Cool City Citizens

Nowhere is the Ozarks' early Christmas celebration more evident than at Silver Dollar City.

I love everything snow. Snow-people and snowflakes top my list. Each year, Silver Dollar City decorates with a particular theme and I was so excited to walk into the main square to find these cute snow citizens all around. I was excited, but more than that, there were excited children everywhere enjoying the displays. SDC is good about kid friendly displays and I could see children posing with snow-people in every direction I looked.


Red and white and silver is everywhere in the city. I love these jingle bells.

Crafting in the City

One of our first stops in Silver Dollar City was the Taffy and Sweet Shoppe. It is full of wrapped goodness. Even the holiday decorations looked good enough to eat.


This pretty little shop has a wrap around porch complete with chairs, tables and rockers for relaxing. Here is Sandra hooking up a holiday round rippled lovely. We met on the porch and I think I scared her when I asked if I could take her picture to share with you. This might explain the what is this crazy lady doing taking my picture sort of look. Sandra explained she lived in the area and enjoyed coming to The City to relax with a little handwork. What a great idea. Sandra also owns a pretty home decor and collectible shop. Check out her treasures at Second Love.


There were candy sticks galore.


And, LibbyLu’s favorite rock candy.


John and I watched two women in frilly bonnets make fresh peanut brittle then we were treated to a small warm piece each. Mmmmm good.

~Kelly

A Trip To The City

I moved to the Ozarks at the end of August 1993. It had rained, rained, and rained some more that month. The Missouri Water Science Center calls it The Great Flood of 1993. Water was everywhere. There was flooding in Kansas City as the Missouri River raged and reached beyond its banks. The Mississippi, as she is known to do from time to time, spread her ways across St. Louis and into Illinois. Many lost homes, while some lost lives. I found myself in Branson where Table Rock Lake expanded through the spillway into Taneycomo. Low lying resorts took the brunt at the height of tourist season, but Missourians don’t let much stop them. Branson sang happily along. By September, the land was dry and I learned what the word chilly really meant. By Halloween, I was searching to buy a winter coat as snow fell on small, costumed children begging candy door-to-door. I was accustomed to buying coats with fur trimmed hoods, the good looking, fashion forward, coats for special trips to the Sierra Nevada, an occasional jaunt down a mountain at Lake Tahoe, or gambling in Reno. I never dreamed I would live in a place where I had to wear a down-lined coat just to get to the car without freezing. I still get cold come the first frost and pretty much stay that way until summer returns.

Something else that has been a challenge to get used to is a two-month Christmas season. Christmas in the Ozarks begins at the beginning of November. I have been grumping around as twinkling snowflakes have appeared on city light standards, light displays are coming to life on the square, and Fall decorations have been marginalized to the clearance aisles at the local stuff marts. Christmas is here in the Ozarks whether I like it or not.

This year is warmer than most. It is a week into November and John and I just returned from a walk around our neighborhood. He wore shorts and I wore a short sleeved tee and sweats. It is in the seventies, beautiful, and sunny. Yesterday, John suggested a trip to Silver Dollar City, one of his favorite places to play. My only experience with this amusement park has been taking care of hungry children, negotiating hills and hollers with an overloaded stroller, running after excited children from one tummy turning ride to another and to another. I have resisted most suggestions to a day at SDC, so when John suggested we go, I felt pretty guilty for the dozens of times I managed not to go. Over the past week, we have discussed and considered a trip out of town for the weekend. A trip we clearly could not afford. But, some fun time together was important as we have not had a weekend to ourselves since summer before last. Staying home to do laundry would have been a waste of this time. Also, this would be a great opportunity to run my new Nikon through its paces. It must take blog-worthy photos. You can be the judge as I share our day with you over the next few posts. I only took two hundred and seventy some odd shots. I am serious about purchasing just the right camera.

The theme of this park is late 1800s and boasts rides, shops, craftsmen and entertainment. There is an International Festival which showcases entertainers from all around the glove, a summer Kid Festival at which time kids rule the park, and a Fall Crafts Festival. Silver Dollar City wears Christmas well. This year’s theme is everything snowmen. I love snowmen, so I was utterly delighted. It was odd walking among these icy snow folk in weather warm enough to stow sweaters in a knapsack. We had to purchase this little tote upon arrival after realizing we would too warm with sweaters slung over our arms all afternoon and evening. It was a wonderful date, a wonderful day, and I am so lucky to have shared it with my best friend John.

Lallee Says Thank You

Sweet crochet diva, Lallee, is having a giveaway. If you would like a chance to win this sweet afghan, leave a comment on her blog. Of course, I have every intention of winning this sweet prize myself. It is perfect for Lucy.

~Kelly

Halloween As Good As It Gets

Halloween was as good as it gets. John is our official Saturday morning pancake maker. You have seen his work before. The girls ordered up pumpkin looking, rather than tasting, pancakes and John was thrilled. Smiles were served all around.


After our spooky fun breakfast, the girls helped me clean and decorate for a pre-trick or treat dinner.


We are fond of polka-dots and smiling pumpkins. Scary is not our thing.


John took the girls out to hunt the perfect pumpkin while I prepared for company. They were also able to get in a bit of homecoming football as well. We all decided to commit to the whole day of homecoming next year, parade, floats, pre-game festivities and football.



We live in a great neighborhood. It looks very different from the one I grew up in where each house looked much like the next. Our neighborhood is old, some houses celebrating century marks and beyond. In comparison to many, the original part our cottage is merely a youngster at 69 years of age. Each house is unique in style and history. One does not look like the next. Our neighborhood is an architectural salad made up of colonials, cottages, Cape Cods, mid-west moderns, a fifties flat roof or two, and delightful bungalows. Into the mix are a few brick brownstone inspired homes, and a couple of large farmhouses which clearly were the original sentinels of this land long before the university and even longer before the convenience store on the corner.


Our evening began with pizza, spaghetti, homemade bread and Spider Surprise Jello Salad. We topped off our pre-trick or treat meal with mummy cupcakes.


We touched up our make-up and posed for pictures.


Supergirl.


A mime.

Cinderella before the ball.

And a few friends that included Henry the Ninja warrior, a fairy and a princess.


Trick or treat was certainly a treat. Hundreds of children and parents waded up and down leafy streets. The air was crisp. After nearly a week of rain, a few puddles had to be jumped. John commented that it was like something out of Hollywood like the Halloween scene in ET, but multiplied ten-fold. Children lined up for treats and the neighborhood obliged the need to be a little scared with dressed up hosts, orange and purple lights, scary front yard graveyards, baskets of body parts, and ghosts and giant spiders dropping from trees. The kids loved it.