Weekend activities

Friday night we went to the Japanese Festival here at the Botanical gardens.  This was a recommended cultural event so we decided to give it a try.  The weather was nice and the gardens pretty but overall this is a pretty overrated event.  I certainly don't understand why anyone would need to purchase the weekend pass option.  There were some native dance and music demonstrations as well as a few children's activities and a booth or two selling bonsai trees and festival t-shirts.  And they lit lanterns around and in the gardens and water.

These are just low light cell phone photos, but you get the idea.

Would be a pretty place to go back and take photos during the day.

Saturday I got up early and went to run a 10k.  I put in a respectable and pretty comfortable 55:05 for third place in my group.  Of course, this race was timed by Act Now Racing who never posts results before awards ceremony and always takes forever to get the ceremony started.  I just went ahead and left before I know where I placed because we had other plans so now I'm trying to see if I can still pick up my medal.

After heading home for a shower and snack, the three of us headed out for a much anticipated trip to Silver Dollar City.  Unfortunately the perfect weather and the fact that it was Cox hospital employee and volunteer day made it super, super crowded.  We did a little looking around and managed to get in only 3 rides because of all the lines.  But Nadin loved the rides and is excited to go back and do more of them, as well as see the Christmas light display they have during the holidays.

Today we are just hanging out and catching up on housework, homework, football, agility, reading and relaxing.

Sweet sixteen

Nadin celebrated her 16th birthday here in the U.S. and I think it was a success! We had a few presents here this morning.

And then off to the family farm where my grandparents live and we were joined by parents and sister. We had more presents, good food and a tour of the houses and property. And plenty of visiting. 

And tomorrow, a day off school and work!

Fire Tower Trail at Roaring River

Today we went on a really nice hike at Roaring River state park.  Lots of good pictures!

And of course, a selfie...

Then we had ice cream on the way home and out for a pizza dinner!

Genetic anomaly

Most people heard or been told that calico cats are female.  This includes tortie and any version of cat that has both orange and black markings regardless of pattern. This is because in cats, the gene for black and the gene for orange are carried only on X chromosomes, but they cannot both occur on the same X chromosome.  Therefore to be calico a cat must be XX and that makes it a female.

Unless, it is an XXY male.  This syndrome is known as Klinefelter syndrome in humans and results in an a sterile, but anatomically and functionally normal male.  The same appears to be true in cats.

So while the vast majority of calico cats are female, you can never say all of them are.  A male calico is however, exceedingly rare as they not only have to be XXY but they also have to be genetically color coded to be a calico.  There could be more XXY cats out there but if they are any other cat color then no one would likely realize they have an extra chromosome.

Why bring this up today?  Because after 11 years of practice, we finally found one!

Orientation and Flag ceremony

This Saturday the exchange students had an all day orientation followed by some family activities and then more orientation.  Bright and early we headed to Springfield where we picked up two additional girls being hosted by the same family.  These three girls are each from a different continent-Asia, Europe, and Africa.

After we dropped the kids off in Lebanon Jerry and I did some shopping and had lunch in Osage Beach.  The kids (10 so far, two more will be coming in the next few weeks) spend the day with our local coordinator going over the rules, requirements, and activities associated with the program.  I was assured this was fun, even though it doesn't sound like it!

At 3;00 or so the parents and families returned to set up for the potluck.  But first was the exchange of flags ceremony where we all got to be introduced as a host family and then have our student introduced.  The families got to tell a bit about themselves and their previous students (I think we were the only first time parents) many of whom they are still in regular contact with.  It was also really neat to see where all the students were from and a little about their home life and how they feel about being in America with their host families.  During the ceremony each student gave their host mom a card and flowers and their dad the flag of their country.  Joyce-the coordinator gave each student an American flag.


After this there was a potluck dinner and time to visit and take photos.

Kids got to eat first...just this once!~

 Nadin and a young lady from Spain

 New friend from Indonesia

 The whole group! They hail from Germany, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, Indonesia, Senegal, Ghana, Spain, and Egypt.

In other exchange news I have had to explain over the counter, horseplay, and dog tags -the military kind.  She has also commented on how well people here obey the traffic rules and seemed surprised at how many people wave as they drive, walk or run by.