Circus Flora

Circus Flora was great. It was Maura's first circus experience and she loved it. We got into the tent right before a huge storm hit. We ran into Max's friend Quincy. For kids one of the best parts of the circus is the junk food. They ran out of cotton candy so everyone ended up with snow cones- much better choice in my opinion. The highlights for the kids were Neno, the clown, the horses and dogs, and the acrobats. Every year I'm amazed by the physical strength of the performers.

Laughing with Pae Pae

One thing I've noticed about Grandparents is they embrace being in the moment. My dad is so much more relaxed as a Grandparent compared to when he was a parent. I love going to my parents on Sundays partly to visit and catch up and partly to watch them laugh and engage with the kids.

Summer Reading Club

The kids got their first "prize" from the summer library reading club- crazy glasses straws. It is a definite way to increase fluid intake. I'm thinking the glasses are going to be used on the deck only because they tend to fall off and make a mess. I hope the next prize is less maddening for parents :)

Lost Tooth

Max lost his first tooth. It came out without any drama. It just fell out into his mouth when he was walking down the hall in the morning after waking up. His wish to have a tooth fall out before entering first grade came true.

Bday Party

We went to Sloan's Pony themed bday party a few weeks ago- pony rides, a duck, ice cream cone cupcakes, a pinata, and games. Can't beat that for a 4 year old party.

Scoutquest

We went to Forest Park for Scoutquest on Saturday. The events went from Friday night through Sunday morning. We only went for a short time on Saturday afternoon. There were a ton of great activities and I got some fun ideas for our den for next year.

Shannon's visit

Shannon and Morris came through STL this weekend on their way to KC to pick up a bunch of furniture that her mom had in storage. They got in on Friday night around 9:30. We sat on the deck, drank wine, talked, laughed and listened to Morris play guitar for us. It was great getting to know him. He has a great spirit and cares for Shannon so much. I don't think I have ever seen her so happy and at peace with things.
They left early on Saturday morning to get to KC. Their truck broke down in Montgomery city so they were delayed a couple of hours. Their air conditioning also broke down. They didn't get back to our house until 10:30 Saturday night. I had to get up early on Sunday for the Fairtrade coffee sales at CPOP so I wasn't able to visit with them this morning. They headed out around 8:30 and hope to get back to the mountains by 8pm tonight. Hopefully they got enough sleep last night to feel rested for the drive. That is so much driving.

Summer Mom

I love the summer mom in me. I don't think I realized how much I had going on during the school year with work, kid's school work/activities, baseball practices/games, etc... But now that summer is here I am starting to feel calm and centered. Our schedule has been so low key this week and I love it!
On Thursday this week we went to pick up the armbands for Scoutquest, drove through the park to see Scoutquest setting up, visited Mae Mae at Wash U, and went to lunch at Dewey's Pizza. Then later in the day after Maura's nap we went to the Fox Creek Pool. These are the days I love- filled with low key activities and everyone is happy and having fun.

Forest Park- Scoutquest100


Visiting Mae Mae at Wash U


Lunch at Dewey's Pizza








Fun day coming to an end

Max's Baseball Game

The boy's baseball team played the CPOP girl's team last week. He was so excited to see the girls from his class. He said the game was the quickest game he has ever played because he was having so much fun.

Mmmmm Watermelon

Library

This morning we went to the Grand Glaize Library to sign up for the Summer Reading Club. When we got there a storm was heading our way. The sky looked really threatening but it only ended up raining a little bit. We spent an hour or so in the library and Maura made her first public restroom stop of the day there.

Before the not-so-storm


Max and Maura



After the library I convinced the boys we should return the hermit crabs to the pet store. They STINK so BAD! And they really aren't exciting pets except when they escape from their tanks. Ben's escaped a month or so ago. I woke up in the middle of the night to this scratching sound. I thought it was a rodent or something in the vent. So I woke Charlie up. He told me I was suppose to sleep through these things. He made me leave the room because he was afraid I would start screaming- probably true. He came out and told me to come see what I was hearing. Ben's hermit crab had escaped from its tank, walked down the hall, into our room, and was making its way up a metal frame that was sitting beside the dresser. Clearly it was trying to make its way to get me in bed! Well, other than that they are just boring, stinky, little creatures who will have a much better home somewhere else. Unfortunately, they wouldn't put them back in the tank to sell them but said if they could keep the tank they could put them up for adoption. Maura made her second public restroom stop at the pet store.
Then we headed to Custom Cuts for haircuts. The boys have been insisting that their hair only be trimmed because they like longer hair. This means more frequent trips for haircuts. Maura thinks she needs her haircut everytime as well. I was able to convince her pretty easily that she couldn't get a haircut but could have a lollipop. She made her third public restroom stop here, twice.
Max has a baseball game tonight. It is the CPOP Kindergarten boys team against the girls. I think they will love playing eachother. Then we are planning on going to the Rausch's new home in Kirkwood to see the "before" the rehab.