Peonies

I love this time of the year! Peonies are probably one of my favorite plants! There seem to be a ton of these around Glendale. I snapped this picture in a neighbors yard on our way home from school one day.

Family Togetherness

In a bid to conserve gas (although gas here in MO is just $3.75/gallon), the Missouri Kreidlers decided to use our "old" car when possible rather than the big, gas-guzzling Ford Expedition. Using this car sure makes our family feel "cozy" and "together" since it is much smaller than the Exped! Luckily, the kids get along great since it would be so easy for them to pick on each other while sitting so much closer. I snapped the following pictures this past weekend while on our trip to Bee Tree Park. (And, no, the first picture was not staged. Paul and I both noticed that they were sitting in the back seat like that!)

Adam and Mommy's Day out!

Adam has been asking to go to the zoo, so yesterday after watching Emily participate in Field Day, we went!

As we pulled into the parking lot, Adam said "YEAY!!! We're at the ZOO!!!!" I haven't seen him that excited about going to the zoo in a long time! We had our lunch over by the giraffes and to entice him to sit in the stroller while I pushed him over to see the Hippos and Dinosaurs, he had a yummy cold treat!

Emily was quite dissappointed though that she didn't get to go, so I think the first available day we have this summer, we'll be at the zoo!

North Glendale Field Day!

Emily's school today had Field Day! Since Adam is my constant companion most days, I was unable to volunteer, but we walked over and scoped out Emily and her "Family Group" to see how they were doing! (North Glendale Elementary establishes Family Groups in the beginning of the year. It's with a teacher and a group of kids from all grades. They get together at least once a month to talk.) Em's Group wore Red today so it wasn't too hard to find where Emily was on the field. Emily looked like she was having a good time! Here's pics!

Emily and Mrs. Swalina (her Family Group teacher!)

Bee Tree Park

Today we decided to check out Bee Tree Park in southern St. Louis County. The land that is now Bee Tree County Park was previously owned by Southwestern Bell Telephone Company founder, Eugene Nims, who built a mansion in 1929 and used it as a weekend retreat. The house, designed by the foremost St. Louis architectural firm at the time, Maritz & Young, is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. It was Nims who established the extensive gardens.

The park is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, so our plan was to walk to the scenic overlook and then go to the playground for an hour or so, but we decided to hike the trail and by the time we got to the playground it was raining. I was expecting some pouty kids, but they didn't seem to mind - in fact they liked the walk through the woods.

Hoops!

Finally! We (or should I say - Paul) got the hole dug for our hoop (with Adam's help)! Next week at this time we'll be out shooting the rock!

Dad and his helper

He's in the hole!
FYI: Paul missed good old Central Illinois farm soil while digging today. Missouri (at least where we live) seems to have clay and rock filled soil which makes digging an adventure!

Rain Rain, GO AWAY!

Ugh...more rain. Emily and Hailey enjoyed it though!