Sun, 30 Aug 2009
Weekend funA week and a half into the new school year. Our sandwiches already ran out and I had to make a stack of new ones yesterday. The kids seem happy with their new schedules and teachers. No one is failing anything yet 
ha ha! Thomas has carried his cello to school twice and thinks carrying it as a backpack works the best. Can you picture that?
Last weekend Bryan, Melody and I went on a float trip down the Merremac river. We've done this before as a family in our kayacs, but this was with church in rubber rafts. It was a beautiful day. Melody got to go even though she isn't quite twelve yet because I went as a driver. Here she is with her friend, Stacy, who is already twelve. Needless to say, Melody is eager for her birthday to get here. She is tired of being younger than everybody. In fact, yesterday she went to a birthday partyof a friend in her class who turned thirteen! So naturally, she is eager to be twelve.
Bryan wore a wetsuit on the trip. Since the weather has been cool, I kind of wished I had one. I solved the problem by staying dry until it got warm later in the day. 
The weather this weekend was beautiful again. Two weekends in a row is probably some kind of a record. Yesterday, we went to the park together so Thomas could fulfill a requirement for Webelos. He prepared tinfoil dinners for us (with help from me and Melody) and cooked them and cleaned up.
While we waited for dinner to cook, we played tennis. In spite of how good we look, we aren't very good. We need to play more often.
Then we ate our dinners. Yummy! Good job, Thomas!
Wed, 19 Aug 2009
First day of schoolI just realized that I took pictures of when the kids and I went letterboxing. We got to see an old school in town with beautiful architecture. The final clue was at the original schoolhouse. What a difference. Actually, Thomas took most of the pictures because he was intrigued by the architecture.
One day we went to a great store called Leftovers, Inc. where we bought some recyclables to make crafts. Melody and Thomas had fun making a city for their "squishies" (little plastic animals).
Since then we've been getting ready for school to start. We filled the freezer with sandwiches for lunches. Bryan likes salami and cheese and Melody likes cream cheese and ham on tortillas. Thomas still doesn't like food that much. Over the years he's eaten cheese and ketchup sandwiches, jelly sandwiches. This year we made some cream cheese and cheese on tortillas, and some egg on croissant for him. We'll see.
And made traditional pencil cookies.
We packed lunches the night before. Of course this organization will only last a little while.
Today Bryan and I got up early to go to 6 AM seminary. I got rained on when I went walking, not a very auspicious beginning. (Last year the weather made us only miss walking a handful of days during the whole year.) I dropped Bryan at school. Melody and Thomas were up early and seemed excited for their first day of school. We'll see how it went when they all get home this afternoon.
Hmm. Thomas doesn't look that excited, does he? Well, I think he doesn't really like having his picture taken, but I think he likes school.
Wed, 12 Aug 2009
TilesI said that Marc and Bryan put new tile in our entryway while we were in California. Here is a picture of their efforts. It looks very nice.
Since we've been back we haven't done too much. The kids registered for school. We bought tons of school supplies and a few other things so we could be ready for school to start.
We rented a cello so that Thomas can take cello lessons this year.
We went letterboxing and got bitten by mosquitos. We've played video games and watched movies and relaxed, getting ready to start our crazy life again.
Tonight is Thomas' "meet the teacher " night, but since his teacher this year will be the same teacher as he had in third grade we already know her. He is excited (thankfully) about having her again. I hope she feels the same.
Sun, 02 Aug 2009
The ZooIt has been so nice around here this week since wehave been home. Actually, most of the summer has been fairly mild. So we went to the zoo on Friday. We had fun riding the zoo train
and seeing the animals.
We really have a nice zoo here in St. Louis.
The kids have registration for school this week. Can you believe that school starts in two weeks? Summer is always way too short!
Vacation in California
Melody, Thoma, and I flew to California for a week. Marc didn't come because he had to work, and Bryan had chosen to attend summer school. He also had a test scheduled to challenge a class at school. So both of those things kept him from going with us, although he would have enjoyed seeing family also. Anyway, we flew to Sacramento, where we got to spend a night with Debbie and her family.
Pam took us to the train station the next morning and we took the train to Fresno.The train was a new experience for all of us. We liked it a lot. There was more room and we could eat, ply cards, and get up to move around when we wanted.
Since temperatures in Fresno were over 100, we worked hard to stay cool. We went to the Forestiere Underground Gardens,
We swam,
Then we went to Pismo and Avila beaches. We spent a beautiful day relaxing while the kids dug in the sand. For dinner we went out for seafood. Thomas made us order a sampler plate so he could try squid and clams. He is about to eat squid in the last picture. He just wanted to say he'd done it.
I went backpacking with Wayne while Melody and Thomas celebrated pioneer day and had fun with Grandma. He outfitted me and took me to the Mineral King Wilderness area in Sequoia/Kings Canyon. The drive was scary and long, but the trip was fantastic.
We fit so much into our week. We got to visit with Katie and Lara. We swam with them and ate strawberry shortcake.
We builded and bowled, created and crafted.
And finished with another train ride and visit with Marilyn, Debbie, and Pam, and their families. The kids enjoyed playing with cousins and we all enjoyed visiting and eating ice cream.
What a fun week! In spite of it all, we were happy to arrive home safely and see Marc and Bryan, who had tiled our entryway while we were gone. It was also nice to sleep in our own beds. It always is. Thanks to everyone we visited for a great time.
Jan Dill Hall St. Peters, Missouri
Page created: 09 November 2008
Page modified: 31 December 2009
