New Blog

See new blog at http://kevinandlesliemcalister.blogspot.com/
Two main reasons for the new blog:

1. My life is no longer only about me...I know hard to believe but I have grown up and stopped being so self centered :)
2. This blog is out of memory on the "free" server and I'm not paying for space when I can create a new account.

So please continue to follow my growning family at our new home.

Council Bluff Lake Hike

A few weeks ago Kevin and I got on this big hiking kick...or rather Kevin did. We planned this elaborate trip to Colorado hiking in July. But before I wanted to commite to this "vacation" I wanted to have a trial run with carrying 40 lbs on my back. So using a great website we found and book from the library we planned a 2 day hike for Council Bluff Lake. The lake trail is a 11.6 mile loop that goes along the lake's coast line. There are a lot of challenging points, hills, curves, bridges, ect. That make this an exciting trail.

The website we used was: http://www.ozarktrail.com/planner/index.php

and the book was: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles St. Louis By Steve Henry

Our packs taking a break from breaking our backs!

We packed up our newly purchased packs with all of our light backpacking gear and headed for the Mark Twain National Forest on Saturday morning. Jake begged and pleaded to come so we let him tag along too. We arrived around noon at the Council Bluff Boat Launch and headed southwest (counter-clock-wise) around the lake trail. We hiked for about 5 hours and took approximately 19,000 steps till we decided to camp. We passed the Enough Boat Launch about 1-2 hours before we decided to set up camp. The Enough Boat Launch is a premative boat launch with free parking.

We meet multiple people out clearing the trail. With the recent storms and ice over the winter there were a lot of trees downed. There were also a few mountain bikers. I'm not sure how they got around some of the trees but I'm sure they did some how.

We set up camp at this clearing near the Lake. We have a cute little two person back packing tent and light sleeping bags with termarests. We cooked dinner using a back packing stove. We had pine nut couscous and peas. We decided to take a swim in the evening which was very refreshing. The ticks were out like crazy!!! So we had a country song moment checking for ticks.

Jake at our campsite

Around 7-8 we started playing War until finally we feel asleep. The croking of the frogs was very sothing. There were actually fishermen out all night long, so that kept Jake occupied trying to protect us!

We woke up at 7-8am the next morning and had breakfast before packing up camp and starting on our way again. We took a short break at the beach. It's really nice with a snack shop and everything! From the beach it was a short 45 minute walk back to the truck. We hit the road and had an amazing lunch at Hardees! I think the second day we walked 14,000 steps (??). The first day we did about 7 miles and the second about 5.

Kevin and Jake on the dam

It was a fun trip...I think my legs are finally not sore anymore. I have some pictures posted at the following link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=262078&id=508090617&l=5912c219ab

Reimer's Wedding!

What a weekend!! We headed to Iowa (me from Indiana and Kevin from Missouri) for the BIG Matt and Libby wedding. Friday night was the rehearsal and dinner....Matt graciously invited us so we got to spend a little extra time with the crew. Aaron got a trophy for getting Matt home safely from the bachelor party.

After the dinner we headed out on the town...had a drink at Pete's then over to the Pearl. I was up bright and early for a pedicure with Jen at the Muscatine Mall. It was actually my worst experience that pedicure! The woman cut my leg twice...using a scower brush!! Probably won't be going there again!

The wedding was beautiful...the church was amazing! the whole wedding party looked amazing! The wedding was from 2 - 3:30ish. Then we headed to the cocktail hour...then to the reception. Everyone had a great time!

Sunday was my birthday, Kevin surpized me with a cake at the mexican restaurant in town. Then it was a LONG drive back!! I'm in Indiana this week and next...then home for a while...be sure to check out pictures linked to the right!

Flying Solo

I'm in Indiana for the next three weeks, "Flying Solo" as I'm the only person on the team. But I won't get too lonely as I'm staying at the Freemans (my sister-in-law and brother-in-law). I finally get to spend some quality time with two of my nephew's Gabe and Nathan. Nathan is battling a cold and Gabe is busy getting ready for is birthday next week. So there's lots of fun going around!

Friday I'm driving over to Iowa for Matt and Libby's wedding. Can't belive this day is finally here!!! We are going to have so much fun in Muscatine :)

Aaden Ray Shaw

April 8, 2009

Born 3:14pm

6 pounds 13.7 ounces

19.5 inches

Andrew and Kayla are doing great, tired but great. Aaden on the other hand was alert and happy being passed around from Aunt to Aunt, Grandma to Grandpa. Whole family is doing great.

Tired and getting sick

I think I have ran myself so hard these last two weeks that I'm starting to get sick. I haven't had time to share my Vegas experience with you yet and I'm sorry.

