Foray Into Boston

This weekend, we went to see Kendra in Boston and check out the New England Aquarium. It was great to see K again and meet her dog Ripley and cats, Eli and Lottie. As you might imagine the cats stayed mostly hidden and Ripley stole the show. After riding the train into downtown, Nora decided that living with Kendra and Ripley might be preferable to staying with her boring parents who just open boxes all day and won't get her a dog.

We had a wonderful time exploring Jamaica Plain (Kendra's neighborhood), riding the train, learning about the Big Dig, tramping around Faneiul Hall, and most of all the aquarium. Nora's favorite part was the sharks and my favorite part was the hands-on tidal pool area where we could touch the starfish and sea urchins.




Thanks Kendra!

Travels

I've been traveling so much this spring (and it doesn't seem to let up this summer) that the blog has really suffered. Maybe when we get settled in MA, it will become a priority again. Well, I'm pretty sure it will, since some of you actually seem to care what we do with ourselves. Anyway, we have been on the road this past week, visiting family and friends in AR. Unfortunately, while we took many photos of family, we somehow managed to forget to pull out the camera while catching up with old friends, something I regret. I am also regretting the number of times we've past through this state over the past few years and did not make an attempt to visit so many of you who are here year round. One of the many things I love about Facebook is that it's given me the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and better keep up with those that we've remained in touch with over the years. And it made it possible to actually see IRL several of you during this trip. Despite poor planning we managed to catch up with Bob & Sarah, Cindy and Eric, Jennifer & Ilya, and Trent & Sarah Beth and their respective families as well as Elise and Neil. Jason, Nora and I had a wonderful time seeing you all again! Here's a few pics from the first half of our journey:






On the way home, we're hoping to squeeze in a quick visit to the Ozark Folk Center - another crying shame that we haven't made it there in all these years of going back and forth.

City Walks: City Garden

City Garden opened up this summer to a great deal of praise. Despite it being a few short blocks from my office, today was the first day I actually wandered down there. It measured up to the hype. Some of the things I loved about it:

White Bunnies

The prairie running through the middle of the two block park - this grass is about waist high.


These river fountains (and the squirty fountains in the other half) are for playing in



The plantings give walkers the feeling like they might start taking over concrete (from down the block it sort of looks like the beds are in the middle of the street).

And best of all it's smack in the middle of downtown. Great location for tourists, locals, and office workers. The new parking garage Schnucks is just down the street, so it's easy to pick up your lunch and picnic here.

These photos don't show the massive number of statues that are in the park, many of which seem very climber friendly, and the many places to sit that aren't art. One of the other things that make it great is that while there is a security presence, they don't seem to be there to make sure you don't touch the art or stay out of the water. All ages are lounging, playing and soaking up the sun. It's nice to know our city gets it right sometimes.

Where Am I?

This month has been so absolutely crazy, as evidenced by my lack of posts all month. I was in East Prairie just after the 4th for a couple of days, then I had a Saturday training, then I went to DC for a conference/mandatory meeting and now we're all in Arkansas. DC was wonderful, when I wasn't in the hotel (which was terrifically located at 13 and Penn. Ave). In spare moments I checked out the Library of Congress, the National History Museum, the American History Museum and the Smithsonian Castle as well as Union Station, Capitol Hill, an evening cruise to Alexandria, VA, and oh yeah, a bunch of really boring meetings. I got back Friday night and then Saturday we were on the road again, my parents in tandem, visiting Jason's parents and his grandmother (mom and dad missed out on our side trip to Magnolia), and now we are at Queen Willhemina State Park literally in the clouds. This is Arkansas' second highest peak and it's been raining for days so we have zero visibility, but it's sort of cool to be all out in what seems like fog, but is actually the cloud cover. Mom and Dad are finding it rather trying up here, but right now, I'm sort of just relived to be here, since we had a pretty wet and long drive from Magnolia this afternoon (we drove down there this morning and then turned around and drove up here this afternoon) and this on top of three days with the in-laws. I might find it a bit boring by tomorrow though if it never clears off. While there is no cell phone coverage up here and the lightening earlier today cut out the land phones, it's sort of amazing that we have wireless up here, but we do. Unfortunately, we couldn't find the camera cable when we packed though, so I won't have any pictures until we get back in a couple of days. Hope we don't fall off the mountain!

In other news, Nora out-fished both of her grandfathers by hauling in 4 bream and they came up with zilch. They should use the Barbie fishing rod (yes, Nora has a Barbie fishing rod), I've learned just how reliant and simultaneously incapable of using cell phones my parents are (If you called either of them today, they can't call you back, but they sure are spending a lot of time talking about how they want to), and Jason is watching the MLS all-star team play Everton. This is the happiest he's been all trip. Nora's done a good job managing all of her relatives and putting up with a lot of car seat time. I broke down and added to her my pretty pony collection and while I think keeping up with the miniature hairbrush will be tiresome, it was sort of worth the time she spent extolling it's greatness instead of screaming her head off while driving through some heavy rainstorms.

