Clear Lake Kite Festival

We went to the mighty municipality of Clear Lake last weekend. On the way we stopped to see Great Grandpa and Grandma Thompson in Belmond. I wasn't smart enough at the time to take pictures of the girls with them which is something I'm regretting now. I won't forget next time. It was a nice visit. I hadn't been to their house in Belmond yet. It's a perfect house for them and I'm glad they found a place that works well for them. Now to get all of their stuff out of their condo. That's going to happen in March and then they'll be all set.

From there we headed a little further north to Clear Lake. We had a good time visiting on Friday night. Dad made escalloped potatoes and ham and it was gooooooo-ooooood.

One of the highlights was the new set of bunkbeds in the room we shack up in. That was a hit. I'll tell y'all right now, if there's a time when Mara and Ellen aren't slated to sleep in those beds for a family gathering, y'all are gonna have a fight on your hands. Just sayin.

Below are some pics from the weekend:



Mara on the beach.



Ellen on the beach sportin her flower shades.


Stacey and Cuddy. Cuddy with his snack dog.
(make your jokes about this pic, I know I would).

Cuddy is an old friend of our family. He's been around for as long as I can remember. He and his wife Kim live in Clear Lake as well and we see them almost everytime we go there. It's like another set of aunts and uncles.



Dad and Stacey taking a pic of all the kites in the air



Stacey and I :)






Later on, we decided to get lunch and a beer at Sips. Turns out they had chocolate cake on the menu as well. Ellen and Mara were most pleased. Stacey didn't mind either.



Mara pondering where to begin.

If you're wondering where Gramma K is in all this mess, she's in the thick of another tax season so she was working most of the time. I keep playing the hot lotto every wednesday as it seems that might be my only hope of her retiring. If any of you are capable of exerting pressure that will lead to that happening without me winning the lottery, I would be grateful if you could gracefully do so. After all, this life is a one ticket trip.


I'm supposed to be in Des Moines right now riding the CIRREM gravel grind. However, the possibility of inclement weather has kept me here in Marion. Gonna put together a little gravel grind of my own later today. So plan on the next post being heavily bike related.

Have a great weekend y'all.