. They shook themselves off, and then headed to the elevator. They did get a little loud, and quacked quite a bit. Once the show was over, we met Kim's brother and sister-in-law. Thanks to Kim's brother and his wife, they actually let us stay in the their condo in downtown Memphis. It was beautiful, and overlooked the river. Once we got settled in, we headed back towards The Peabody Hotel. We were able to go to the roof, were they keep the ducks, and Cassidy got to see them in their home. I was amazed, they have their own fountain on the roof as well! After we left The Peabody for the 2nd time, we headed towards The Rendevous for ribs. I actually ate a pulled pork sandwich...all I have to say is Oh, my gosh! That was WONDERFUL. It was getting late, and since we had walked to the resturant, we decided to catch a carriage back. Cassidy loved the horse drawn carriage and it looked like it was out of Cinderella. We got back to the condo, and settled in for a good night's rest.

The following morning which was Saturday, we headed out early and drove towards Houston. I don't think I have ever been so happy to see the Texas state line! We headed towards Happy Farm Kennel, and picked Bella up. When we got home I franticaly ran to the store and got our groceries for the week. Now here I sit on the couch typing this blog. I did get back in time last night to mow the back yard. So the front yard is my next monster. Followed by a day of laundry =-)~ Can't wait. I hope you enjoy all the pictures. I tried to break them up, since I think this is the longest post I have ever had...

Take care, until next post!
Shelley