Procrastinator...Who ME??

Miss Kaylie - Assistant Innkeeper at Reagan's Queen Anne 

So really?? It has been 4 MONTHS since I was here last? Say it isn't so! So much has happened in all that time. First of all, we've had a good year thanks to all of our wonderful guests. We survived "the drought that wouldn't end". Well, for the most part...several potted plants had other ideas about surviving, but we gave it our best shot. In July, I was lucky enough to get to travel south to pick up our grand daughter, Kaylie, and bring her to Hannibal for 2 weeks. She is the BEST apprentice Innkeeper after her 2 weeks of training. We hosted a lot of guests during her training.  She loves to help us in the kitchen and was also a great help in the laundry room.While she was here, Grandma and Kaylie found time to make a summer dress together. She had her school picture taken in the dress, and I'm sure she told her classmates that she helped make it. Time with grandkids is something that I cherish. So after Kaylie's training, a visit from her cousin Haley and Aunt Gina and a trip with them to St Louis to the City Museum, an AMAZING visit to a farm  in Illinois to participate in banding over 60 Rubythroated hummingbirds(where Kaylie released the very first bird), a few trips to the park to play, and then on her last day-- a trip to the St Louis Zoo, we flew south again to spend time with family and celebrate little brother, Kaden's 3rd birthday! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE spending time with the family. We visited Sea World for Kaden's birthday, and it was AMAZING!

Grand kids at the Manatee tank

We all missed Papa Reagan! Grandpa offered to stay home so that he could run the business. This was no small chore. Not only did he have to host several guests the week Grandma was gone, but he had to make gallons of hummingbird nectar, feed the dozens of little jewels, and clean feeders daily. He also kept the plants watered in the 100 plus degree temps, and made sure the fish were fed and monitored the pond level. He did all of the cleaning, cooking, and hosting! I can't thank him enough for sending me to Kaden's birthday, so that I could enjoy treasured time with the kids and grands. He's a wonderful husband!!

Reagan's Queen Anne Maple Trees 2012 - Hannibal, Missouri

Ok, so that takes us through the second week of August here at Reagan's Queen Anne. August, September, and October, we were super busy and met a multitude of wonderful guests. We were blessed with a gorgeous September and October with the most colorful leaves we have seen in our 13+ yrs in Hannibal. The drought must have been a factor. Fall Folklife Festival was a huge success the third weekend of October. We turned away at least a couple dozen requests for rooms, due to having only 4 rooms to offer. The festival is our most favorite weekend of the year here. If you think it's something you'd enjoy...you better make your reservation NOW. We book that weekend waaaaaaay early. So don't procrastinate! Book it HERE!!

To celebrate Norm's birthday, I insisted that we take a trip.  So we headed south and visited Clarksdale, MS, home of the Blues(the music, not my hockey team). Then we stopped in Natchez and stayed at a B&B with a "million dollar view" overlooking the Mississippi River. From there we headed northwest, to Fort Worth, TX, and spent time with my brother and his family and thoroughly enjoyed NASCAR race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, for the 2nd year in a row. We had a fantastic vacation. The only thing we wished would not have happened, we observed when we arrived home. The pond, with our 8 Koi, Shubunkins, fancy Comets and a Fantail, were barely surviving in just 8 inches of water. They are used to their pond holding about 1000 gallons and being about 3 feet deep!! Dorsal fins were nearly dry on the bigger one, and the pump was within an hour or so of burning up because it was so close to not being submerged. Thankfully, we arrived home in time to save them, and immediately filled the pond. They are all doing well. It was quite scary at first. Several of them were severely depleted of oxygen and veins were visible. But just about 2 hrs after we filled the pond and oxygenated the water, they were all looking healthy. Thank God that we arrived home when we did. Apparently the falling leaves had covered the netting to the point that the fountain was spewing the water over the bank until it was nearly gone! I was so glad that there was not a puncture in the liner. At first I thought that the local raccoon population had knocked a jagged rock into the pond. That was not the case. WHEW!!

Thanksgiving is this week and time continues to FLY by. Happy Thanksgiving to all our former and future guests! May you spend time with family/friends and not eat too much... We'll soon be decorating for Christmas. We hope to see you before the end of 2012, but will certainly welcome you in 2013! Blessings of the Holiday Season to you and yours. Remember that we sell Gift Certificates, which are a wonderful option for gift givers.