Last episode left us the day before Thanksgiving closing shop a little early (Wednesday) to head to my mom and dad's bueno vista.Arrived to find my bro, his wife, their two girls, and my parents having a relaxing afternoon. Numerous round of Bananagrams were played along with several other games. We munched on a soup and sandwich meal before kicking back the rest of the evening for a huge helping of nothingness and relaxation - nice. We watched several episodes of Man .vs. Food (never saw it before) and will make a road trip soon to Little Rock and Memphis to take on a couple mini-challenges of our own (Shut Up Habanero Juice and 7lbs burger).
Got up turkey morning and after a lounging morning we were off to SPR (grandma's bungalow).
Thursday lunch was spent with the Smith side of the family. Great spread of grub (as always) and good conversation. Especially like keeping up with my cousin Scotty (not ScottyD) as he is always working on a new project and his most recent is making long boards (skate type) which I am hoping he'll whip me one up soon. Do I really need one, no; but who really NEEDS most things we have???
Left the SPR and returned home to partake in the Appleby clan festivities. In attendance was Deb's sister Mandee, her husband Chris, her sons Tanner and Tucker, Deb's mom Linda, and her dad Jim A. The girls spent the afternoon cooking (guys spent time sampling) and early evening we sat down and chowed on a huge spread. The pictures do not do the quality and quantity of food justice. Jake topped off the meal with his 'Black Olive Fingers' (a ritual since he was a mini sized Jake).
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After dinner was what is quickly becoming a tradition at our house known as 'How Much Can Jake Suck Up to Grandpa' night or otherwise called a death-match of Risk between Jake, Jim A, Chris, and I. Jake has this way of getting Jim A to abandon all rational thinking in hopes of gaining bonding time with his grandson and all the while Chris and I scramble for self preservation. This year he and I established a quick alliance to fend off The Sucker and The Sucked, but to no avail as Jake claimed world domination over Chris in the end.
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Friday morning found me up at 4am getting Jake out the door for his trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin for the Footlocker National Regional XC meet held on Saturday. Every year Coach Bandy takes a group to compete and this year included a couple kids from Bolivar and a handful from Lebanon. Jake takes this low-key as his season was over a couple weeks back and he looks at this as a fun road trip with a run for good measure.
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Since I was up I jumped in with Deb, Jim A and Mandee at Wal-Mart at 4:30am helping Deb secure a significant Christmas present (at a crazy cheap price) for the boys. The item will go unnamed in the case Jake reads this before December 25th. More than getting a good deal it is much more fun to observe others in the 'Bolivar Mall' at zero-dark:30. Long and short of it - mission accomplished and we were out of there. Since we were up it with coffee already in us it was on to Brenda's for a huge breakfast at 6am. Got home and crashed for a short hour nap before beginning the day.
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Full day of activities included pawn shopping with Chris for a bow and a youth shotgun, eating, playing some driveway basketball, eating, trip down to a local creek for goofing around, eating, pet store visit followed with ice cream, then eating. Friday evening the Appleby clan gathered for a little Texas Hold'em and I was the first to go out (to my mother-in-law who slow-played me). As my hopes dashed I grabbed Ian and we headed over to SBU to watch the men in action the SBU Thanksgiving Shootout. We got home a little after 10am, got Eball in bed, and Mandee, Chris, Deb, and I watched 4 Christmas's (pretty funny as I like Vince Vaughn humor).
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Saturday morning found Dale, Dale's nephew Jason, and I on the cross bikes taking in a couple hours of the Polk County backroads. Fun ride but a shorts change was needed as we were just about to cross 'the' abandoned bridge when a bunch of duck hunters unloaded about 30 meters from us (at ducks and not us). To bad I wasn't wearing a HR monitor as it shot through the roof as I was looking to take cover. After a quick mental recovery we continued on (no dabs going up the erosion pit hill after the bridge - ScottyD) until a double flat (only 1 tube between all of us - stupid, I know) had me doing a couple mile hike back to civilization while Dale and Jason went for the truck. With 2+hrs of riding (+ the hike of shame) the morning was not a loss at all and I had a great time.
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After snagging breakfast Chris and I teed up the Stratego game board and engaged in a couple battles. I know it's a kid's game, but I still like it. The rest of the morning was pretty easy going as the Burt crew headed home to STL. I slipped outside to trim up the shrubs in prep for winter. Jim A and Ian got in some basketball time (see below). Deb, Ian, and I caught a SBU basketball game in the early evening then we dropped off E at Jim and Linda's for the night. Deb and I caught some tube and drifted off to sleep entirely too late.
Ira and I talked Saturday afternoon and it was decided to skip the 4+hour drive (one way) to race Bubba #9 in north STL and instead spend some time on the mtbs at a much closer destination.
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Sunday morning came all to quick as Ira and I hit an early departure to get in some mtb'ing at the Lake of the Ozarks area. Honey Run (south side of the state park) was first on the agenda and several runs (one way then do it reverse) through had us ready to move on the next destination. Honey Run is a great double loop with the north one my favorite - fast flowing tightness with some decent up and downs. Temps were getting colder as the day progressed and by the time we unloaded at the Bitter Sweet trail it was time for extra layers. We dropped in for about 4 miles (of an 8 mile loop) when my rear derailleur decided it had enough and ripped in two - bummer! Ira continued on the loop as I hiked (once again) back to the truck, which ended up being only 1/4 mile as I bushwhacked it AR style. Both Ira and I were disappointed to cut our trip short as we had an all-day pass from the wives and we intended to use every minute of it and make it over to the Trail of Four Winds as a caper - will have to come back in a couple weeks to get our Tof4W fix.
Got home and caught up with Jake about his trip north. He had a great time and the race was super tough as it had rained all week and the entire thing was a muddy mess. Turns out a couple kids cancelled at the last minute, but Jake still got to hang out with some Lebanon kids he likes along with a couple Bolivar runners (and coach of course who always makes events fun). Deb and Linda were in SPR doing some Christmas shopping and Ian and Jim A were also in SPR doing some fishing and shooting at Deb's grandpa's place. I got out in the man cave and prepped/repairs some bike issues and finished my shrub/garden work. Everyone made their way home eventually and the evening was pretty laid back with getting the house back in order and watching Amazing Race and Sunday Night Football (that would be me alone as Ian was already in bed).
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All in all it was another great Thankgiving weekend with mucho food going down the gullet and quality time with family. That being said it was nice to return to a quiet and peaceful house Sunday afternoon.
The following are some pictures and clips from Ian's basketball games the weekend before Thanksgiving (take notice in the videos how much he uses his left hand - nice):
Let's see, it should be a fairly relaxed week as nothing major is taking place any night this week and Ian doesn't play at The Courts next until Saturday morning. Sweet, a chance to get some honey do's done and get a good week of prep before JY's MO State Champs on Sunday in Hermann, MO.
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