Kansas State Flower

FACT: No other state flowers produces more bird food than that of the Sunflower - official state flower of Kansas.
Photos taken in a field 10 minutes from the Edwards plantation.
News article located here.

Late Summer Worms

In a nasty, disgusting display of nature, a sign of late summer has appeared not only in our trees but in trees everywhere. The WebWorm has made it's presence known. They're known to thrive in 88 known varieties of trees - apparently none that we were familiar with when living out west. Fortunately these grotesque webs don't damage the trees - they're just nasty to look at. From the world wide web we learn the following: Adults of the overwintering generation emerge during May or occasionally in late April. Egg laying occurs in late May and early June. Each female can lay 400 to 500 eggs in masses on the undersides of leaves. The egg masses are covered with white hairs from the abdomen. Larvae begin hatching in early June and immediately begin to spin the web in which they feed. The web is extended as the larvae grow. The larvae mature and leave the trees to pupate in late July. First generation adults emerge during August and second generation larvae are present from late August into early October. Second generation pupae are the overwintering stage. There are two generations per year. That's just down right nasty.

How Was the Fair? Fair.

It was a night out at the Leavenworth County Fair Wednesday night. How was it you ask? It was fair. Seriously, there wasn't much there but a few rabbits, a couple of cowboys, and some 4-H exhibits. Fascinating. We did however buy our traditional 25 cent honey sticks. The total only came to 50 cents though ... 'cause one of us wasn't at the fair this year ...

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

It certainly felt like summer time this weekend. It was hot and muggy and there were peanuts and cracker-jacks at the ballpark. Tyson and Cody joined some friends from church at the Community America Ballpark for some Kansas City T-Bones baseball. What a hitting display they put on! The score was 9-6 after just the 3rd inning! Good times.

Then Cody & Paige took in a Kansas City Royals game the next night out at Kauffman Stadium. Another hot night but what an atmosphere for a ballgame! Adding to the excitement was Ken Griffey Jr. in a Chicago White Sox uniform for the first time. The crowd loved it ...even though he drove in enough runs to beat the Royals 4-2. Bummer.