Summertime Part 1 of Our Trip To Missouri

My trip home to Missouri this summer was sweet and sour. Sour b/c my grandmother passed away and then sweet b/c Sloan and I spent 2 1/2 weeks there with my Mom and stepdad "D". I was able to spend alot of time grieving, reading, relaxing and just taking some time for myself and to spend with my family. Everything slows down in that little town that I grew up in but I always welcome going back home and drinking in the laziness. I was able to check my email twice in 2 1/2 weeks and that was only b/c we went down to the coffee shop (Perk on the Plaza) on the square where they had free wifi. My mom has a computer but won't get internet...it's very frustrating but I tried to embrace it this trip. :) Since my parents are thinking about moving to the islands (and you all wonder where I get my beach fever from?) I knew that this could possibly be one of my last trips back to Missouri so I wanted to drink in all my favorite summertime stops and share them with my son. We hit the Black River a few times...one of my MOST favorite places in the world. I have a ton of great growing up memories from this place. It's a beautiful, crystal clear river that runs through the hills of Missouri. One day we decided to do one of our infamous 6 mile float trips on intertubes and 8 hours later fried crisp we arrived at our pick up. It was pure delight! We went to Clearwater Lake, Johnson Shut Ins, we did a horseback riding excursion, we fished, we went and checked the cows with Farmer Frank, we picked fresh veggies out of the garden, we made friends with Bob (a recurring turtle visitor to my mom's front porch), we jeeped, we saw old friends, we took nature walks, we chased bunnies and I read my ass off. Hee.hee. It was just what I needed. Here's a few pics from the first part of our trip...don't they just smell country?