Lost in the Woods… and the Walking Boys

There is a rather large Army Post smack-dab in the middle of Missouri right in the heart of the Ozark Mountains named Ft. Leonard Wood, sometimes “lovingly” referred to as Ft. Lost in the Woods because of its proximity to absolutely nothing.  Don’t get me wrong, the area is quite beautiful.  The rolling hills.  The canoe rivers.  The trout streams.  The off-road, well, uh, roads.  The fishing (even on post).  And did I mention the trout streams?  I prefer another nickname of the post:  Ft. Living Room.  Because it is supposed to be so comfortable.  That is if you aren’t one of the tens of thousands of basic-trainees that roll through there on an annual basis.  This is actually the post where my Dad did his Basic Training years ago.

So, what is all this about you ask?  Well, we’re moving there.  And darn right soon too.  In fact, we will be there in just four weeks.  And just so you don’t get the impression things move slowly around here, we just found out a little more than a week ago.  Why this sudden pack up and move?  Julie has been offered the position of Phase II Coordinator at Ft. Leonard Wood for the military’s Interservice Physician Assistant Program.  This honorable position puts her in charge of the PA students that rotate through Ft. Leonard Wood for their 12 month practical training at the hospital.  It’s a great career move for her within the Army PA field, and it will give us a chance to move on post to take full advantage of the Army community that I enjoyed so much growing up.  We are really looking forward to it.  Did I mention there are trout streams too?

Julie and I drove down there recently while Grammie & Papa and Grantie & Gruncle took care of the boys for the day.  We were more than pleasantly surprised with the area, the post, and the community.  It’s about a 3 1/2 – 4 hour drive from here through the Lake of the Ozarks.  (here is a map link)  We think being Lost in the Woods will be a very good thing.  Oh yeah, there are canoe rivers and trout streams all over the place… maybe I mentioned that already…  (my 17 foot canoe and all my freshwater fishing gear has been in seclusion for a long, long time.  It’s really looking forward to getting out for some much needed excercise, the fly rods in particular!)

Okay, okay, we have a lot to do between now and… well… now!

So, what else could possibly be new and exciting after that?  Most important of all is that Tanner & Tucker are walking!  I mean full-on walking around the house, albeit a bit wobbly, but still pretty nimbly for a couple of 14-month-olds.  They love it!  It all happens so fast (like anything around here moves slowly, right?)  We love it too!  They each took their first steps within three days of each other, how cool is that?  Tanner on June 25th and Tucker on the 28th.  It is so exciting to see them develop into little boys.  Actually, not so little, they are getting so big, so fast.  We’re taking bets on what our weekly food bill will be in the coming months and years.  These are definitely growing boys with healthy appetites (they recently enjoyed some BBQ and hamburgers at the KC Masterpiece restaurant), and I can tell you from once being a growing boy myself, that growing appetites go hand in hand with growing boys… we better prepare ourselves for the long haul.  And how!

Since my last post, we have experienced lots of swimming, a visit to the Zoo, the boys’ first Haircuts, we celebrated Fathers Day, witnessed the boys’ first steps, and cheered for Independence Day.  Here are some pictures to catch you up.  Click on the picture for a gallery…

June & July 2008

And, here is a video of some of their very first steps.

[googlevideo=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7178779300177161821]

That’s enough for now.  We really hope everyone is having as an exciting Summer as we are!

Roland