Worlds of Fun On a Blistering Hot Day!!!

Ok, go back a day or two. Remember the Barbie stewardess in Toy Story who was riding in the car and was waving and saying bye now, buh bye, byyyye byyyye, that's all, bye bye and holding her hand just so the entire time. (Think Barbie voice) Well, that's the wave the boys were giving me going around in circles on their trustworthy steeds!
A little Barbie wave from Stephanie with the good arm.
Us'uns girls tried to catch them boys in their toy, but dawg gone it, ours just didn't have the stuff. We managed to get the nerds taking pictures of us though!
I sure hope if you click on the above picture it will reopen in the larger size because in the very front seat was Stephanie and Greg. They rode ALL the roller coasters! She enjoyed them all and her fav was the Patriot.
This was the old Finnish Fling that's been there since day one I think. Even Ethan finally got in the action on this one. By then I was down at the picnic tables holding multiple stuffed animals, drink bottles, camera, purse, and other stuff, so I didn't get him in this thing. Greg said it's a good ride to pull the hair off your legs. humph!

That Sunday we were there was the hottest day of the year and I swore I won't ever do that again. Might as well go out and lay in the street naked on pavement on a hot day, at least it's right out your front door and doesn't cost an arm and a leg to park your vehicle.

As you can see by the dates in the pictures, I'm slowly catching up. Not there yet.

I've got a new book to start, well actually two. Randy Pausch's, The Last Lecture and The Ends of the Earth by Ken Follet. One easy reader, one not. Judging by the time I can't start them tonight either. Ahhhh, such is life.

The rest of the sites

Pictures of Cape to share. The top 2 are of the murals painted on the flood walls of the riverfront. The wall is over 7000 feet long I think and the murals depict Cape's history and famous Missourians on the Wall of Fame. It's really interesting if it's not one of the hottest days of the year to visit. You can see how high the floods were during different years. Of course '93 topped them all. The bottom two were on the back side of the levee wall.

On from there we traveled to Burfordville, where only 1 of a few covered bridges are still standing in Missouri. Very nice off the beaten path kind of place. Only take the tour if you're really interested in history of the mill, it lasts almost an hour!

Another hot spot was Elephant Rocks State Park. If you're in to hiking and climbing and big honkin' rocks....GO, you'll have a great time. I didn't get into the whole elephant thing so I didn't get the best picture of the "elephant". If you study the picture below, you can make out the elephant and his ears/trunk in the red rock to the left.

We've had quite the busy schedule and finally I think we're settling in to our school routine. Ethan is not going out for football, so fall should be a little more relaxed for us. Maybe I can catch some craft shows, Hatton anyone?

Hopefully, I'll get the rest of the pictures posted this weekend and get up to the first day of school this past week. Stephanie really likes her teacher and Ethan uh, well not so fun when you're an 8th grader and all the fun stuff has been taken out by a drill seargent of a principal. 'nough said.

Till next time, Lana

Continuing on....

A little chubby baby anyone? Maybe it's a Kempf thing? Or is this just a good pic to hold over them someday! lol! The girls and Elaine had to head back home after a awesomely fun week! Even though we hate to see them leave, it was time to prepare for the weekend as we headed to Chaffee Missouri to play in the Junior Babe Ruth 13 year old State Tournament. This was Ethan's first year to be housed. When players at this age go to State, Regionals or Nationals, they have host families who volunteer to house the boys. The tournament saw a lot of rain off and on and one afternoon lightening struck the ground behind 2nd base. It burnt the grass and made a hole in the ground. The hole was very hot for quite a while afterward.

If you ever go to Cape Girardeau down in the bootheel, you have to go see some of the sites. They have a beautiful bridge spanning the Mississippi, especially the night pictures.
St. Vincents is on the trail as you walk towards the bridge. You have to fight the "skeeters" and take this walk. It is lighted and so close to the river and with everything lit up....it's just the coolest. More site pictures next time.

Changes

It's almost time for school to start and I didn't get ANY of the July pics up yet. Sooooo.... I am going to try over the next week or so to post lots of pics and what's been going on with us. First up in July was Bible School. Stephanie went to the Luthern & Catholic Church Bible Schools this year. She went to the Luthern Church with her day care provider. Maggie was having a great time, getting into all the songs! Then, that same night we hopped in the car just as soon as the last song was sung and just in time as Ethan was on the field for A & W. His team finished 1st place this year. It was nice to finally be a part of a winning team for once. This is what you could find Stephanie doing at brother's ball games. Building volcano's with dirt, leaves, and rocks, arm cast and all. Speaking of casts, Stephanie's cousin broke her arm just a couple days later. Here they are sporting their matching arm wear. The next several are of cousin time. Greg's sister Elaine, and her two girls Lauren and Mackenzie came in for a week from Arizona. As you can see, it's MUCHO FUNNO at the Kempf's when the cousins get together! I know there are 30+ some cousins, plus the cousins kids. Let's see if I can name them all.....


I'll start in no particular order and you can count them yourself! lol! Mitch, Gina, Haley, Krista, Michael M., Kyle, Melissa M, Parker, Xavier, Kelly, Nick, Julie, Justin, Nicole, David, Grace, Lindsay, Josh, Heidi, Michael K, Hendrick, Philip, Elizabeth, Margaret, Brad, Tracy, Melissa K, Jordan, Pat, Amy, Asher, Cory, Abby, Nathan, Dustin, Dale, Ashley, Danny, Melanie, Tyler, Debbie, Chris, Cole, Kim, Kristen, Aaron, Lauren, Mackenzie, Kayla, Becca, Bruce, Zach, Ethan, and Stephanie. There are currently 3 more that I know of coming in the next 6 months! Add to this Greg's sisters and brothers and spouses....Mary, George, David Candy, Darryl, Nancy, Jerry, Denise, Linda, Eddie, Carol, John S., Elaine, Mike, Chris, Roylene, John, Cheryl, Charlie, Greg, and me, Lana. Harold and Mary Ann. That's a lot of people when we all get together. That's just immediate family folks!!!! We only have a few repeats on names imagine that! The angels among us are Michael Monnig, David Kempf, and Mary Ann.

Ok, till next time, that's enough. Test on names next week!