Large wiener causes traffic snarl

Details here:

Valentine's weekend and Presidents Day and snow!

 Well, any good day starts with a good breakfast.
And our new usual spot when traveling downtown is Courtesy Diner near the Zoo.

First stop of the day was daughters first trip to the St Louis Arch.

Here with mom photo-bombing.

 In front of the Old Cathedral on the way to the Arch.

 Ta-Da! The Arch.

 Old Court House in the back ground.

 Inside the pod.

 New ball park from the top of the Arch.

Looking west.

 Arch viewing posture double.

 Arch viewing posture solo.

And the Westward Expansion museum under the Arch.

 Sky blue.

 Next stop, the London Tea Room.

 Beverage and sausage roll. Yum.

Then the very famous 'Missouri Baking Co.'

 Need you ask why?

 ditto

 So many choices, so little time.

 Next Zia's for dinner.

 Sat. found daughter baking home-made Valentine cookies.

 Spreading the icing.

 Monday found our first snow storm of the season.

Working on our drive-way.

 Working on the neighbors.

 Practice hill by the house.

Professional hill with friends.

Okay Tom Hanks, I am waiting for your call . . . and we did get outside a bit.

65 degrees in February!
What else can you do but get outside and enjoy it.
We can't complain, at least around here, about cabin fever to much this winter because it has just been so mild. But come on, if it's 65 degrees in February you have to get out, cabin fever or no.
And anyway, cabin fever to a loghead is something entirely different.

So.. . . both Sat. and Sunday we headed out to the cabin.

Get out the adventure toys and play on the trampoline.





But about now you are starting to wonder what any of this has to do with the title of this post; "Okay Tom Hanks, I am waiting for your call. . .."

One of daughters favorite movies right now is 'Kit Kittredge'.
(If you do not have a daughter into American Girl dolls, you may have to look it up).
In the stories, set in the 1940's, Kit wants to be a journalist, so there fore uses a typewriter from that era.

So while at the cabin daughter talks dad into getting down a couple of his old typewriters.

And that reminded me of my post of a couple of weeks ago about Tom Hanks and typewriters.

Here is daughter doing her best Kit Kittredge.

We do need to get the ribbons replaced.

Her she is with one of the 'lap-tops' of it's day portable typewriters.



The green box setting behind the typewriters is a portable desk used by the military. I think this one was Korean War era. The front opens and makes a working surface and has a couple of drawers.

A close up of the same one.

Then you also had to carry paper and any files you may need for where ever you were going.

And I can tell you, it weighs more than an IPAD.

Typing on the desk top model.

Keys were a little stiff and need a little oil, but for the most part it all worked just fine.

 Extra, extra! Do they do that anymore?

 In her 'office' at the cabin.















Of course we didn't spend the whole time typing.
What better place to work on a toy log cabin then in a real one.

And when done building. . . .

We took the little yellow canoe down the the creek for some whitewater fun.

She tried it bare footed at first, but the water and rocks were still cold.

Can you believe it's February!

Ever elusive Leslie - the facts start forming.

Perhaps I should be starting at the beginning, but that didn't just seem right today. I guess I wanted to confirm or validate something my mother has said for years. .  and . . . well the first page of the documents I started to explore took care, at least in part, of some of that.

". . .four years overseas in Syria, Hylia, Assam, and Burma, taking part in the Chindit Campaigns"

Mom always said he was with the Chindits.

Here is a photo of that page, third line in the first paragraph states his involvement in the Chindits

My next step, here on this blog will be to start at the beginning of his record and follow it through the war.

Stay tuned.