The Steamboat Arabia and a lovely visit with Grampa John & Gramma Sherry

this pane of glass was perfectly preserved in the sunken treasure of the Arabia.

beads, buttons and other wonderful treasures were preserved also.

This isn't actually in Kansas...it's in Kansas City, MO, which is pretty darn close to Kansas. ha ha. anyways, we visited here the Saturday that we were in Emporia...it was quite extraordinary...

This was the only casualty from the sinking....a mule named Lawrence.

get it?

I'd like to get into details here about the story surrounding the Arabia but I'll let you Google it...

this was the day that Mel and Levi stayed back in Emporia with Grampa John & Gramma Sherry.

David and tiny Gramma Sherry...she is one awesome woman!

I dunno...do you see a family resemblance? Grampa John is David's Mom's older brother.

We were so blessed to spend 4 nights with these amazing folks....such hospitality, patience, and love! We love you guys!

Sherry is my buddy!!

Grampa John was so nice to Levi and Molly. They liked hanging out with him, cooking on the grill, and feeding the 1/2 wolf dog, Major...

This is Bryan...He is one cool cat too. He is John and Sherry's son. He is currently battling cancer and undergoing chemotherapy...Get well, Bryan. We are praying for you! He is boatloads of fun...and we introduced him to the joy that is Starbucks.

Emporia, KS is where the first Veteran's Day was held so every year on Nov 11, there are big festivities. In fact, the week leading up to it is action-packed! This is at the park commemorating this fact.

Grampa John with Major...one blue eye, one brown...Molly loved this dog. from a distance.

Making pumpkin cupcakes with Gram Sherry...Our favorite Sherry line, that we like to use now..."How would that be??" We LOVE you, lady. You are a GEM!

Gramma Sherry hung out with sleepy Molly so we could check out the bridge.

Levi, doing his best jazz hands impression....

Our time in Kansas was so very memorable. Although I've known Grampa John & Gramma Sherry (formerly known as Uncle John & Aunt Sherry) for many, many years, this was our first time to really spend time with them, getting to know them and love them more than we could have imagined.

Although our kids have two awesome sets of grandparents, we figured one more set couldn't be a bad thing!! :) so we adopted them.

Thank you for the time you spent, the room you gave up, the water you let me use to do laundry, the food we ate...oh boy did we eat....and the love that you gave so freely! We look forward to many more visits with these loved ones!!

While we were away...

A lot of cool things occurred...

but one of the coolest is that we left with a 14 year old boy and came back home with a 15 year old young man...

Will turned 15 while we were in Flagstaff, AZ...the day before we visited the Grandest Canyon of 'em all...

When I get my pics switched from B's laptop to this here Mac...I will have some grand tales to tell....

but until then, and until this house is back to "normal" (ha ha...laugh then)...this sweet blog will have to wait.

Happy Birthday Month, Willy Nilly...you are one awesome young gentleman.

City Museum Part One

David had a good time climbing thru all the wirey tubes...I think he was the only one to brave it...his boys wimped out...it was not for the faint of heart.

the infamous bar that broke out from under D's feet (while holding Molly)...

Yikes....that's all I've got to say...

Levi on the giant pencil..in the loud echo-y room...

door knob collection room....totally cool.

more from the Beatnik room...yikes...

read the sign to the left of Will's head...ha ha. walked right in to that, didn't you Will and Mel? ha ha. jokes on you!

fortune teller creepy

dance Monkey...

this kind of stuff always wigs me out...but this pig was born in 1954 and the "neat" thing about it, if there is any thing neat about this, is that it was born with two bodies and one head. formaldehyde is neat for preserving this so well but it was groooooossssss. the museum recently acquired this fine specimen. ewww.

the original bug eyes.

moer pix from the trip yesterday...can't edit now because the hotel treadmill is a-calling my name....so off to run before we head out to KS. be back later....until... Godspeed...

Wish U were here...

I figured I wouldn't end up in many pictures so my theme for this trip (for weird self-portraiture) is Laurie and strange people...that's the best name I could come up with for now...I took this pic by meself...and that is E's arm behind me...

This creepalicious fella greeted us in the Beatnik section of the City Museum...I have to say, he did a good job giving me the willies...the whole Beatnik section was a little off...but oh, the photo ops that came out of it are....well, just not all that great. He resembles a few people that I know, actually. yikes. shiver. zoinky.

Hidy Ho Neighbor!

I am in the midst of uploading our days' events pictures onto my sister's laptop....while my loved ones snooze in the hotel room around me. My coffee is finally sinking in (yes, it's 6 pm and I finally got some) and I'm perking up again...

The Great Adventure, as I will affectionately refer to our westward trek from now on (a.k.a. GA), on LTGL (which, in case you are wondering stands for Livin' The Good Life)...I've put the little SD card into it's slot and hopefully I can find the pictures....

Ok, I think I figured it out....it's so much easier to blog at home...but this is definitely a fun challenge.

David just took #1-4 down to swim in the tiny pool here at the Drury...Molly is methodically taking everything out of Melanie's bags and putting on all of Mel's underthings...while I sit here and semi-ignore her (that was for you, Mom...so you can start worrying again that I will lose her in the Grand Canyon...love you bunches)...all in the name of blogging. completely nude and wearing Mel's slip..."Oh, it's so pretty...."

If you ever EVER come to St. Louis, please make sure you visit the City Museum...it's one of the coolest places we've ever been...lots of crawling in scary, tight spaces (of which I did not partake in much, being claustrophobic and strangely afraid of heights the older I get)...It is one of those places you'd have to just see to believe. At the end of our visit, David was "walking" thru one of the suspended bar-y things and a bar broke out from under his feet...if that wasn't bad enough, Molly was in his arms...so if you see a picture of him holding a bar, that is what that is. Proof.

We then went to the Gateway Arch...and I could hear Melanie's panic rising in the back seat. Once we got in to the underground Museum, ticket purchasing area, mine grew to a deafening scream when we saw the tram we'd be riding up 630 feet...yeah, no. 's not happening for the females of the Y family today. better luck next time. I will get these pix posted later...gotta head to the pool in a min.

We are really looking forward to spending some time with Uncle John, Aunt Sherry and their son, Bryan in KS. It will be our first time in their neck of the woods (well, not David)

Mom and Dad, if you are reading this and I dunno, you may not be anymore...but the kids are all still with us, last time I checked...and we miss you and the rest of the family already. One day down, 20 more to go.

while I'm at it, and just in case, thanks to all of you that are helping with lizard and house care. We love and appreciate you.