Powell Gardens

In the latest stop in the continuing series of family "staycations," mommy, daddy, Baby Girl, and both sets of grandparents took a day trip to Powell Gardens.

Powell Gardens is an amazing oasis of nature just 30 minutes east of Kansas City in Kingsville, MO. Nestled among over 900 acres of lush rolling hills, this beautiful collection of native and exotic plants, flowers, and trees; fountains, streams, and water features; shaded walking trails; wildflower meadows; and inspired architecture, offer a welcome reprieve from the strip malls and traffic of everyday life.

Sorry for the "flowery" language, but this collection of gardens really leaves a lasting impression.

At the end of the afternoon, rounding the last corners of the trail, we were all amazed that we had spent over 4 hours strolling through the gardens. Even if you are not "into" gardening, this place really draws you in: butterflies drifting from flower to flower--cool breezes blowing across the lake--shaded benches to stop and rest and enjoy--each hour draws you closer to the natural roots that stir in each of us.

This year, through October, the Gardens are also featuring "Chapungu: Nature, Man & Myth." These 54 hand-carved stone sculptures from Zimbabwe, all along the walking paths, reflected their natural setting and only added to the overall effect.

Baby Girl really enjoyed herself too. She usually gets antsy in her stroller, but she just kicked back and enjoyed the ride all afternoon. She had lots of flowers and butterflies and waterfalls to keep her occupied. I think the serene settings of Powell Gardens even succeeded in calming the rambunctious nature of a nearly-two toddler.

The Shark says Arf

Dogs, cats, bears, pigs, fish, and elephants--all creatures great and small say Arf!

So says Baby Girl.

Our little 22 month old is in full-on language experimentation mode. A new word every day; new noises, sounds, and syllables; numbers, letters and more.

Did you know that our counting system starts at five? and then goes to nine??? Five, nine, five nine, nine, nine, nine! She has started saying one and two with prompting, but goes straight to five and nine after that.

This past weekend, she woke mommy up with a reading of the LED display on her alarm clock. All fives and nines of course.

She has started to pick up several words from her Dr. Seuss ABC book: bee, baby, bubble, ear, mice, straw, and tree.

She is getting a good start on body parts: eyes, mouth, ear, hair, and nose with the ever popular finger inserted while saying it. One of her first recognized body parts was the belly button, bay-bow, she's still working on the pronunciation.

Her parents, daddy and me me have been named, as have her grandparents; dapaw and mamaw, pa pa and gee gee.

This is most definitely the good part! Next thing you know she will be saying, "daddy, can I borrow the car keys?"

Apple Picking Baby Girl

Well, they were really tomatoes, but Baby Girl called them "appo's." Everything is apples right now: roundish fruits and vegetables, roundish objects like her red Weebles--not balls though, they are balls--many red or green objects are apples, and even the dried fruit in the snack mix are apples (pineapple, mango, papaya, etc).

After firing up the grill and having dinner on the patio, we went out to the tomato patch for some picking. A family that picks together, sticks together!

One problem, Baby Girl liked to pick the green ones! Appo! Appo! Appo! That girl was a pickin fool. I tried picking some ripe ones and letting her put them in the sack. That worked for a few seconds. She went back to the green ones. So after we hurried and got all the ripe ones, we went inside. But Baby Girl was not ready to quit. She cried all the way up the stairs until mommy could stick a sippy in her pie-hole.

I am sure all you gardening parents have been through this too. And we were warned about the prodigious picking abilities of toddlers. So we planted eight Roma and eight Big Boy plants. That should be plenty for us, plenty for the squirrels and bunnies, and plenty of appo's for the Baby Girl.

Viticulture Field Day

This past week, we dipped a few more toes into the frigid waters of our plans to start a vineyard and winery business.

I've been making homemade wine for several years, and we have a small test plot of about 90 grapevines that we are currently training onto trellises.

We attended a viticultural field day hosted by the MU Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture and Enology (ICCVE). It was a big vineyard geekfest attended by around 150 like-minded folks. We learned about trellis design, canopy management, grape varieties in Missouri, and grow tubes. It was also an opportunity to meet people at all stages of the vineyard business. From those that managed full-time vineyards to people like us that were just getting started with a few vines and had a lot to learn.

The morning session was hosted by Fahrmeier Farms near Lexington, MO.

