Labor Day at Osage Beach

Well, we spent Labor Day weekend at Osage Beach. All summer long we'd hoped to get there to see the Main Street Opry, but for one reason and then another, we hadn't yet made the trip. So, we took Zach, and went for the holiday weekend! Even with the holiday, we didn't think traffic was too bad. We did the usual stuff: Miner Mike's, go-carting, bumper cars, bumper boats, a little shopping, some swimming and of course, the show. We had a really good time.

That's all I have time to write for now....it's 6:59 a.m. and Bobbie will be here in about one minute! We ride together to the bus garage!

Have a wonderful day!

Wednesday Night At the Track!

Well, they had a good turn out, and Dennis finished second, Tyler third. Not as good as they'd have liked, but not bad either! Dennis finished the point season as the Track Champion at Donnellson. These photos were "borrowed" from one of Dennis' favorite sites. www.heartlandmotorsports.com
We're planning a weekend trip to the Lake of the Ozarks! We're actually going! I can hardly believe it, but tomorrow morning, we'll be on the road! Have a happy and SAFE Labor Day weekend!

Saturday Helpers Work in the Rain

Well...I don't know exactly what happened to the arrangement I'd planned for the pictures, but at least they're on the page. It's another Saturday morning with the boys. Since it's raining, we're taking advantage of the "pre-soak" and getting the van all cleaned up. Both boys, of course, wanted a turn at scrubbing the bugs off. So far we have three quarters of an inch in the rain gauge. Dennis did win the Championship last night at Donnellson. Don't know what else we might do with this rainy morning.

Back to School MUJIBAR!!!

School is back in full swing. Yesterday started off with a few small bumps, but not bad for the first day back. I can't truly say I'd been looking forward to returning to work, but I will admit that it's nice to be back to a more structured lifestyle. We have new busses coming, and I will be driving one of them, but until then I'm using old #16. Bobbie and I are on pretty much the same schedule, so we're riding together. She takes her route to Donnellson, and I go to Montrose. The picture you see was taken at our welcome back to school cook-out. The little gal in the black shirt is our boss. The three guys across the table from her are three of our co-workers.

Dennis will be racing at Donnellson again on Friday night, and if I'm not mistaken, it's the last "points" race. If he finishes, he should be the 2006 Track Champion in his class. They're also having a "powder-puff" event, and he's offered to let me drive his car. I'm considering it, but most likely will decline. There are still quite a few races to go even though the regular season is over and I'd feel really bad if I crashed it up. I know he'll be racing again at Donnellson on August 30 and Shiverfest in October, plus several other special events. Here he is, painting his new safety cage, getting ready for Friday's race.

The following story is one to which I can certainly relate! Sadly, the humor of it is that it's so true!

MUJIBAR!!!

Mujibar was trying to get a job in India .

The Personnel Manager said, "Mujibar, you have passed all the tests,
except one. Unless you pass it you cannot qualify for this job."

Mujibar said, "I am ready"

The manager said, "Make a sentence using the words
Yellow, Pink and Green."

Mujibar thought for a few minutes and said, "Mister manager, I am
ready"

The manager said, "Go ahead."

Mujibar said, "The telephone goes green, green, and I pink it up, and
say, 'Yellow, this is Mujibar.'"

Mujibar now works as a technician at a call center for computer
problems.

No doubt you have spoken to him. I have.

Saturday Morning and All Is Quiet......

