Rose - Distant Drums

This is a new rose for me this year. It is a Buck rose called Distant Drums. Dr. Buck (from Iowa) created roses that are hardy to this area. I planted a Buck shrub rose called Summer Wind last year just to see if these roses lived up to their hype. It did! It was green to it's tips last spring, I had very little to prune off. If Distant Drums does the same, I will be planting more Buck roses next year.




Stunning rose, smells musky.

Little John

I watched little John today....he was sick. Doesn't he look sick? He had a little fever yesterday and Ash took him in to the Dr. who diagnosed him with ear infections (yes, two). His daycare requires him to be home for 24 hours after being sent home with a fever. So sadly, he had to stay with me. He is so difficult :) Sits and plays, takes 4 hour naps, kisses me.....oh the trials of my sad life.

Back to School

7:45 a.m. Not a familiar time for these two lately. Can you guess who was happy to go back to school and who was Mr. Grumpy-pants?

I had my first back to school meeting. My orderly world has be toppled a bit. I have been, for eight years, the computer lab para. I loved it and was very comfortable there. However, the dynamics of our school has changed so much that the powers that be have decided that I can be of more use within the classroom. I am comfortable with it....but change is so hard. The Lord is just keeping me on my toes :)

Baseball party

We celebrated the baseball team and coaches this Saturday night. Our friends, the Savio's, organized the food and guests and we provided the backyard. Pete made beef and sausage paid for by the generosity of Legion Baseball. It was a beautiful evening, so unusual for August. Pete had sprayed earlier for bugs and it worked wonderfully! I didn't see or feel a single mosquito. The end of a season is definitely bittersweet. You can't believe that summer has gone by so quickly. Now there are young men going off to college and others back to high school. Many parents remember when their men were little boys just picking up a bat....and cannot grasp how time has slipped by so fast. We celebrate the boys of summer!!!

The Lord surprised me today!

This beautiful lily was waiting in the garden for me this morning. Every spring lily leaves pop up and then die down, but in the 3 years that I have been gardening here nothing has ever come of it. I believe in just every day terms this lily is called the "Naked Lady" as she comes up all alone after the leaves have died. I didn't plant it and it was a lovely surprise.

And the day came when the risk (it took) to remain tight in the bud was more painful that the risk it took to blossom.

Anais Nin

Field of Dreams

Who doesn't love the movie Field of Dreams? Nick has wanted to see the site of the movie for many years and we were finally able to stop by and see it. But it was not without drama! We had to travel from Chicago to Dyersville, Iowa and we underestimated how long a few errands would take. Field of Dreams closed at 6:00 p.m. and we made it there by 5:35! The drive was beautiful. We took Hwy 20, it's a scenic highway and it lived up to it's title. We saw quaint historic towns and stunning views of rolling farm hills and deep valleys. This time of year the Midwest is at its most beautiful with corn and beans nearly at their peak. Iowans take exceptional care of their property, their farms are well tended and everything just looked so tidy.

Pete, Elizabeth, Tommy and Nick

Nick pitching to Tommy

The farmhouse.

Tommy

Nick

Do you think they will meet Shoeless Joe Jackson it there?

Family Reunion

We had a bit of a Manes family reunion this weekend in Ohio. We were missing Pete's sisters Patti and Jane and their families. Our girls could not attend either......but much fun was had by those of us who were there. We ate wonderful food, drank wine (tea for me) and every evening we sat around the fire pit. We caught up on each others lives, enjoyed the antics of the little ones and just genuinely enjoyed each others company. We had excitement - a fox killed a neighbors rooster the first night (a sound many of us will not soon forget) and Pete and Mike played firemen and put out a fire in the wood pile on the last night. Nobody can accuse the Manes' of being boring. Connie took the ladies on a tour of Yellow Springs, a wonderful new age type of town close to where they live. I enjoyed it so much that the next day Pete, Nick and I went back. We also toured Mike's sports facility at Cedarville University where he is the baseball coach. What a neat place that is! It is very well designed and thought out - you can tell that the students are definitely their priority. I will add more pics later.

Tom and Andy playing a bean bag game. Notice any similarities?

