Another Day in Missouri

Here we are on the DuckBoat. We just happened to get the back row seats and they turned out to be the wettest seats. The driver had us count 1-2-3 and SPLASH we went into Tablerock Lake. Ana Maria and I laughed because it cooled us off!

Tablerock Lake. Lots of flat large rocks on the sandy bottom.

She floats!

Boy or girl? Rosemary only looks 8 months pregnant from the side. We are waiting to go into the Show 6. It was fabulous!

Typical girlie girl! Dresses, sandals, jewelry, sunglasses, and a pose!

Happy holiday

Ana Maria and Grandmom have it made in the shade. Silver Dollar City (an amusement park) had lots of shade so that we could enjoy a full day riding rides and watching shows.

Is she tall enough? Ana Maria had to be 36 inches to ride the kiddie rides by herself. She just made it!

Lunch break!

Before the show Sheperd of the Hills, there was a bull frog jumping contest. Lee and Ana Maria's frog came in second place. Ana Maria would NOT touch the frog so Lee handled it.

Lake Taneycomo was the perfect lake for a boat ride. Lee jumped in the cold water and quickly jumped out!

Beautiful Branson

The Ramsey family was in Branson, Missouri in July. We met Rosemary and Ana Maria there. Eduardo was in Florida the same week, recruiting for the Arkansas Mens Tennis Team. We stayed at the Wyndham Falls Resort. Here is our spectacular view of the Ozark Mountains.

This is Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. We took a tram tour, biked and fished. The waterfalls were refreshing.

Ana Maria is spying on butterflies eating strawberries and bananas. This is Butterfly Palace.

The tram ride brought nature right up to us. The deer were not scared of us!

Rosemary is 8 months pregnant. She walked, and walked, and walked. I kept offering to get her a wheelchair but she insisted on the exercise.

Giving Back

Twice a year I like to do arts and crafts with the children at Joe DiMaggion Children's Hospital. It is fun to spend time with them and to see the girls in the Child Life Department. My good friend, Sandy, went with me this day in July. Vivian, Child Life Specialist, is in the middle. Thank you Vivian and Sandy for helping to coordinate this summer activity.

This girl spent alot of time decorating the door hangar.

Here's the 2 crafts we made. Scratch art fish and decorative door hangars.

Happy Birthday Lee

Lee celebrated his 22nd birthday July 9. He went on a shopping spree to West Marine to get items he's been wanting for the boat. Then the family went to Long Horn Steak House. Lee mentioned to the waitress that it was his birthday so they sang him the birthday song and presented him with an ice cream sundae.

Happy Birthday Lee. We love you lots!

Happy 4th

Mmmmm delicious! Shelby is now designated as our official dessert maker for all family get togethers. Here's her latest creation. Red, white and blue cake.

Dodging the rain showers. July 4th rained off and on all day.

Uncle John grilling king fish.

The girls chit chatting.

The boys playing ping pong. Lee was the champ until Uncle John came along. John is the champion for now!

Danka (thank you)

Our trip is about over. The best part of visiting Germany wasn't the magnificent stained glass windows in all the churches.

It wasn't the variety of fresh baked breads.

It wasn't the afternoon coffee and cake.

The BEST part of our trip was spending time with family. Catherine, Cindy and Clemens.

Mothers, daughters, sisters, cousins.

Cathedrals in Koln

We visited the city of Koln to see its many cathedrals. Here is a farmers market in the square below the church towers.

Another river with a train bridge. The Dome Cathedral is in the background.

Another reason to cheer, Clemens (brother in law) is with us in Koln.

You have not tasted a delicious strawberry until you've had one of these. Sarah thinks they were injected with sugar, that's how sweet they are.

We rode planes, buses, subways, and now a train. We have our own personal compartment in first class.

Another Day in Berlin

Our last night in Berlin we ate dinner at an Indian restaurant. We are seated outside and toasting another wonderful day in an awesome city. Our beers are served with cucumber wedges!

Cindy told us that when the Berlin Wall was up everyone who owned a car in East Germany had to have this model. There we no other choices.

Good walking shoes were a must as all the roads were stone.

About to board a river cruise on the Spree River.

One of the many bridges crossing the Spree River. Berlin has more bridges than Venice.

Beautiful Berlin

Another reason to celebrate! We are in Berlin at an outdoor cafe on Midsummer Eve. (The longest day of the year). It was light until about 11:00 pm. Cindy asked the waiter for blankets because it was chilly. That is very common for outdoor cafes to give out blankets.

Sarah is standing in front of one of the few remaining remnants of the Berlin Wall. We visited the Berlin Wall Museum which tells the story of the divided city and Checkpoint Charlie, this marked the border crossing point between the U.S. and Soviet sections of the city.

The Brandenburg Gate symbolizes both the divided city and German reunification. Cindy gave us tours and history lessons!

Berlin's oldest brewery. Cindy ordered us a beer, and look what we got! One liter of beer. It was difficult drinking it all but we forced ourselves to finish it.

A giant, genuine, German pretzel. Will Sarah share it?

Cool Castles

We visited this castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein, high in the Alps on a cold rainy day. It was a magnificent sight to see it rising up out of the fog on the side of the mountain. Walt Disney got his inspiration for the Cinderella Castle at Disney World from this spectacular castle.

Here it is close up as we are walking up a paved trail towards it

The umbrella was my best friend that day!

The walk up to the castle was through a forest, a rain forest!

We saw all of Munich's highlights in one tour on this hop on hop off bus.