What we did this weekend...

Mycal had to do some Army stuff on Saturday and I had signed up for a scrapbooking thing at the local craft store so we decided to do something fun Friday night instead. We didn't get out as early as we had hoped to as we had to have the drain fixed (it had stopped completely...so much fun - I'll tell you there are some times I'm so glad I'm a renter and don't have to actually deal with these problems). Mycal being the quick thinker that he is decided to stop by the Pulaski County Visitor Center and see what there is to do in the more immediate area. There he found a pamphlet for a self guided auto tour of Historic Route 66. It was approximately 35 miles to be done in about an hour to hour and a half. It was actually a bit of fun and really great for family time. Emmuska had insisted on grabbing her camera when she saw me grab mine, so she was out every stop snapping away. I think the best was when she directed Mycal, Liberty and I to all stand together so she could take a picture of us. (Apparently I need to help her work on framing her shots as they invariably did not include Mycal's head and often didn't have mine either...) It wasn't super exciting but it was a lot of fun. Here are some pictorial highlights

Route 66 - this is actually the best the road looked while we were on it - there was one part that was completely unpaved and a lot of two lane highway. Still the scenery was quite pretty.

Mycal and Emmuska at one of the lookouts - this would have been right before Emmuska pulled out her camera and started snapping away. On that note Liberty stole Emmuska's camera and tried to take pictures too - I wonder how long I have before I have to get her her own camera...

Libster and I - proof that we were indeed on Route 66. Actually Highway Z (where we live) is part of Route 66 so we are on it everyday - still it was a fun tour.

One of my favorite pictures of the day - definitely not because it's the most flattering shot of me - still Mycal mentioned that since it was an auto tour we should get a pic inside the car and I thought the result was hilarious. Maybe we are too easily entertained...

The girls are obviously a little incredulous of the amount of mirth that their parents are having but I think they had fun too - especially whenever we got out.

It wasn't in the pamphlet but apparently the end of the tour was marked by some people selling jack russell terriers. For some reason we had to stop and Emmuska was convinced that this one puppy really wanted her and that she needed to go home with us. Between the copious amount of pleading eyes turned on me I buckled and agreed to the purchase of said puppy. The rest of the evening was filled with getting everything together that we needed to accommodate 'Emmuska's new responsibility' but that is another post that I will be getting up either later today or tomorrow.

As predicted Saturday was busy with Mycal's commitment as well as mine and of course our new four legged family member. Church was nice, we actually got a chance to meet many of the members of the ward. It's a nice place to be even if it's only for a few months. Liberty went to nursery for the first time today - having reached the 18 month mark this last week. I went in for a couple minutes but soon she was off exploring and playing on her own and I left. The nursery leader was stunned with how well she did telling us that she played, wandered around and generally had a good time - despite the fact that half the class, which was abnormally large today, was crying. She has really been growing and branching out - what a joy! There you have it - our third weekend in Mo.