The Last Two Weeks

Don't cry; dry your eye, cause here comes Wendell with an entry that's fly!

There is my Lodi Dodi-inspired rhyme! Weak.

How are you? Things are smoov here, although it's been a busy two weeks.

For the Fourth we went to the Motherland:

R and I spent a lot of time with sister LW and her boyf CC, plus of course, the puppies! The dogs, Diesel (four months?) and Chevy (almost a year) played grab-ass the whole time.

We learned that fireworks aren't for the kids, but rather for the grown men, including R, who stocked up at a WI fireworks shop. We shot off huge mortars and I used a roman candle for the first time. Pyro fun! No photographs were taken, however.

We did feed Hot Dog, the gray fox. He might have a lady-friend who was also feasting on wieners, but it was hard to tell them apart.

This is the same bad picture from last year; I took a bunch of new Hot Dog photos with sis KW's new camera. Man, foxes are cute; his ears were so rounded and his fur so beautiful! I love Hot Dog the fox!

When we came back from lighting the fireworks, a little tree frog was awaiting us on one of the patio chairs!
Frog-love!

After leaving the Motherland, R and I roadtripped south to Peoria, IL for his cousin's wedding. I'd never visited that town, which is perched on the Illinois River. We took photos of an impressive edifice, the Cornerstone Building. I felt it had some Arts and Crafts features, an era I've been researching as R and I look for houses of our own. Scenes from above the wedding reception:



I love the chandelier!



Last weekend we made a marathon journey to Arkansas. Here R's Dad and I pose in front of the Nixa, MO Super 8:
We look a little wiped out after ten hours in the car.

Side Note: If you want to buy a fabulous house on the cheap, move to Springfield, MO! You can get like, a 3,000 square foot house, a horse barn, a riding arena, and five acres of land for $175K.

I wish we could have stayed longer in the Ozarks: they were ravishingly beautiful.
At the bottom of a valley. With a cow.



R's Grandfather's house:


Some Ozark cows:


While most of Iowa and Missouri closely resembled MN from the highway, we did start coming into some rolling hills as we approached Springfield, which is very close to Branson, Missouri*. We started spotting these mimosa trees. The delicate threads of the flowers had a light, sweet scent.


*We passed right by Yakov Smirnoff's theater as we headed down to Arkansas. Remember that guy?!

One of my critter goals for AR was spotting the wild armadillo!

Alas, all the ones we saw were deceased by the highway. Check out my armadillo entry here. Sheeot, I need to fix those old picture links. Sorry.

We did see a juvenile prairie skink! Unlike the following photograph, the lizard I saw had a BRIGHT blue tail, like fluorescent blue. He moved fast, sliding sideways into a sidewalk crack.


The ten hour ride home yesterday was greatly improved by the end of the book on tape we'd purchased for our Colorado trip this spring. Back in March, the iPod died with five hours left to go! So yesterday we listened to the finale of Dan Brown's Digital Fortress. (Uh, we bought it on iTunes.) It was a bit cheesy, but fast paced, and the narrator had a fascinating voice and did great characterizations of everyone. Highly recommended!

Due to our traveling, I missed the triathlon I'd signed up for on the 12th. So, I'm doing a different race on August 2nd! Hopefully I will be able to do some freshwater swimming before then.

Shout outs to Big W and Big K, who welcomed a bouncing baby boy on the Fourth of July! While they were birthing, R and I got to see their daughter Phook as Grandma J brought her over to ride on my parent's front porch swing. She has cuteness, and curly hair, two of my favorite things!

How are the critters treating you this summer?

Best wishes,
Wendell!