Afternoon at the Art Museum

Ian and Gavin actually witnessed a marriage proposal today....a couple in a paddleboat in front of the Art Museum. What a great location!
Inside the Art Museum were art students with huge easels doing charcoals of the paintings on the walls...it was really, really neat.
Then we saw the mummies (Josie didn't care for them) and the weapons (what's not to love about weapons from the Middle Ages??) and then rolled down Art Hill. A wonderful afternoon.
Add the fact that we had lunch at the Boathouse, and it was a fun day.

More Optical Illusion Fun

Ames Room Illusion

At the Science Center, they have an Ames Room, which can be described here. But the photo sums it up nicely......Josie towering over Ian!

Today's Adventure

Summer vacation, Day 25. Ian was on his vacation bible school field trip with the St Simon's crew while Jack, Sean and I were back at Sanders Service for some touch-up work on one of Pearl's new tires. Mr Sanders took us for a little spin in his new golf cart. Sean was a little upset that he didn't take them out on Watson Road and then to Interstate 270. Oh well....

A Question that was difficult to answer:

From Sean: "Mom, where are you going to live when you grow up?"

When Life Gives you Lemons, Go to Krispy Kreme

Sweet Carol picked us up from our flat-tire fiasco and saved the day by taking us all to Krispy Kreme. Thank you Carol!

Unplanned Adventure

We headed to the Arch today to see the flooding....for some reason today I wanted the boys to see the river up close as it rushes up the steps of the Arch. Plus, I thought it would be good for them to run around and burn up some energy.

On 55, I heard a "whoop whoop whoop"ing sound that usually accompanies a blowout..I even said to Sam "That sounds like somebody had a blowout." Well, as I looked at my tire sensors, I realized it was ME!!!

We pulled Pearl onto a ramp right away, and by the time we turned left over the highway, we were definitely sure that Pearl had a flat.

Oh well! Thank God everyone was okay and the only negative thing was the hassle that surrounds a flat tire. Nothing like a little adventure!

Thank you, Pearl, for being heavy and protecting my babies (and the babies of others!)

Digging up the past at Cahokia Mounds

Near Monk's Mound we saw some tents with some people working. We decided to go and check it out. Sure enough, it was an archaelogical group doing a dig. They showed us what they'd dug up today and let us help sift some dirt. We saw pieces of bones and pottery; it was awesome.

And not ONE of them looked like Indiana Jones!

Today's Field Trip: Cahokia Mounds

Cahokia Mounds is such a neat place. The big mound, Monk's Mound, has 149 steps to the top. It also has a great view of St Louis! From the top you can also see several other mounds scattered around the big one.

Today we learned that in the year 1200, Cahokia had a bigger population than London. So what happened to them? Well, if you ask Gavin, they "sold everything in exchange for casinos".

My Gardener

This morning when I got out of the shower, my gardener was already out on the deck tending to the flowers.

Today's Field Trip

We went to the brewery tour today, might be the last time we visit AB when it is a St Louis-based company. I know the takeover is good for the stockholders, but it's a matter of civic pride. Anyway, the trip was fun. There was a huge clydesdale rear-end named "Thomas" , which of course warranted a photo.

AB is a pretty classy company, which is why I was so thrilled to see that cheesy "photo op" sign. It was just too cheesy to resist.

They came the farthest!

Kudos to Mom, Mimi and Katie for making it over on Saturday. It just wouldn't have been the same without them!!

Tonight We're Gonna Party Like it's 1989

Well, I hope everyone has recovered from the little get-together I had to celebrate turning 40 on Saturday night. Special shout-out to Tree, for being the person there who's had to put up with me the longest (besides Mimi and Mom); Mimi and Katie for coming from such a long way; Sue for coming all the way from Bethalto and Carla - just because it's so fun to scream when you see someone you haven't seen in a really, really long time.

A Flock of Julies

Last night was my Ladies-Only 80's Karaoke party to celebrate my 40th birthday. Every single woman I love in the world was there, including THE JULIES. Julie Korenak. Julie Lange. Julie Hoevelmann. Julie Smith. Julie Knost. Julie Heuer. Julie Dibble.

My Friends are So Talented!

Look at Diane and Julie~! They are so talented!!

Birthday Boy!

Limbo Champion

That boy can limbo.

The Crab Walk

The cutest thing the whole night was watching everyone warm up for the "Crab Race". Our backyard suddenly looked like a beach with all sorts of crabs crawling around.

Sunflower Seed Spitting Contest - Event #4

Jonathan was the big winner of this event, shooting one fourteen feet. Very impressive!

22 Playing Pickle

Event #2 at the Smith Olympics on Wednesday night was "pickle". There were several collisions but only one major injury, the birthday boy. Amazingly enough, he healed in time for 'capture the flag'.

Day 12 of Summer Va-Cay

Today we headed to the pool with our buddies Sam and Alexander. It was a great day at the pool. Very hot and not a cloud in the sky!