It's been a rough week

We lost Karl, Jason was disappointed in a promising job prospect and Nora said her goodbyes to the Sunshine Room and has graduated to the Red Room. But we also had some goodtimes too. We celebrated Nora's 3 1/2 mark and the coming of summer at the Zoo, we sweated and rode pink elephants at the Marine Homecoming with Aunt Linda, Leah and Mete, Friday night, and Nora had her first horseback ride thanks to Aunt Lynn and Ellen yesterday. Oh and I burned my scalp in the sun at the pool Saturday, but luckily that was all. I don't have pics of Nora up on Shadow, (I'm hoping Ellen will e-mail them to me from her camera), but I do have some shots of Jason and Nora on the Pink Elephants. Webster Community Days begin this week, so maybe they will be riding more amusements together, but honestly, I wouldn't count on it. Jason is a big chicken when it comes to rides.


Okay, these are left from the Merry Wives of Windsor, but I love this picture of Natascha.
Jason is always telling Nora "Get Down, Get Funky". See, she sometimes listens.
One of the hottest days of the year at the zoo.



Last day at the sunshine room - Nora gets a cake that everyone (even she) can eat. Unfortunately it isn't as tasty as the ones we make at home. Damn that no baked goods from home rule.

Nora eagerly awaits the Triad Marching Band. Well, not really, they don't have candy. But everyone else does and Nora gets lots of it. We all have blue tongues by the end of the night.

Amazingly, my timid daughter has insisted on riding the pink elephants. She stood for a full 15 minutes transfixed by their big blue eyes and gaping mouths, while we waited for Jason and Aunt Linda to join us after taking the chairs back to the car. Fortunately, Jason is ready to be a Daddy-O and is willing to board the monster with her.

Oh, I forgot to tell him, the Elephants go airborn too. Did I mention that Jason hates rides?

Weekend Update

This past weekend, Matt came to visit. He and Nora hit it off. And Karl picked up his Matt-worship right where he left off when Matt moved back to DC several years ago. This caused some jealousy on Nora AND Karl's part when Matt gave some attention to the other (as far as I can tell, Matt was not jealous of Nora's adoration of Karl, but maybe I was wrong). You can see, sitting next to Matt is a much valued position.
Often Nora would attempt to get up between Karl and Matt, but climbing on top of Matt was even better:

Matt's visit got us out of the house, much to Nora's delight. We went to the Farmers Market where I bought a cute purse from the St. Louis Craft Mafia booth.
I admit that I initially thought Nora needed this purse, but then I decided to appropriate it. It's a little too big for her, but just right for my wallet, keys, and sunglasses. I wish it had a little pocket inside though. There's an apple on the back as well. I feel very "first day of school" when carrying it. We also picked up one of Companion Bread's Mystery Boxes. These are a big box of pastry goods for $15. It was delicious, but really we needed more people than the three of us to get it eaten. Inside we had a chocolate croissant, several plain croissants, several danishes, muffins and scones. About 8-10 items all together. Very, very yummy.

After the Farmers Market we headed to O'Connell's, a favorite haunt of Matt's (and ours). We feasted on roast beef, burgers and fried yummy things and a pitcher of beer - O'Fallon Weach (possibly one of the best deals at O'Connell's).
Nora was very good throughout the long wait, and we kept the tiger nearby to remind her that next we were going to the ZOO!!!!!

Unbelievably, Matt never visited the zoo throughout his time here and as everyone knows it's one of our favorite places to go. It was a really hot day, which should not have been surprising for August, but we had been really spoiled with mild weather all month long. After hitting the the Rivers Edge (sorry we forgot photos) and seeing the Rhino and the Cheetas up close (all four of them where right up front) and glimpses of the Jade the baby elephant, we headed off to see if our luck would hold and if the baby tigers were out. Disappointingly, they were not, although Jason and Nora and I had gotten a great view of them on our earlier visit. We did check out sea lions, the bird house, the big cat country and then meandered back through the snake house, which I haven't seen in a while. The American alligator was giving us a wicked grin when we decided we really had had enough of the heat and that we needed to head home.

That night, Jason and Matt brought us carryout from Cherrokee Street, and it too was terriffic. Nora and I went to bed and the boys stayed up to late talking, which no doubt they regretted when they got up at the crack of dawn and took Nora to see Tottenham vs Chelsea at the Tigin. I stayed at home and read a book.

Before Matt took off back home we tried to visit some of his old haunts, but it's hard to find things open in STL on a Sunday morning. We had lunch at the Schafly Brewhouse and then took Matt to the airport. Since he left, Nora's been asking about him everyday, so we'd better not wait so long to see him again - it's hard to believe it's been nearly 6 years!

On Monday we hit the Japanese Festival and ate noodles. It was wonderful, but I'm really happy we went early, since by noon it was sweltering and very, very crowded. We forgot the camera, so no pictures of the festival but here's Nora's lunch from Tuesday: Mac and Peas, oranges, cookies and juice.


Unfortunately, Nora is reaching the stage where mixed up things are no longer acceptable. While she loves Mac and soy cheese and loves peas, they now need to be in separate dishes. I'm sad, they looked so nice together.

