St Louis

We had the greatest day in St. Louis on Saturday. We started out with a stop over at the temple- I love that Joe and I get to go together now; it is a great perk to having kids that are a little older. Plugging a movie in the car can be a very helpful child-sitter (I don't exactly have babies anymore)!

One movie and we are good to go!

After the temple we decided to check out somewhere we haven't been before- we opted for the City Museum and we have all concluded that it is the new favorite, oh how I love creative people!

It was designed by a group of 20 or so artists and it is a blast!

Now, if we could just get back there to go again!

I've had a birthday

So there it is- today I turned 35, I think. I always have to check with my kids to see how old I am, honestly I have been known to add or subtract a year or two without meaning to- some people do it on purpose, I just don't really seem to care how old I am, so I don't keep track as well as I might otherwise; it's weird, I know.

On this fine day I spent my time cleaning and rearranging my bedroom, taking and picking kids up from school, all done with a birthday flare of course! Eli was humming or singing the Happy Birthday song to me all day, my dear friend Julie made me a beautiful cheesecake to aid in the celebration.

I have decided to celebrate all week, why celebrate only one day? Joe should be home at the end of the week so we will celebrate again when he gets back.

Tonight I skipped out on Cub Scouts at the church so I could be with my girls at their back-to-school family Activity Day party at the Michaelsen's. We had a really great time-the kids always love to go on the zip-line and play in the paddle boats on the pond and feed the fish; we miss living close to Chris and Larry!

That was a great way to spend my birthday- thanks to everyone for making it such a wonderful day! I had a nice surprise when Zach caught up to us after scouts- he handed me a bouquet of flowers from one of my Cub Scouts. What a sweet gesture from one of my favorite young people- Thanks Nolan, I very nearly cried- (OK, I did have a little tear when I told Joe about it- I can't help it I was so touched)!

And I have to pay special homage to my parents who brought me into this great world so I could even have birthdays to celebrate, I sure love you. One more year and I will be the age my mother was when she had me. Wow- I still have to apologize to my mom every birthday, because I was such a huge baby- bless her for bringing a 10 lb. 13 oz. kiddo into this world- yep that's me born at 22:53, I know because I just had to order a copy of my birth certificate so I could get my license renewed- now that I think of it, I should have put that weight on my license!! (When cops pull people over do they look at what people put as their weight and just laugh?? I wonder, do we all deserve a ticket for lying about it?)

Mr Rogers moments

Growing up during the 70-80's you inevitably were subjected to daily doses, or at the very least portions of Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. There, in the little land of make believe, are some rather interesting characters, among them is the all important King Friday, "I presume" and my all time favorite ridiculousness, Henrietta Pussy Cat, "Meow Meow, I like you, Meow Meow".

I had, for what ever reason, slipped some of these voices, and oh so quotable quotes, into random family conversations. My kids finally asked where in the world I came up with that, and I had to tell them that I was not the master mind behind this silly speech- so in this the great day of You-Tube I let them in on my little secret and showed them some vintage Mr. Rogers.

Now they are all talking like that, "Can I, meow meow, have some breakfast, meow meow?", "I presume"! It nearly slays me when Eli says "I presume"- he sounds very much like our good old friend King Friday! Today I think that I shall introduce them to Mr Ed!

Winding Down and Starting Again

Blackberries and Bikes

We have had some lovely times picking blackberries over the last couple of weeks and have ended up with a plethora of blackberries- 34 lbs to date; this could be an expensive hobby- but worth it; I could probably eat a whole flat of berries myself, and wouldn't mind spending a lot of time in their lovely gardens- three cheers for Buckeye Acres!

We also harvested our grapes- sadly it wasn't a large quantity, but enough to get a couple of batches of jelly. I think we have just had too much rain this year and too much cool weather, though you will never hear me complain about that point!

Bella and Kaija were very helpful making the grape jelly.

Zachary completed their 100 mile ride on the 14-15th. He enjoyed every second of it and we are indebted to all the wonderful leaders that took their time to make it such a great trip!

He is already planning a time for me to take him and ride through his favorite areas!

He was a little sore, but he did great.

We are officially on day 2 of school and the kids are very happy with the new schedules. They came home smiling yesterday, and that is always a good sign!

Joe has been out of town for a week or so and has about that much to go- we are never really sure. He is working on installing an instrument in Grand Rapids MI. We always look forward to his return- Eli most especially. But following this instillation they will be in town for quite a while. I like this plan!

Crown Center

Well this is by far the worst slide show we have ever created, so please ignore the quality of the photos- the lighting just didn't do anything for my cell phone, and Eli chose the annoying spiral design. Disclaimer: I am not responsible for anyone getting sick from viewing this particular slide show!!

I took the kids up to Crown Center in Kansas City to see the free Lego display (I think it is there until Labor Day). It was very cool and we are decidedly glad that we went. While you are there you can hardly pass up the opportunity to go to the Hallmark Visitor's Center, and we also ventured to go to the ever famous Fritz's train restaurant. The food is hardly worth the effort and very expensive for the minuscule amounts that you get. This was only our second time there, but we were sure to only get a couple of shakes and some fries so the train could deliver the fries to the table. However lacking it was, I felt like it was the perfect time to indulge Eli, it is the perfect place for 4 year old boys- truly, who knows when we will make it up their again!

Summer Time

This summer has been a little odd since we haven't really traveled anywhere- it is a first for us! We have had some great family time, had fun with friends, enjoyed planting and harvesting a garden, working on the house, reading good books and a thousand other little things. We will have big things again next year, but for now we've enjoyed slowing down a little.

Well, we have been to see a couple of 3-D movies this summer:

UP, and then Ice Age 3, when Grandma Nielsen was here for a visit.

The kids really love the glasses!

(And yes we definitely saw Harry Potter!)

We have had 4 new additions to the family...... namely bikes, and they have been very well received! Zach is working hard on his Cycling Merit Badge- they just did their first 25 miler last night on the Katy Trail. He is really enjoying it and has developed some fine new muscles!

Bella has found it very amusing to watch the tomatoes ripen in front of her very eyes- luckily this one ripened just in time for grandma's visit!

We have visited our new outdoor pool, which the kids like very much-

Kaija even came and walked the river with me one morning,

and she braved a 5 mile bike ride with me and the boy scouts. What a gal!

We might have to make one last trip to the pool before school starts on the 18th.

Joe wants to come too, before he leaves for Rapid City Michigan!

So now it is time to cram in a bunch of last minute summer activities into less than 2 weeks! Here we go......

Good times at the River

Well, my good friend Natalie and I have taken the opportunity to go walking at the river in the morning.  Actually it is the lazy river at the local community center, where you walk against the current.  It has proven to be quite amusing and yes I imagine we are quite a sight- however, on Monday we got double points for laughing so hard- an extra workout bonus! 

I would never do it in the evening because of the bumper to bumper traffic- way too many people for my liking.  I like to keep it to a minimum, then I am less humiliated!  

Oh and on the humiliation factor- I went bowling with my cub scouts (and kids and friends) and decided that I go and participate in these sorts of events so that other people can feel good about their skills. Perhaps I could improve my skills if I went more than once every 7-10 years. I will work on that one.  Right now, I need to get my bike fixed so I can go on bike rides with Zach- he is working on his bicycling merit badge right now.  He is going to be taking a 100 mile bike ride on the Katy Trail in August with the scouts- should be really fun for him!

So until then I shall move forward with the hysteria at the river and find a padded tractor seat to go on my mountain bike!