Ha Ha Tonka State Park, Part One

 This is a continuation of a series of posts of my Missouri Vacation which I took the first week of September.  To start at the beginning go HERE.  The rest of the posts, in consecutive order are HERE , HERE, HERE, HERE,  HERE, and HERE.

On Day Five of our Missouri Vacation we went to Ha Ha Tonka State Park.  This park ended up being our absolute favorite park of the six Missouri state parks we visited.  Because it is so huge, and we took so many pictures, I am going to divide this park into two separate posts.  The first part will cover the castle ruins, the castle ruins trail and the Dells Rim Trail.

In 1903 a wealthy businessman named Robert M. Synder fell in love with the area and began purchasing land to build a private retreat.  Construction began in 1905, but a year later Synder died in an automobile accident and he failed to realize his dream.  His sons however, finished the project in 1922, although not as elaborate as originally planned.  In 1942, after the castle was turned into a hotel, a chimney fire ignited the roof and destroyed the castle.  The carriage house also burned.  All that remained intact was the water tower which vandals burned in 1976.  All that remains are ruins and the gorgeous view the inhabitants once enjoyed.

The remains of the carriage house.

It is a short walk from the parking lot to the castle ruins.  Along this walk you see the carriage house, and these gorgeous views from a lookout point.  The trail is paved so it is wheelchair and stroller accessible.  It is 0.40 miles one way.

I must say the views from the lookouts and top of the castle ruins was incredible.  I can't even imagine what the view must have been like from the top floors of the castle.

You can walk completely around the castle, but you can't go inside due to instability of the castle walls.  It is fenced off to the public and there are warning signs everywhere.

View from Castle Ruins.  How would you like to look out your window and see this every morning?

After touring the castle ruins, we headed back to the parking lot and onto the Dell Rim trail to check out the water tower.  This trail was a boardwalk with a lot of steps.  It is only 0.30 miles one way, but we used this trail to connect to other trails which I will talk about in next week's travel post.

The Dells Rim Trail was such a beautiful trail.  It runs along the top of a cliff (Don't worry, it's safe.  You have this nice boardwalk with a hand rail on either side to walk on) with views of the water below on one side and a lovely wildflower prairie on the other.

The boardwalk leads to a overlook above the 150 feet deep Whispering Dell Sinkhole.

From this trail we then connected to the Colosseum Trail...but more on that next week!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Baby Dedication Card

Two weeks ago my granddaughter Alethea was dedicated to the Lord.  If your wondering what a baby dedication is, the parents stand before the congregation and promise to raise the baby according to the Christian faith.  Then the pastor and congregation prays over the baby.  When the baby grows up, and he/she is old enough to make his/her own decision to believe and serve Christ, he/she then can choose to get baptized.  

I wanted to make Alethea a very special card that she could keep forever.  I searched the web for ideas, but all I could find was baby baptism cards, which didn't fit this occasion.  So, I came up with my own idea using a combination of concepts I found in both baby baptism cards and new baby congratulation cards.

This is what I came up with.  Because I couldn't find any baby dedication stamps, I used a new baby stamp from a retired Stampin' Up! set.  The sentiment is hard to photograph.  It says "Babies are bits of stardust blown from the hand of God".  Isn't that beautiful?

To make my card, I stamped the sentiment in pink ink on white card stock.  I assure you, it's easy to read in real life, it just doesn't photograph well.  I then glued a piece of vellum on top, putting the vellum tape only on the sides where the lace will go so you can't see it.  I put some pretty white scalloped lace over the top of the vellum, taping the edges to the back of the card stock.  I then added ribbon, and a bow.  The cross is a charm from my stash.  It has a little opening on the top to insert a chain to make a necklace, so I tied a small pink ribbon to it to hide it.  I then glued it to the white ribbon.  The entire panel was then glued to a white card base.

Inside the card I wrote a very meaningful message to Ashley and Jason about the importance of raising Alethea in the Christian faith.  Then I signed and dated it, so Alethea can read it herself when she is older.

I was happy I had so many pretty things to use from my stash.  I did not have to buy a thing to make this card!

If you'd like to see pictures of Alethea's big day, you can read this post HERE.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Embroidered Faux Leather Burgundy Jacket And A New Blanket Scarf

Even though I already had a plethora of spring and fall jackets, when CJBanks had a huge sale on jackets recently, I decided to do some purging and updating of my outerwear.  There were a couple of jackets in my collection that were either outdated, worn in places, or just did not fit me comfortably anymore so I donated them...to my daughter.  I've since purchased three new ones, a grey corduroy jacket previously shown HERE, a black quilted jacket (not posted yet), and this embroidered faux leather jacket.  I got them all for less than $24.00 and as I write this post, this jacket is still on sale HERE.

 I styled my jacket with a new blanket scarf from Charlotte Russe.   I already had a blanket scarf with a lot of red tones (see that scarf HERE)  but I wanted one that was a tad smaller, and had burgundy/grey tones to go with my other jackets.  I purchased mine for $10.00 in-store but unfortunately I cannot find it on their website.

I love the embroidery on this jacket and the zipper pockets.  I can put my gloves inside and know they won't slip out!

Underneath the jacket I wore a simple charcoal heather turtleneck from Worthington and a long silver necklace for when the blanket scarf came off.  I also wore long black and silver drop earrings.

Here is the look of the jacket without the blanket scarf.  I carried a black and brown Liz Claiborne bag.  My pants are St. John's Bay Black Straight Leg Jeans.

I love how classy outerwear instantly dresses up a simple outfit.  During the fall/winter season, I mostly just run from car to building and don't stay anywhere indoors for very long, so most people only see my outerwear.  A variety of coats, cute scarves and boots is all I need to stay stylish during the colder months.

I always prefer to wear grey booties with black pants.  I bought these Blowfish Booties last year, but they have a similar style available at DSW.

My silver necklace came with a shirt I bought at JCPenney.  Don't you love it when shirts come with necklaces that can be used with other tops?

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE.
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