The Perils of Being Rough & Tumble!

Last night the Duttons were out enjoying the evening breeze and extremely pleasant weather. We like to go outside into the yard whenever possible because Sam LOVES to be outside. LOVES IT! Unfortunately, the temperatures as of late have been too hot for him to play in the yard (thank you very much global climate change!) Yesterday was an exception as the temperature was about 70◦ F. It was the kind of day that is just too good to be true. But to the point of the matter. We were playing in the front yard with the oversized Superman ball when Sir Hugh fell and scratched his face. Ouch! Take a look at this. Not what you want to see.

Fortunately it looks worse than it is and Sam got up cried for a few moments and then promptly told his mother that he was fine. Probably because he knew that we would be going inside now for the evening. I told you that the kid loves the outside. So into the house to get the Neosporin and to clean him up. As with all little dudes who get the occasional boo boo, he had a miraculous recovery when it was snacktime! The Powerbar has magical healing powers....did you kow that?

A Weekend in IN.

So last weekend we traveled north to the lovely town of Marion, Indiana. We were reminded upon entering the state how flat it is for the most part. Apparently it is also "the" place for growing either corn or soy beans or both. Mile after mile of nothing but flat horizons and crops of corn/soy. Now Richmond is not the mountains by any means, but it does have its rolling dales. Where we live you can see the foothills of the Appalachians (pronounced apple "latch" uns, I hate it when they add the long "A" sound.) Long story short, KY = variety of terrain, IN = so flat you can stand in KY and see into Michigan. But enough of that.

The reason we traveled north was to visit Tiffy's grandma, Bonnie (Sam's great-grandma.) She and Junior (grandma's feller who lives in IN) were there for a few days and we took the opportunity to go see them.

Tiffy and I had been there before and really enjoyed sitting in the cool breeze in the evening for a good chat. We call it "porch sittin'" and it is a bit of a tradition for us.

We really had a good visit that even included some shopping. Sam really enjoyed the fact that everyone and their neighbor were still displaying their American flags. It seemed that everyone had one in front of their house...Junior included.

Sam is a bit obsessed with the flag right now and by "a bit" I mean totally. He took every opportunity to point out every flag he saw between Richmond and Marion. There were quite a few.

It was relaxing way to spend a weekend. The travel time wasn't that bad...it took us about 4.5 hours, the company was good, & Sam made out like a bandit. Grandma Bonnie had bought him so many toys it was like Giftmas in July. But I suppose that is what being a grandparent/great-grandparent is all about. Thanks Grandma Bonnie!

The Fourth, The Friends, The Food, The Fun, & The Fifth?!

Now I know what you are thinking? What did he do to need to plead the Fifth? That's not what I meant. I meant that this year's Independence with The Duttons spilled over into a great July 5th. Largely in part to the visitation of Kendra Dyer and her daughter Abby. You see, Kendra is a friend of the family from NoVa (she and I co-taught ESOL Science together for 3 years at Sandburg and have managed to keep in touch.) She and Abby were on their way to GA to visit family and I convinced them to take a detour through the Richmond area to enjoy the festivities at Rancho Duttonero. Let's just say that we didn't disappoint. This year we invited a record crowd to enjoy our special brand of excitement. We invited the Dillons, Johnsons, Arringtons, Bushes, Woolums, and of course the aforementioned Dyers. We estimated 25 - 30 visitors (actual turnout was closer to 20) and decided it would be better to let someone else do the cooking. We weighed our options and decided to go with Qdoba. We needed food for the masses. They cater...seemed a logical deduction. We ordered the Nacho Bar for 30 people. Now the funny thing is that when Tiffy went to pick up the food...they gave us extra...NICE. We not only got the chicken...but steak, queso, extra chips, and brownies....and the people rejoiced! We had so much food that I am sad to say some of it was donated to the trash. But enough of that sad talk...not only were the fireworks great, the volleyball extravaganza that was the prelude was outstanding. The only damper came when a passing shower ended the game prematurely (as if we were actually keeping score) and forced the competitors to go back for another helping of nachos...what a pity!

(For those of you who are wondering about the fireworks, please see the entry for last July 4th entitled "Fireworks Sans The Traffic. Oh yeah, this year all of the pictures are real!) No fakes!

So our celebration of the Fourth was a huge success and is quickly becoming a standing tradition. That is good because ask anyone...I like tradition. You just don't mess with it. But on to the rest of this entry. The fun didn't stop with the fireworks. When Kendra and Abby confirmed their visit to the Rancho, we decided to surprise them with a limo ride around the town complete with lunch and a trip to the Kentucky Horse Park...this venue will be host to the 2010 World Equestrian Games! This of course was all made possible thanks to our neighbor Gary and Elite Limo Service (see previous entry "Eight Is Not Enough.") Here we see Sir Hugh as he is escorted to the car by Miss Abby. (Let me just add that Sam was smitten with Abby and even shed tears for her on an occasion!)

Here we see the lovely Miss Abby as she is about to embark on her ride in style around the greater Lexington area.
Once inside we see the "celebrities" of the day enjoying the finer points of limo transportation.
Of course no expense was spared to ensure that Sir Hugh had custom seating complete with his favorite treats.
Onward we went to the Kentucky Horse Park where there was....well...horses. But not just horses, famous horses, statues of horses, horses for petting, horses for riding...you get the point.




After the park, we went to a lovely lunch at one of our favorite places, Max & Erma's where we enjoyed good food and conversation. We then wrapped up the outing with a trip to Grater's Ice Creamery...I had the Strawberry Sorbet (lactose free) & keeping with tradition...Sam had a nap.