Choir Concert Oct 29, 2012

Lee is in the middle top row.  Blurry as this is zoom attempt.

The combined choir.  Lee is back row, third in from right side.

Boys choir, Lee is back row third from right.

Last song was Thriller with neat outfits and a dance routine.  Lee is middle guy back row.

Lee with choir director.

Halloween Dinner

Alec was a transformer??  Grandma Carol moved so the photo is blurry, or maybe he was transforming??

Ava was beautiful with wings, fancy clothes and amazing face.

Ayden was a football player with jersey.

The guys chowing down on chili, hot dogs, chips and lots of other goodies.

The gals got to eat, too.

Savana had a great outfit.  Hopefully Kim will have a photo.

LucyLea had a neat wolf getup.

Kristi and Shelby were "eggs" and "bacon".

Halloween Decor

Waiting to greet the guests for Saturday at 5pm

are several spooky creatures who we surmise are creations of Miss S &  Mrs. K??

With a spooky spider and skinny skeleton

and it all starts here!!!

Boo Who??  Get it??

See you Saturday and don't be late!! or ELSE!!

Flashy Fall Foliage 2012

The neighbor to the North of Shelby and Kristi on the east side of the road.  It really is that purplish red.

At the edge of S & K's property to the north by the road.

Headed down School road (Y19F) just before Robin Road (Y19F-1)

At the crest of School road (heading down Dunning's Hill)

At the edge of the road as you are almost to Cathedral Cove

Just above the water at the end of our little cove.

The yellows seem to be much more intense than in years past.  Also the browns are redder and brighter.  We thought the 20-30 mph winds would ruin the colors, but I drove to Camdenton today and it was still a gorgeous drive.

Dickerson Park Zoo, Springfield, MO

On the way back from Branson on Tues, Oct 16 we stopped at the Dickerson Park Zoo to see the new baby giraffe, Jenna.  This sculpture is the closest we got, as the feeding platform is only open on weekends in October.  BOOOOOOOO

I really like the face on this sculpture

The baby is in the middle.

A better shot but still thru the fencing.

The best shot with an adult (mother??) touching noses

Carol by the descriptive sign.

The face of the photographer and the south end of a giraffe headed north!!

The zoo was decorated for a halloween walk and several of the animals were not in there normal location.  Carol wanted to view the meerkats but we couldn't find them in the Africa area.  We did do some shopping in the gift store!!

Andy Williams Theatre, Branson

Thanks to Judy at the Eldon Food Pantry we got inexpensive tickets to "Oh What a Night: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.  We chose seats for the 10am show on Tues Oct 16 and drove down Monday afternoon.  Takes about 3 hours, so is much like a trip to KC.  We stayed at a nice Fairfield Inn (thanks Kelly and Eric) which was very close to the theatre.

 Carol is waiting for me to return from the car, as I had forgotten the camera.

Poor shot of the theatre front.  Sun was strong!!!

They had a nice water feature with some "coy" koi!!  They probably get fed by other folks, but we didn't have any treats for them, so they swam quickly away.  Maybe we were threatening???

The grounds have many rusty metal animal sculptures and this giraffe was right on the path from the parking lot to the theatre front door.

Carol got to pose with "Andy".  He just died a couple of weeks ago which was quite "tragic" for Branson.  They have booked many good entertainers to keep the show going strong.

 Carol was more impressed with the Henry Moore sculpture.  Andy is watching over her shoulder!!

We have taken our seats in row 17 which had the least amount of steps and Carol has the aisle seat in case "mother nature" calls!!  We were some of the younger members of the crowd.  There were 3 busloads of elderly and not really physically "fit" attendees who got seated in the front 10 rows.  They had to walk down the wide steps with NO rails.  I was sure someone would tumble, but the ushers were always cautioning the folks.  The 4 guys who did the show were really excellent and had lots of energy.  We recognized almost all of the songs and had a great time.  The 2 hour show with a 15 minute intermission "flew by" quickly.
       I did almost get into "deep doo doo" the previous evening.  We had gone to a local BBQ spot near Table Rock Dam and decided to drive across it as the sun was setting.  However!! Road work on the damn dam made it a one way road, and the traffic from the Branson Belle(dinner theatre boat trip) was horrific.  I decided to take the long way back (forgetting that Dancing with the Stars was on Monday night!!!) and it really turned out to be LONG.  We did drive thru the Landing area and back around the blue road and finally to our hotel.  Yep, we were about 40 minutes late but her favorite dancers were still waiting to perform, so I am still alive today!!

