Mel and Me

Mel and me, having a little photo shoot (thanks to Brian!) before going out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. Melanie lived in Texas for a few years before moving back to St. Louis last year around this time. It is great having her back. She is one of my very best friends. All of us, but especially the boys and me (since she's over most often while Brian is at work) love having her around and she is a huge help to me. A couple days ago, she came over and did my dishes! That was so sweet! We have so much fun together; I'm so glad she's back and I hope she never leaves St. Louis again!

Mel, I love you so much!!

Goofing around.....

A Field Trip

A couple weeks ago Stan and I accompanied Jacob's class on their first field trip. We went to Eckert's Apple Orchard. It was SO much fun! We had wonderful weather - actually kind of hot for September, but I'm not complaining about hot - not after the constant coolness of Seattle! Going to Seattle taught me, among other things, to appreciate the change of seasons and the hot weather. Those who know me well, are now yawning, as I am constanly saying these kinds of things about the weather. Back to the field trip - I really enjoyed spending time with and getting to know the kids and some of the moms better.

Here we are on the back of the wagon being pulled by a tractor to go out into the orchard and pick apples. There were quite a few of us who brought little ones with us, so it turned out to be a pretty big number of people. The more the merrier!

Jacob with his wonderful teacher.

After we picked apples and had a picnic lunch the kids played. This is a huge pipe like slide that went through a hillside. Stan had no qualms about going down, even though it was VERY long.

As soon as Stan saw the put-put he began asking to go over to play. When I finally let him, he played for a good 10 minutes trying to get the ball to go into the hole. It was hilarious watching him, because he kept falling backwards over the side of the wall. He'd fall down on his bum, get back up, concentrate, get all set up to put, then fall over again.

Having fun at Eckert's. This is my favorite picture from the day.

After successfully navigating the Corn Maze.