Go Fly A Kite!

With so many devices on which humans can now take pictures, it's no surprise that some get by me. 

These pictures were on G'ma's phone and I loaded them to our computer last month when we took family pics.  Didn't look thru them other than the family photos... until tonight.

This was back in late Spring or early Summer when we were up at G'ma and G'pa's house.  We went over to G'mas sister Karen's house to visit and Marlen had a little surprise for the boys. His kites.

One is the standard run of the mill kite that you would get kids knowing that they would likely soon after have it ruined.  The other was a big daddy of a kite complete with the long tails n' such.

Very cool.

Not as cool was the fact that the wind was very intermittent so while getting the kite up off of the ground was not a huge challenge, keeping it there or elevating it higher, was.

One of the better runs!

Marlin doing the old between the leg flying the kite trick... or something.  That's me in the background with Caleb trying to get the other kite launched.  The big kite fared much better.

And so it went for a while until we all got damp (it was sprinkling on and off too) and tired. 

Vacation Post 12 - Black Hills Caverns

I'll get thru all of these vacation photos yet... you just watch me!

This time we're due West of Rapid City SD at the Black Hills Caverns which are a privately owned enterprise, but wonderfully maintained and quite fun, if I don't say so myself.

On this tour was our party of five, Me, Momma, Robby, Caleb and Aunt Molly joined by another dad and his two kids. One of which could out talk Robby and proved it all the way thru the hike.

This is the bridge over the creek outside of the mouth of the cave entrance...  somewhat obvious.

And we soon start our descent.

Not too many of these types of hairy passages, but it was nice that they did everything in their power to help you maintain your footing.  Note the rubbery mats on the ground around Molly's feet.

That's the back of Mom and Mollys head at the bottom of the photo.  This was the narrowest of all the passages and they also requested that you not touch the wall, which was really hard to adhere too and also really hard on my back. Thankfully, it did not take very long to get thru here.

Not down far enough yet?  Note the railings at the top of the photo. That's where we just came from.

Really cool to see these signs every so often, or at least until it soaked into my thick skull that we now have to go up 225 feet!!

And so the ascent begins...

I don't have many pictures of the ascent because it's a loop inside of the cave.  You go a ways into it before encountering a fork in the road, so to speak.  The first tour goes one direction, and the next tour goes the other direction and then your cross paths roughly half way thru the loop.  Meaning, you see that first part of the cave twice, once while entering, and again while exiting.

Once back with the living, Robby and Molly signed us in the guestbook and are filling out a survey card.

And while they're doing that, Caleb RongBo catches a rest in the old office chair.

Vacation Post 11 - Reptile Gardens (Rapid City, SD)

Today we find ourselves in the fine city of Rapid City, South Dakota. 

We did a few things there, not the least of which was eat at the Fireside Brewery in downtown Rapid City. We also went to the Black Hills Caverns (next post on the docket) and the Reptile Gardens.  Probably not one of my more desired stops, but I do recall being there with my family at one point while I was in High School.  I didn't recall that until we got inside the walls and "stuff" started coming back to me.

I think the boys enjoyed it although Caleb was concerned a few times!

The varmints in front of the giant turtles.

The boys petting one of the giant turtles along with several other lads.

What warrants a concerned look like this from the Chinaman?? 

The snake show!  That's what...  He was revved up once this was over and he realized that he would not perish.

I walked since Molly, Momma and the boys went to the Croc show almost immediately after the snake show.  My back can only take so much metal bleachers.  This fellas job was a bit more tense as he had to be aware of what was coming up behind him and from the sides.  At all times!

Robby in the red sweatshirt petty the baby crocodile.

Randomness...

Nothing to say tonight other than I'm tired and looking forward to the weekend..

I'm not finished with vacation blog posts yet and then I have stuff like some Adventureland pics, a second vaca that we took on a long weekend to Apple Creek Wisconsin, and other stuff that I'm simply forgetting about.

On to some random pics from the Good Woman's phone.

Happy boy! He discovered a new container of tomatoes!!

A wonderful Caprese pizza that I made at my sister's house one night.  It's blurry, but it's crust, olive oil with finely chopped garlic as the sauce.  Red and yellow cherry/grape tomatoes.  Fresh basil and fresh mozzarella with pink sea salt and rainbow pepper on top.  The darker looking stuff is a balsamic vinegar reduction drizzled across the top, because I'm fancy that way!

This was a fun night at my cousins house.  The boys had a blast playing together until the tornado sirens roared and we drove home to beat the storm.

An oldie but a goodie.  The picture, not Molly!   Zing!!!

Nobody, but nobody can make faces like this boy! 

The Mobile Chaos Unit

Pictures taken on September 26th, 2014.

Pictures taken on September 6th, 2009.  Two years and two months before welcoming Caleb into our family.

Kinda makes you wonder...

This photo kinda makes you wonder what they've been up too, or possibly, what they've just planned!

Crazy Hair / Sock Day

The week prior to having school pictures taken, they schedule crazy hair / crazy sock day.  So Robby is on us like a bitin' sow for dying his hair some crazy color(s). 

Not gonna happen...

My sister Doris has some wigs from past Halloween costumes and lends them to the cause. Rob is HOT at first but eventually comes around.

Good thing too, because his teacher determined he was too much of a distraction and made him put the wig away for the day. That would have been tough to do with dyed hair!!

Calebber with the red wig, green swimming trunks and a nice orange pull-over with un-matching socks.  He told me he got called a girl a few times.  I like teaching moments like that.

Robby with his "throw-back" Steven Jackson jersey, blue, pink and white shorts, with a pink and yellow sock.  Oh, and the wig.  Awesome!

The lads together prior to their unveiling.