Missouri 2009

We are in Missouri right now. We are Visiting my dad's parents or my grandparents.

These are my Grandparents. Dwight and Lorraine Haskell. They are so fun to be around and fun to visit. I love coming here and having my grandpa hug me and call me "beautiful girl." (and sometimes he mixes me up with Annie, but that's okay with me.

They live in Birch Tree Missouri. I am having a blast and a half. We left on Friday May 29, 2009 at 6:45 am. We took a plane to St. Louis Missouri. We then drove to my grandparents farm.

(Sorry I didn't get a picture of it.)

Here are some pictures of our adventures.

First there's the swing.

Here we have Maggie. She always wants to go first. This is one her favorite parts of Missouri.

Then there's me. I love the swing but it's not my favorite part of Missouri.

Then there's Ann. She gets dizzy easily but she loves it too.

Doesn't it look like he is having so much fun? He was afraid that he would break the limb that was holding the swing up. It was funny to watch him. After he was done he said that he'd rather do underdogs to us girlies than him swinging.

Next is Freddie Mac...

He is my grandparents dog. He comes up to my knee when he stands on four feet. He is a big white perinese dog with thick fur and a cute face. He is so adorable. He looks like a baby polar bear. He loves to play with you. When you walk and he is walking next to you, he will grab onto your lower leg with his paw and try to nibble on your knee. It is so cute. I say stop if I dont want him to so he stops but a few seconds later, it is almost if it is like he says,"Ok. I stopped for a while now can i do it again?" So he does it again. It's so cute.

In this video I say " Here you go Erin..."or something like that. But i decided to put this video on after so its really for everyone and Erin.

I'snt he cute? He is just a big, cuddly, bear...dog...thing...

You can kinda tell how big he is when he is next to Ann.

Next is the scenery in Missouri.

So you know how everyone says, "Why is the 2nd coming going to happen in Missouri? I mean it's so not cool..." Well, I have a message for all those people. I hope it's in Missouri. I mean yes it's really hot, humid and muggy and buggy. But it is so beautiful. Just look at it. Well the southern part of it.

I just love the trees all over Missouri. It is so beautiful and green. Just the perfect place for Christ to come again.

RIVER RAFTING!!!!!!!

On Tuesday June 2nd, 2009 Dad, Mom, Ann, Mags and I went rafting. There's this little place called Harvey's canoe and raft rental and we have to go there every time we come. We float down the Jackson Fork River for about 7 miles. We hit whitewater sometimes on the way. That is my favorite part of rafting. Here we all are.

Maggie

Jenny

Ann

Mom


Dad
Fishing
So my Grandpa owns two big ponds. They have fish in them, so ofcourse we have to go fishing. He has many kinds. This time I have seen so far, HUGE catfish (I saw about three of them together.),Bluegill, and some others that I don't know their names. But it is tons of fun. The first time we went we only caught two. Dad and Ann caught them. Lucky. I want to catch one of the HUGE catfish. But I won't eat it. YUCK!!!!

This is one of the ponds. The other one is all gross and yucky. And is the home of the giant snapping turtle.

This is Dad's fish.

This is Ann's Fish.
SWIMMING HOLE!!!
The swimming hole is one of my absolute favorites about Missouri. The Swimming Hole is a little clearing sort of area on the Forks River. People go swimming all the time.

The first time we went, the beach was almost gone. The water was so far in because of all the rain that they've gotten in the past week.

Then, the second time, we went with our cousins. There was no beach! It was mostly water.

There was about a foot of sand. Plus a little island of high sand. So you had to wade over to that part. It was so much fun. (The adults were too chicken. "The water was too cold.") My foot.

Well here it is.

These are my cousins. On the far left is Maggie, then Ina (back turned), Ben, My Aunt Kristine, and in the back is Zachary. They were making a little spa thing. The water was warmer under the sand.

Here I am. Just Chillin' in the coolness of the pool in the jungle of Missouri.

Okay. Here is an interesting character I would like you to meet. This is Thales. Ann and I call him the bottomless pit. Everytime we saw him and asked him what he was doing, he would say either, "Finding something to eat" or "Going to bed." Thats all he did. He is fun though.

See what'd I tell ya. Laying down.

Ahh. Poor wittle Thales. Can't get out of the tube?

Round Springs Cave and Round Spring

One thing we did that I enjoyed was the Round Springs Cave. We had never done it before.

It was really cool. So cool that I was just taking random pictures because I would always get something. It was fun and fast for 3 hours. Our tour guide was named ...well I forgot. But she was very nice and explained everything. We each got our own lamp. There was our family and a couple from Kansas. But we all went into the dark scary cave together. And then came back out. Safely.

These things reminded me of the organ pipes in Snow white. Or a million little chimneys.

Looks like snow or ice doesn't it. Well its calcite. It is white and really sparkly.

This is the hunk of chocolate from Willy Wonka himself. He came and just left it here for people.

Round Springs

Here is the Spring. The water looks so cool because it is this bluish tealish color. It is very pretty.

Here is Ann, Me and Maggie at the Spring.

Birdies

My grandpa takes care of purple martins. He has built houses for them and puts them all around his farm. SOmetimes we go out and see if there are little babies or eggs. Time we looked and in one of them there were 10 eggs! Then in another one there were 8 little babies.

Can you see the little eggs? Cool huh?

Here are the little baby birdies. Aren't they cute?

Flossies Apple Barrel

Whenever we go to Missouri, my grandparents always take us to our favorite restaurant.

It is Flossie's Apple Barrel. It was funny because when we went in, everyone left. So we got the whole resaurant to ourselves.

Here it is!



THE END!!