We snorkeled a couple days and found lots of sea life near the reef by the resort. Mainly damsels, butterfly fish, wrasse, mullets, flounders, parrot fish, and squid. The corral wasn't impressive but the water was clear and warm.

Labels: J and A, vacation

We celebrated my 35th birthday and our third anniversary on the Curacao island. It was hot, breezy, beautiful and we would totally do it again.

Labels: J and A, vacation

The kids enjoyed an indoor waterpark last weekend.

Labels: kyla, vacation, zaylee

We rode the Branson Scenic Railway down to Arkansas this weekend. We snuck up on deer and turkey, went through a couple Ozark mountains, and enjoyed the Fall foliage. A fun thing to do as a family for sure.

Labels: kyla, vacation, zaylee

We found several Alaskan wild berries on our hike. We found: Watermellon Berries, Crowberries, Highbush Cranberries, Lowbush Cranberries, Bunchberries, Kinnikinnick Bearberries, Bog Blueberries, Red-berried Elder Elderberries, Rosehip, and wild raspberries, . The Bog Blueberries made delicious muffins.

Labels: vacation, woodward/rody family

Several of the Woodwards joined us on a hike to the Russian River Falls. Zaylee rode in a pack on my back and sang songs most of the way. It was an easy family hike and only about 2.3 miles to the overlook of the salmon jumping their way up the river. We ate lunch there and soaked up the scenery.

Labels: vacation, woodward/rody family, zaylee

We took a short hike at South Valley Park in Littleton Colorado. Great spot on the edge of the Rocky Mountains.

Labels: vacation

We enjoyed the 25th annual Licking Rodeo this past weekend.


Watch the video of the wild horse race.


Kyla participated in the calf scramble with about 200 other kids.

Labels: kyla, vacation

Labels: vacation

That's a Magic Kingdom.


Hey Mickey!


RRRrr! That's Captain Jack Sparrow fighting me.

Labels: J and A, vacation

Did I enjoy my birthday? Well if you watch the video above, you will get a peek at my day. We skied Winter Park until 4:00. Then we soaked in a hot tub overlooking the Rocky Mountains. Then we ate my favorite pizza in the entire country. Then we went to a pub and entered in a holdem' tournament. Out of 24 people, I went out in 14th place and Angie took 4th. It was a great birthday.

Labels: J and A, vacation

We went to the Omaha Zoo over the weekend which is ranked as one of the best zoo's in the USA. Nice zoo, and good time of the year to go. I'd say we most enjoyed the gorilla exhibit.

Labels: kyla, marcie, vacation, zaylee

Sunday I went on a halibut charter and will be coming back to Missouri with some more fish for our freezer. The drive down to Homer was beautiful. We spotted 4 moose, two of them were babies. On the short ride out to the fishing spot we saw several whales and a sea otter. The weather was great and we managed to catch and keep 17 halibut. Scott caught a small sand shark and I caught a five foot skate, which felt like pulling up a piece of plywood from the ocean bottom. My arms are sore today but it was well worth it.

Labels: vacation, woodward/rody family

Just wanted to tell Heidi and Dan it was good seeing you again last weekend. Brenna is so cute and I'm glad she could join us all for a swim at the hotel. Oh and thanks again for the awesome cupcakes Heidi! Best wishes on a healthy delivery soon.

Labels: vacation, woodward/rody family

Ellyce, Kyla, Haily, Alex, Hunter, Cameron

Kyla enjoyed meeting some of her family from Alaska for the first time. She was especially excited to meet her pen-pal Alex and get to know her more. They've been writing each other for almost a couple years now.

Labels: kyla, vacation, woodward/rody family

We joined Tim, Mike and Scott on a fishing charter out of Seward and had a lot of action. We caught halibut, rock bass, red snapper, sea trout, green ling, and china rockfish ...even caught an octopus and seagull!

Labels: vacation, woodward/rody family

One of the highlights of the Alaska trip was silver salmon fishing with the bears and birds. We saw two brown bears and two black. Also saw this great bald eagle standing proud, and seagulls, ducks, and puffins. Our guide grilled us some fresh salmon on the boat and we watched a brown bear quickly approach.

Labels: J and A, nature, vacation

Ang and I, plus Zaylee and Kyla are in Alaska. This is Kyla's first trip here and she seems to be enjoying herself. We've been hiking and fishing and visiting with family and friends.

