Settled in to a Comfortable Spot

We have finally gotten settled in at Ft. Leonard Wood and find ourselves enjoying it here very much.  The area is really beautiful and living on post is a pleasure.  We are very comfortable being “Lost in the Woods!”

“What’s on your head silly???”             “A Cheerio, where’s yours???”

Tanner & Tucker are enjoying themselves here too.  In the next few weeks, they will start “pre-school” at the Child Development Center here on post.  No, not really pre-school because after all, they’re only 16 months old, but the post offers really nice childcare in a wonderful facility and I think the boys will like (and should have) some more social interaction with other toddlers.  A couple of hours here and there anyway just for the fun of it.  After their orientation tour of the center, we had a hard time getting them to leave.  Although, playing in the yard (usually with the water hose while Mommy waters the flowers) at home seems to be their new favorite pastime and with the addition of a swing under the Oak tree in the front yard, we like to hang out there too.

Julie is off to a great start at the Hospital and has now officially taken charge of the PA Phase II Program there.  Her students have a lot to live up to; her expectations of them are high (as they should be).  The hospital is really close to home too and it takes Julie a mere 9 minutes to get to her office (and home for lunch which is a really welcome change for her and for me.)

Our house on post backs up to the woods with great neighbors all around the loop we live on.  The boys really like all the bird feeders and squirrel “toys” we put up in the back yard.  They love to scare the squirrels off the bird feeders so the birds can get their fair share.  That is, when they come out of their “fort” long enough to notice…

The boys are growing, and learning, and developing so fast it amazes us.  They are both so eager and willing to learn.  Their vocabulary is growing:  most common words are Dada (Daddy), Mama (Mommy), car, nana (banana), g’gee (cookie), bah (ball) and many other variations of names for things that just don’t translate well in text.  Tucker even says Papa which of course makes Papa (that’s my Dad) very proud!  Tanner has a mean overhand baseball pitching throw that he uses to throw just about anything and everything and Tucker is building castles with blocks (ok, just stacking them up, but hey it’s a start!)  Both of them love to dance around whenever we play music, but their particular favorite, thanks to Grammie, seems to be the Steve Miller Band right now (at least I know they have good taste in music) .  Of course, I’m walking around the house singing children’s songs too, like “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” and a whole lot more.  I understand it’s pretty funny to hear me whistling “The Itsy Bitsy Spider”, or “Old MacDonald” while I’m working outside or making dinner.  So far at least I have been mostly able to control it when I’m out in public without the boys… but sometimes I’m not so sure; people do look at me funny sometimes…

Here are a few shots of the boys in the general store at the Basswood RV Resort, Country Inn & Suites in Platte City before we moved.  And by the way, we would like to send a very special thank you to Gary, the General Manager there, for making our stay there so nice, and us so welcome.  We can’t say enough about how great we were treated there while we were in the process of moving.  Thank you!  We highly recommend anyone traveling through the area, PCS’ing or just looking for a getaway to check this place out.  There are full hook-up RV sites, rooms and suites, a lodge, tent sites, cabins, not to mention the fishing holes, swimming pool, hiking trails and general store with great pizza.  All close to Ft. Leavenworth and Kansas City.

Oh yeah, and I’ve really enjoyed the fishing at the local trout stream (on post!) and the various rivers around the area.  My Harley has gotten some great exercise on the surrounding twisties among the hills of the Ozarks.  This is a great place for a lot of reasons.

Here are the boys on their first ride in a swing at one of the many little playgrounds around post.

“How do you make this thing go?”      ”I dunno, but look at that bug down there!”

Well, I hope everyone is doing well, until next time…

Roland