He's watching us

And he's mocking us, ever-so-kindly.



Wichita bloggers: If you update with any regularity, you probably have been the focus of Douglas and Main at least once. It's a blog run by a guy named Bobby Rozzell, who maintains links to as many Wichita blogs as he can find, along with a running commentary on said blogs.

We Three, Tess, Business Casual, 366 Images, Pens and Needles, Outdoor Dog, Finger on the Weather... we've ALL been spotlighted.

It's fun. And fascinating. Check it out.

Quick recap of the past five days

My week of vacation has come to a tragic, tragic end. I offer this quick recap:


After a couple of days of staycation relaxation, we hit the road for Arkansas, where we hung around scenic Eureka Springs for a while. The strangest thing we saw, besides Branson on the way back to Carthage, was Quigley's Castle.


Then spent a little time back at my parents' house, petting Bowzer the baby schnauzer and hanging with the cousins.


Got a glimpse of mom at work in the quilt shop.


Then, upon our return, caught a glimpse of Jaime drummin' and Mudbuggin' on the packed patio at Oeno. Below, you will find a video of the Mudbugs performing one of my favorites, "Jambalaya."

Kansas State Fair

We took Lexi to the Fair today, and she had so much fun she passed out.


She started the day feeding a baby goat.


Then moved on to feeding herself a Pronto Pup -- basically her dream food.


She's becoming quite the photographer and captured a lengthy fowl series today. I'll spare you the results.


Except this one. Photography by Lexi J.


After a couple of rides...


And a little ice cream...


And a Mudbugs headwear purchase...


And a Dora balloon purchase...


It was lights out for Lexi.

Whoppety whop

That's how Chuck Shreiber, the owner of Kansas Copters, describes the sound a helicopter makes. Pretty accurate, I thought.


Today, Travis and I took a helicopter ride over the Kansas State fairgrounds. That's the big thrill ride this year, so we decided to do a story. This was my first helicopter ride, but not my first opportunity. I'm petrified of flying and have declined all invites in the past to go flying over natural disasters for the paper. (Self portrait by moi.)



Somehow I found the courage, though, and it was actually very fun. Beautiful day, cool view of the Fairgrounds, smooth ride. Travis shot a video that will be on Kansas.com tomorrow.


Downtown Hutch from the sky.

Mudbuggin'

Got a little video of the Mudbugs in action at Zoobilee on Saturday night. Emphasis on little. But you can get a feeling for the Cajun flavor.

Norton is a star

You simply must visit kansas.com this weekend and check out my little pug, the face of the Eagle's new pet site

Labor Day weekend

We spent the three-day weekend south of the city, starting in Alva and ending in Belle Plaine. Do you know I still have to look up how to spell Belle Plaine? Every time?


I do not, however, have to look up how old Nick's dad, Fred, is because the proof is on top of this German chocolate cake Nick's mom made to celebrate his birthday next week.


All of the siblings, minus one, gathered in Alva for the occasion, and we did a whole lot of sitting, eating and watching HGTV. That's how we roll in Alva.


Lexi learned the joys of headphones. She's watching one of her favorite cartoons and is as thrilled at how well she can hear it as we are at how well we can't.


A campaign sign in my in-laws' yard. I don't care what Bowdy Peach stands for. With that name, he HAS to be elected.


When we returned on Monday afternoon, we headed over to the Arb for a little Labor Day BBQ. Here, Robin holds court while describing her trip to pick up her big Markham prize.


Lexi demanded some after-dinner music, and the pre-Winfielders were kind enough to oblige.


Tomorrow, back to real life. Blech.