We go to So. Mo.

The four of us drove to southern Missouri the weekend before last to stay with Leslie's first cousin, Dulsey, her husband, Andy, and their 1½-year-old son, Danny — our godson! They have a beautiful home just outside of Springfield and, although Leslie visited them right after Danny was born, the rest of us had never been there.

That Friday night, we all went to Rutledge-Wilson Farm where Andy's company was hosting a client-appreciation event. We seem to have had our share of agri-tainment opportunities lately, but it's something we really enjoy.

Inside the new barn.



Cautiously watching a bee extract pollen from a flower.

Landon's first-ever corn maze!

It was an extensive labrynth, but Landon and I finally found Leslie and Jack. They were glad to hear me calling for them(!), so I gave him the map that he's displaying below.

When Jack sets his mind to something, there's no stopping him. Here, he's busting out of the corn maze...

...through the middle of the pumpkin patch and back to the barnyard.


Checkin' out the chicken coop.



The Stewarts.

Eating a s'more.

Before we left, we headed over to the farm-themed playground.

Jack and Andy up in the "hay loft."



I think we could recreate some of these elements in our backyard.



At 7 a.m. the next morning, Dulsey and I ran a 5K at the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame. I placed fifth in my age group (men ages 30 to 39).

Then we spent several hours at their pool!


There was a great new sprayground to play in.

The next Michael Phelps?

Danny loved being thrown up by his dad. I mean, when his dad threw him up. OK, "when he was quickly raised into the air."

It was really nice to all hang out together, the rest of the afternoon and evening. You can see in this video that the boys sure had fun playing together around the house.

We ordered pizza for supper and had some margaritas. And then some more. And then ... well, it was warm outside. (Andy, I need that recipe!)


On our way home Sunday, we stopped at Fantastic Caverns, the only ride-through cave in America and one of only four ride-through caves in the world. Since admission is free for those five and under — Jack cleared it by just two weeks — we decided, "What the heck."

The tour guide explained that this steam engine was first used to light the cave in the late 1800s. And that crowds would come to see it and the "electricity," more than the cave!

Entering on the Jeep-drawn tram.

We had a front-row seat.

Its Web site talks about "experiencing the magnitude, the stillness and the splendor of Fantastic Caverns." It was really impressive.


With more than 5,600 known caves, Missouri is dubbed "The Cave State."

It's tough to see, but this is a deep sink hole.

The cave was discovered in 1862 by a farmer — or more precisely, by his dog, who crawled through a small opening. But it wasn't until five years later that the first exploration took place when 12 women from Springfield, answering a newspaper ad seeking explorers, ventured into the cave. Their names still remain on one of the walls today.

This stage used to be for concerts with big-name country singers and for other large groups.

With the abundance of man-made attractions available, it was a nice change to experience something so grand and natural that's been there for centuries.