Sunday Flyers

I returned from Cedar Falls Friday afternoon after stopping at the new Cabela's in Omaha for an hour. What a store!! They have nearly as many animals there (stuffed) as the Omaha Zoo.

Saturday was gorgeous, so I siezed the day and put up the x-mas lights.

Today was even better than yesterday, so CP & I got out and flew some wind-up planes in the new development to the south. The Stuka & Super Cub did not do very well, but the dorky looking Lancer flew like grampa. CP tried it, but found that he liked running the camcorder better than winding the rubber band. Afterwards, we went to Hobbytown to check out RC trainers. I told Santa about them, but she laughed in my face. How heartbreaking.



 

Iowa

We spent the weekend in Dez Moynez with our old neighbors from Woodstock. They have family there, so we decided to meet up and let the kids swim, swim, swim... Friday night a blizzard blew through and left a few inches of sticky white stuff all over. Every sign post and tree was platered. Fortunately, we went out Saturday AM and had nothing but blue skies to accent the snow.

DesMoines has an incredible mall!! We went there for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, but decided that the 30 minute wait with 6 kids would not be prudent. We opted for supper at the food court. The kids had burgers & fries, and the grownups had some tasty Panera chow. After dinner we poked around the mall. I wish Nebraska had a mall like DesMoines. Pottery Barn, Coach, J. Jill, etc. The Scheele's there was the same as Lincoln's, but the tree in the middle is an Oak (vs. Redwood) and they have a floatplane hanging from the ceiling.

Sunday I parted ways with the family and took a rental car from DesMoines up to Cedar Falls, which looks like it is very close to DesMoines, but is not. I stopped in Boone to see if I could see the fantastic Boone & Scenic Valley RR bridge, but I only had my Iowa road map and didn't feel like getting lost/stuck on a dirt road as the sun set. I did manage to find the train depot, which was closed. Maybe next time I'm in Boone, I'll take more time and find it.

I'm in Cedar Falls for a week-long LabView training class. It's making my head spin, but that's not always a bad thing. I'm looking forward to going home, but it's a 5.5 hour drive, and the company truck doesn't have cruise control...

This web site has some nice photos of the Boone & Scenic RR: http://www.pbase.com/gazeboy96/boonerr

Week of Nov. 6

Katrina sits on her perch, waiting for a scratch or to pounce on the dog.







JP is getting a head start on her x-mas carrols. 

Bear Lake

Today was spectacular - total sunshine and NO WIND. We had a heavy frost, but by 9:30 am it was warm enough to go in short sleeves. I stopped by Bear Lake which is a Nebraska public land site where I go fishing on the way home. Nebraska is blessed with lots of open public lands. Not as much as Arizona or Utah, but a bit more than Illinois. Anyway, I was able to shoot a few frames with my new camera in the daylight. What fun! I tried my luck with the fly rod, but I think the fish were too busy enjoying the nice weather. There were some guys there from Kentucky that had come here to shoot deer. One took a nice doe with his bow. The crows were really noisy - either someone in a tree stand, or an owl. Seems like the crows are always noisy at this place.
 
 
  

Halloween

Sunday it was in the mid 80's. Last night for trick or treating it was below freezing. At least it wasn't windy.

The boys had fun until they got cold and tired, which was a relief, because we were cold and tired, too.

CP went as a Clone Trooper, and GP was a Power Ranger. I went as a longshoreman, and JP went as an antarctic explorer with all her warm clothes.

Jen's mom helped us finished up the bathroom. The old mirror sans frame is on the wall, but it looks awful; it's too small now. We will have to call a mirror guy to bring us a nice big one.

JP's mom & gramma bought us a piano today - we should have it here in a few days. It will finish our living room, finally. We have been living in this big empty feeling house. We are slowly filling it up, but it's more difficult than I thought it would be.