Day 12 - Birthday, Catfish, Squal, and Hee Haw!

Saturday, 03 September

We awoke to a beautiful day in Dunlap, Tennessee.  Today is the day we celebrated my grandsons 8th birthday... Grandma got this group shot of the three boys in their normal serious mood!

The girls prepared this amazing breakfast for us... I do not usually eat breakfast, but this was deliicious.

After breakfast, Kaleb opened his presents... He got many new accessories for the Wii, lots of Lego sets...











and a ZuZu petand Wii game from his brothers...

and continuing the tradition started last year with his brother Ammon,  Grandpa gave Kaleb a new Henry Repeating Arms .22 cal lever action carbine...











He was very happy to have his own rifle... it is a little different model than Ammon's so they will each have a unique gun.  Before I leave, I will remove the butt plates and autograph the rifles for Kaleb and Ammon so they will always have a reminder of Papa, long after I am gone... and if they take good care of their rifles, there is no reason why they cannot pass them on to their son or daughter some day.











After the party, Brandyn, grandpa Bill, and I, went down to the local cafe and got all-you-can-eat Cajun Catfish for lunch.  It was amazing!

After lunch the boys decided they wanted to go to the fair... so we loaded everyone up and went to the Sequatchie County Fair in Dunlap.  At the fair, they had an exhibit called the Bill Allen Exhibit... the boys thought that it was pretty cool that the exhibit had the same name as grandpa Bill.









As we were entering the fair, a summer squal approached and drenched us in rain and high winds... (first rain in months... go figure), they had to temporarily shut down the carnival rides due to the wind... I was very concerned about lightning (just my nature), but the boys just kept riding regardless...













The slide was very wet at this point...

















One of my favorite rides when I was a kid...  Still raining and blowing...
















We finally talked the boys into seeking refuge inside the gym where we were treated to a very good show by Mike Snider of "Grand Ole Opry" and "Hee Haw" fame.

It was a great show and quite funny... remind me to tell you some of the jokes... especially the one about the outhouse repair or the one about the preacher...






Can you tell that it rained?













Mike Snider and the band lays down some mouth harp bluegrass...












You might be a red-neck if...


I love Smalltown, USA!










Does it get any better than sharing an Elephant Ear with your brothers (in the rain) at the county fair on a warm and humid September night, just before you take your last ride on the Hammer?  I think not!

Tomorrow, Kaleb will be baptised... time to go to bed... morning comes early when church begins at 0900 and we are an hour car ride from the chapel!

Scott