Woke up this morning to dense fog! We have the two little guys for the weekend, so I'm being very quiet. Let them sleep as long as possible! Actually, Zach got up about twenty minutes ago, and is already out riding his motorcycle, but Wyatt is still sleeping.
Races were rained out last night, so Dennis was home all evening to help entertain the boys. We had pizza, ice cream and then a movie. I asked Zach how much ice cream he wanted, and he said, "too much"! Ha! When he was just a little toddler, Travis was sharing some M&M's with him. Travis asked him, "how much do you want?" and Zach said "too much". Travis and Dennis thought that was so funny, and of course Zach had no idea why they were laughing. Anyway, after too much ice cream, we watched Return to Snowy River. Zach had seen the first Snowy River movie just about a week ago. Wyatt was not as interested in the movie, except for the parts when the horses were running fast, so he played with the toys while we watched.
This is the last weekend before school resumes. I can't believe summer passed so quickly! We'll be back on the bus bright and early Wednesday morning. I'm trying to get used to the idea, and truthfully not dreading it like a was a couple weeks ago. Bobbie and I plan to ride together, and who knows what we might do between our morning and afternoon routes. You can bet that whatever we do, wherever we go, we'll have a good time...after all, it's our motto.
I'm going to take advantage of the peace and quiet while Wyatt is sleeping and Zach is out riding his motorcycle. I'm thinking of a great cup of coffee and the newspaper. All too soon, we'll be racing through the activities of a day with the grandkids. They have big plans....we have to go to the Moo Moo Cafe for ice cream treats, ride motorcycles...(for hours), go shopping for a brush for Timmy (their dog), play cars, and a host of other things they think we must do while they're here.
Just moments ago, Wyatt woke up, came downstairs and said he wanted to ride the four-wheeler. He says he saw them out the window. So, within 5 minutes of getting up, he's also out riding with Zach and Dennis! Time for that coffee!!!! Who knows how long this will last.
Have a great weekend!

Knocked Out by Another Storm!

Yes, indeed. We are again having problems after the thunderstorms. When it works, it's great, but at the moment, I'm waiting on the phone for the next available representative for tech support. The expected hold time is between 5 and 15 minutes. Of course, I can try later during their less busy hours, but I'm not sure when that would be. Since the last time each wait was between 15 and 30 minutes, I'd say my chances are better right now!
Zach spent the day here, and since it was raining all morning, we went to the library and checked out some movies. We watched Man From Snowy River. After that, we made no bake cookies and then rode motorcycles after lunch. Tyler stopped to get him and the motorcycle after work.
Not much else going on here. Next week I'll be back to work. I'm still holding, so will continue to mess with the computer. I'm thinking of it works alright I'll just hang up on these people. Here are some really great photographs. I didn't take these pictures, but whoever did really got some great shots.

Touring with Tawni and Alex

This afternoon we took Tawni and Alex sightseeing. We first drove by Travis' fields and looked at the corn and beans. All we saw looked pretty good! Of course, we stayed on the main road, and didn't go down Danford either.
Then we went to the National Cemetery and Keokuk's Veteran's Memorial.

We also took in the scenic view from Bluff Park where the Mississippi and Des Moines Rivers meet.Bluff Park also provides a great view of Roquette, so I told what little I know of Roquette and the products they make. Tawni actually liked the smell! I love that girl! Our family has always thought the smell of the plant was a pleasant aroma, but most people don't agree!
We took a quick look at Lock and Dam #19 and then went to Nauvoo. We stopped by the Browning house. Jonathon Browning was apparently a Mormon. They've restored and maintained his house and gunsmith shop in Nauvoo and have a Browning gun museum there. We saw lots of tourists riding in a covered wagon drawn by a mule team. We stopped for picture taking near the temple.

Rainy Days Don't Get ME Down!

Yee-Haw!!!! We've got another six tenths in the rain gauge! It may be too late for the corn, but will surely help the beans! Kathy and Tawni have gone to Hobby Lobby in Quincy, so Zach and Wyatt are here. We've been having a great day. At this moment, Wyatt is sleeping soundly, and Zach is out riding his motorcycle. He's no doubt looking for any water he can find to ride through. Yesterday, I rode with him around the fields. He's a pretty good rider, but considerably over confident. He did crash though, so it slowed him down just a bit for a little while at least. Fortunately he wasn't hurt bad. Just a few bruises and some impressive scratches on his helmet. He hit the rocks, and I showed him the helmet and asked what it might have done had he not been wearing protection. Dennis rode with him later in the evening and took him out in the pasture where he could go up and down some hills. It's a sure thing that the crash he had early yesterday morning won't be the last, but rather just the first of many. I just hope none of them hurt him too bad! When I rode with him, he wanted to race, but I told him I would not race with him. That's all we need to do is make it a competition...he'll get hurt for sure, because he can't stand getting passed!
The races that had been scheduled for tonight at Donnellson have been postponed until August 30 due to the rain. That means we have a free evening! I wonder what we'll do? I wonder how many boys we'll have staying the night? LOL! We have a movie that we haven't watched yet, so perhaps this evening we'll do that and have some good ice cream! Maybe I better run to town to get the ice cream this afternoon. I'm still longing for some Pistachio Almond ice cream!
I am going to take advantage of the little time left of Wyatt's nap to make a page in my scrap book. If he sleeps longer, maybe I'll get two finished!
Enjoy this cool and rainy day. When the sun breaks through, we'll get hot again and more humid than ever!

