The Muench Bunch

We stayed 2 nights in a standard hotel and had dinner with Darrel and Lauren several times. We visited their house and two dogs. Donaleen came for a day visit on Saturday. Mark and Darrel went to a history WWI museum while the kids and I went to a Science center. We enjoyed all there was to see and do. We ate out for pizza and one night went for ice cream at an add your own toppings shop. It was the best.

On our way to Kansas City, we made a stop to see my college roommate Heidi. She has a little shop on main street in Leon. It is a cute little sandwich and teas shop and we had our lunch there. On to Kansas City, we arrived around 4:00 to extreme heat. In the parking lot our car read 113 degrees, driving into the city it was 102, now that is just plain hot! We chose to stay in a Great Wolf Lodge complete with an indoor water park. We decided this would be a better route than Worlds and Oceans of Fun with all the heat. It was a great choice and we all enjoyed the water park. There was a giant playground with shooting water and buckets to tip. Jake enjoyed being sneaky and dumping water on innocent people walking below. There were tube slides, body slides, and a lazy river. The slides and lazy river were so warm from the sun, it felt like bath water. Luke was timid and wouldn't try any of the little kids slides. He was happy just to be in the water. Jayden liked to go down the big sli

My good friend Lisa just recently moved. Her daughter Mallory is Luke;s girlfriend and he tells that to everyone. Today we went to visit them in their new home and take pictures of their brand new baby. Luke was so anxious to get to her house he kept asking when are we there. It was fun to see the newest addition and take his pictures. I haven’t photographed a newborn in awhile so that was fun. It also really Makes me want to have another one, really truly does.

I just finished giving Luke a bath. Why? Because he was covered in ink pen. He too the pen to his arms, legs, belly and face. I did not think it was cute, therefore did not take a photo. He had a time out, then in to the tub. Another reminder that he is still 3!

It is another unbearably hot day, 97. This entire month has been so hot and humid. I had a couple appoinments in Des Moines. After the week at fair, I couldn’t wait to rest and be inside with the A/C. Mark on the other hand picked the hottest day of the summer to this date and the hottest time of the day (3:00) to be outside welding on the fence. Could it get any worse? Then he came in at 5 took a shower and went up to Dayton to rope on his horse. He does a lot of his roping on these miserable hot nights. I think its too hot for the cattle and horses, let alone him. I think that is just plain crazy, but that’s just my opinion. The heat index at 10PM was 100 and Mark didn’t get home until after midnight. The forecast for the next 5 days, right around 98, hot hot hot.

Up early and back to the fairgrounds for another hot day of showing. We were so tired and knowing how hot today would get, it was hard to get going this morning. The show started at 9AM. Jayden wasn’t in the first few classes, so that gave her time to saddle up and ride awhile before competing. This was the day to decorate your horse and enjoy all the games classes. Jadyen ran in poles, barrels, flags, jumping figure 8, keyhole, and a one barrel race. She did a great job in everything. She had two very tough competitors that run their horses really fast. Jayden goes at a nice fast lope with Jessie and looked really good. There were several classes she placed second and came really close to winning. She wanted a trophy so badly! It would have made Jayden’s day, week, summer. The sun was hot and the classes were out in the hot sun. Mom, Daddy and Aunt Alice were the only ones to beat the heat and cheer her on. It was nice they could be there. The show moved along quickly in order t

The horse project kids had to be to the fair for a meeting at 9:30AM before the show started. Jayden’s classes were all in the evening, so we had a long day of waiting. We fed Jessie and Jayden rode her practicing the pattern for her Horsemanship class that Mommy talked her into last minute. The rest of the day we watched some classes and hung out in the camper with the A/C. Outside the sun was awful 95 and the camper’s A/C couldn’t keep up. It still felt good to be in the camper even if it was 85 degrees inside. Jaynie, Rylie, and Maggie watched a movie in the camper and I read a book. The heat in the indoor arena was like sitting in an oven. The horse show took a two hour break so everyone could rest and eat. At 6:00 the classes were starting again. Jayden was in walk-trot first. This was 8th grade and under so there were several kids in the class. She did a great job on Jessie, and got a red. There were plenty of western pleasure horses in the class and tough competition. Ja

Sleeping in the camper was not too bad. We were up early to check and chore the horse. The cousins were showing their cattle, so we got to see a little of that. Jayden got a little ride in before we headed home to shower. In the evening, we headed back to the fairgrounds for the potluck meeting.

Thursday Jacob took two drawings for the kids open class at the fair. He was proud of his work telling about each detail he had drawn. Auntie Alice met the kids and I for the day at the fair. We took the kids through the barns and saw all the exhibits. We briefly watched cousin Abby show her sheep, which Jacob thought was torture to have to sit still and watch. With help from her brothers and cousins Jaynie and Maggie, Jayden decorated her horse stall in the tropical theme. Grandma had all the decorations ready for us to use and Jayden made her own "Jessie" poster. Then it was back home for a couple hours before heading back again. We got the horse bathed, all the tack and equipment loaded and horse to the fair. Mark had to run an extension cord through the rafters of the horse barn to run a fan, which was scary to watch. After we got Jessie all situated in her stall, Mark took the boys and Rylie to the garden tractor pulls. jayden and I stayed and slept in the camper

