Zoo and the Baby Elephant

We went to the Zoo to see the baby elephant with Christopher and Sean.  The elephant was so cute imitating everything the mom elephant was doing.

Climbing the insect sculpture was a highlight- those Jacobs boys can climb!

The penguins were all about posing for photos.

And a train ride with MaMa was the perfect way to end our day.

Maura's 4th Bday (party #1)

Maura's first birthday celebration was with the Lottes' at Paul and Amy's house.  Peggy was in town so she was able to celebrate with us.  Kate's train cake was the highlight along with a birthday plate made by Amy and some wonderful birthday gifts.

What a talented mother and daughter- the tongue twirlers!

  

 Mama's train cake gets two thumbs up (or two pointer fingers)!

 Bags full of fun!  Girl soccer gear from Aunt Peggy and Aunt Mimi- soccer pictures coming soon.  Aunt Amy's cupcake birthday platter, a new leotard for gymnastics and other girly stuff.

Always happy to share some girl time with Tara :)

Summer List 2011

I got this Summer List idea from the blog 'Whatever...'. She has creative ideas and gorgeous photos. We checked off lots from our list. Still hoping to get a few more done over the next few weeks. The Grandma's also helped with a few while we were in Michigan :)

Shakespeare Festival

In June we went to the Shakespeare Festival in Forest Park. We got there early to get a good spot to put our chairs and blankets. We spent the first hour playing cards and snacking. I realized quickly that for the kids it was all going to be about the food.



Maura was asked to be one of the cheer leaders to get the audience to come to the small stage for the 20min version of Taming of the Shrew. The actors wore traditional Shakespearean costumes in the condensed version. Watching the short version really helped the kids follow the play.
There was fire breather and sword juggler.

and belly dancers- Maura and I got up on the stage to learn how to belly dance- thankfully there are no pictures of that :)

Pae Pae, Uncle James, and Mae Mae enjoying the preshow.

more snacking...
and more snacking...

The play was fabulous. They made the setting the 1950's and played "Going to the Chapel"- that song was stuck in my head and the kids for weeks.

Easter

We had Easter brunch at our house. I made bistro french toast, potato casserole and my parents brought the ham and fruit salad. That is one of those meals you can just keep eating and eating.
James sat back and enjoyed watching the egg hunt. We decided to do the hunt outside since it had rained for like 40 straight days which meant a muddy mess.


My dad brought all of the change he has collected over the year to give to the kids. I don't think my dad realized how much money was really there. Each one ended up with almost $30 in change! They all put their change in their piggy bank. James and I told the story about how we broke into our piggy bank as kids and ate pizza and other junk for a week until it was gone. We (ok, maybe just I) felt horribly guilty for a long time afterward. I think James thought it was a fabulous way to spend our savings :)



Later that afternoon we went to the Lottes Easter for another hunt. The kids hung out in the basement and watched School of Rock- love that movie! Max is now dying to take keyboard lessons, not piano, but keyboard. We will make that happen this Fall.

We used a new dye this year for our Easter eggs and they turned out bright and beautiful!

Spring Break 2011: Pere Marquette

Over Spring break we spent a night at Pere Marquette with Kate, Amy, Tara and Ryan. It was only 24 hours but we packed a lot of fun into our time together. We first went to lunch at the Finn Inn and then checked into our cabin. We took a hike which was more challenging for Maura than I expected. We then went swimming, had dinner, and went back to the cabin for bed. The next day we drove to the overlooks to see different views of the river. We then went to the Alton Lock and Dam to finish off our history lesson of the Great Rivers.




Nature Museum at Pere Marquette

Walking sticks make all hikes better.



Dominoes and checkers before dinner

Great Hall at Pere Marquette Lodge- "Four Rivers Fabric Art"

Cocktails before dinner





Ben was the official graffiti reader, thankfully everything was pretty tame.

Checking out the Mississippi from Principia



The Mistake House at Principia was created to show different construction techniques such as brick, concrete, stone and creating a thatch roof.

The Principia Chapel built in 1935