Miner Mike's

After a couple days at Grandma and Grandpa's, we needed a new place to burn off more energy.  We headed to Miner Mike's Indoor Family Fun Center (got the official name off their website) at nearby Lake of the Ozarks.  It turned out to be the perfect place.  Part of it was a huge climbing maze.

It was only at our last couple of visits to McDonald's playlands that Jeremiah became brave enough to climb around in tunnels, especially if other kids were around.  I wondered how he would do in this huge place, but he did great!  Either Tony or I would go with him once or twice on a particular route, and then he would set off all on his own.  I was glad--climbing in those tunnels is hard on the knees!

 He had a hard time wading through the balls at first, but he eventually got the hang of it.

This slide was probably his favorite thing.  Each cylinder rolls independently, and it was FAST!  All of us tried it out--even Grandma and Grandpa.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Joshua spent a lot of time in this area, launching balls across a big opening to a similar platform on the other side.

They also tried out the many tunnels and tornado slides, but my camera battery was getting low, so I had to conserve pictures.

After a couple hours in the maze area, we went out to explore the rest of the place.  There was a small roller coaster:

 (I know it's blurry, but I liked the action of it.)

a small ferris wheel:

 and bumper cars:

There were also arcade games.  Each boy was given a few tokens as we entered, so they played till those were gone.

It was a great way to spend a HOT day.  I imagine we'll go again next summer!



Where Was I?

My goodness, I sure seem to blog in spurts.  Here is some more of our Missouri trip!

On Monday and Tuesday, Tony built some shelves in my mom's garage.  It's a shame I didn't photograph the finished product.

Also on Monday, we went to see Cars 2.  We also had fun playing around at Grammy's house with cousin Alec.

Making a tent under the built-in desk:

Playing Qwirkle:

Playing walkie-talkies:

On Tuesday, we went to the gym at Grammy's church to burn off some energy.  We played floor hockey and basketball and ran races.  Joseph and I beat Alec and Joshua in 2 out of 3 relay races.  By the third race, age caught up with me and our winning ended!

Tuesday afternoon we headed up to St. Louis to visit the Campbell cousins.  Joseph and Noah enjoyed scootering around the block.

 The weather was actually pleasant the first few days of our trip, so we enjoyed hanging out outside:

 Silly faces:

 I think these two might be flashing gang signs:

Wednesday we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's.  While we were there, we had water gun fights:

(I use the term "we" loosely. Rule #1 of water gun fighting is "Don't shoot Mommy.")

 

We shot off fireworks:

and shot Grandpa's pellet gun (or maybe it's Daddy's.  I don't know.  It lives in Versailles.):

We also went to Miner Mike's, but that's a whole other post for another time.

Lunch at a rest stop on our way back to South Carolina.  The weather was no longer pleasant!



Fishing

This post is going to have an obnoxious number of pictures.  I had a hard time narrowing it down to "just" these!

After feeding the donkeys, we headed to my cousin LuAnne and Roger's house to visit and give the boys an opportunity to fish in their well-stocked pond.

My cousin Rachael and family (including triplets Joseph's age) were up visiting from Florida.  The boys had not seen each other in years, but jumped right into Pokemon conversation around the DS's as if they hang out on a regular basis:

Soon, it was time for the main attraction:

Bless Roger's heart--there were clearly more kids than adults, so he was scrambling at the beginning to help everyone get their hooks baited and be ready to go.  Then he became the adult in charge of Joshua--helping him learn to cast and reel:

Clearly, Joshua wasn't watching where his hook was.  It's a good thing Roger was!

Meanwhile, Tony was in charge of Jeremiah, who was determined to catch a fish:

"Hi, Mom!"

Tony held the rod while Jeremiah reeled:

(Let's pause for a minute and count all the cars in the driveway in the picture above.  It reminds me of trips to Nanny's house just a few miles south of here when I was a kid.  By the time everyone in the family showed up, there'd be a big row of cars in the parking area.)

Jeremiah was ready to try a new fishing spot after having no success here:

This little bridge wasn't any better for them:

Let's check on Joseph, who is pretty self-sufficient, except for baiting hooks:

 Meanwhile, Joshua caught a fish!

and another:

 (This is Joshua's shy face, because David was taking the picture while I was off checking out the neighbor's extensive daylily garden.)

and another!

 Joshua tied with one of Rachael's boys (Aaron, I think) for most fish caught by a kid.

Tony got him to touch a fish, but he wouldn't kiss it.

Jeremiah remained determined to catch a fish, but this was made more difficult by Daddy stopping to help Joshua release his.  So, when Rachael caught a fish nearby and wanted help getting it off the hook, I hatched a plan.  With the fish on the hook but held underwater, she brought the rod around and gave it to Jeremiah.  When he started reeling it in, he discovered he had a fish!

Have I mentioned the dock could get crowded?

By this point, Joseph was the only kid who hadn't caught a fish.  He wasn't about to give up, though.

Finally, Joseph had a bite that didn't get away:

 He didn't want to kiss his, either:

After all the kids had gone inside, the dads (and grandfather) stayed out, trying to catch a big bass that had eluded them all day.  It had escaped from them numerous times, and they were determined to get it.

(I like to call this picture "How many 40 year olds does it take to catch a fish?"  All three dads turned 40 in March.)

Sadly, this is the closest they came in their quest for the big bass:

Uncle Jay's Donkeys

One of our many activities in Missouri last week was visiting my Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Jay.  While there, the boys helped Uncle Jay feed his miniature donkeys.

Not even Jeremiah was intimidated by the whole thing.  You'd think they all feed donkeys on a regular basis.

Uncle Jay told the older two boys that they were the first to hand-feed the donkey on the right.  He was a pretty new acquisition.

 By the end of the loaf of bread, everyone (donkeys included) had had enough!