Fun at the Beach

Dauphin Island is so great. I'll post more pictures here shortly.

We Love Jordan

Having Jordan this week has been so much fun. The most entertaining part has been watching Jordan howl along with Ian while Ian practices his trumpet. (Video here.)

We've also enjoyed just looking at how cute he is, and Sean has enjoyed having Jordan lay on him.

Keeping Watch

We've LOVED having the puppy Jordan this week while his family is in Florida. And Jordan has taken on some of Sophie's habits: like keeping watch out the front window.

Thank you, Jeff!!

Special thanks to Jeff for showing us around on Wednesday afternoon. And especially for putting us right in the middle of a Saturday Night Live skit for supper. What a riot!

Jeff was such a good sport about hanging out with middle-aged housewives all afternoon....

Our Evening with George

George put on a wonderful concert Wed night. He sounded fabulous and sang all his great songs (except, of course, the one song Johnna wanted to hear). ;-) It was such a fun evening, still can't believe we fit so much into one day!!

"Johnna, meet Chicago. Chicago, this is Johnna."

Kudos to my buddy Johnna who spontaneously took a quick trip to Chicago with me on Wednesday for the George Michael concert. And since she'd never been there before, there were some places that she definitely had to visit. Navy Pier. The water taxi. Michigan Avenue. The Bean. Buckingham Fountain. The Lego Store. The Hancock Tower. The Billy Goat.

We did everything possible in seven hours and THEN got to see George Michael! Great fun.

Thank you, John Adams

In a letter to Abigail, he wrote:

"The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding genereations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other from this time forward forever more."

Amazing that he already saw America stretching across the continent. As my old friend Vivian, the history teacher from Notre Dame, once said: "We should be forever grateful that our nation was founded by statesmen and not politicians."

Amen!

Band Concert

I will not attempt to keep track of the band concerts that we attend as parents over the next few years. I will, however, mention that THIS one was the first, and I was so proud I nearly popped my buttons. (Wait! Was that pride? Or the fudge from Jack's birthday??)

Ian did a fabulous job with his trumpet playing and now begins a whole new adventure on Tuesday with his special lessons. Way to go, Ian!

"Can You Dig It"

Jack's birthday requests were simple: burritos, fudge instead of cake, and a long game of "pickle". The weather didn't cooperate with the pickle game, so the kiddos all ended up in our basement watching our new favorite video.

It's called "Can You Dig It" and it shows how to build awesome sand castles. I've seen it three times, and each time it gets me so excited to go to the beach I can hardly stand it.

Like Kaylin said, "The video is fantastic because it makes you want to build. But it's awful because you can't build right now."

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Wednesday was Jack's 9th birthday. We are finally all ODD! (11, 9 and 7) Of course, there are some who will say that we have always BEEN odd...but you know what I mean. ;-)

Happy Birthday, Jack! You are one in a million!

Date Night

Ian and I finally got our date night, which was originally scheduled for February but was overruled when he scored Blues tickets for the same night...oh well...boys will be boys, right?

We had fantastic seats for the ball game last night, right by the ESPN cameras. Two hot dogs, one order of nachos, two sodas and one order of Dippin' Dots: $34. An evening with your oldest boy? Priceless.

Baseball weekend

We had five baseball games in four days this weekend, and with the way our vacation is scheduled, I think that's the end of the baseball seasons for Ian and Sean. Jack, of course, couldn't be happier about this although I'm sure he will miss the pretzels with cheese from the concession stand.

I'm a tourist in my own town!

I've driven across the Poplar Street Bridge many, many times. And it always amuses me to come across (read: pass) a car with out-of-state plates driving slowly as the driver or passenger takes photos of the Arch. I find it quaint and cute in a very condescending way.....the Arch is ours...we see it every day....we don't need to take pictures. I think that makes us forget how utterly amazing the Arch is.

Anyway, coming back from E'ville on Sunday evening the Arch was more beautiful than I'd ever seen it. I grabbed my camera, rolled down the window.....and found myself doing exactly what I'd made fun of others for doing. Taking a photo of the Arch while crossing the Poplar Street Bridge.

Life with boys

Yesterday, I saw Sean running through the house with a kitchen towel. This isn't a normal occurrence, so I automatically assumed that something had spilled and he needed to clean it up.

I said "Sean, did you spill something?"

"Nope."

"Well then what's the towel for?"

"Nothing. Just blood."

Oh! That makes me feel much better.