Esther, Michelle, Pete and Mike playing bocci. That is the backside of Kelly, she was busy chasing Michael who wanted to get the balls.

Tony and Nick playing bean bag toss.

Anheuser Busch - St. Louis

Pete wanted to visit the brewery and it was fascinating. I have to say that I was enthralled with the complexes garden areas. The place is like a small town and I gathered a lot of great gardening ideas.

My Manes' Men.

O.K. I know I am supposed to have paid a lot of attention to the making of beer....but look at these chandeliers! The came from the World's Fair of 1904! Gorgeous. The architecture of this complex was amazing.

St. Louis --The Arch

This morning we visited The Arch - it is stunning. I believe to truly appreciate it, you have to see it in person. It is huge and really makes an amazing statement in the landscape. There is a museum, movies and you can ride to the top. Pete and Tom chose to go the IMAX movie about Louis and Clark, Nick rode to the top and down and I visited the museum. I was stunned to find out that there were 10 million Native American Indians in North America when the Europeans arrived. I had never imagined that there were so many.

Nick and Tom - the base of the Arch is enormous.

Nick took a few pictures from the top. I love this picture. It is of the historic courthouse which the Dred Scott decision was made. The boys have both given presentations of this subject, so it was a real look at history.

St. Louis, Missouri (Cardinals Game)

Busch Stadium - We watched the Cardinals play the Dodgers. It is a new stadium, about 3 years old. I love that you can see the Arch for where we were sitting. Pujols hit a grand slam - the guys were pumped. What are the odds that you will go to a major league game and see a grand slam!

We loved these seats! They were high, but in the first row. We could stretch out. As Cubs fans we would have preferred that the Cards lost, but the atmosphere was to contagious to not be happy for their win.

Kansas City

The Manes' men enjoy the show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, so in keeping with that theme we are visiting some of the restaurants that we featured in the towns we are staying in. The guys ate at Grinders and in the morning we had breakfast at 39th Street Mama's. (pictured above) Pete and Nick declared the corn beef hash the "best they have ever had" and Tommy was thrilled with his ginormous chocolate pancakes.

Kansas City 8/5/08

J.C. Nichols Memorial Fountain

Kansas City, MO

Nick's team was eliminated from State (I think that we took 4th), which then enabled us to leave for our vacation on time. Bittersweet. We couldn't be prouder of the team, we had a great summer watching them play. Unfortunately, Nick infected himself with poison sumac sometime before State started. We didn't know why he had hives and it was over a day up in Norfolk before he was taken to Urgent Care. Meanwhile, the hives spread and he is miserable. However, not even poison sumac can keep a Manes man down ---he and Tommy spent many hours at Worlds of Fun. They rode roller coasters (Nick declares the Mamba the best and Tommy preferred the Patriot) and checked out the girls. Pete and I walked around the Plaza a little. The architecture is great.

August 3, 2008

No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.
No surprise for the writer, no surprise for the reader.
--Robert Frost

Tommy has a new book in a series (The Twilight Series) that he has been reading. This will occupy him for a few days. I love that my children love to read!

Fremont Legion update: The Fremont team defeated First Nationals (North Platte) last night in a close game 9 to 8. The teams were evenly matched and it was one of the most exciting games that we have seen all season. I don't believe have ever seen our dugout come as alive as it did last night! The guys are having a great time. We continue in the winners bracket and play again tonight in Norfolk at 7:00. The game continue to be on the radio and via the Internet (see earlier post). Wish us luck.

Dog day's of Summer

Meet Penny. She is our fourteen year old dachsund. She has developed a bit of a spunky side ever since her vet put her on estrogen to control a bladder issue. Do you remember Templeton from Charlotte's Web? Always on the look out for a treat, that would be our Penny.

August 1, 2008

Nick's team defeated Elkhorn (14-3) today, their first game at State. They play tomorrow night at 8:00. KHUB is still broadcasting these games via the internet - see previous post. The team has gathered enough sponsors to keep the boys in a hotel for 4 days. Pete and I are driving back and forth. The humidity has let up a bit, yeah!