Missouri Time

Ah, Missouri. We do love us some Missouri time.

We entered the lower western corner of Missouri in the evening and had some supper at this travel center in Joplin.

We decided to go this exact week because the fair was happening in town. We first arrived to cold rain, however, and the parade and fair were canceled for the evening. The rest of our time was mostly sunny and hot, so it all turned out okay.

Jonathan and Phoebe were the ones who most enjoyed the rides. 

They rode all three nights.

Phillip met a couple of high school and college buddies at the fair and had some good catch-up time. 

Those aren't high school or college buddies in the picture above ~ they're his parents. :-) 

A new Vandalia Museum that we walked around. 

As a kid Phillip used to play on the white scale shown in the back of the picture. It was in a bank in town.

The parade which was moved to Friday night.

Kids in the corn. This has been a bad year for crops around Vandalia. Too much rain. 

Lots of time was spent hanging out at Mimi and Papa's house.

We stopped in to see Grandma Phoebe. We always have to get a picture of the two Phoebes. 

Usually we mostly hang around home while we're in Missouri, because we're so tired from traveling to get there that we don't want to travel to see anything. But this time we talked ourselves into going to St. Louis to see the Gateway Arch. 

And it was a hot day for it! The kids mostly wanted to go to St. Louis to see the Eads bridge. Can you see it in the background here? We were so hot and tired after the Arch that we barely tried to get very close to it to get a better look. Anyway, they learned about the bridge from "The Men Who Built America." Carnegie was a key player in its construction. He provided the steel or something like that.

After the Arch we walked to see the old Courthouse nearby. 

It's famous for the Dred Scott lawsuit having begun there. 

Phillip's brother and his wife also came to spend time with us over the weekend, and I went to see my college roommate Jessica in Quincy. I didn't get pictures of any of them though. I also got my school books ordered while in MO and finished reading several books. Gotta love accomplishing things even while on vacation. :-)

On our way back home to Texas. We. Were. Tired. 

But the kids did excellently on the long road trip back. We made it home by midnight with almost no arguing. Pre-tty im-pressive.

4th of July in Loosin'Nana

Harrison pronounces Louisiana as "Loosin' Nana." That's where we spent the 4th of July this year. I believe we spent last year there too. What do ya know....

On the way, we spent a couple hours at the mall in Beaumont where Elizabeth spent some time with her Beaumont girls at a bookstore. Phoebe decided she wanted to pay for an experience. I really didn't think she'd like it, but she did. 

The kids made a house out of hay at the park. I remember doing this as a kid too. 

At Oil and Gas Park in Jennings. 

We showed up to play (the Jennings Park is a tradition for us), and found that they were having a 4th of July Celebration with free music and bouncy things. How fun! We stayed about 7 hours, all the way through to the fireworks. Barbecued, played, tried a little fair food, and listened to some good 'ole Cajun music. 

Elizabeth and Jayda!

Jonathan coming down the water slide. It was a hot and sweaty day. The kids were glad to get a little wet.

This bouncy house actually collapsed at one point with Harrison in it. He was the first one out, sha baby. And he went around telling everyone the story. Everyone got out safely and they fixed the problem.

Cajun band complete with an accordian, triangle, fiddle, and pedal steel guitar. 

This was the annual family reunion at Uncle Gib's farm. Sugar cane and rice were in the fields. 

They make jambalaya outdoors in a big pot every year. 

And as always, everyone was very tired as we headed home. It's such a blessing to be able to go so often to Louisiana. I get to have good conversations with so many people. I love getting to know my Grandpa, the kids getting to spend time with Nana and Aupa, spending time with childhood friends. Thank you, Teressa, for keeping us every time we come!