Lunchboxes and Tomatoes

Here's Tuesday's lunchbox. I had made something I've been wanting to try for awhile - a sort of Nora safe corn dog. They are actually mini corn bread muffins from Isa's cornbread recipe, with a hot dog slice in the middle. I have no idea if Nora actually likes these are not, since they don't send home the uneaten lunch. But given she likes corn bread a lot and hot dogs a lot, this is probably a safe bet. Also in the lunch are a broccoli and carrot melody, a 1/2 of a plum cut into pieces and two number cookies (2 & 5). Here it is packed with the ice pack, juice box and notes.
On another front, the tomatoes are coming along finally. They are suffering from some sort of leaf wilt which makes the plants look awful, but there are plenty of fruit on the branches, despite a theft last week of a clump of them. Psycho Squirrel is the prime suspect - we believe he knew that Karl was off premises. Here's Nora dutifully watering:

Tomato Update

Here's the latest on my tomato plants. One of them is not looking so good, but still has fruit on it. Below are the two better looking ones with their tomatoes prominently featured.
The tomatoes should be ready by next month, provided I can keep them alive until then!

Nora and the Doggies

I'm feeling a little guilty because I've just now turned on the most favorite video ever of my dear daughter. The one she calls "Doggies!". It is actually 101 Dalmatians, the animated version. And it is fabulous. And Nora loves it and will be transfixed by it from the opening credits to the end credits. This was not really a movie of my childhood (my childhood favorite was Robin Hood, so we both prefer animals to princesses), but as an adult, I have to admit that I also love it. I still get teared up when Perdi and Pongo lead the 99 puppies across the wintry English countryside, and we've watched it dozens of times now.

Earlier tonight I made a giant meal of two curries (one cauliflower/green bean & peas and the other chick pea and tomato), tofu tikki masala, samosas, and rice. We also had a smoothie that my Aunt Carol gave me the idea for by suggesting that watermelon and lime juice go great together. It does, but I added too much lime juice, so I ended up adding some shredded coconut and pineapple and it really was delicious. Nora really liked it and I used up all of the extra watermelon that really needed to be eaten. Watermelon is one of those things that I always buy with the greatest intentions of eating, but then half of it sort of languishes in the fridge.

We don't really have big plans for this weekend, but we might check out the Let Them Eat Art Festival in Maplewood, since the STL Craft Mafia will be there. Next weekend Nora and I are off with Laura to visit Southern Illinois and get peaches, which I am assured are in and it is supposed to be one of the best seasons in a long while. Then we'll see what we make with those. So send me your peach ideas (you can vote in the poll or leave me your idea in the comments).

Return to Posting

It's been forever since I've posted (as no doubt you've noticed) and since someone recently brought that to my attention, I thought I'd better do a roundup of what we've been up to.

Possibly the biggest news is that Jason has finished the big D and will be defending it on August 21 at 10:00 am. I'm so proud of him for finishing! And you all put that day down on your calendar to send him good vibes at the 10:00 hour. Fortunately, he doesn't have to sit in a Colosseum and wait for anyone and everyone in the university to come challenge him, but it's still a big deal.

Memorial Day weekend we traveled to Arkansas to see Jason's family and make sanity pit- stops at Bob and Sarah's on the way in and out. Hendrix is a monster that is slowly taking over all of Conway (which is rushing out at the seams anyway). The amazing news is that you get get a beer in Conway now. Yeah, I know we always could, but in a restaurant as opposed to a dorm or open field/warehouse. Like Fayetteville and Jonesburo, Conway has now authorized "private clubs" to sell liquor. So for a $5.00 membership fee, there you go. We had a nice time in Hot Springs, soaking up all the heat and sunshine that St. Louis had been missing and made a quick trip to Magnolia to see Jason's grandmother. All in all we logged over 24 hours in car time, and discovered both that Nora gets car sick and that Dramamine is our friend. Bob, Sarah and Zelda were all in fine fettle and we enjoyed the fabulous Mexican food of La Hacienda (of Conway not Hot Springs) which could only be improved with them getting a private club license, but probably not likely since they are not downtown. We even managed to squeak in not one but TWO trips to Dixie Cafe (one of the few places where Jason doesn't need 5 refills of his coke before the meal comes).

Once we made it back home, we were greeted by the return of the rainy season, that seems to be lasting all spring and into summer. We were rained out of a picnic with Todd and Natascha at the Shakespeare festival's Richard the III, although we bravely tried to sit out a full hour in light showers, before we realized that it really wasn't going to stop. Jason, Nora and I made a mad dash to Kansas City for me to do a work related training, but we also got to sample some excellent Mexican Food and Nora got to swim in the hotel pool. Nora and Jason checked out the KC zoo while I did my training.

Despite all of the rain, Nora and Jason have been active. Checking out the zoo, parks, and science center weekly in addition to their Gym and Swim class at the Y. Nora did her first somersault and has been enjoying the water, especially since holding on to Jason means she doesn't have to interact with all those other children.

That brings us up to date, and since we head to Chicago this weekend to visit Miriam, Andreas, Anouk and Christophe, you'll have to wait for photos for when we get back.