I haven't done our trip to Washington D.C. yet because of a slight discord between the three cameras that we used and the extra work it will take to go through our 850 pictures.
Rookie mistake... it won't happen again.
So, while I'm jacking around with vacation photos, here's what we did the weekend after we got back from vacation.
You see, we had big plans last year to go over to the Western edge of Iowa and visit Grandma Pat and Arney (I have no idea if that's spelled correctly, but I hope that it is). It didn't happen last year due to who knows what. Then, we were to visit earlier this year when Arney's daughter became ill and unfortunately, ultimately died.
So, as it is, we finally got it on the schedule for August this year, even though it was only 6 days after a rather taxing drive from Wheeling, WV.
So be it. It was fun and had to happen, and so it did.
We drove to Elk Point, SD, on Friday night after work. We had Aunt Molly in tow and were to meet Grandma and Grandpa at the hotel in Elk Point where we would regain possession of our wiley beast, Rosey.
That part of the plan went great, with the exception of my back. You see, I have a back that I would call... oh, tempermental, lets say. On about the last 20 - 25 miles of the drive, my back was going crazy and had me nervous about what was to transpire once I got out of the vehicle.
Turns out, it ended up being "fine" but there were some moments, lets call them.
So we were reunited with the beast, and the next morning we drove to the Dakota Dunes, SD to visit Uncle Ken and Aunt Pam. We had a good visit and then hit the pool.
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| Somebody's in the pool. I wonder who that could be? |
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| Ahhhhhhh... aqua man! Mister Robby, Pool Master, Sir-Swims-A-Lot, Moist-man, or whatever you want to call him. The kid will not, possibly cannot, pass up an opportunity to spend time in a pool. Today was no different even though Dad informed him that I was not to go swimming due to the aforementioned back woes. |
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| Here's Small Chinese Boy with Larger American Boy on a flotation device. Robby did a great job of floating/driving around the pool and managing the craft so that Caleb, who is unsure of such devices, would be as safe as possible. Robby was also tasked with the burden of toting Calebber McCheese to the edge of the pool in the event of a raft disaster. |
So after the swimming, we went back upstairs for a fantastic lunch before settling our full bellies onto the soft chairs to watch the golf tourney prior to leaving for Akron, Iowa.
We arrive in Akron after a, thankfully, uneventful drive and manage to find Pat & Arney's on the first try.
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| Here we are in the "commons" of Pat & Arney's apartment complex. Aunt Molly appears to not be buying whatever it is that Grandpa Jim is selling. If memory serves me correctly, it's a cell phone that they're looking at and I'm guessing that Molly was attempting to teach the proverbial old dog some new tricks. |
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| At dinner! The second time in five hours that we were fed like kings! |
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| After dinner, as is Grandma Pat's wont, she took the Schmitz boys for a walk around Akron which included a park (kinda muddy so the varmints didn't get to play much) and a stroll down main street. I did tell her the story of JB and I playing pool listening to Hank Williams Sr. and grandpa telling me the story of some song that he would play over and over and over. Much to the chagrin of Grandma Pat. She said, "It wasn't the song so much, but he played EVERYTHING so loud!". That's gold. Not only gold, but would have been great ammunition for his daughters growing up if they had only knew! :-) (note: we're long overdue for another battle on the pool table and that paragraph nearly made it ache!). |
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| After our walk, the St. Louis Schmitz's... well, Robby and Daddy, were captured for a photo op with Grandma Marlene. |
That about wraps up our weekend in Western Iowa/Eastern South Dakota. The odd part is, we took three cameras with us and they never left the vehicle.
Oh, and have you ever heard of a food called Scrapple?
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