Dang it's cold!! Ridin the trails was a bit chilly today!

Me, Dave G. and Matt and Sally S. met out at Greensfelder park for a nice Sunday afternoon ride. Too bad it was a balmy 12 degrees at high noon! We all layered up and took off for about an hour and a half. I had never ridden out there and really enjoyed the trails. They were in perfect condition. The ground was nice and hard due to the temps and not one person or animal was on the trail. It was negative 8 degrees with the wind chill, but once we got down in the valleys it wasn't bad at all. My toes were the only thing that got cold, but once they got numb, things were fine! A couple of us are going to hit Castlewood in the morning. It is supposed to warm up to the mid twenties.

Weimann

New Plates,Dance and Walts

My new personalized plates finally came in today. I just hated the new Missouri plates and decided to get the really cool Missouri Tourism plate. They should make this the state plate, but no one ever accused politicians(or the citizens of Misery since they are the ones that voted on it) of being intelligent and having any taste whatsoever. This plate has the Arch, a steamboat, a Pony Express rider, a sax, a fiddle and the Route 66 symbol. See if you can figure out the plate. It really isn't that hard to figure out. My first choice was taken, so this is what I got.

The other pictures are of Reese's recital for dance and gymnastics. She did a great job and could look any cuter. The other photo is of our brief trip to Grandpa Wyman' s Farm. Here the girls are feeding Newt a carrot.

Wimen

Oasis Rocks Chicago!

The Gallagher Bros tearing up Chicago this past Friday night. What a great show!!

The one and only picture of me ever officiating a game. Charles Underwood is the other official in the picture. Fellow DeSoto alum and local sports photographer Matt O'Harver sent this to me. This is from couple of weeks ago at the Crystal City Boy's Invitational at the Championship game. This is why I have not posted in while. I have been calling games every night for the past 2 and 1/2 weeks. So far so good this season. Only 30 more games to go!

Kirsten and I also made it up to Chicago this past weekend to see OASIS at the AllState Arena in Rosemont, IL. We had a great time and the band was amazing.

I have some Thanksgiving photos, but will have to take some time to download them.

I have been riding the mtn bike just about every weekend. Some fellow sharks and I went out tot he Chubb over Thanksgiving, while neighbor Carey and I went out and rode at Klondike and Matson last weekend. I hope to put in some miles on the trials over Christmas break.

Here are a few clips from the Oasis gig this past Friday night. Make sure to pause the music player on the right hand side of the blog before watching the vids. The first vid is a collection of songs, while the second one is a great acoustic version by Noel of "Don't Look Back in Anger". The third is "Wonderwall"

Cheers

Skate Night, Halloween and Fort de Chartre Rendevoux

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted. I must admit, it has been pure laziness on my part. As you can see we have been busy just about every weekend for the past month.

The first set of photos are of skate night at Antonia Elementary. It was the first time the girls have ever skated, so things were a bit dicey at first. Tatum had the bid girl skates and was very upset at first because she kept falling. She finally somewhat figured it out and then skated for the rest of the night with her classmates. Reese had the training skates and just basically rolled around all night very slowly. She too had a great time. It sure did bring back memories for me of the old Spinning Wheels in Crystal City, Mo.

The next weekend of course was Halloween. We went over to my brother's house and did the trick or treating in his hood. The girls got a ton of candy that they are still eating today!! Reese was Gabrielle from High School Musical and Tatum was a pirate. I sure am glad it was on a Friday this year!

The last set is of our yearly trip down to Fort de Chartres for the Fall Rendevoux. Because of budget cuts in Illinois, the Fort is shutting down indefinitely. This may be the last one for a while. I always remember going down there with my Dad as a kid, and had hoped to keep up the tradition with my family. If you haven't ever been, you should go.

I have only been on the bike once in 4 weeks. I have put on 4 lbs and will start the mtn riding this coming weekend. Family come first and the biking will have to wait. I do need to get back on as I am going mad just sitting around.

Only three more weeks until I start officating games. I will leave in the dark and get home in the dark for the next three months! Joy.

Wyman

It sure is great living in Missouri this time of year!!

As you can tell, it was another splendid weekend here in eastern Missouri. The weather was a bit cold and rainy throughout the week, but it really came through over the weekend. I was able to go down to Johnny's on Friday and eat some scrumptuous wings with a couple of buddies. It had been at least two months since last sampling some of those daddies and they did not dissapoint.

Reese had her last soccer game this Saturday. She seemed to have the most fun at this last game. We got there a little late as she was having a hard morning dealing with what to wear. Hence the teal long sleeve shirt under here soccer jersey. Why the white or black shirt was not good enough, I still don't know? She got to play most of the game and now wants to try it again.

On Sunday we had been planning on going down to Taum Sauk Mountain State Park all week. We were hoping the weather and foliage would be nice and sure enough it was. The leaves are not real colorful this year, and fortunately the ones down south are much brighter than the ones in the St. Louis area. If you not been to Taum Sauk before, you should go. It is the tallest point in Missouri and is located along the Ozark Trail. We hiked down to Mina Sauk Falls and back. It was a little over three miles and the girls did great. It is a very hard trail to hike on due to the amount of rocks. It has lots of uphill climbing as well. The guide book says for experienced hikers only, but the girls did great. Mina Sauk is the tallest waterfall in the state as well. We came back home up Hwy 21 and drove through D-Town for old time sake. It sure was nice seeing the old town again. I sometimes wonder if I should move back and raise the girls there.

Later.

Camping at Meramec State Park

We went camping this past weekend at Meramec State Park with friends Chris and Kim Pleimann and their two kids Riley and Ashton. We got our little pop up out for the first time in three years. The weather was perfect as you can tell by the photos. We went on a nice two mile hike and took in some of the caves in the park. We ate and drank like kings all weekend. Chris brought his smoker to cook up some ribs. We had a great breakfast on Saturday morning as well. The fire came in handy all weekend as it got into the 30s at night. It was in the upper 60s during the day. A good time was had by all.

Wyman