Summer

Last week was unusually, pleasantly cool (for June in Missouri!), and we had a fun outing to our favorite park:

So far, we're enjoying the summer! We've had some fun outings and playdates, have almost completed our remodeling projects (pictures are coming soon . . . ), and have haunted the local library at least bi-weekly. Abby is a voracious reader and is working on the Harry Potter series and every American Girl book she can get her hands on. I've been reading some of the American Girl books too, and they're great! They are well-written, aimed at a grade-school audience, and each one gives insight into a different period of American history while teaching good values. I would highly recommend them (although we're probably backing ourselves into the inevitable corner of buying one of the $100 dolls someday!). 

The sad part of this spring/summer has been watching so many of our dear friends move away, mostly because they have finished medical school or residency. We're really going to miss them!

Dad & His Trio

A few days ago, Luke took a day off work and got to "man the ship" while I was gone all day. (I got to be a standardized patient for medical students practicing an O.B. check-up . . . a very interesting experience!!) Anyway, SuperDad took the kids on a fun outing to Forest Park downtown. Here they are in front of the art museum.

{Don't you love Katie's colorful outfit?}

Here is Daddy with his fan club on Father's Day. (We had to frost only half of the pan of brownies to please everyone. . . . ) I liked Abby's cute idea of having him blow out a "7"-shaped candle to celebrate his seven years of being a dad. He deserves that!

Joe's Visit

Last but not least, my brother, Joe, came to visit! Here we are at Grant's Farm. It was so great to see him and to hang out together for the weekend. We introduced him to our new favorite place to eat out, P'Sghetti's. The kids had so much fun pestering and entertaining Uncle Joe. (Any guy who has survived growing up with seven sisters and is still psychologically stable has to be cool!!)

More Visitors

Our next visitors in May were Luke's Grandpa Al and his Uncle Paul, who live in the Seattle area. They managed to see quite a lot of St. Louis during their stay!

Here they are with Katie and her friend Chloe, hiking in Powder Valley.

They joined us at Katie's closing preschool program, where she sang so well with her friends!

Alex and Katie at the Missouri Botanical Gardens

also at the gardens

Alex, Luke, and Great-Grandpa

Great-Grandpa trying his hand at the tile saw!

Visitors, Baby News, Home Improvement Projects!

May proved to be one of the crazier, busier months of our lives, as we simultaneously hosted lots of loved ones and remodeled parts of our home. Ambitious, I know!

Oh, and on top of this . . . I don't think I've mentioned on this blog yet that we're expecting our 4th baby! That's right . . . another little girl is due to arrive September 20th.
We had so much fun with Lance (Luke's brother), Teisa, their daughters, Emie and Bayla, and Luke's sister, Lara:

Lance, Luke, Emie, and Katie--near the Gateway Arch

Bayla, Emie, and Katie at the zoo (Emie and Katie were born only 2 weeks apart!)

Emie, Katie, Lara, and Teisa at the zoo

Emie, Katie, Lara, and Alex at the Mississippi River near the Arch (Don't do it, Alex! Don't jump in!!)

Luke and Carrie in the construction zone

cute, cute cousins  :)

Luke salvaging the Mother's Day feast!

Carrie, Alex, and Lara on the tram at Grant's Farm

Adults' dinner out at Favazza's on The Hill (yum!)

Alex and Emie at the park

silly princess cousins

Lance and Emie joined us at Abby's first-grade play, "Arf!", where she was an adorable dalmation.

Even Lara got roped into helping her brothers with the destruction. (We'll post "before" and "after" pictures when we finally get to the "after" stage! We're still plugging away . . . )

I can't believe how much we packed into just a few days. It was awesome to see everyone!!

Easter 2011

The Easter Bunny came through again.  :)  This year she sneaked Squinkies into many of the hidden eggs (shown here by Katie). Is anyone else caught up in the fad of these tiny, squishy characters?

We went to an egg hunt at a local park that was rained out and moved to the gym of the nearby recreation center. The kids loved it anyway! (And when they told us, "You're the last group, so find the rest of the eggs," . . . Abby sure took them at their word. She made quite a haul!)

Abby's Birthday

OK, so Abby's birthday was in mid-April, but I've got to start somewhere with catching up the blog! (It's been a rather crazy spring.)

Abby turned 7 years-old!!

She had fun celebrating with some friends from school and church. (It was a high-energy bunch, for sure!)

Here's Luke manning the pinata . . .

 . . . and Abby showing the cute "Pin the Tail on the Mouse Critter" game that she made by herself.

The best part of Abby's birthday was sharing it with GRANNIE! Their birthdays are a day apart, so we celebrated them together. Mom stayed for a few days and planted an abundance of gorgeous flowers for us:

(I don't know how I ended up with so many more pictures of the flowers than of Grannie. I think we were too busy having fun and digging in the dirt to think about the camera.) It was SO fun to have her visit us!!