This is one busy family farm here in Missouri. In addition to their newly established vineyards, they also maintain greenhouses, vegetable production, a variety of livestock including cattle, goats and hogs, and a winery is also in the works. Anytime you feel like your schedule is full, just think about how many projects these guys are juggling. Contact info: 9374 Mitchell Trail - fahrmeierfarms@gmail.com - 816-289-2496. Visit their Tomato Days blog at: annualtomatodays.blogspot.com

After a delicious lunch featuring pasta and salad with locally grown tomatoes, and fresh raspberries and ice cream for dessert, we went to the vineyards of Baltimore Bend Vineyard near Waverly, MO.

Each session was hosted by university professors who were specialists in a given field of viticulture. They took us out into the vineyards for hands-on demonstrations of each of the topics. It's one thing to read about trellis design, but to see the different options in person and see how they need to be built really helps understand the importance of this part of the vineyard.

The question and answer sessions that followed each presentation were really helpful also. We strayed off topic, and got some good hints about disease and pest control, and organic growing options.

We finished the day with a wine tasting at Baltimore Bend. Their first vines went into the ground in 1997. They are making some really great wines! They feature several oak barrel aged wines using Cynthiana, Chambourcin, and Chardonel grapes that are well suited for aging in the cellar and several blends of red and white grapes. We picked up two bottles and shared them with family and friends this weekend (unopened wine does not last long in this house).

After a day in the hot vineyard, the tasting session lasted for quite some time. Big surprise ... vineyard growers like to drink wine! We talked with several people at the same stage as ourselves, and we met the MU extension contact for our county. He has started having small informal meetings of people in our area who are in the process of starting or expanding their vineyards.

We heard a good vineyard joke that kind of sums up the decision we are working towards. How do you make a small fortune in the vineyard business? Start with a large fortune and start a vineyard.

This field day was another step on the long road to starting a vineyard of our own. It will be hard work, cost a lot of money, it will take many years before it is established, and many more years before we can even think about any black ink on the ledger sheet. But it is a very rewarding project that we love doing and with all the negatives, the positives make it a goal we continue to pursue.

Dark Knight = Dark Nightmares

Baby Girl had a slumber party with grammy and dapaw--mommy and daddy had a date with the Dark Knight!

What a great movie ... and what a theater full of questionable judgement. There were half a dozen or more kids who looked to be under 13. Good luck with the nightmares, folks.

Perhaps the questionable judgement belongs to the Motion Picture Association (MPA).

The movie is rated PG-13, but is really riding the edge of the guidelines for violence. Here's what the MPA has to say about violence in a PG-13 movie: "There may be depictions of violence in a PG-13 movie, but generally not both realistic and extreme or persistent violence."http://www.mpaa.org/flmrat_ratings.asp

Realistic, Extreme, and Persistent Violence describes the very essence of many scenes.Heath Ledger's Joker is a masterful piece of villainous acting. The Joker is a sadistic creature whose sustenance is violence and mayhem. The many closeups of his face are like a window into the soul of realistic and extreme violence. The grippingly persistent violence that holds you as he leisurely brushes his knife-edge across the faces of his terrified victims are certainly crossing that imaginary line.

Perhaps I am looking too closely through the refocused lens of a new parent (which is a whole blog topic in itself), but this movie seemed to be too much for the average 13 year old. But, as a co-worker said, every kid is different; one parent's 10 year old might be capable of handling the violent content, while another's 14 year old may not be.

With the movie ratings and review resources available on the Internet, I think there is no excuse for blind parenting in the movie theatre.

By the way ... this is really a great movie. By far, the best Batman so far on celluloid. Ledger has almost certainly earned a posthumous Oscar nod. And Christian Bale is quickly scaling the ladder of sought after leading men in Hollywood.

Cocktail Haikus

Musings over post-baby-bedtime drinks.

tasty beverage
concoction that soothes the brain
hear the ice cubes clink

one part triple-sec
one part Absolute vodka
twist of lime and stir

magic elixir
a shot, a squirt, and a splash
soothes tired parents

Last of the Longhairs

My brother has had hair half-way down his back since the early '80's, and this past weekend he had his head shaved to the skin ... for charity!

His church, Wyatt Park Christian Church, held a fundraising event for St Baldrick's Foundation. This charity asks volunteers to shave their heads as a way to identify with children undergoing chemotherapy. The volunteers then ask friends and family for donations for the foundation in exchange for seeing them given the clipper treatment.

Needless to say, with a headbangin hairdoo like his, the donations poured in. My brother raised over 1,500 dollars for cancer research.

As if the contributions were not enough, those rockin locks of hair are on their way to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair to many forms of illness and disease.

Did I mention how awesome my brother is?

That long mane of hair has been part of his identity for a very long time. The fact that he let it go for the benefit of children shows a much bigger side of his identity and speaks volumes about the type of person he is.