The Stone Rabbit

A SURPRISING AFTERNOON!

 

 The "surprise" had been in the works for months.  My son had "won" a prize at an auction.   He told us what it was was all about, but we were sworn to secrecy.   

The first attempt at using "the surprise prize" was in December.  He had cleared the date with his wife  and with us (we were needed to watch the Grandkiddos).

Sadly, he had to cancel the first date because of sick children.  The second date was discussed, but because of the weather (lots of snow) and continued sickness in the family, he decided to wait until Spring.

The day of "the surprise" finally arrived last Saturday.

The children were deposited at our house and their mom and dad were on their way!!!  If our DIL knew what the surprise was, she didn't let on!!

It was a perfectly wonderful afternoon.  The warm weather allowed the kids to play outside.

The Grand Girl, while a tad too large for the PINK riding toy, still spent time enjoying the trip of going up and down the side walk in front of our house. 

 

 

The Grand Boy was on "the run".  I got my exercise trying to keep up with him.

 

 

After a bit, the little girl who lives across the street, invited the Grand Girl over for a spin around their yard in the play car!  What fun!

 

The Grand Boy was happy playing with sidewalk chalk.....he likes throwing it the best at this age, however!  :)

Do you see the "M" and the bee on the hat?  Yep, that's my Martha Stewart hat.....a present from a buddy!  I had a time keeping it on his little head, but the sun was shining brightly. . . and he's a little fair complected blonde!  So, I cinched it up and "insisted" he keep it on. 

The girls moved on to the bicycles!!!  Did you notice the PINK one the Grand Girl was riding?  ;)

The Grand Boy nabbed the PINK riding toy. . .it's the perfect size for him.

 He also likes to play "Peek a Boo". . . he's hiding in this picture!!  

Before long, the Grand Girl had taken over "the wheel" and was driving the neighbor girl's little brother around!!!

Izzie was in doggy heaven.  The Grand Boy never tired of throwing the ball for her to fetch.

 

So while we were enjoying the Grand Kiddos, our son and DIL had arrived for the beginning of "the surprise".

He's feeling pretty happy that he was able to keep the secret for so long! 

Oh yes!!! He seems to have really surprised her- - - - or maybe it was a little bit of "terror" about what they were about to do!! 

In just a few minutes,  they were airborne and ready for an hour long flight around the Kansas City area!!!

If you look carefully, you can see their church in this photo. . . look for the white steeple.

 

This is the old "Kansas City Municipal Airport".   It's located smack dab on the banks of the Missouri River.. . and is where I took off for my very first plane ride forty some years ago.   It is now named the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport after one of our former mayors...and mainly serves smaller aircraft. . . however, it is frequently used by Air Force One during Presidential visits.  

The "new" airport (Kansas City International) was built in the early 70's and is about 15 miles north of the Downtown Airport.

 

Their pilot did a "touch and go" at this airport.

 

This is a shot they took of some of the buildings in the downtown area of Kansas City (this is MISSOURI...not KANSAS).




In this picture, you can see our new KAUFFMAN CENTER  FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS ,which is scheduled to open soon!  It's the shell shaped building in the front of the photo.  The lower, round building, is the SPRINT CENTER.  Part of my first 5K run (last October) took us on the street that goes in front of that huge building!!

East of the downtown district and just off I-70 highway are our two major league sports stadiums.  The red one at the top is ARROWHEAD STADIUM,  home of the Kansas City Chiefs.  KAUFFMAN STADIUM is where our Kansas City Royals play!

THIS is the home of the Independence Smith's!!!  

Can you see our house?  

I can!  :)

And there they are!!!!

 Yep, they circled above our house several times!

My husband and I were so excited to get TONS of photos and to make sure the Grand Kids saw  the plane their mom and dad were in. . . . high in the sky!!!

The Grand Girl enjoyed watching them. . . but I don't think it connected with the little Grand Boy.

Heck, he was having too much fun playing with the PINK PIGGIE cookie jar that oinked every time he tilted its head back!!  

Did you know that THE STONE RABBIT was a licensed pilot?  Yes, indeedy, flying is a passion for that furry guy!

