How We Laughed the Day Away

The classic movie The Wizard of Oz was released 70 years ago as of October 2009. The small town of Wamego, Kansas, about an hour west of Kansas City, held a weekend celebration that included four of the surviving munchkins who were in the movie, costumed actors as the Oz characters, tours of the Oz museum with incredible amounts of movie and book memorabilia, and visits from the descendants of the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum. Caroline was scared at first by that wicked old witch of the west, but then she got her own magic wand from Glinda, got to take her picture with the original lollipop kid, got a kiss from a Toto lookalike, enjoyed all the dolls in the museum, and after all that and more, by the time our day there was over and it was time to head back home, she was saying as we were walking back to our van, "I had a great time!" We would definitely recommend visiting the Oz Museum for anyone who loves the movie and is in that area, not far from Kansas State University in Manhattan or the President Eisenhower Museum in Abilene. By the time we pulled up in our driveway back in Arkansas, though, I'm pretty sure she also said, "There's no place like home!" But it was definitely a memorable experience to celebrate a legend and meet some of the people who actually made it so seven decades ago. It reminded Galen of the old Land of Oz theme park in Banner Elk, North Carolina, from the 1970s, and maybe one day Caroline can share this story with her children too and keep passing down some personal association with that place over the rainbow.

Third Annual Birthday Poem

C, we can't believe you're 3!

We remember so well just bringing you home.

There was no way to prepare,

although we could share,

for the responsibility to raise such a dear.

But three years have gone by,

and with them the realization

that so much more is yet to come.

We don't want to rush, nor your growing to crush--

For a parent, the way's not always clear.

But we are certain of one thing,

which is that you are so full of spark,

energetic and funny and smart.

Thank God for you, C, for you will always be

the very life's blood of our heart.

Caroline had a wonderful birthday celebration this year. She had a little party at her preschool with her buddies, a party at our church where everyone was so gracious and pitched in to buy her a bicycle, a night bouncing on the inflatables at the Northwest Arkansas Naturals baseball game, and a trip to the Oklahoma Aquarium. There are plenty of pictures of all the fun at www.facebook.com/galenj. Thank you for visiting, caring, and being our friends!

Ham and Cheese

Caroline has learned her parents' habits well enough that she knows how we like to take pictures of her with landmarks. Take, for instance, our recent stop in Nashville on the drive from North Carolina to Arkansas after Christmas. While walking around the grounds of the state capitol, if Caroline saw a statue, she would run to stand by it, and then wait for a picture while holding her pose. What a ham. But here is the evidence.

Also notice the ability to produce a cheesy grin. In fact, this picture was made, as you might can tell, with her actually eating a grilled cheese sandwich at the time.

So we have a daily dose of ham and cheese from Caroline. But Winston and I join in if we get a chance to pose with a picture of Elvis.

Lori is of course ever the level-headed one, adding a touch of class to our travel photos.