Easter 2024

https://www.youtube.com/live/GQNAUmWo7PA?si=FCvrmEW0jkqafniI

Easter dinner. Mashed potatoes, gravy, fried shrimp, fried chicken, green bean casserole, and rolls.

Car collection museum

This is Bill's Backyard Classics cars museum in Amarillo, Texas.

The pins represent where visitors to the museum are from. We were the first to put a pin on the map for Camden, Arkansas.

We also visited Escape the Trap House. We didn't escape, but came close. Destiny had fun.

Cadillac Ranch

This is Cadillac Ranch, just outside Amarillo, Texas. The many layers of paint that visitors have applied to the cars have slowly oozed off the cars in puddles. You can see the many layers of the paint, with cars somewhere underneath.

Spring Break 2024 vacation across Texas and Palo Duro Canyon.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

Palo Duro Canyon is the 2nd largest canyon in the United States.

There is a rich Native American history in the canyon with a very sad ending.

Victory Christian School Christmas 2023 program

 Destiny had a part in her school Christmas program again this year.

Christmas 2023

 We had Christmas dinner with my older daughter, her boyfriend, his two daughters, and his mother.

The Branson Ferris Wheel (2 of 10)

 The Branson Ferris Wheel

History

Fun Facts

• 240 people can ride the wheel at the same time

• The wheel weighs more than 65 space shuttles

• The wheel spins 100 revolutions every day

• Its foundation was constructed using more than 4 million pounds of concrete, 6 million pounds of gravel and 80,000 pounds of steel

In 1893, George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. designed a revolving steel observation wheel for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago as America’s answer to the recently completed Eiffel Tower in Paris. A hundred years later, Chicago’s Navy Pier Ferris Wheel opened in 1995 as the focal point of the newly renovated Navy Pier. Providing nearly 17 million rides in Chicago, it made its move to Branson in 2016, to continue sharing fun and entertainment to families everywhere.

https://www.arkansascarl.page/2023/12/ripleys-believe-it-or-not.html (3 of 10)

Play day.

 Destiny had a play day with her best friend, Ari. She moved to another city just over an hour away. They had a good time at an indoor trampoline park called, GJump.

Birthdays

My family usually has many birthdays in June, starting with me, followed by my several family members who are now, no longer with us, and ending with my mother.

No, my mother is not two years older than me. But she didn't like the numbers the true way around. I bought the flowers, but made the cake.

My younger daughter, Destiny turned 13 yesterday, and she wanted brownies for her birthday, instead of cake. She also wanted cheesy chicken spaghetti, which I also cooked.

My older daughter's birthday is next month, followed by my grandson turning three in November.

This is her last week, ready for her first day of school.

 

Graduation to middle school.

Destiny graduated to middle school.

EASTER

Easter is celebrated by many people and cultures around the world in different ways. For many Americans, including my family, Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Please enjoy the videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLyXE9QN6d4

Jet ski and museum.

Another day, when the weather was nice, we rented a WaveRunner jet ski for an hour. It was an absolute blast. I haven't driven a jet ski in a long time, and Destiny was a little nervous because she had never been on a jet skit before.

It didn't take long and she was having lots of fun.

After we finished with the jet ski, we went to a local historical museum.

This was an old school house, and they had many different things exhibited from the early 20th century.

Of course Destiny didn't recognize most of the things. Many of the things I only knew because of my parents or grandparents.

Just relaxing at camp.

Pre-Memorial Day vacation.

We have so much camping gear now that loading it on and in our little car is difficult at best, so now we use a small utility trailer to keep all our camping gear on, and just add the bikes if we take them. This way, instead of loading everything when we get ready to go camping, we only need to load our clothes, food, and a few other things in the car, hook-up the trailer, and go.

We went camping from May 21st to May 28th, just before Memorial Day weekend, which is one of the busiest camping weekends.

This was the view from our camp spot at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It took us about eight hours to drive here from our home.

This is a really big lake, and a popular destination for many people who like to camp, fish, swim, or boat.

There is lots of wildlife to be found here. We saw geese, ducks, deer, chipmunks, squirrels, turkeys, and much more.

The water was a little cold because the average daily temperature is still low. It was about 85 Fahrenheit (30 Celsius) during the day, and 60 Fahrenheit (16 Celsius) at night.

Destiny tried swimming once.

Many people were enjoying boating.

This is the entrance to a cave system called, 'Ozark Caverns'. This was our first cave to visit on this trip. They did not allow photography inside the cave, because it would disturb the bats inside.

Our first fire on this vacation.

 

Halloween 2019

There is a small state park about 20 to 25 minutes drive from our home. Usually, it is not crowded, but the weekend of or before Halloween each year, every campsite is occupied. This partially because of the weather, since it is the a little cooler than, which makes for great camping weather. Every single person that is camping that weekend will decorate their campers and campsite for Halloween. They will dress in costume and greet visiting families by handing out candy to the children. This has been a tradition for years, and each year there are more and more people that come. The local sheriff department does a wonderful job showing more than a thousand visitors where to park and keeping everyone safe from the monsters that live in the woods. Yes, I said monsters. After the children are finished trick or treating, there is a haunted trail they can take, where all kinds of scary monsters pop out along the path to try and scare you. We love and look forward to going this event every year.

Easter 2019

These are my two daughters. Suzanne will be 22 at the end of September, and Destiny will be 10 at the end of August.

I always enjoy spending time with my daughters. For Easter this year, our church had a fellowship and egg hunt at Beech Springs on the Friday evening before Easter.  

And on Saturday before Easter,  my mother prepared a wonderful meal for everyone. Then in the afternoon on the same Saturday, I took Destiny to another egg hunt at White Oak Lake State Park. 

We attended church Easter Sunday morning, and again in the evening to listen to a Christian concert.

Spring Break 2019 (Abraham Lincoln's birthplace)

One of America's most famous presidents was, Abraham Lincoln, who was president during the civil war, and our last stop was to his birthplace. This was my favorite part of the trip. It was so exciting to be in and see such a historical place. I learned a lot, and felt more connected to America and it's rich history.

Spring Break 2019 (Daniel Boone's grave)

One of the places Destiny wanted to go on our return trip home, was to see Daniel Boone's grave. Destiny loves history, and had been learning about this famous American  that helped pioneer our country. It had a gorgeous view.

Spring Break 2019 (Newport Aquarium) Newport, Kentucky

The second attraction in Newport, Kentucky, was the Newport Aquarium. Destiny got to have a special encounter with the penguins. That was her favorite part of the whole trip. And we both had a tour of how the aquarium works.

Spring Break 2019 (World Peace Bell) Newport, Kentucky

We saw two attractions the next day, both in Newport, Kentucky. The first was the World Peace Bell.

Spring Break 2019 (National Museum of the United States Air Force) Dayton, Ohio

We spent an entire day in Dayton, Ohio, exploring the National Museum of the United States Air Force. The pictures below are in reverse order that I took them. We started with the early years of flight. Next up were World War I and World War II. Followed by the conflicts with North Korea and Vietnam. Then we came to the Cold War era. There was even a section dedicated to missiles. The last two sections focused on more modern era aircraft and included several presidential aircraft, as well as a mock up of the space shuttle. They even had several different flight simulators, including one where you can land the space shuttle, and another where you go on a space walk at the International Space Station, using VR. The museum housed more than just U.S. examples. It also had examples from Japan, Russia, Germany, France, and England.