Foley, MO

Sunday was spent at Dan and Sandy's. They have such a nice set up. 20 acres in the middle of nowhere.....so peaceful.

We picked up Ruth about 10:30 that morning, then took her out to breakfast at Denny's. Corey's first Denny's experience....he ordered the "Smiley Face Pancakes" and did a really good job on finishing almost all of them. Unfortunately, we had some loud mouthed obnoxious man sitting behind us. He was there with his "girlfriend" and her son and it was quite obvious that he was trying to impress her. He kept talking about how they were going to have a "manly" breakfast and that milk was a sissy drink and on and on and on. It was so annoying. It never fails...no matter where we go, we always get stuck next to someone annoying.

The day definately improved once we got to Sandy's. Corey got to ride the miniature horses, as well as go for a ride on Uncle Dan's tractor and a ride on Lauren's boyfriend's 4 wheeler. He had so much fun! He really liked the 4 wheeler. He was riding with Jerry, who foolishly let him steer without holding on and Corey found the gas button and pushed it and the 4 wheeler took off and did a little bit of a wheelie! I missed the whole thing because I had gone inside briefly, but apparently, the look on Jerry's face was pretty priceless! It was lots of fun playing with the puppies that Sandy is raising. Bichon Frise, Brussels, and another breed that I can't remember. I never thought that I would be interesting in a small, little tiny dog, but they were awfully cute! I know I held the one little one for quite a while. Jerry told me not to get any ideas. Seriously, I would love to have one of the little things, but I don't know if I remember how to raise a dog. Corey would love it, that's for sure.

I got to shoot a gun for the first time in my life. A 20 gauge shotgun - it's Sandy's gun - it was heavy. I was pretty scared at first, then I got over it and following Dan's instructions to shoot. Unfortunately, I didn't quite have the barrel sitting in the right place on my shoulder because when I pulled the trigger, it kicked back pretty good and freaked me out. I knew instantly that my arm was going to be sore! I would have tried again, but I knew my limitations at that point. I wanted Jerry to get a picture, but he was so worried about me hurting myself, that he didn't take the picture. So, I shot the gun, but don't have any proof!

I did much better on the 4 wheeler. It was an automatic, so I didn't have to worry about shifting. After I rode it a few times to get comfortable, I took Corey for a ride. It was definately fun!

It was also windy enough for kite flying. Corey got a kite for his birthday last year and has been bugging us to fly it. On a whim I grabbed it before we left and I'm glad I did. It was a cheap little kite, but it flew great! Until of course, the wind died and it plummeted to the ground.

We had a really nice dinner of BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, cucumbers and strawberry shortcake for dessert. Yummy! Dan and Sandy both are excellent grillers.

Our ride home was interesting. Corey was whipped from all the activities and barely made it out of the driveway before he was asleep. We made it just across the JB Bridge when he woke up and started crying. I crawled into the back seat to comfort him, and it turned into a hysteria-fest! I guess maybe he woke up and didn't know where he was and was tired and didn't want to be sitting in the carseat.....whatever it was, he was hysterical the rest of the way home (about 15 or so minutes). I finally got him out of the car seat and tried holding him but he had hyperventilated at this point and was having trouble getting a breath. What a horrible thing to see....your kid, freaking out and not being able to do anything for him.

Once we got home, he calmed down and was able to go to sleep. He told me the next morning that his nose was stopped up, that's why he got so upset! I told him that his nose got stopped up because he wouldn't stop crying!