LST Ship Memorial.

(Sorry this picture got out of order and I was to lazy to go back and fix it)

(Grandy reliving his Vietnam days. He said that he put one of these combat hats on while serving in the Army in Vietnam and noticed that a snake a curled up in his hat)

On Sunday we were able to tour the USS LST (Landing Ship Tank) that arrived in Hannibal for a brief stay. These ships were used during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and belonged to all services such as the Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force and Merchant Marines. It was amazing to see how this ship has been preserved and the men who served and died on them. Luckily we arrived when we did, because after we got off the ship there was almost a 2 hour wait in line.

This ship is traveling up the Mississippi River to many destinations. The crew that was aboard the ship (some veterans of the ship) said that they had come from Cincinnati and this was the biggest crowd that they had experienced so far. As of Sunday, 6000 people had toured the ship.

Entering the ship.

Amazing to think that these were used to shoot other enemies.

Conner sitting in the chair getting ready for battle.

Boys in front of ship. Corby thoroughly enjoyed the tour and full of questions.

Still Some Summer Left.

While we were cleaning out the garage today, we thought we would have one more time running in the water and bringing out the pool. It was just the perfect day to splash in the water one last time.

Conner thought that he needed to run through the water while holding his football. He is a true athlete already. Heath was laying in bed last night and Conner insisted on watching some football game that was on tv. He got really mad when Heath tried to turn the channel.

They had a blast running through the water. I think this was the second time that we were able to get this out since we were non-stop on the go this summer. We thought our summer was busy...it's nothing like our fall is lining up to be!

Loving the dog days of summer one last time!

Full of smiles their first weekend after school has started.

They were full of grass after running through the water. Quin pretty much would rather sit in his swing and be content without the boys splashing him.

Even Maisey got in on the action of taking a dip in the water.

First Day of School.

Well summer is officially over. The boys started back to school on Wednesday. I now have a 1st & 3rd grader! Wow...how time flies! They still seem very little to me! The boys were very anxious and were very excited for school to begin. I on the other hand was enjoying playing outside for many hours and the later bedtimes. Oh well, it won't take us long to figure out a routine. Preston has already been sent home a book to read. Luckily our lack of reading over the summer didn't stop him from picking right back up where he was at the end of the school year.

Preston was all smiles and was very ready for school to start.

Looking like they really get along for a quick short picture!

Gosh, it's hard for me to look at these pictures because I swear I was just sending him to Kindergarten! He has grown up so much and is so eager to learn!

When we arrived at school, it has been my tradition to get a picture of the boys in front of Statue of Mary. This monument was donated to the school as a memorial of a girl that died in a car accident that I played basketball against.

Can you tell by this point that Preston was very "pictured" out! His exact words were "why do we have to take these stupid pictures every year". I'm sure the day will come where I will only get to capture them at home.

One last one...of Preston and his classmate Taylor.

We are looking forward to a very successful school year at Holy Rosary. We are so blessed for the boys to attend such a wonderful parochial school in our small town.

Illinois State Fair.

I know....my posts are getting further and further behind. We are now back to a normal routine, I guess if that is what you call it. We started school on Wednesday and I am back to opening the daycare at 6:30am every day. So my late nights of blogging have come to a screeching halt, as the 5:30am alarm comes very early and I require a lot of sleep!

Last Saturday we loaded up and headed to the Illinois State Fair in Springfield with my parents. This trip was actually planned for the boys to go with my parents to Springfield to tour the Lincoln tourist attractions on Friday, but Corby ended up getting the stomach flu that day and the trip was delayed a day, and Heath and I were able to get to tag along on Saturday. Corby had looked forward to this trip all summer long. He is very interested in history and loves to learn. He has impressed us in that he knows almost every state capitol and is in the 3rd grade....don't you learn those much later on?
It was the most beautiful fair weather I have ever experienced! Usually the sweat is dripping down and the humidity is so high that you can hardly breath! What a gorgeous day! Here are the boys waiting patiently for our first bout of fair food!

Of course they had to take part in the free face painting.