He told me that he thoroughly enjoyed watching the fine job the pilot did of circling our boy and his bride round and round over our house.  

I told him I had a lump in my throat the entire time.  However, I was so happy that they had such a grand time. . . and that it was such a fun surprise!

 

Hope you all have a terrific Pink Saturday!

I know you will if you visit Beverly of HOW SWEET THE SOUND.  You will find lots of bloggers ready for you to enjoy the PINKS they are sharing this week!!

 

DANA

PINK AT THE FAIR!

Last Friday, my husband and I attended our state fair in Sedalia, Missouri. 

I was looking forward to going because it was the first time I had ever been  there AND the weather was predicted to be gorgeous. 

As we entered the gate and started looking around at the various exhibits, I thought I might have a difficult time finding PINKS  to post about, but when I saw this building looming ahead of us . . . .

I was certain it would contain lots and lots of PINKS for us to see!

Now I know the color of these dandy pigs is technically "white", but to this gal, they looked PINK!!!

I have to say, the huge building held soooooooo many of these creatures, it boggled my mind!

The pigs were kept in pens with their owners nearby keeping them cool and comfy with lots of water and fans.

There were pigs alone in pens . . . . .

sometimes there were two pigs to a pen . . . .

and some pens contained three pigs!!!

Some of the more social pigs were "close" to their neighbors.

There were lots of cute snouts and . . . .

cute butts! :)

I'm referring to the pig butts, of course!

There were pigs eating and  . . . . .

pigs sleeping and . . . . .

pigs that had already WON a blue ribbon or two and . . . .

pigs that were in the ring competing for a blue ribbon!

Each owner "directed" their pig to walk around the ring . . . .

 

hoping the judge . . . . .

 

would appreciate the fine qualities of their animal.

 

As the judge eliminated pigs from the competition, there were men near by holding what looked like foam boards to help . . . .

 

guide the owners and their pigs off the ring and out the gate.

The elimination process proceeded until there were just two contestants left. 

The last two continued to maneuver their pigs around the ring, under the intense watch of the judge, who was carefully studying the porkers. . . . making certain that the most deserving one received the blue ribbon prize. 

Then he pointed to the WINNER and . . . .

 

gave the owner the Ribbon of Blue!

Yes, indeed, a Blue Ribbon winning pig and his happy owner found their way back to their pen for a little celebration!

 

I did find one more PINK pig at the fair - - -  in the 4-H building.

 

A crafty 4-H kiddo created this wonderful paper mache' PINK PIG with all of its "cuts" outlined for us!!!

Yep, this pig was more up my alley!!!!

When I showed THE STONE RABBIT all of the photos I had taken at The Missouri State Fair, he informed me that HE  had competed at the fair one time. . . years ago. 

Now this was news to me.  I'd known that rabbit for over 30 years and I had never heard about his time at the fair.

He went on to tell me he had wanted to be in the pig judging contest, too, but since he was a concrete rabbit yard ornament, that presented a bit of a problem.  However, he and some of his buddies decided he could put on a disguise and give the competition a try.

He said he did compete and he actually won a Blue Ribbon that day.  When I told him that was a little hard for me to believe, he raced downstairs and soon came back up sporting this look . . . . complete WITH the original "Best in Show" blue ribbon.

Wow!!!   Was I ever impressed!  

I didn't know I had a show rabbit ! 

I find out something new about him every day!

 

You'll  find LOTS of new things when you visit the long list of bloggers at HOW SWEET THE SOUND!!

Happy Pink Saturday!

DANA

I almost forgot!  Beverly challenged us last Saturday to visit at least one blog that was new to us, then link back to it this week.  I had major computery problems going on last week, making it very difficult to actually visit folks.  However, before the computer snafu, I paid a visit to Julia of DRAWN TO THE SEA!   I fell in love with her blog...bet you will, too!

 

ONE MORE ITEM!!! 

Don't forget about the gala "Rooster Party" being thrown by Barb at BELLA VISTA!!!  It's being held next Friday, August 28, and you still have next week to let her know you want to show off your roosters!!  She has over 150 blogs signed up!!  This will be an event to crow about!!!!!