Cardinal's Game

We were blessed to be able to go to another Cardinal's game Friday night versus the Washington Nationals in the Redbird Club (thanks Papa for sharing your tickets). It was a GREAT game and turned out to be a perfect night. There was a threat of rain and it did sprinkle on us as we drove to the stadium, but once we got out at the parking lot it stopped! It was Smoltz's first home debut and he did a great job, making it through 6 innings! Greene hit a homerun to tie it up at 2-2 and then Albert hit a walk-off homerun to win the game! We had a GREAT time and enjoyed an exciting game : )

Enjoying the Weather . . .

The first couple of days this week were unusual for August in Illinois. But we enjoyed them, turned off the A/C, opened the windows, and played outside!! Here are a few pictures of the kids enjoying our backyard and swingset!


Also, a few videos of Kinsey "singing" for you! She loves to sing, of course she doesn't quite get all the words yet, but she does love being the center of attention and putting on a show : ) Wonder where she got that from?! For your listening pleasure: Apples and Bananas, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and This Little Light of Mine (aka Shine, Shine, Shine).

Balloon Fest 2009

My parents, my sister and her family came to visit us to spend Friday and Saturday celebrating my mom's birthday and to enjoy the Balloon Fest. Unfortunately, the windy weather kept the hot air balloons from blowing up, taking off or doing the glow. So it was pretty much a bust . . . though we still had a fun weekend. However, I was not satisfied to have the Balloon Fest just down the road from us and not get to see any hot air balloons (well, more than just the one that they tried to blow up on Friday night). So we went back on Sunday evening to watch them set up the balloons and do their final Balloon Race. It was so beautiful . . . I am so glad we decided to go back!

My Front Porch Band

Jackson, Kinsey and their friend Kiley had fun rocking out on our front porch "stage" yesterday morning. Enjoy this video!

(PS. Grammy and Papa, our neighbors say "thanks" for Jackson's new "flute"! Just kidding!)

Our Day at the Zoo . . .

Here is a quick overview in pictures of our day at the St. Louis Zoo yesterday. I tried to especially highlight the things each of the kids liked best . . . Jackson really loved playing in the Children's Zoo in the water (probably his favorite part of the day, especially since he watched Kung Fu Panda on the way and was trying out his moves). He also really liked watching the sea lion show and seeing the penguins, giraffes, and riding the train. Kinsey really loved riding the train (definitely her favorite part). She also really liked watching the sea lion show and seeing the penguins, fish, giraffes and elephants. We had a great day with friends!

Scovill Zoo with Jen & Evan

We got to meet Jen (my roommate from LCC) and her little boy Evan (almost 2) while they were still here from FL. We met up at Scovill Zoo in Decatur. Jackson loved petting and feeding all the little baby goats in the petting zoo area. Kinsey, on the other hand, wouldn't even let me set her down to walk through the petting area. Though she did like peeking at the alligators. Jackson and Evan both had fun peeking through the picture face holes and just walking around the zoo following each other. It was great to visit and catch up with them!

Diving In . . .

Here is a little video of Jackson diving in this morning . . . I love that he has gotten so brave in the water. Now to teach him to be brave without all the floaties : ) Guess that will be a lesson for next summer!

MOPS Pool Playdate

We had our MOPS Pool Playdate at the Country Club here in town this morning. The weather was a little cool and cloudy, but at least the rain held off. So that kept a lot of moms from coming, but Jackson could have cared less about the weather . . . he had a GREAT time!!! He was jumping off the diving board and swimming everywhere. Thanks to the Banning boys for playing with him endlessly! On the other hand, you will see no pictures of Kinsey actually swimming because she was hardly in the pool. She did enjoy playing peek-a-boo through the fence and running in and out of the wading pool area.

Our Little Star!

Nathan-o-saurus Birthday

We had fun celebrating Jackson's best buddy Nathan's 4th birthday. It was an all dinosaur party complete with Pin the Tooth on the Dino, Dinosaur Memory and Hide the Dinosaur games. They had a great time . . . here are a few pictures from the fun evening!