Pumpkin Picking

Brody and Georgia carefully choosing their pumpkins.

I Was Running.....

Georgia was recently chosen to be on the 2nd grade girls Cross Country Team. This took me a bit by surprise, since she and my sister are alike in so many ways...including their mutual distaste for getting sweaty while participating in sports.
This afternoon, the had a meet at the school between the 2nd and 3rd grades and ran half a mile. I am not sure what place she came in as they will record the times and post on Monday, but she ran the whole thing with untied shoes.

Going Buggy

Tonight, the entire 2nd grade put on their musical "Going Buggy" in which Georgia was appropriately featured as a ladybug. She and her group stole the show with their song "No Way To Treat A Ladybug" and displayed plenty of stage attitude for her solo.

Fishing Derby 2009

The fish were really biting but not getting hooked this year, as both Georgia and Brody caught just one Bass each. Brody's was about 9 inches and Georgia's measured 15 1/2 inches.

Mosquito Project

Georgia and her 3D bug project for school, an Asian Tiger Mosquito.

First Day of Preschool 2009

Brody is now a big kid preschooler in the 4-5 yr room. He has moved up to Mrs. Wise and Mrs. Wallace, who taught Georgia three years ago. I was a little sad, but he quickly saw the Lego table, jumped in with his running buddies and wanted me to leave.

How does your garden grow?

gardening is good.
Brody is proudly showing off the 20 tomatoes that we harvested tonight.

When a Museum Isn't Really a Museum....

Our second day in St. Louis was comprised of a quick trip to the zoo and the City Museum, which isn't really a museum at all. It is the most creative place for kids and kids at heart that I have ever seen. Seven stories of fun kept us entertained for over four hours, although we could honestly have stayed longer. There are giant welded climbing sculptures, super-sized slides between floors, swings, hidden gerbil-like tunnels in ceilings, tree houses and even a complex maze of dinosaur caves. The kids had a blast and Chris and I challenged our older bodies to climb high and slide fast. Daredevil Brody was quickly trying slides by himself, and was eager to do the super-slide that goes from the roof and spirals seven floors to the bottom.Brody sliding by himself
Georgia and Ally navigating the stepping stones

Georgia in a "slinky" ladder into the ceiling

Georgia standing on a giant whale sculpture

Chris and Brody taking in a steep slide

Kacee in a rooftop sculpture

Now and Then

St. Louis Zoo, 2009

Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago 2007

Peanuts and Cracker Jacks

Georgia and her brownie troop

We headed down today for our first real look at St. Louis (other than driving through on our way to Texas) to attend Girl Scout Day at Busch Stadium. Georgia's brownie troop and hundreds of other scouts were invited to walk in a parade around the perimeter of the baseball field. They
waved and I tried to get some pictures with my zoom lens from our "penthouse" seats. And by penthouse, I am referring to the altitude not necessarily the luxuriousness.
















Chris and I were two of maybe ten people supporting the Houston Astros, who unfortunately lost 3-1. Georgia decided to go with the majority and root for the Cardinals.....traitor. Brody was happily entertained by his best buddy from preschool, Brandon, whose family came down with one of the other brownie families. They were much more interested in shelling roasted peanuts.
















Carlie and Georgia


















Chris and Kacee
























Chris and the kids from the stadium
view of the Gateway Arch

















Brody and Brandon

2nd Grade

Georgia on her first day of 2nd grade in Mrs. Ellis' class. she later said that her new teacher rocked.

Brody's First Harvest

Our little garden project gave us our first gift today: quite a few cucumbers, three zucchini and two small strawberries. The berries did not make it more than a minute after this photo. Brody says they were really sweet. I will have to take his word for it.

Last Call

Our visit ended with a sandbox. Four kids squeezed into 15 square feet and had fun digging while we talked and threw some things on the grill for dinner.
Georgia (7), Sam (4), Brody (3 11/12) and Andy (7)



It is great when you have kids that match in age and all get along. We miss our friends and were so glad that 3/4 of them could squeeze in a visit with us while seeing family.

Prairie Farm Visit

Brody, Sam, Georgia and Andy check out the chickens

Jessica, Georgia and Andy on the pond bridge

Brody's favorite, pink piggies

and not so favorite, geese.

the cutest baby ducklings.

I Wanna Rock 'n Roll All Night

While our friend, Jessica was down from Canada with her boys, Chris agreed to watch all the kids so that we could slip out for a late movie. They were rocking out when we left the house.



Here is Georgia. We really have a hard time getting her to get up and sing...can't you tell?

All around the Blueberry Bush

We ventured out to a "pick your own" farm for blueberries today. I think Brody put as many in his mouth as he did in the bucket. The kids did really well despite the heat and the Japanese Beetles that were determined to protect their turf. They picked a total of three and a half pounds of berries and were rewarded with ice cream. Brody even coaxed a kiss out of one of the farm llamas.

Georgia demonstrating a ripe berry for Brody

Brody enjoying a well-deserved treat

Brody talking to Tinkerbell

It's Like Pulling Teeth

Georgia had her first surgery early this morning--dental surgery. She apparently has too many teeth in that little mouth of hers and a couple of loose teeth that didn't get wiggled enough to get out of the way of some permanent teeth. So she was put under for the longest 22 minutes of my life for the surgeon to pull six of her teeth.
She bounced back beautifully and was completely normal by lunchtime with no medication. On the way home, while I was holding her up in her seat, Brody was interested in the little box that held her teeth. We opened it up and got to see "long teeth" as he calls them, her baby eye teeth that still had the root attached. He saw those and just had to have them. After many questions and bargaining, he gave up getting them and asked when he would have his surgery to get his own teeth. He has a plan for those teeth. I am not sure what it is, but there is a plan.

Dog Feathers

Howdy's undercoat is starting to release, making her look afflicted with mange as huge clumps of her hair cling to her coat like puff balls and fall out. I won't embarrass her with a picture. I couldn't find her brush earlier in the day, but Chris found one of them after dinner and got to work on her in the yard. I thought he was bagging it, but looked out and saw a large area of the yard covered in clumps of dog hair.
When I went outside to say something, I am told that Georgia had already surveyed the mess and sarcastically said, "Genius, Dad." Brody, on the other hand, who has taken an intense liking to the dog, is concerned, asking, "Why did you pluck Howdy's feathers?"

Strawberries and Cream Dream

Fresh strawberries have been beckoning me
to take them home, lie them in a flaky crust and
cover them with whipped cream. Begging, actually...and I just can't say no.