Cleaning the Playground

When we arrived in our new apartment we doubled the current population of children under ten years old. I got to talking with the maintenance guy and he mentioned that he was thinking about putting down some new wood chips around the playground at the student housing complex. I indicated that our girls would get plenty of use out of it if he did.

From the photo above that was taken back in June you can see a few problems with the playground. The old wood chips were overgrown by weeds and the playground equipment itself was covered in a dark layer of tree pollen (or sap, grime, or something).

When the maintenance guy came through for us with the wood chips we decided to take a family home evening and show our appreciation. We grabbed a bucket of soapy water and some sponges and cleaned off the equipment. The playground really looks inviting now. Kristy, Molly, and Neleha did such a wonderful job of scrubbing away grime.

After it was all clean the girls joyfully used the renovated playground.

Our First Vistitor - Ray Experiences Missouri Flavor

Ray took the 10 hour drive from Texas and arrived in Springfield at dinner time.

When I got home from school I found him being overrun by Molly and Neleha who were so very happy to have their first visitor.

We decided to eat at Lambert's so Ray could really experience the local Ozark flavor.

During our expected wait the girls wouldn't let Ray have a minute of peace. He really didn't mind though, he has so much love for our girls and they for him. In many ways, Ray is just like one of the family. To be honest, I don't think the girls actually know that we are not related.

Once we were seated I caught some rolls and we instantly got some fried okra to snack on while we waited for our main dishes.

Our food was served in skillets and it was so good!

Ray's first catch of a "throwed roll"
I am not sure if Ray was sold on Lambert's from the food or when he caught his first "throwed roll", but all the same he was as sold on the place as we are. We all ate well, probably too well!

So to work off all those extra calories I talked everyone into a game of disc golf.


We went to McBride park near our apartment and took in 9 holes (or cages).

We all had a great time...at least for a few holes and then the girls decided they wanted to play on the playground so Ray and I finished up alone.

We joined them later on the playground and had a fun time trying to keep up with these girls.

Kristy was doing a much better job of keeping up with the girls than Ray and I was.


We had a great time burning those great tasting Lambert's calories and having fun with Molly and Neleha.

At some point we must have decided that we burned too many calories and decided to go redeem a coupon we got from joining the zoo for a free dozen of doughnuts at Krispy Kreme.
We got a wonderful surprise when we entered the store, they handed each of us a free fresh from the oven plain glazed doughnut. We soon learned that when their red sign is on it means that they are making donuts and anyone entering the store will receive a free fresh doughnut.

They also gave the girls free hats and from then on the girls (Kristy and mine as well) favorite donuts are Krispy Kreme's. After we enjoyed our fresh warm treats we watched, through the observation window, as fresh plain glazed donuts were going through the production line.

fresh donuts being glazed

Molly and Neleha became Krispy Kreme customers for life.
I think Ray got a good taste of Missouri during his first night here, he probably gained a couple pounds while doing so. What are friends for?

Bass Pro Shops - "Outdoor World"

One can not live in Springfield, Missouri without coming to terms with the very prominent presence of Bass Pro. It is so bad that when you receive directions anywhere in the city from a local, they always start with "do you know where Bass Pro is?" You see Springfield is home of the headquarters of Bass Pro Shops and this is reflected in their "grandaddy" Outdoor World retail store. A three story sporting goods store which encompasses many aquariums, a very large indoor waterfall, three restaurants, an extensive boat display showroom, and all the outdoor/sporting equipment that one could ever want. On top of all this they also have a catalog outlet store that sells refurbished and discontinued items at huge discounts. They also own a multi-million dollar National Wildlife and Fish Museum. Both of these are within walking distance of Bass Pro.

Although I was able to take in some quick visits to Bass Pro with Molly and Neleha, on this visit Kristy was able to come along and we were able to take our time in checking the place out.

The girls love this particular aquarium because it has a huge 125 lbs catfish that is usually very active. He is HUGE!


The photo above is the one everyone gets when they first come to Bass Pro. In fact it is on all the billboards coming into the city.

There are little pools and streams full of trout throughout the store which really gives you the feel of being outdoors.

The 3 story waterfall also adds to that atmosphere.



We sure had a good time exploring the Outdoor World inside Bass Pro.


Our exploration made us so hungry that we decided to grab a bite to eat at the McDonald's found inside Bass Pro. They also have a Starbuck's and a Hemmingways restaurant.

During our first major tour of the store we discovered that they hold daily free fish feeding shows. So a few days later we returned to watch one.

The setting is at the base of their largest aquarium which is filled with many species of fresh water fish.

A diver with a microphone is actually in the tank and hand feeds the fish. There is also a host of the show on our side of the glass that talks about the many species of fish that are in the tank and throughout the other tanks within the store.

After the show we looked at canoes and boats. Kristy got a wild idea that we could sell our current canoe to her brother since he expressed interest in it and we could take advantage of a current sale on the Bass Pro brand of canoes. She called him up and ran the idea by him.

We decided to think about the canoe idea for awhile before we actually went through with it so we went and checked out the motor boat showroom. What a fun time the girls had.


In the end Eric said he still wanted to buy our current canoe and so my sweetheart talked me in to the new canoe (and she is not a big fan of canoeing but she knows how much I love it). I'm sure I didn't put up much of a fight.

A great store that I am sure will be seeing much more of us.
p.s. check out the sign above the girls......very true indeed!

Springfield Conservation Nature Center

In our continuing search for free stuff, we were introduced to the local Missouri Conservation Nature Center. This place is very similar to the Brukner Nature Center in Troy, Ohio however, this one is state owned rather than being privately owned. Missouri takes conservation very seriously, they even send out a monthly magazine to all residents to report their current efforts.

The center had many wonderful interactive things for the girls to do but they were especially fond of the nature puppet area.

We found many fish aquariums as well as a bird watching area. Unfortunately our girls were a little too anxious to sit still long enough to be able to draw in some birds. It was a relaxing area all the same.

The nature center also has a few miles of paved hiking trails so we decided to "take a hike" so speak. Neleha found a water fountain just her size to hydrate at before our hike.

We picked a trail that went along some of the shoreline of the nearby Springfield Lake, it was a very peaceful walk.


The girls had the opportunity to get a little closer to nature as they got to watch a squirrel eat an acorn, they were mesmerized by this site.

We completed our visit by reading some nature books to the girls. A very nice and free time, for sure.