Labels: kyla, vacation, woodward/rody family

Hi there friends and family,
My trip to San Francisco went well. Angela and Zaylee joined me about mid week, so that was nice to see them. Among several exhibitions, we visited Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Union Square, Ghirardelli Square, the Metreon, the Westfield Center, and Chinatown twice. So as you can see, I've been getting a lot of exercise. I figured it all up and estimate I walked around 12.5 miles of the hilly city the whole trip, some of it pushing a stroller. Combine that with my new diet, and I've lost nearly 10 pounds in two weeks.

We are preparing for our trip to Alaska soon. Kyla seems excited as this will be her first visit. I'm scheduled for three fishing exhibits and will likely bring home some salmon and halibut. It will be good to visit with the Woodward family and spend some time with Angie's dad.

Zaylee is a real joy at 6 1/2 months. I remember Kyla at this age and how fun it is from here on out. Two of Zaylee's teeth are starting to come in on the bottom side. I love how she recognizes me and smiles all the time. She also blows spit bubbles and drools.

Kyla enjoys being a big sister and a helper. She already helps babysit on occasion as Ang and I do errands around the house. She's getting excited for school and meeting some new friends.

I talked to my Dad today who says he is now a school bus driver. And my sister Brandi also took a new job as a secretary.

Labels: J and A, lindsey family, vacation

Well I'm back in San Francisco for some training with my work. The weather has been wonderful and sunny with a cool breeze. This is such a nice city and I so enjoy visiting. I love the culture here. Last night I took a walk by all the popular piers. And today I'm having lunch outside at Embarcadero center near this fountain structure with a couple hundred others. The food smells excellent from sushi bars to pizza parlors to authentic Mexican cuisine. I wish I could pig out, but I've been on a juice diet lately ever since I had all four wisdom teeth pulled last week.

Labels: J and A, vacation

This weekend's quote is from Kyla as we laid on our backs together watching the fireworks display.
"Daddy I Love You. You're the best dad ever. No seriously, I really think you are the best Dad out there"
That totally made my weekend. She is such a sweetheart.
We watched a fireworks display at Harrisonville, and one at Stockton Lake. We also went to the beach at the lake and camped too. Plus we enjoyed shooting some fireworks off at home. This was a memorable weekend.

Labels: kyla, quotes, vacation

Ang and I skipped the Cornerstone Festival in Illinois this year and went to the Vans Warped Tour in Kansas City instead. This was primarily due to having baby Zaylee this year, plus Ang will be traveling to Alaska soon and we didn't want to wear out with the whole four day festival thing. At VANs we saw several bands like A Day to Remember, Alesana, As I Lay Dying, August Burns Red, The Devil Wears Prada, Norma Jean, Paramore, Reel Big Fish, and Relient K. It was fun.

Labels: J and A, vacation

We attended Chuck and Anna's wedding on a beautiful beach in Jamaica. We also took this opportunity to enjoy some rest, relaxation and fun for ourselves. It was an eventful week as we snorkeled every day at the reef about 30 yards from our resort. Plus we took a glass-bottom boat tour, did some wind surfing, poker, played pool, swimming, watched the local entertainment, did some shopping and partied with friends. So would we go back? YA MON! We will definitely go back.

Labels: J and A, USDA, vacation

We really enjoyed visiting Snoqualmie Falls. It was a beautiful hike down to the base. Kyla was very adventurous and seemed to really appreciate the experience. I highly recommend a visit here. The vegetation was jungle-like and the trees were mossy. I'll return here again.

Labels: kyla, vacation, video

We visited Seattle's Pike Place Public Market Center for some good food, shopping and fun. We stopped by Starbucks original store and toured the other sites, ate some Russian pirozhki, ate fresh pizza and Kyla enjoyed a huge cinnamon roll. The crafts were unique and the flowers were nicely arranged. There was lots of entertainment and culture. The fish market was fun to watch. A must do when visiting Seattle!

Labels: kyla, vacation, video

We visited the Mike West family at their Seattle home this weekend. They all seem to be doing good and it was nice to catch up with them. Julie prepared a big dinner as Kyla enjoyed running around with her cousins.

Labels: kyla, lindsey family, vacation

We had another busy Weekend.
Friday night Kyla and I joined Danny and Marice to see Joel Osteen.
On Saturday Kyla, Angie, Zaylee, Heidi and Brenna went to Jaden's birthday party in Republic MO. We also got to see Uncle Ken and Aunt Jackie. Jackie seemed to be feeling well.
Then Saturday evening we went to Branson and watched the Jim Statford show.
On Sunday we played at the Splash Country Indoor Waterpark. I was proud of Kyla for going down the big-kid slides, plus we both enjoyed riding a tube down the lazy river.

Angie and Heidi also went to the Titanic Museum in Branson as I watched the kids.

Labels: kyla, lindsey family, vacation