The Hoary Starfish

Sara, do you remember when you were at KState and we came to visit and then bought this succulent (cactus like) flower??  The plant was much bigger then and cascaded downward about 2-3 feet.  The florist who sold it to us was about to tell us its "bad point" when another member quashed the comment.

Yep, this is also known as the carrion plant.  Yep, dead meat!!  It attracts flies with abandon!!!  Yep, it stinks.

Just a little nostalgia and a peek at the fall foliage in the background.

Some Fall Foliage Oct 2012

In the little flower bed just outside the main door.

These really aren't this pretty in real life.  Too bright and red!

The maple usually is orange red, but this year it is a purple red and this photo is pretty accurate.

The rock wall up the drive is getting taller by the day.

The one holly bush has really bright red berries.

The dogwood on the lake side is also very purple this year.  Note the iron works by Sara (large rectangle) and Eric (by the flower-heart in lower middle of picture).

Happy Autumn.

Carol's 50th Class Reunion

Friday, Oct 5, 2012 6pm was the BBQ dinner event held at the Powell Community Center in Mission KS.  Carol has just found a place to sit and is looking for familiar names.  Faces have CHANGED!!

A few more of the crowd.  The complimentary drinks and soon to be opened buffet tables is in the upper part of the photo.  The gentleman in the salmon pink shirt at the right edge of the photo is the son of the mayor the center is named for and he was in Carol's class.

A view from the buffet table end looking back at the crowd of about 200 people.  The 1962 class had 725 members.  About 100 have died and another 100 were "missing" and had not been contacted.  Saturday they were having a picnic around noon and a formal party that night.  Sunday was a brunch???  We had only signed up for Saturday night, and we left about 9pm and drove back to Rocky Mount.

The "goodie" bag had a booklet with names and current addresses of those who had been located.  We got nice badges when we signed in.  Carol's had her class photo on it, but the spouse was the Shawnee Mission North Indian logo.  The bag also contained a mouse pad with "coat of arms" and a coaster with the Indian logo.

We talked all evening with whomever we met.  Carol recognized the names of several students and had a great time recalling classes and events they shared.  One of the male spouses who sat at our table was from Plattsmouth, Nebr and knew the Meisinger that Barb Blecke had married.  He said there were three distinct groups of Meisingers in the area.  Also met the daughter of Otto Hoffman.  Otto was working in the Ag Chem group at Gulf R&D when I joined.  Another male spouse was a PChem Prof at Ohio State U.  He had gone to KU and tennis shoe Adams was his graduate school research professor.  He knew most of the professors that were there when Ron attended KU.  Carol's "best" meeting was with Susie Kaiser whom she had known for many years.  Betty Kaiser, an accomplished artist, was Carol's "second mom" when Fran was not functioning normally.  Susie knew exactly where we lived, as she had been a councilor at Camp Sabre one summer many years ago.   Several others, too, but our memories fade fast!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KIM.

Oct 1, 2012

Carol had 2 Dr appointments in KC, so I decided to look at rental near KUMed.  Lawn was HIGH and weeds were higher.  The dogwood almost looks like it is ready to bloom, but it might be dead.  We will wait til spring before we take any action on it.

After breaking into the garage to get to the lawn mower, the tall grass got much shorter.  I still need to weed the flower garden to the upper right and will try to get that done this Friday when we return to KC for a 50th reunion party for Carol.

The side garden by the driveway was REALLy overgrown.  All the white "flowers" are WEEDS!!  The peony at lower right has a black walnut tree growing in the upper middle.

After some grunting, pulling and a few choice words, the side garden is better, but not great.  The garage door in the back would not open, so I had to break out a fibreglass "window" on the side and have a "skinny" renter crawl thru and release the latch.  Still don't know why it won't work but will leave that til Friday.  Went to nearest hardware store and paid $22 for a 1/16x12 x25 piece of plexiglass!!!  Ace ain't the place for me no more!!!  Will go to Strasser.

Bob, Ron, Gail, Carol, Marlene

The fun part of the day was meeting Bob, Gail and Marlene for early dinner at Oklahoma Joe's BBQ.  The best BBQ in KC and it is located in a gas station!!  Bob and Gail were in town for Park College Reunion.  They stay with Marlene who lives in Mission, KS.  We always enjoy a visit with them and have enjoyed their hospitality in Orange, TX.

Happy Birthday, Pat on Oct 1.  We won't mention the year!!