You Spin Me Right Round, Baby

On our recent trip to St. Louis, the kids began each day riding the carousel at the zoo. You see, the carousel is free every morning from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. So every morning, after breakfast, no matter what else we had planned for the day, we started out at the zoo.

Fortunately, our hotel was not a mile from the zoo, which made this endeavor fairly easy.

All on her own, Lutece figured out the "beauty pageant" wave and worked it every time she passed us.

Phoenix was not quite as enthusiastic as Lutece about his carousel time, but he was a good sport about it. Sometimes you take one for the family.

Lutece would ride and ride and ride, long after Phoenix had tired of going around.

But even the most enthusiastic connoisseurs can get fatigued. It's a good thing we only spent three mornings in St. Louis.

Speedy Gonzalez

Yes, t-ball is still going on, even though we've missed a couple of practices due to vacations. Good 'ol number ten is rarin' to go.

And he's out of the gate!

. . . and down the final stretch to the finish line!

This is Kentucky after all.

Family Vacation Photo

As we exited the Museum of Natural History, I thought it might be nice to snap a photo . . . with me in it . . . you know, to prove I actually went on this vacation with my family.

A little coaxing. A little placement of children.

Aaaaand . . . that's the best we could do with the three of us.

But then the girl sitting to the side of us asked if we'd like to have ALL of us in the picture. What a novel idea! Yes, that would be lovely.

Voila! First family photo since October.

Downtown

The last day of our stay with Grandma and Grandpa topped out at 102 degrees. Perfect day for air-conditioned museums, with only minimal walking.

First, we headed to my favorite, the National Gallery. I knew the kids could only handle so much, so I lowered my expectations and then I was pleasantly surprised by the 45 minutes we did spend looking at art.

Not surprisingly, among their favorite parts of the museum was the open atrium with fountain. They also enjoyed watching people with their easels set up, recreating various classic paintings.

Then, it was on to THEIR favorite museum, the Museum of Natural History. We saw the dinosaurs, the sea creatures, the mammals, and of course, the insects (pictured above).

We had fun, the kids had fun. Love abounded.

Two Boats in One Day

How lucky are we to have family living in the D.C. area?? Not only do we get to see the monuments and museums, we also get to visit family! So on the same day we visited Mount Vernon, learned about the American Revolution and George Washington, and took a boat ride down the Potomac, we also got to go boating with family. Does it get any better than that?!? Lutece doesn't think so.

Shawn and Annie and the boys showed us a good time, and the kids got to try out tubing for the first time. They were wary at first, especially after being dumped into the lake when the tube turned over on the first try, but they grew to love it. After that first dunking, Lu decided she would stay inside the boat while Stayc and Phoenix went for their first ride.

Phx decided he was ready to go out on his own after his first foray with dad.

After watching Phoenix have such a great time, Lu decided she would give it another try . . . with dad of course. (I don't think this was a very comfortable position for Stayc . . . especially with all the bouncing :)

Not to be outdone by Phx, she even went out by herself.

I think Annie is telling her what a good job she did here. "You're a little lake girl Lu!" Nothing like a complement from your cool aunt. So. Much. Fun!

T-ball with Dad

We interrupt our D.C. vacation for a small t-ball break. Games are, after all, on Saturdays (and Mondays--sheesh). I mentioned earlier that although t-ball was Phoenix's idea, he was less than thrilled at the first couple of practices. He's warmed up to it though, and I strongly suspect his change of heart is due mainly to the extra time he gets to spend with his dad.

T-ball is both funny and sweet. There are dads all over the field during games, sometimes as many as one to every two kids playing. It may be fun to hit the ball . . .

. . . and run the bases, . . .

. . . but it's really fun just to spend some time with dad.

On the Itinerary: Mount Vernon

The week before our trip to D.C., Lutece started writing lists: Things I Want to Do at Grandma & Grandpa's; Things I Need to Pack; Schedule (which she continues to pronounce "school-lude"). She wrote a daily itinerary for the trip, and let me tell you, it is wonderful. One day, she will completely take over this role, relieving me of one more needless stress.

A trip to Mount Vernon was, of course, on the school-lude. She was also adamant that we take a boat ride on the Potomac River--which we did, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa's boundless generosity.

It may have been well over 90 degrees outside, but it was still a lovely boat ride.

"'Look! There's the dock!' shouted a voice." Phoenix has taken to narrating his life in third person . . . like a voice-over in a movie. It's a little disconcerting and incredibly funny. At dinner tonight he said, "'Can you please pass the ketchup?' I said to Dad." And so Stayc passed him the ketchup.

Oh. My. She's getting to be so grown up.

I kept expecting the kids to get tired out, especially in the extreme heat, but if they did, they kept their whining to themselves. They really are getting older.

Lutece insisted we take the above picture and the following one. It's so fascinating how tradition-driven children are. If you don't believe me, check out these pictures from last year.

And, oh my, look how much taller Lutece is this year.

Just as it's becoming easier to get good pictures of Lutece (she actually smiles now), it's getting harder to snap photos of Phoenix. This is the face I get most often these days. However, when I actually took a picture of this face, I got this face . . .

"Did you really take a picture of me doing that Mom?"

Yes. Yes, I did.

Yankee Doodle Dandies

Our road trip to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the the Fourth of July exceeded all expectations. Lutece kept exclaiming, "This is more fun than I expected!" or "This is the best vacation ever!" I think ALL of us had a fun time. When I asked the kids today (a day after arriving home) what their favorite part of the trip was, Lutece responded, "Grandma and Grandpa." Phoenix said without hesitation, "The food." Both good answers.

"Cousins" was also on the list, and the kids got to spend a lot of quality time with Nick, Ryan, and Gavin. Their last day together, the kids planned a "Fourth of July Parade with Activities." It was a kick to watch them plan it (planning went on for a couple of days previous), and fun to see them enjoy each others' company. The parade entailed the kids walking around the neighborhood waving flags and singing "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Oh, to be a 4 to 6-year-old again.

Among the "Activities," were a candy sale (the kids ate it all before they could sell any) and fireworks (the third day's worth of fireworks). In fact, you'll notice that the kids have on different clothes in each of the pictures. This is because we did fireworks nearly EVERY SINGLE night we were in D.C. In fact, the only night we didn't DO fireworks, was on the actual Fourth of July, when we went to Fort Belvoir and watched their huge fireworks show. Good times.

On the second night of fireworks, Phoenix made a list during dinner of which fireworks we were going to light, and in what order. As you can see, there were no tanks left.

But the first night, there were tanks galore, and the kids started doing "Tank fights."

Exciting stuff.

Seriously though, this is what Independence Day (week) is all about. Fireworks, all week long; bottle rockets that threaten to light your neighbor's roof on fire (thanks Shawn!); constant bug spray; tank fights with cousins; and just plain being with family. So fun!

Summer Reading/Acrobatics

Hey, as long as you're reading.