Million Dollar Quartet

Melanie and I took a quick break from the boys this weekend to go down to Des Moines to see Million Dollar Quartet at the Civic Center.  It was an awesome show and we had awesome seats.  Both of us would go again if we had the chance.  You can visit their web page here to see where they are playing next, sorry but it's not in this area at least at this point.  Here's a picture from their web page since you can't video or take still photography at the show:

The actors in the show really an sing and they have done their work in studying the personalities of the characters that they play.  They move, sound, and act just like the real characters.  It was a nice night and show.

We also got to meet some new people that were very nice and run a  great Bed & Breakfast for reasonable rates.  Thanks to Steve and Victoria at Victoria's Vineyard Bed & Breakfast, you can visit them online here, for their great hospitality.  With the NCAA Wrestling tournament in town during the weekend it was difficult to get rooms at the hotels so we opted for a B&B for the same price and it was well worth it.  No hotel restaurant can top Victoria's Quiche she's a great cook and worth the stay alone but you'll love the stay as well.  The B&B has a great little walk through the property to a pond, which Steve confirmed had great big bass if your bring your rod.  There is also all other kinds of wildlife include some red foxes, a great horned owl, and lots of deer.  We didn't get to see the first two but we did see the deer running through the adjacent woods in the morning flashing their white tails.  The best part is it's easy to find and a quiet reserve just outside the hustle of all the activities of Des Moines.

We were happy to see the boys and hear of their exploits with Pa and Deb over the weekend - apparently they learned to sew which I am sure will be the highlight of a future blog post.

Bottom line:  Get yourself to this show!

Date Night

Saturday night.  We had our family meal & Joe is out the back door running.  To a girl.  He's set up date night at the coffee shop. Geez.  What did I let him do?  The dog is still sitting behind me staring out the front window.  He wonders why he ran off.  Poor dog.  A first of many moments to come for that poor puppy. And parents.

At the Races!!

Tigers: Landon & BJ

Joseph Racing

Hunter, Joe, Seth & Bradley

So excited he was coming out of his seat!

4th place in Pack!

TIGERS!!

Family Fun Night at SLMS

Native American village diorama ~ Social Studies project

Minute to Win It...pencil catching

Nervous?  Nah!

Bridge Building Contest

Who can build a Lego bridge that can support 3 green bean cans?

Swim with the Big Boys

This was Ben's last dive of the season.  I am so glad I got a shot of it.  It was a big meet in Carroll, but not many of the Whitecaps made it.  Ben swam up 2 age levels to complete a relay team with Joe's group.  He was overjoyed to help out and I think it was his best 50 freestyle of the season.  I don't know if I have ever seen him more worn out.

Ben's Birthday with the Boys

Spotting eagles on the Little Sioux

Fossil Hunt

Making Pet Rocks

Thank goodness we took some time to drop by Katie van der Linden's office at Buena Vista County Park.  Acorn, a screech owl, had just finished her lunch...check out her beak!  

Stare Contest

This was a big accomplishment.  He may SAY he wants a snake, but he certainly did NOT want to hold  one.

All the boys were able to feed a worm to the snakes in her office.  

There are three turtles that spend the winter in the basement.  One is a snapper!

Great boys.  I look at this and think about their future.  Who will be a quarterback, artist, musical lead, scientist or comedian?  Storm Lake, watch out!