Kevin came to California 2 weekends ago to meet me while I was there on business. We decided to drive to Vegas from just west of LA. Not the smartest thing we have ever thought of doing. It ended up taking us from 2 in the afternoon till 10 pm to get there (with a short detour to see the Hollywood sign).
We stayed at the MGM and headed out on the town as soon as we arrived. We caught a 10:30 show at the Crazy Horse Saloon. Then walked around the hotel and casino. We made it back to the room around 3am. Quite a day for me.
Saturday morning we didn't get up till around noon. We went and picked up our show tickets for that night then had lunch. We walked around the New York, New York hotel and casino before heading back to the MGM. I took a couple hour nap in the afternoon while Kevin gambled.
We saw the Cirque show Zoomanity. It was amazing. We set front row and enjoyed every minute of it! I was disappointed when the show was over. Probably one of the best shows we have ever been to!
We had some supper then more gambling. After we lost our budgeted amount we headed back to the room around midnight. Check out was at 11am on Sunday. After we left Vegas we took a detour to see the Hoover Dam. It was big, but man....the dam traffic was horrible!! The detour took around 1.5 hours. Then we were headed back for LA.
The drive back was crazy. There was 70 mph winds, sand storms in the desert, blizzards in the mountaings!!! Crazy...it took around 10 hours to get back! Our poor rental car was tired when we rolled into town.
Monday was back to work for me and Kevin left LA at 5:45pm. I left LA on Wednesday after a 3 hour delay thanks to the snow and thunderstorms in the mid-west. I arrived home after 1am on Thursday morning. This weekend was all about cleaning the house and relaxing. It's great to be home!!!

Tomorrow I leave for Muscatine. It's Libby's bachelorette party on Saturday...going to Iowa City. Can't wait!!

California

So I arrived in LA last night and made it to my hotel about an hour and half away from the airport around 9pm. Spent a busy day at the site today and plan to be here for two weeks. I'm super exhausted from everything, I think the jet lag has caught up with me from Australia.

This weekend was Kayla's shower. Laura and I threw them a shower at the Rose. We had a great turn out! lots of friends and family in attendance. Kayla and Andrew, or rather Aaden (or Aden, or Aiden which ever spelling they decide on) received a ton of great presents!! Kevin came with and helped Andrew and dad work on the house. They only had a few little things to finish up. I think they actually moved in today, so I'm sure it was very exciting for them!! Saturday night the whole family went to Porky's in Mexico. It was a lot of fun.

Lots of drama playing out in the Vandalia area. For any of those interested "Farmers reap loss of trust." One woman and her company have managed to force 100+ farmers in the Audrain county area face financial disaster...some of which may never come out of this. I hope and pray that some way, some how the good people win, or at least come out of this with something left--be it friends and family and hopefully a business.

Kevin is heading out here on Wednesday, and then we'll be road tripping it to Vegas this weekend. More later...

Home!

We made it home! With no luggage, but safe and sound catching up on some TV. Safe...except for Jake. He hit a car while we were gone...yeah, you read that right. He didn't get hit by a car, he hit the car. He ran right into the side of Dave and Elaine's neighbor's truck. After a night at the vet and a few stitches he's about as good as new. Hopefully with a bit of a fear of vehicles. He sure does miss Betsy (their yellow lab) but seems to be right at home already.

We'll catch up with everyone soon...hope you all loved the massive update that happened the last few days!

Day 10—March 9th

We are all packed and ready to go, except our flight doesn’t leave for another 6 hours! Technically speaking we can’t fly till after 2 pm anyways because of the dives yesterday. So I’m just sitting in the airport waiting for the flight!
We arrive after 8pm in Sydney then leave again tomorrow at 2pm. So it’ll be a quick last day of vacation. Miss everyone!!!

Day 9—March 8th

Today we decided to try to make up some of our lost dives by going on a day trip to the reef. We booked with Silverswift, a sister company to Prodive. They took us out to Flynn Reef which is only 3.7km from the continental shelf. The ride out only took 1 ½ hours. Their boat was super fast!

We did two dives before lunch then had lunch and another dive in the afternoon. I used a lot more air than Kevin but our dives were still all over 30 minutes long. On our second dive we saw turtles, sharks, and lots of really big fish and really small fish. The coral was amazing!! I’m so glad that we did these extra dives!!

I snorkeled after the last dive cause the rest of the group had enough air so they stayed down. The water was so clear I got great shots of the reef. After we got back, we had supper in town then headed back to the resort. I think we were in bed at 8:30…gotta love vacation!!