Granddaughter Petra was born on September 11, 2001. As she was born, the World Trade Center burned and collapsed in New York City. Like the tragedy, she is now 10 years old. My father was also born on September 11th, but his year was 1918. I have many reasons to hold September 11th as a special day.
This year we took Petra, Tyler, and Corrine to Branson and Silver Dollar City to celebrate Petra's birthday and to enjoy the last days of summer. It was a great weekend with beautiful weather.
The craftsman are still going strong and working on seasonal items.
This trip was for the kids so we spent extra time at all the rides in the park.
It was warm enough for a little fun with water canons.
We were at Silver Dollar City on Saturday. On Sunday morning, Petra's birthday, we visited the Shepherd of The Hills Fish Hatchery in Branson.
The backside of the Table Rock Lake Dam. The large structures you see are the overflow spillways. The lake is a little low so there is no water coming out of the spillways. To the right of the spillways is the power house building. There are hydro generators at the dam that produce electricity for use in Missouri and surrounding states when there is enough water.
Dozens of troughs hold rainbow trout of all ages and sizes. The trout are grown from eggs to 15 inch fish before being used to stock the many lakes and streams in the State of Missouri. If you enlarge the photo, you can easily see the signs on every trough indicating no hands in the water.
Buying fish food.
Feeding the fish.
Breaking the rules.....good thing they aren't Peruvian Piranha's.
An Alligator Turtle in the Learning Center.
A Speckled King Snake.
A Timber Rattlesnake.
An Osage Copperhead.
A Green Snake and a Garter Snake.
Trout and other species in a large fish tank.
The headquarters building and Nature Center for the U. S. Army Corp of Engineers at Table Rock Dam.
On the shores of Table Rock Lake.
Table Rock Dam in the distance.
Sigrid just emerging from Table Rock Lake after an unscheduled dip in the waters. The desire to get her toes wet lead to more than she wanted after slipping on a slime covered concrete ramp. I was taking pictures of the dam when I heard the big splash.....never a dull moment. Corrine tries to empty Sigrid's purse of lake water. Of course, cells phones , cameras, and all sorts of important stuff was in the purse.
Soaking wet. Thankfully she had a change of clothes in the car. Lake water can get pretty smelly as it dries on the three hour drive back to home. The cell phone recovered. The $300 camera did not.
Our next stop was at the Visitors Center at the Harry Truman Dam. The dam creates a very large lake and has electric generators in the dam that produce up to 200 megawatts of electricity.
The kids pose with a bust of Harry Truman.
The Center has a great view of the lake and the dam from high on a limestone bluff and well away from the water.
Lots of good information on the history of Missouri.
Once back home, it was time for cake and presents before Corrine and the kids went back to Leavenworth.
The birthday girl blows out her candle.
Tyler got a nice card and gift from Edel so he wouldn't feel left out......very thoughtful.
Another wonderful weekend in the books. 
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