What A Wonderful World

Some inspiration while driving from the car we were following.
 

Let The School Year Begin!

First day photos, courtesy of their parents.

 

Grandpa Morgan Playing

Extracted from a movie so the quality isn't great but it's one of the few photos I remember of my grandfather actually playing with me. He has his hand on Barney and you can see Fred Flintstone. The flapper doll was also a birthday present. 1962
 

Gammy Camp

Kids are headed to the pool. Then they sat for the required group shot. We spent our last day at the pool before school schedules get in the way.

A few jumps and Adam's first leap off the diving board, proving he can swim to shore.

 

Zinnia Row

The beautiful stretch of zinnias next to Nalli s back in full glory. Love it!

 

Heat Hours

I have heard of summer hours and winter hours but this is the first time I've seen heat hours. Appropriate as we go into another scorcher.
 

Visible Humidity

Visualization of humidity.

 

Joyous Summer Fun

Another day of summer fun before school starts.
 

Exploring Johnson County History

Lowell and Vala enjoyed Kidscape at Johnson County Museum, including touring in a 1957 Chevy.

We also took advantage of the museum itself to take a carnival photo.

 

All Spiffed Up

Happy birthday to Stacy, on August 1. As I recall she was dressed for a school program here. 1985

Lounging in the Garden

Colin made himself comfortable at Cafe Equinox.

 

Artist at Work

Lowell painted a dog at Ceramic Cafe. We will see how it looks when it is fired.
 

Grins and Giggles

These kids – all three of them – are fun.

 

Birthday Celebrations

We celebrated Stacy's and Matt's birthdays and Colin's half birthday. It required a lot of candles.
 

Slime Extraordinaire

I took Vala to Rainbow Slide as her birthday experience. It was amazing. She made her own slime, walked in it and stretched it in a rainbow of colors. Even basketball with slime balls.

 

Old Friends

A few of us from the old slumber party crew gathered for lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. And, happy surprise, it was National Cheesecake Day and we got cheesecake at half price.
 

A New Whatchamacallit

Dad is demonstrating some newfangled thing to Susie and Steve, apparently at night.
 

It's So Big!

My neighbor gave me this quite large tomato and the grandchildren were amazed by its size, especially Colin.
 

Timeless Mucha

A friend and I visited the Timeless Mucha exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum. Fascinating to see how his art was mimicked in the '60s and '70s on musicians album covers and posters. I saw his stained glass work in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague and here his work is in Kansas City. Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead particularly liked his style.

 

Extreme Heat

On our home thermometer we recorded 102° with a 112° real feel. I am hoping that is the record for the summer and we can now moderate.
 

Rock Island Bridge

We visited the Rock Island Bridge for dinner but the extreme heat was too much so we will return on a cooler day.
 

Open for Business

Covers have been removed from ballot drop boxes as early voting is under way. 
 

Gammy Movie Day

We've got the popcorn and we are ready for Moana at Extreme Screen. The movie intrigued and we had plenty of popcorn.

An Anniversary Present

We decided to give Mom and Dad a photo of the five of us for their 25th anniversary. We took it in Steve's apartment with much hilarity but we look lovely. I'm sure they were thrilled with it. 1971

Hunt for the River

Colin said he hadn't been able to see the river on the streetcar so we went on an adventure to the Riverfront. He does love the streetcar.

Found it! The sculpture is called River Cloud.

 

The Mystery House

I have long been curious about this estate at 87th and Lamar and my curiosity was sated by an estate sale. This is the curbside view but behind it are more buildings. You can see two of the buildings below beyond the pool. It could be a cool place but it is quite rundown and I suspect headed for demolition.

Particularly fascinating was this tiny room that is built around a tree. You can see the tree from the exterior view. The bear is one of those from the time before the Kansas City hearts bears peppered the city.

 

The Summer of England

Team England headquartered in nearby Meadowbrook Park for their World Cup run and finally departed for good on Friday - to play their third place match (which they won). I saw their bus leaving and I may have seen one player on a Sunday morning early but otherwise just enjoyed the hype. This was their farewell message from the hotel/Prairie Village.
 

Bingo Night

Colin and Adam were champion bingo players. Colin tried on the unicorn hat he won.

 

Joy Speaks Every Language

This person likes to post signs of support. This time they took advantage of the World Cup to make their point. Not sure of the significance of the ranch dressing.
 

Building a Dam

They allegedly were building a beaver dam on top of the fountain rock at the splash pad. It seemed to be challenging. You can see below that there was a lot of pressure in the rock fountain.

 

Horse Faceoff

Stacy and Hayden are saddled and ready for a ride in Colorado but the horses do not appear to agree on which way to go. Howard is watching in the background. 1998