Conner is absolutely obsessed with horses these days! He has a plan that we are going to purchase a barn and put horses in it. Little does he know that this will never be a reality!

Grandma and Grandy just enjoying the day and watching Conner on the pony.

Corby and Preston decided they would ride the spider. Corby later decided that was not such a good idea after having the stomach flu the day before. Let's say he was a little queasy afterwards.

Gotta love that fair food! We enjoyed corn dogs, smoothies, lemonade shake-ups, and can't forget the funnel cake!

Finally! We got to use our wagon. We got several compliments and oooh's and ahhh's on it! Our poor arms were all worn out from pushing it, as later in the day Corby and Preston decided they needed to ride instead of walk!

Corby taking part in the mini-golf offered by the 4-H kids zone.

Preston taking part in milking a cow for the first time.

Corby thought he would give it a shot.

Conner was all faired out! His little legs couldn't handle anymore.

Gotta loves those lemonade shake-ups.

We had a great day at the fair and although we didn't get to see everything in one short afternoon, I think the boys trip was successful because Corby also got to see the traveling Lincoln exhibit which was also on display during the fair.

Meet the Mizzou Tigers Day.

Can you believe that it has been a week since I last posted! My week of vacation flew by just like I had thought it would. We enjoyed our last week of sleeping in, hitting the pool, and taking a few side trips. Our last trip ended Sunday as we traveled to Columbia with my parents, and my sister and family to meet the 2008 Mizzou Tiger Football team. We are so excited for the upcoming season that we can't wait for it to begin in 2 weeks! Our Tigers are ranked 7th in the country, and we have ESPN's #1 most indispensable college football player, our quarterback, Chase Daniel who was a Heisman Trophy canidate last year. We had a great day as we were able to go down on the field to receive autographs and pictures of the team members. The boys were in high heaven! We didn't stand in line to receive Chase's autograph (the line was over an hour long and we had already gotten it last year), but I think we might have gotten everyone else. We are looking forward to going to St. Louis in 2 weeks to the Edward Jones Dome to see our top ranked Tigers take on Illinois. I have put together a slide show of our day.

Corby receiving one of the numerous autographs of the day.

It ended up being a very hot day as you can tell from Preston's cheeks.

Corby was proud of his poster full of autographs.

Sydney and Chloe ( we hope to make them Missouri fans and not Iowa!) Sorry to my Iowa family, it's just in our blood. My dad asked one of the top ranked players from Iowa "isn't this black and gold a lot nicer than Iowa's. The players response was "Defiantly!".

Showing off our black and gold!

Just having fun on the Quad, one of the favorite spots on campus.

Meet the 2008 Mizzou Tigers!

Grant's Farm.

Yesterday we traveled to St. Louis to continue our week of vacation, and took the boys to Grant's Farm. If you are not familiar with Grant's Farm it was the farm given to President Ulysses S. Grant as a wedding gift, and later owned by the Busch Family, also known as Anheuser Busch. It's currently the home of the Anheuser Busch Clydesdale's, and other exotic animals. Once again, the heat rose to over 100 degrees, but luckily this attraction has ample amount of shade.

Boys posing for picture in front of logo sign.

Quin was such a trooper even though it was so stinking hot! We were so excited because we packed his wagon he received for his birthday, later to learn that no wagons could be brought into the park. Luckily we got to use one of their strollers...free of charge at that!

One of the main attractions of this farm is being able to bottle feed the goats. We didn't realize that they basically attack you when you step into the gated area. I'm holding Conner at this point taking pictures as he is screaming at the top of his lungs!

Preston trying to choose which goat he will feed. My legs were completely scratched up when I got out of the gate!

Corby was laughing hysterically because they were biting onto his shorts and reaching for his bottle all at the same time.

This is "Firecracker". She was born on the 4th of July.

Heath and Quin taking full advantage of the misters they had located throughout the park. It didn't bother Quin one bit.

Conner was in amazement at all the animals.

There were many exotic animals you were in close distance from. Once Conner got attacked by the goats, he didn't want to get too close to any other animal the entire day.

Since this farm is owned by Anheuser-Busch, they give each guests (over the age of 21) 2 complimentary beverages of your choice.

