Monday, October 19, 2015

Weekending - Spending It With My Parents

Wow -- what a great weekend!  We had the rare opportunity to spend the weekend out of town with my parents, son and daughter-in-law.  Friday afternoon we loaded up and headed to southern Missouri to Bennett Springs.  I had rented a cabin overlooking the Niangua River and it proved to be the perfect home away from home for the weekend.  Here's our view from the deck.


Saturday morning my dad treated us to breakfast made in his Dutch oven.  Have you guys ever used a Dutch over?  Great camping tool!  You cook in it by placing briquettes on top and under the Dutch oven to reach the desired temperature and your contents cook perfectly.  Dad cooked a breakfast casserole that was a scrumptious way to start the day.


We didn't want the warm briquettes to go to waste so we used them to make some s'mores.  I mean, everyone needs some breakfast dessert occasionally!  We substituted the chocolate with a Reese's peanut butter cup.  Yes, it was delicious!


After a couple selfies on the deck, we headed to Bennett Springs State Park to check out the fish hatchery and explore the Nature Center.  The plan a couple months ago when I made the reservation was for us to float the river on Saturday, but since the temps were in the low 60's we decided to pass on the floating.  We'll just have to save that activity for next time.


The hatchery was pretty cool.  Pools and pools of rainbow trout line the sidewalks.  Depending on how many fishing permits are issued each day, that night a certain number of trout are released into the river for the fisherman to try to catch.



When we were done exploring, we headed back to the cabin to play Tripoley.  If you're looking for a fun card game to play with the entire family, you should check this one out!  All six of us had a great time giving each other a hard time and winning pennies from each other.  Some great quotes came out of the weekend -- like when Dad was having a hard time dealing the cards: "Don't rush the monkey and you'll get a better show."


The drive in to our cabin was so picturesque!  Kayla played photographer and snapped some great pictures.  I see a new picture of me and Eric coming to my desk soon.


I also was able to capture some good ones of my parents.  Being in front of the camera doesn't happen very often with them so I'm grateful to have captured these memories on film from our weekend.




On our way home, we swung in Fort Leonard Wood to take a look around.  Both my dad and Eric's dad were stationed there at one time and it was fun checking out the base.  One of the things on display was a piece of the Berlin Wall -- pretty cool to see.



We each went our separate ways when we left the base, but we'll carry with us memories that will last a lifetime.  I treasure time I get to spend with my parents!  What a great weekend!  Hope it was a great one for you too.

Check out what others were up to this weekend.

7 comments:

  1. We got a dutch oven as a wedding present! Good to know all of its different uses!
    www.amemoryofus.com

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  2. Okay, I had no idea that a Dutch oven was anything but well, you know. LOL. I love these photos so much--what a great weekend that looks like and that photo of the two of you is definitely frame worthy! Glad you enjoyed some down time.
    XOXO

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  3. Wow what an amazing shots captured and glad that you had such a wonderful weekend with parents. I really liked your breakfast dessert which looks so yummy.

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  4. You had perfect MO weather this past weekend!! So glad it all worked out :)

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  5. These pictures came out so great! I've never had the pleasure of using a Dutch oven, but I would totally go for it if I had the chance.

    Seems like you guys really enjoyed yourselves! Thanks for linkin' up!!

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  6. That view from their porch is so nice, especially with the changing leaves!

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  7. What a beautiful place, it looks nice and peaceful and lovely autumn colours.
    Love that porch.

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