Well I definitely owe y'all some pictures after my two week hiatus. One of the weeks I was lazy. The second week I was busy having a relaxing vacation at Tony's parent's house in rural Missouri. Since I left you hanging for so long, here is a TON of photos. Enjoy!
I'll start like I'll end--with puppies. Here's LT, he likes to carry his own leash, and other dogs' leashes too!
He's really precious.
He's a sweet puppy, and he definitely means well.
He really like tissue. And paper towels. And napkins.
One of the days we took a walk through Tony's parent's property to their pond, where Tony's mom fed the fish. She'll probably kill me for this photo, but I really, really like it.
Here's a view of the pond:
Everything was so lush and green in Missouri, such a change from the currently brown San Diego.
Tony tried his luck at catching a crayfish for me to photograph, and didn't have much luck.
Terry, however, caught one pretty quickly. The puppies were splashing around, and definitely not helping the situation.
Mini lobster!
Tony really likes this photo, so I'll post it to humor him :).
Shadow, the older puppy, wanted to wade a bit in the creek.
LT was satisfied by just taking a drink. He wasn't too sure about water yet.
This is Rob, the old timer. He's normally scared of my camera, and rather indifferent to anyone other than my father-in-law. This was a darn lucky shot, but I suppose the leash helped.
There were raspberries ripening in the sun...
And some questionable fungi (I think) on the tree trunks.
We also visited both sets of Tony's grandparents. Here's Grandma and Grandpa Smith with Tony and his Mom. I had to hassle Grandpa to give me a smile, and it looks like he can take the teasing just as well as he can give it out!
We walked around for a while on the Smith property, which consisted of many old farm buildings. Tony said this building used to give him nightmares. I speculated there were dragon sized spiders in there, took a picture and got a move on...
I can never have enough pictures of him. Ever.
This is a view of the fields outside of his Grandpa's back yard. I enjoyed the open space.
Deadly caterpillar!!! Ok, not really. Maybe it is. I didn't want to find out.
This is one of my favorite photos. This is inside one of the barns used for storing hay.
This is Heather's boy. He's so precious...
...and kind of a ham ;)...
Tony made a random friend before we went out with the Ryno grandparents and family. Kids really love him, which I think is sweet.
Mimosas...not just a delicious drink!
Here's another one of LT. Gosh, I miss him!
Notice how this one's a little blurry? Rob realized that the scary lady with the big black thing in front of her face was pointing it at him again! The nerve!
I probably got 3 of the 15 mosquito bites taking this photo, but it was worth it.
Robin's egg...I sure hope the baby bird made it!
There were bird houses everywhere on Tony's parent's property. Too bad they've been having an all out war with greedy squirrels.
GUINEAS! The baby chicks were so cute. They would all run from the scary lady with the camera. Sigh.
We barbecued a few times, but the skewers were my favorite! The pineapple was outstanding!
I had a Radio Flyer once.
Barbed wire.
Electrified barbed wire! Ok, not really, not now at least. It used to be an electrified fence though, back in the day.
Queen Ann's lace decorated almost all of the fields in the country. I thought it was really beautiful!
I liked this vine too. I'm weird.
This, next to the hay picture, is one of my favorites.
Pollenatin'
These old wagon/coach wheels were all over the yard. I thought they deserved to look old-timey.
His parents grow their own corn (not to mention most other vegetables and fruits found in the produce section)! How cool is that!?!
They also have grape vines! Yum.
These were one of favorite flowers when I was growing up.
This, my friends, is Shadow. He, LT and Rob are Schipperkes. Mark my words, I will own one.
He was such a photogenic puppy!
I really miss Missouri, and Tony's family. I also miss being greeted by these guys. Their unconditional love was greatly appreciated.
Congratulations if you made it through all those photos! I have about 250+ more, but these were my favorites!