Sunday Update.

Well, here's the Schulte clan, or at least those who made it to the family reunion. It was not a large group. Actually, there were many more present, but this is just Aunt Helen and Phyllis and all the first cousins. We had a great meal. Fried fish, chicken, potatoes and onion rings plus all the carry in items. After eating, we had a "Redneck Washers" tournament. Dennis and Jim Flockhart were the overall champions, defeating all who challenged them. It was really a nice time, and we stayed until after 7 P.M. We were the last to leave.
Today, we came out of church to find that Zach (7) and Wyatt (4) were joy riding in our van. Dennis had left the keys in the ignition, as we usually do, so the boys were in the car and decided to start it up and move closer to the door so the rest of us wouldn't have to walk so far. Actually, I don't know what they were thinking. Tyler thinks they were NOT thinking! Boy, does that bring back memories...ha ha ha! Anyway, today was to have been the day that Zach and Tyler were going to come over and ride motorcycles on our trails, but Zach is going to have to go at least one more day without riding the motorcycle. Sure hope he learns something from it! From now on, we'll be taking the keys with us, if we can remember! We're so in the habit of just leaving them, it will be hard to remember to take them out. I greatly doubt that Zach will repeat that anyway, but just to be safe, we're removing the access to the keys!
Tomorrow, I'll be driving to Iowa City to pick up a friend. She and her son, Alex, flew into Cedar Rapids today, and will have an appointment at the U of I Hospital tomorrow morning. After that, she'll come here for a brief visit before returning to New York on Thursday. We're looking forward to seeing them again.
It's such a gorgeous afternoon, I think I'll go outside and enjoy the cool (cooler than last week) air and the low (66%) humidity! I'm sure it's going to be going up...so I'm going to enjoy today!

Reunion Weekend

Not only is it my class reunion weekend, it's also the weekend for the Schulte reunion. We'll be going to Tolmie Park for a big fish fry at noon today. One of the things they know how to do very well it put on a great feed! It should be a fine time, and with the cooler temperatures it will be much more pleasant.
Here's an update from Thursday's blog. Remember, Zach got a motorcycle on Thursday. I heard that he was told to ride it on the outer perimeter of their property so that he didn't ruin the yard near the house. Well, I'm speculating here, but riding the outer perimeter doesn't give you much opportunity to show everyone what you can do. No one stands way out there to watch! For whatever reason, Zach rode in the yard right by the house, and spun his tires, tearing up the grass and making a rut in the yard. Mom and Dad were not happy. Zach lost his riding privileges for two days. So he won't be riding again until Sunday! I sure hope his Dad remembers how much he rearranged our rocks and grass when he was a younger. Maybe he does remember, and that's why he's on Zach for it, because we cased on him all the time for tearing up the yard and driveway! Looking back, it really didn't matter, but at the time we thought it did. Funny how time changes things.
I was looking at pictures earlier this morning, and just enjoying them so much, I decided to add a few here. Not necessarily because anyone else wants to see them, but I wanted to try adding more than one at a time, just to see how (or IF) it works.






Yes....it does work. I've discovered that I can add up to five pictures at a time. I have yet to figure out how to put them exactly where I want, but I'll keep practicing.
Let me say that the gas price picture was taken last summer, but it's about average for today as well. The next photo was from our Christmas Eve Treeing...we go around catching people off guard and taking pictures of them...wish them Merry Christmas and then go to another victim. It's a lot of fun, and as you can see, Judy was NOT expecting us!