Today was the big 4-H project judging day. It took all morning to get through all the lines with all the judges. I thought Jayden being a Junior and having such good projects deserved to get a purple if not state. The judges were tough, they picked things apart, such as what kind of font was used and underlining key words in her write up. Her big project that took the most work and was super neat was a display about the purple heart. The judge gave her a purple. We had really hoped for a state. She did have her Farm Safety display go on to the state fair. She got purple on her horse colors poster, child development fun kit, and a photo of Luke’s feet. She got blues for her bathroom renovation, lighthouse contributions, homemade dog treats, and other photos. It was so nice to have the judging day done and over as the fair has begun. Wade brought his camper in for us to use for the week. That will be so great!! The week is expected to get hotter each day with the hottest being

Mark left bright and early for a ranch rodeo in Memphis, MO. Some guys formed a team and invited Mark to join them. He said the rodeo was like nothing he had ever been too. These steers were bigger and meaner and he had some stories to tell when he got home. The kids and I woke up to rain and thunder. By the time we were ready to leave for church, it had passed. Leaving for church, we drove right back into it. It was a long drive to church in heavy rain and lightning all around, sometimes it seemed very close. I was behind the wheel and praying for safety and no hail. We got to church and 3 minutes later it did hail. I was glad to be inside safe and sound.

A fun family night. We went out to eat at Hickory Park then headed to the Disney movie Cars 2. The boys were all decked out in there Cars shirts, Jake as lightning Mcqeen and Luke as Mater. They were very excited . The movie was nothing like the first one. It was very action packed and more of a spy movie. It was super cute, but I was really disappointed in so much inappropriate scenes that were not age appropriate. The bad cars were trying to kill other cars and one car was tortured and killed. Yes, they are Cars, but they can talk and have a face to a child they are like human. I just think its sad what is allowed for a rated G kids movie these days. THe kids all liked the movie, just not sure its one I will own.

Mark went to rope. He ropes his dummy several nights a week and goes roping once or twice a week. He is really serious about it. He likes to tell me what he id doing to improve his swing and his throw. When he gets something on his mind, there is no stopping him. Tonight he got to the arena when weather came in. There wer tornado warnings and ones spotted not far away. I called Mark and he loaded up to head home. This is the second time he has been with horses hauling the trailer in bad weather. It really makes me nervous.

The crops are really growing with all this heat. I take a photo of Mark and the kids every year close to the 4th of July in front of the corn. Its another hot Iowa day. I took Jayden to her 4H Horse project meeting in Ft. Dodge, her last practice before fair. She got a lot of riding in and her horse acted great. Jessie is a horse that you can do many events on, but she isn’t great at any one thing. I just hope her horse behaves and she has a good time at fair. The forecast is looking to be another hot one. That takes the fun out of it for me…

Little did I know, we live near another Lake with a beach other than Don Williams. A 15 minute drive takes us to a cute little Lake, Spring Lake. There is a good size beach and swim area that isn’t very deep. I took the kids and they really enjoyed it. It was another very hot day, so being in the water was a must. We will have to make this a new frequent stop.

The 4th of July has been tradition for us to attend the Williams celebration. There is always the parade and the activities at the park. Where else can you go and pay $.50 for a ride and a snow cone. This year the kids were in the parade. Childhood friends Paula and Jessica had their kids in the parade with mine. The plan was to have the kids ride bikes and we would throw candy. I wasn’t thrilled about being “IN” the parade. Once Grandma heard the plan, her creative juices were flowing and soon decorations were prepared. We needed a theme,” red, white and blue”, we needed a poster with a title “Little Firecrackers” and the rest was Grandma’s creations. Jake decorated his bike all up and Jayden pulled Luke in his wagon. Luke had a bucket and threw candy.I think the kids really enjoyed it and it went so fast. At the end of the parade route, I looked up to see Jacob a block away following some other floats. I thought to myself, I wonder where he will go and where he will end up. Surely he

I think the boys woke up on the wrong side of the bed. They were grumpy from the start. I had fighting, crying and screaming going on all morning. I had planned on going to town and getting groceries, but there was no way with the way things were going. These are days you wish could just go faster. In the evening, Maggie had her 10th birthday party. She had a party with ice cream cake and got her very own electric guitar. I see Jayden maturing right before my eyes. This time she chose to sit with the teenagers rather than run around with the kids. We stopped on the way to see Mark at the Ranch Rodeo, Day 2 of 3. We watched as his lead team did the team trailering event. i watched as they got their steer in the pen ready to load. The steer being uncooperative, Mark leaped off his horse and grabbed it by its horns and turned him. It was crazy! The got the steers loaded and a good time.

Jake got sick in the night and we spent the last two days indoor helping him re- cooperate. It was a good thing as it has been heat index over 100 the last couple days. Today was a Ranch Rodeo in Dayton. The Wrangler's host a Tough Man 3 day competition. Mark was competing for the weekend in hopes of a buckle. Today Jayden and I would compete for fun. This was Jayden’s first Ranch Rodeo. The morning started out with a beginner’s clinic that we watched. The rodeo started at 2:00. Mark was on 3 teams, I was on two and Jayden was on a team with us and a youth team. It was enough to keep us busy for 7 hours and on and off a horse all day. It was a very hot day too. The previous 2 days had a heat index in the 100’s, so with today being 85, it didn’t seem so bad, even though it was very hot! The rodeo had 5 events, no roping, all were some type of sorting. Lynn Elm came down and was on our team too. I was very impressed with Jayden especially being her first time. She knew what she neede