Tennessee Yard Work/ E-beth Softball Game

This blog is all about a Fall Clean-up, our Grand Daughters Birthday, and her last softball game of the season.  We will start with the yard clean-up.

This is the big beautiful home of our Middle Tennessee family which requires a little house and yard maintenance

Seems the Home Owners inspection team spotted some mildew on their house and a empty birds nest up in the rafters.

This called for an emergency meeting of the family.  Here some family members are in awe that the house is still standing, what with all that mildew on the siding.

So we send our bravest member up on the roof to begin cleanup.  To everyone's shock there were leafs in the gutter.  This had to be remedied immediately.  Also the head of the family started tackling the dirt on the gutters.

The leaf problem was so serious they had to call in additional people and a monster shop vac.

Then it was time to hit the mildew situation.  It took courage, bleach and supervision to curb the spread of this ungodly looking mildew event.  Nature is so unkind to the shaded side of houses

Here the supervisor balances his ladder on bags of mulch while giving the final inspection to the mildew removal effort.  Looks great, now on to the lawn

Time for yard work and when more people get involved.  The Home Owners Association actually saw 3 weeds in this flower plot that runs beside the house. 

To cope with this serious problem a shipment of 53 bags of mulch were delivered to the home.

The front of the house has been weeded and mulched and hedges trimmed by a Hedge Trimming Master

Another view of the front of the house

The Guke watched closely to insure everyone was working and that only legal breaks

were taken

The kids threw these big green balls up into the trees to knock down the rest of these unsightly looking hanging balls

Time to work on the back yard, which thankfully, is out of sight of the Home Owners Association.

The Guke is looking for some dry brush to try out his Flint Lighter he got as a Birthday present

The Tenn. family has a store bought fire pit in their back yard which Guke will use to start a fire.  He's getting a little advice from E-beth

The trick is, to after creating sparks with the Flint thing, you have kids blow on the fire

Dogs can also help in getting the fire started

Question (How many Tennessean's does it take to start a fire?)  Answer. More than what's in this picture.

Some of the more elderly folks had to take care of the front yard island

I think the side yard crew came up to help on the island repair

Give a boy a machete then look out trees

Machete Boy with weapon in hand.  He did lots of work with that weapon of mass destruction and took all the breaks he wanted and nobody questioned him

The Chef and Ms. Fingers sit and admire all the work that was done.  They still have a little work to do on the patio, as you can see.

The Guke gives his final "after action report" to the home owner.  It's now time for cake and ice cream

It's birthday time for our 12 year old Grand daughter.  Not sure why the machete, scissors and a funny looking number 1 candle is in the picture with the birthday cake

Fingers sings happy birthday to E-beth

This is not 02, it is a funny looking 1 and a 2.  This is what happens when you shop at the Dollar Store

Sorry for the blur but she attacked the candles as you can see she blew over the funny looking 1 before the flames were out

She holds up a 50 she received from her rich Aunt out in Texas.  It's now time to get ready for your final softball game of the year.

Looking great in her baseball uniform

Check out this batting stance.  Looks like she has been playing for many years

Such a pretty young girl.  This will be a screen savor on my system

She makes catching fly balls a breeze and does it as she smiles

This is her "Bring It" stance

This is her lean back and chunk it throw

She comes down with the ball after a big jump

She holds the runner near her 3rd base bag.

E-beth ready to knock the cover off the ball

I think the pitcher is a little nervous to put one over the plate

She's telling the team to relax that they will come back and win this one

This is how you field a grounder, which she did perfectly

The fielders all play deep when E-beth comes to the plate.

It was cold in the mountains of Tenn. but the fans stayed until the end. This was a great wrap up to a busy, productive day.  Yard work, birthday party and a softball game, what more could you ask for.

The Branson Trip 2014

Here are a few pictures we took on our one week trip up to Branson,MO this past week. We stayed at the "Westgate in the Woods" Resort.  A very high-in community of  condos and cabins.

This is the main building

 

This is the check-in counter

 

This is our rooms and building where we stayed

 

The beautiful grounds

Club House

Big in-door pool

Outdoor pool

Basketball court and sand volleyball court

 

Here are most of the folks who joined our party

 

                     We exchanged gifts on arrival. Chris received a "Mizzou Can Man"

In return Chris gave the men a football mug filled with goodies

 

To celebrate our arrival on day one, we all ate at a famous Steak House

 

The wait was not too long.  Seems everyone was in a good mood

 

Bev sat at the head of the table explaining the options available

 

Another view of Bev briefing everyone on the pros's and cons on the menu items

 

Another unique restaurant was this Chicken restaurant known World Wide

 

We had a great meal, and again, Bev explained the good and bad  items on the menu.

 

The waitress asked if I would take a picture with her, and of course I obliged

 

One evening they (Westgate) invited all guest to a gigantic party

 

This is not shoppers of Wal-Mart but the buffet line where we all got our fill

 

 

Now, pictures of some of the shows we attended

 

This is the theater where we saw the tribute to the Eagles and Journey

Both shows were excellent, a little loud but good.  Our hearing got better in just a few hours

 

This is the Titanic which is really a great place to tour.  We missed this on our visit this time

 

This is the Clay Cooper Theater where you can see the BEST show in Branson

 

This is the entrance to the Show Boat River Cruise

 

This is the paddle wheel boat we took the dinner cruise on

 

These are some really big cat fish hanging around the dock

This is the stage where performers did their thing as we travelled up the river

As always, we got there an hour before dinner and the show.  They serve 770 meals each cruise

This is our terrific server.  She worked like a well oiled machine getting drinks, entrees and desserts out quickly and always with a smile.

After dinner the show began and it was very professional and entertaining.

 

Here is the list of the shows we attended during our week long stay;

 

1. Pierce Arrow (Variety show)  2. Tribute to Abba (Abba's greatest hits)

3. The Duttons (Variety show) 4. Six (Music and comedy)

        5. Tribute to the Eagles(Eagles greatest hits) 6. Showboat River Cruise (Magician and music) 7. The Hughes Brothers (variety and music) 8. Clay Cooper (Best show in Branson) 9.Tribute to Journey (Journeys top hits)

 

 

For our farewell, Chris makes a sign letting us know she is keeping an eye on our condo.

 

When we got home one evening from a show we  opened our blinds to find this lit up sign.  Chris is one awesome, scary Lady.  She makes the trip worth while

 

Here's Ms. Awesome showing off her work.

 

Here we are getting our debriefing from 7 days of fun. What a great time we had and I would personally recommend everyone visit Branson to see some good family entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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