You can see that Heath took full advantage of his 2 free drinks. Notice the sweat dripping off of his shirt.

I'm not much of a beer drinker, but let me tell you it was just that hot that I was thirsty for about anything!

Preston getting his picture taken with one of the Clydesdale's.

After we left the park, we walked to the area where the Clydesdale's are located and allowed to run free. It was a great time by all. If you are ever in the St. Louis area, the kids would love this place and it is very educational!

Tomorrow Heath and I are headed in opposite directions. He is taking the older two boys to the Missouri State Fair and I will be headed to my sister's house in Southeast Iowa with the younger two. We will both be coming home sometime Saturday evening. We will end our week of vacation on Sunday when we travel to Columbia to start our Mizzou football season. No the Tigers are not in action yet, but it is Media Day. We will be able to go onto the field and the boys will get their pictures taken with the football players and autographs. It will then be time for reality to set in and school will be starting the 20th. We have had a very fun filled summer and look forward for cooler temperatures and football season to begin!

Pool Party.

We no more got home on Sunday from the lake, and then turned around to go back to Paris for the 4-H pool party. Heath's sister invited the kids to enjoy the fun of the pool party provided with great snacks. The boys were excited to show off their diving abilities. I forgot to mention in the lake post, that Quin got sick on the way home from the lake, but we just thought it was a mixture of the taffy that Conner fed him along with the sippy cup of milk he drank on the way home. So a little pit stop was made to clean up him and his entire car seat had to be taken apart. I didn't know if I would make it home the last 45 minutes due to the smell of the car. When we arrived home, he had a good supper before we left for the pool party. Once again bad mom and he got sick all over me at the pool, so the pool party ended a littler earlier than the boys wanted it to. Luckily, it was just a quick 24 hour bug and he is back to his normal cheery self.

Preston showing off one of his many dives of the night.

Corby still thinks he can't go under without holding his nose. Hopefully he will break himself of this soon.

You wouldn't know from the look at him in this picture that he wasn't feeling well. He had a great time swimming in the pool with his cousin Callie.

Conner got right in the pool and I think wore Heath out jumping a million times. His poor eyes were so blood shot when we had to leave.

Miss Alicia (our niece) showing off her scuba abilities.

Our Lake Getaway.

We've made it a family tradition for the past 2 years to take a little mini-family getaway to Lake of the Ozarks before heading back to school. It is usually the first weekend in August, because it also falls on the Missouri tax free weekend for clothing and school supplies. So we take full advantage of shopping, and the kids have fun getting their new backpacks and school supplies.

This year we stayed at the Tan-Tar-A resort. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend for spending time at the lake, because it was close to 100 degrees each day. When we first arrived on Friday we went straight to the pool! The resort had 2 pools and one even had a water slide that the kids loved! Conner even got to go down it with Heath! Of course we couldn't have a getaway without some mini-golf and go-carts! Corby was excited because this was the first time he ever got to drive a go-cart all by himself! He thought he was pretty big! On Saturday, we then ventured to the water park located at the lake, Big Surf. We had been there 2 years ago with my family and the boys insisted that we went back! Luckily this time we could actually walk on the sidewalks without burning our feet! Later that night, Preston was determined that we went back for a second round of mini-golf, but we talked him out of it since it was still a mere 100 degrees with high humidity. Luckily we talked the boys into bowling and the arcade located at the resort. (Heath and I were just thinking air conditioning!). We had a great time and I helped out the economy at the outlet mall stocking up on fall clothes and tennis shoes for the upcoming school year. It was really hard to shop for winter clothing since it was so unbearable outside! I've put together yet another slide show, since I seem to get carried away trying to capture every moment!

Heath and I are on vacation all week! We have a fun filled week with the boys so many posts to come!

Corby overlooking the lake.

Our little Mini-Golfers.

Ready to jump in the water at Big Surf.

Boys having fun at the pool at Tan-Tar-A.

One last picture of the lake before we left for the weekend. Until next year....

(Click Below)

Our Lake of the Ozarks Getaway