Eight Years Later...

 It's only been 8 years since I last posted something here. I don't expect anyone to see this since it has been so long.

But I wanted to let you all know that I'm attempting to do regular posting on my blog site - John's Bailiwick. 

Legend of Tarzan

I've been waiting for this movie ever since I saw the trailer several months ago. But not waiting too excitedly. That was because to date there have not been any really good Tarzan movies (okay, there was one which I will mention further down).

The most well known were the Johnny Weissmuller films. The main objection I have to any of these is that they portray Tarzan as a simpleton. In the novels he is a well educated English Lord who speaks multiple languages. The only thing I remember his character ever saying when he was in Tarzan-mode was the word "Ungawa". It was what he said to all the animals and the natives regardless of the situation.

The more recent films - Tarzan, the Ape Man and Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan - were both awful movies when compared to the source material.

So, I was a little concerned about how this new movie would portray the Lord of the Jungle.

It was better than expected.

The first thing to know is that this is not an origin movie. This film takes the already established character of Tarzan and gives us a new adventure. However, they did manage to give you enough of his growing up with the Great Apes in the form of flashbacks.

And, if you're wondering, yes there is a version of the famous Tarzan yell; a much better version.

This is a movie I will be purchasing when the disc is released. I'm just hoping it does a decent business at the box office. I wouldn't mind seeing more like this one.

Visit to Roy

Last Thursday LaRue and I drove out to Roy to see Robin and his family. One of the reasons we went was to see Vittorio Venturoli before he went home to Italy.

Vittorio was a foreign student who spent the past school year living with Robin, Emily and the kids in Roy. Sunday (today) he got on a plane to begin his journey home after being in this country since last fall.
We only got to see him for a short time; he was spending his last few days with friends.

Emily is getting close to having the baby girl:

She has been busy sewing this cute baby bibs that have sleeves and hook in the back:

She also made this baby bag:

Quinley is checking out the baby's crib:

Speaking of Quinley, Here she is with some mint from the garden and posing with some flowers:

She and Josh took some time to a tea party:

Here's Josh at the computer and with Robin:

Chris doing some drawing:

Brighton has dish washing duty:

Then Brighton spent some time working on Minecraft while Chris offered advice:

Kjerstine wanted to play a game. She got out a set of cards for a game called Swish for us to play:

Here are a couple more pictures of Kjerstine:

Saturday morning we were awoken by the sound of Brighton out mowing the lawn:

Finally, Quinley in her fancy dress on the trampoline:

While we were there I also got a chance to play a couple of my games.
First I taught Brighton how to play Star Realms:

The next evening Brighton, Robin and I played a game of Trailer Park Wars:

Robin and Brighton actually had a winning tie score. They each ended up with 34 pink flamingos. It was a really fun game and only the second time I had played it.

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On the drive to Roy we saw several National Guard trucks hauling dirt from the east part of Strawberry Reservoir to an area by the Strawberry Visitor Center. On the way home we turned off the highway and drove down to where they were setting up camp:

It turns out that the National Guard is doing some trail clean-up and work around the Strawberry Reservoir.

All in all it was a good visit. And when Emily has the baby we will probably be going back for another visit.

Omaha Trip So Far

We left Vernal last Tuesday to take Liz, Owen and Oliver to Omaha. On the way we stopped at a park in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, to let the kids get out and run around for a bit. It was a pretty nice park.

Oliver found some things to investigate.

We made it as far as Laramie, Wyoming, that day. We stayed at what can best be described as a 2 star motel - America's Best Value Inn. Here's a couple of selfies of LaRue and I on the morning of our 38th wedding anniversary the next day.

Then it was get back in the car and head east again. Here's Liz, Owen and LaRue:

Before leaving Laramie we stopped at a McDonalds. Oliver gobbled down a hamburger.

Dead flies in the window next to where we were sitting.

We had to take a couple of breaks at Rest Areas. Here's LaRue by a big rock.

Technically, she's not standing on the grass. But she did walk on it. Anarchist!

In North Platte, Nebraska, there's a neat park and some rides. Here's everybody but me on the merry-go-round.

Here we are on Friday night at the Hard Rock Casino in Sioux City for the Deep Purple concert. I have waited 42 years to finally see Deep Purple.

We had really good seats just a few rows back from the stage.

The opening band was Black Oak Arkansas. They have not aged well and were not very good. Fortunately, they only played for about 30 minutes. 

Getting the stage ready for Deep Purple.

Deep Purple makes their entrance.

They really put on a good show. A mix of older and newer tunes. These guys still have it.

One evening we went to the Old Market in Omaha. It's a area that features a lot of antique/vintage stores. There was this store - Hollywood Candy - which had lots of goodies and some cool vintage items for sale.

Some of the older buildings in the area.

Owen had to go check out the horses at the carriage ride.

Yesterday we took Owen to see his first movie in a theater. He saw Inside Out and really liked it.

The boys playing in the little playhouse in the backyard.

Here we are getting hot dogs and churros at Costco.

At the Hy-Vee grocery store they have these orchids in glass and hanging from the ceiling.

It's been a fun trip so far. Not sure what else we will do before heading home.