2011 Update - November 2011 (2nd Half) Activities

Well we made it back home to Lakeview, Arkansas, in time to get ready for Thanksgiving.  The Trent Family (Laura and Tom) will be our host this year in their Springfield, Mo. home.  We left for their house on Wednesday before Thanksgiving on Thursday.  Dr. Tom had to work Wednesday nite so we had a late afternoon dinner on Thursday. I had babysitting duty Thursday morning so William, Clara, and I headed off to Bass Pro Shop and later to Braums for a lite snack before dinner.  Sorry to say no pictures available as Laura and Tom used their camera for the photo op.  I will get a few of the pics and post a Thanksgiving review at a later date.
The next week after Thanksgiving we had an opportunity to meet Laura and the kids at Silver Dollar City to see the light show and enjoy a few of the rides.  The afternoon started off warm, but by early evening when the sun set it cooled down quickly.  A few pics of our evening at Silver Dollar City follows.

Silver Dollar City is well known for its Christmas light show at the park.  We missed it last year, but that wasn't going to happen this year.  This is the large Christmas Tree at Main Street in the park.  The tree changes color numerous times during the playing of Christmas music.

Clara and Grandma Reubin (Stephanie) enjoying one of the rides in the kids part of the park.

William and Mom (Laura) enjoying the same ride.

A highlight of the night was the Chrismas Light Parade around Main Street.  Guess who was their,

Santa Claus and a few of his favorite elves.

This is a replica of the Silver Dollar Train Engine decked out in lights.  I think this was William's favorite item in the Parade. 

Silver Dollar City at Christmas is a real treat to the eyes and ears.  The crowd was not large and we were able to see and do many things in a short period of time.  You should put this on your calendar for 2012 and include a visit to the Ozark Dream.

After our day trip to Silver Dollar City is was time to get ready for Christmas at our house and plan the next big road trip to, where else, College Station and Carrizo Springs, Texas.

During our Thanksgiving trip to Springfield, Steph was able to find the Christmas Tree she wanted for our house.  This is a 12 ft. tree with lights already attached.  I had to get the ladder out to "top out" the tree and get it ready for the ornaments.

The boss has proclaimed "IT FITS" and I like the way it looks.

The family stockings are hung and we are nearly ready the Christmas and it's only late November.

With the tree up and the stockings hung it time for a ROAD TRIP!  We left for College Station on November 29 so that we could celebrate Stephanie's birthday with Ann and Jared the next day.

Well the birthday girl had a real treat.  Jared and Ann had made reservations at the Messina Hof Winery in Bryan, Texas, and we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner and dessert.  Messina Hof fixed a special plate for Stephanie with a Happy Birthday Cheesecake.  The food was outstanding and we will definitely put this on the calendar for a return trip.  We need to go back and tour the vineyard and the gift shop when it gets a little warmer.

This is another picture of Stephanie in the Main Dining Room of  Messina Hof.

Our waitress was kind enough to take a group shot of us.  Thank You Ann and Jared for selecting a wonderful spot to celebrate Stephanie's  birthday.

Well that's wraps up November and gets us to the next road trip for Jared and I, back to the ranch for some unfinished business.  We are leaving bright and early Dec 1 in search of the Muy Grande Whitetail deer, the wild hogs, and maybe a coyote and/or bobcat.  The results will be posted soon so come back for the REST OF THE STORY!

One final note, the house picture in the right margin at the top of page is the real OZARK DREAM.  We will always be updating and changing, but this is what we now call HOME SWEET HOME!