Springfield

It was good to see my eldest bro, C, and his wife. Here they are with their first grandchild. We visited with them and their oldest son and wife.

Here's a pic of the J, J and K at Silver Dollar City.

"A" visited my neice's family in Branson while IncredibleDrivingMan and I did laundry and shopped. (I think he was really trying hard to be accommodating and helpful in light of celebrating 25 years together. We drove down to see the new house my neice and hubby are building - almost complete, much needed space for the four kids - and tour the new Branson Landing. We also got to see her dad, my second brother, B, before he goes on his second missions trip to Ukraine.

I enjoyed an early hike with J in the Ozark Mountains. We rose at 5 a.m. to get the hike finished before the heat set in, then we all hit the road for a day at Silver Dollar City. A and I took a number of runs on Wildfire while B chose to only ride non-roller coasters.

Friday was Float Trip day. Four adults and the three oldest boy cousins hit the north fork of the White River. It wasn't a lengthy float, but had enough rapids to keep it fun and enough stops to keep it interesting. We took our time, had lunch on a gravel bar and another break beside Althea Spring. I had a close encounter with a copperhead snake but survived unscathed. Some of us (myself included) also took an icy dip in the cold spring fed pool. Then Jill and I and the boys body surfed the rapids. The boys were more bouyant so didn't contact the rocks like we older girls. We both have bruises. All the younger boys wanted to float the last mile in the river but only the youngest held out in the cold spring fed temps.

Next week I will post more pics of the hike and float trip, along with blogs about our vow renewal ceremony and scenic drive home through Grand Tetons, Yellowstone and Glacier.