A Visit From a Country Mouse

My mom hails from Eagleville, MO. One sister, Velda, still lives there and another one, Betty Jo (aka BJ), lives in Bethany, MO. Both towns are just south of the Iowa state line. My cousin, Brent (BJ's son), lives in Bethany, too. So does his son, Calvin. Calvin is just a few months older than Chase and the boys always have a good time at family get togethers up in the country where BJ calls them "the country mouse and the city mouse." We've been inviting Calvin to the big city for some time and this year, he finally took us up on our offer! He stayed for a week and I think enjoyed all of the activities of city life but still missed mom and dad in the evening when things slowed down. In addition to the activities pictured below, Calvin enjoyed shopping at Oak Park Mall, riding the mini bike, fishing, football camp, golfing, going to the movies, and generally watching the dynamics between Chase and his three older sisters. After one particularly heated exchange, I asked Calvin, "Aren't you glad you're an only child?" and he said, "Yes, Ma'am!!!" We're hoping that by next summer he'll be ready to come back again....it might take him that long to recover!

Quote from BJ when she saw this picture, "You know you're a red neck when you wear a camo baseball cap in the swimming pool!" "Like father, like son," I say. Brent wore a cap just like this every day and night during a recent hospital stay!

The boys spent some time at Anthony's shooting up the woods. Never fear, no wildlife was harmed or injured during this outing! (Although Calvin did pick a starling off the power line next to our property his first night in town. I don't know who was more surprised...me or him!!!)

Boys and their firearms!

When they came in for a break, Calvin and Chase enjoyed romping with this cute little guy! Tristan enjoyed it as much as they did!

I think the day we spent at Power Play was by far Calvin's (and Chase's and Marissa's) favorite. It's a gigantic indoor play center with every kind of arcade game you can imagine...Dance, Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero (my personal favorites) included. They also have a roller coaster, bumper cars, and go carts. I lost count how many times the kids raced these. Looks like Marissa's in the lead...watch it, boys!