Young Indiana Jones - Times Two

Here are Pete and Sean demonstrating their Indiana Jones talents last evening.

Table for 12, please

Birthday dinner. Margaritas. Cheese. And Sam. And the Korenaks. Followed by cake comas at our house. What more could a girl want?

Day 11: Best. Day. Ever.

Well, I spent my 40th birthday getting ready for Ian's big party tomorrow night (the Smith Summer Olympics), going putt-putt golfing and seeing the movie "Ironman" again. Yes, it sounds like my day was planned by a bunch of grade school boys. And it was! As Mimi said, "what better way to spend your 40th birthday than with your kids."

It was a wonderful, fabulous day and I'm hoping to be graced with at least 40 more years on this beautiful Earth.

Special shout-out to Tom for making me cry with his sweet email. But you'll always be my dorky brother, no matter how cute you turn out. ;-)

Day 10 - Scoring a birthday dinner

Wow, Mom and Dad fixed a wonderful birthday dinner for me tonight!! Grilled burgers with a fabulous "happy hour" beforehand. Very, very excited about my birthday tomorrow! And the boys were excited about the chocolate cake that Grandma made.

Day 8 in Edwardsville

On Friday we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house to meet their new tenants, a family of birds who has just had babies. Sean painted this birdhouse for them three years ago, and each summer they have had a bird family take it over. Very sweet.

Day 7 in the strawberry patch

We had some guests on our "field trip" today: Pete, Jonathan and Baby Justin, whom we are calling "J Dog". He is the best baby and didn't even complain when he ended up having lunch in the middle of the strawberry patch.

I think the highlight for Justin was the ride home, when Pete pretended to be singing karaoke right in front of him, and Justin just giggled and giggled.

Jack was the most particular about the strawberries today and only ended up collecting about 20 of them. Sean and Pete were like migrant workers and Jonathan and Ian (I think) surprised themselves by having fun.

It was really, really fun out there today!! I love all these boys!!

Day 6 - in a pickle

Growing up, we always called it "pickle", you know.....getting caught in between two bases? Well in St Louis, it's called "hotbox". And we are constantly reminded that there is no "pickle" west of the Mississippi River. (That is the apparent boundary between "pickle" and "hotbox".) This is worse than a blue-state, red-state rivalry.

Anyway, our buddy Jonathan today became an honorary Smith because right before dinner, he said "We should play pickle." I couldn't believe it! Jonathan is a Missouri boy and he actually called it by the right name. So, he gets a photo posted.

We won't be going to the pool tomorrow....."mother of the year" did a terrible job sunscreening Jack and he'll be paying the price for a few days. His skin is so different from his brothers...you'd think after nine summers with the boy I would remember this. Sorry, Jack!

Summer Vacation - Day Five

Day Five saw us drive to Cape Girardeau to have Uncle Alan check our eyes. Sean and Jack both emerged with new specs, and Sean looked SO much like Jack tonight at his baseball practice that I had to take a picture.

Jack is counting down the years until he can have Lasik surgery, and Sean is thrilled to have glasses. On the way home from Cape, he said "Mom! The trees have leaves!"

You Might Be a Redneck If....

you take a photo of the dessert cart as it gets wheeled in.

Overheard yesterday

"I really don't think you should throw that into the ceiling fan."

"Mom wouldn't make a very good pirate."

"Ian, you only want to be a Marine so you can get a Purple Heart license plate and park close to grocery stores."

Summer Va-Cay, Day 4

Well, one rule of the Smith Household is that if Nichole ever calls around 5:30pm on a game night, you run to the phone. Last night was no exception, as Nichole offered us five tickets to an open luxury suite right behind home plate. All it took was the phrase "all you can eat" to Jack and even HE was willing to leave the house. Add in the open bar and dessert cart and needless to say we all had a blast.

I think the Cards lost, but really......that wasn't the point of the evening now, was it???

Norm Would Be Proud

Doesn't he always say that we should take time in life to smell the roses? Well, here Pete heeds his advice at the Missouri Botanical Garden on Friday.

Thanks, Coach Andy!

Here's a photo of Ian's flag football team, courtesy of my pal Diane. Aren't these boys all so cute? They had a great season and lots of fun. And our coach, Andy, was just a peach. Now they're all off to tackle something new......tackle football!

Strike a Pose, there's nothing to it: VOGUE

Here are the boys, striking a pose outside the Art Museum.....Day Three of Summer Va-Cay.

Summer Vacation - Day Three

Well, we hit the art museum today. I always like looking at the statue of Saint Louis, because I forget that he was a man and not just a place. A real person. Like Scott said, "and he was never ever here."

Ian is in an archeology phase right now, so he really got into all the artifacts. And of course, we loved the mummies. What's not to love about mummies?

Last time we were at the Art Museum, we set off the alarms twice. This year, we made it through without attracting the attention of security. Does that mean we're all growing up?