Turtles, Dinosaurs, and Horses - Oh My!

Saturday:

We went to the Kirkwood Farmers Market. While the market does not have any local produce yet, there were plenty of good veggies, treats and flowers to pick from. We picked up some Portabellas, apples, bananas, a red pepper, and strawberries for the weekend. We then drove by the fire house to see the firetrucks on our way to a Kirkwood park we call "Turtle Park". We're not sure what the real name of the park is, but I think you'll see why we call it "Turtle Park"! The weather wasn't outstanding, but it was nice to get out of the house. In the pm, we went to the school to play a bit before coming home to watch a movie with Em while Adam went to sleep.

Sunday:

The weather today was OUTSTANDING - 70's and sunny. WOW! We celebrated Earth Day at the St. Louis Zoo and in honor of Earth Day, we broke out the travel cooler and brought our own lunch! The Zoo has a Dinosaur exhibit so we visited that first. Adam was actually afraid of T-Rex and some of the other dinosaurs which surprised us since he LOVES dinos.

We also visited a few other parts of the zoo including the children's zoo (where Adam held a snake!), the carousel, and the sea lions.

The Dinos!

This one actually spit water out!HUGE T-Rex! Actually, the docent said the T-Rex was most likely the size of a youth T-Rex, not a full grown adult.

After Adam's naptime, we rode our bikes on Grant's Trail. We didn't do the full trail, but went far enough to ride by Grant's Farm where the AB Clydesdales are kept. What beautiful animals! Our camera battery died earlier in the day, but we had Paul's cell phone so he snapped a few pictures.

Cleaning Up Pictures

As I was going through some unorganized picture files, I came across these 2 which I thought were great. The first picture is Emmy the dog bringin Emily a birthday present last month. The second picture is a rare one where Adam gives a good, genuine smile.

An Afternoon with Emmy

Our friend Jean was going to the Cardinals game this afternoon, so Emily was looking forward to taking Emmy for a walk this afternoon. They walked down to visit a school friend of Emily's, came back for some water and treats, and then took her back home. That dog makes Emily so happy that I fear there will be a push for a dog in our house some time in the future. I must admit, she is a neat dog!

Funny Kids!

Adam learned today that we find it extremely funny when he makes faces! Emily got in on the funnies as well!

Cherry Blossoms

Our neighbor (and friend!) Jeanne took Emily, Adam and I to the Missouri Botanical Garden last week to see the cherry blossoms. The blossoms weren't quite ready for the big show, but we did see many mosiac sculptures by artist Niki de Saint Phalle. The Niki exhibition is certainly larger than life and we will definately have to go back to the Gardens soon to see them all. Jean also brought along some old bread for the kids to feed to the koi. We will definately return to the Botanical Garden, but first we need the weather to cooperate. Yep, its raining again!

The "Nikis":(This was a favorite of the kids!)Feeding Koi:

Beautiful Blooms:

Uncle Jeff/Aunt Shawn Visit

Uncle Jeff came to visit last weekend on Saturday and we picked Shawn up from Clayton on Sunday where she had spent the previous 3-4 days on business. It was nice to see them again even though we had just spent a week in Costa Rica with them!

Saturday Jeff spent time with Emily building a zip line with yarn around our house for Emily's webkinz. (We zip lined in Costa Rica so we know how/where she came up with the idea!) Jeff also spent time playing Wii wth the kids, Play Doh, and Guitar Hero.

Adam seems to have taken a real liking to Jeff. He woke up before 7 on Sunday and went into Jeff's room and talked to him for awhile before Paul and I realized he was up and had escaped from his room!

Zip Lining!
The Guitar Heroes!Playing Wii! Or as Adam calls it, K-Wii!Play Doh!

Crazy Hair Day! And an earthquake update!

North Glendale Elementary School celebrated the end of the Missouri Assessment Testing (MAP) with crazy hair day! Emily's grade did not particpate in MAP testing, but the second grade (as well as the first grade) celebrated anyway with the rest of the school by participating in crazy hair day.

Here's Emily's crazy hair:

Emily and Annie (she walks to school with Annie in the morning, she's in 4th grade and is ecstatic that MAP testing is OVER!).

EARTHQUAKE UPDATE: A 4.5 aftershock went through around 10:15. I was gabbing to Lisa on the phone and taping up Ninny Kathy's shoes to send to her today (sorry I didn't do it yesterday!) and didn't notice it. How could I not notice that??? Paul said he felt it in Clayton and some friends in Springfield felt it there.