POOL & DIEGO

This morning we spent a couple hours at the pool and upon our return home, Great Granny delivered the girls 4 tickets to see "Go Diego Go LIVE" at the Fox Theatre. Upon entering the Fox Club door, each of the girls received a baby jaguar mask. Peyton quickly struck a pose:

Little Taylor could not quite get her eyes through the eye holes. . .but it appears that her nose stuck through:

I have this EXACT pose (from the same exact seat) of Myrth from when I took her to see Beauty & the Beast 8 years ago:

Needless to say, one of Peyton's favorite numbers was the Dora introduction:

Daddy & Peyton admired the beauty of the Fabulous Fox from our seats:

This was BY FAR Taylor's favorite number. I can say this because she was seated on my lap and she babbled along (trying her best to sing) and bounced her feet to the beat.

KIA'S BIRDIE UPDATE & THANKS AUNTIE BUBBIE

Kia's birdies are out of their nest and ready to join the ranks of big birds. . .except for this frightened one:

. . .so tiny:


Today during nap time the doorbell rang and I wrongly assumed it was our neighbor Abby wanting to know if she could play with Sandy. To my surprise, it was the UPS guy delivering an early b-day present to Miss Peyton. As soon as Peyton woke up, she saw the package and opened it. Within seconds she was proudly wearing her new nightgown and headband:

Here is her salute/acknowledgement to Auntie Bubbie:

TURTLE

While the girls were napping this afternoon I heard Sandy loud and clear....barking a deep, ferocious bark as if a burglar was hopping our fence. She came and sat on the deck as I opened the door, yet kept barking- deeper and louder with each yelp. FINALLY I see a TURTLE in the center of our yard. A quiet, slow, harmless turtle, causing this "disturbance of the peace". . .

Daddy had lots of fun with his girls tonight. Taylor is becoming quite a HAM with the camera:

Peyton flew like a bird while Taylor jumped on Daddy's tummy:

When the girls pose for pictures I always (as Auntie Nana taught us) say "okay, say cheeseburger". Tonight I heard an echo from Taylor which prompted this quick clip:

BIRDWATCHER KIA

Lately Kia has spent lots of his free time spying on our new "tenants". A few weeks ago a Mamma Bird built a nest on top of the wreath on our front porch. The eggs hatched a week later and now the babies are growing rapidly.

Somehow despite all the thunderstorms we managed to squeeze in some outdoor fun at a family BBQ at Uncle Jeff & Aunt Karen's. Peyton enjoyed some splashing around with Danielle but they took timeout to pose for this pic:

Taylor enjoyed everything!

ICE CREAM SOCIAL AT SCHOOL

Today was the Ice Cream Social to celebrate the end of the school year and Peyton & Taylor enjoyed every moment with the kids. Special guests included Daddy, Grandma Wu, Potsou, Brendan, Gung Gung & Colleen.





Taylor managed to climb to the top of the slide with her ice cream sandwich in-hand:

Prior to Father Bob's special summer blessing, the students sand a few songs:



Taylor was ready to tee off once we returned home from lunch:

Cardinals vs. Rays

Today was Stan Musial Day and cousin Kaitlyn (along with her 5th grade choir) sang the National Anthem. Her choir wore the white t-shirts and stood in deep right/center field:

We sat in the group sales seating in left field and Peyton enjoyed the view from the top....including the Arch.

As usual, Taylor enjoyed some time with Uncle Craig. . .

. . .and Grandma Wu. . .

. . .and Auntie Karen & Uncle Jeff. . .

Peyton sat among her cousins and helped cheer for the Redbirds:

Mommy was able to corral both girls for a quick pic:

As we exited, Daddy and the girls posed by our family brick in Musial Plaza:

Creve Coeur Days

Today was the second year Peyton & Taylor attended Creve Coeur Days, an excellent fundraiser and lots of fun. Peyton had me accompany her on the "Dizzy Dragon" ride. Two little kids entered our dragon and I asked them "Did you just eat lunch or can we spin really fast? I don't want you to throw up. . ." Although they said "no" and wanted to spin Peyton proceeded to tell them "I threw up once. Mommy gave me grapes and string cheese because I said my tummy hurt. Then that night I threw up IN MY BED!" She went on and on describing the one bad experience in her lifetime to these two kids who just wanted to ride the dizzy dragon ride :-) PEW is definitely an "I" on the DISC leadership assessment- - - STORYTELLER!

Daddy rode the ferris wheel with Peyton as Taylor and I rode together two buckets away. . .


. . .a perfect angle for photography:

The flying dragon ride was a thrill for Peyton but Taylor preferred watching and eating a sno-cone.

Taylor got her second wind around 7p.m. . . .

JEWELRY PARTY

These pics are courtesy of Great Granny who remembered to bring her camera :-)

Here I am pouring a beverage for Moshini:

The future "girls night out" group . . .

Moshi and her "matchmaker". . .

rainy day at Cardinal game

After accepting an invitation to the Cardinal game, Peyton immediately wanted to get her Cardinal gear on so this is what appeared in our Family Room....all by herself, she managed to find a SIZE 18 MONTHS (a.k.a. Taylor's size) Cardinals jogging suit, put it on (the pants were on backwards) and pose!

Once Mommy put Peyton in some size 4T clothes, we headed to the ballpark. Prior to entering, Peyton found our brick (one of two....this one includes Taylor's name since it was purchased after she entered the world).

Look at the two "FROGS" that sat next to me:

For "good behavior" Auntie Al was very generous and bought Peyton a Fredbird :-)

Before we went back out into the rain, Peyton insisted on standing next to this guy:

Gateway Arch & Gus' Pretzels

Based upon the forecast I heard last night, I called Miss Jhansi and mentioned possibly taking the girls to the Zoo today. Little did we know we'd experience major storms, complete with plenty of rain, lightning, thunder and hail from 5a.m. until a bit after 8a.m. Needless to say we were not daring enough to risk further rain showers by spending a few hours at the Zoo....but we were willing to drive East and go up in the Arch :-) It was a "first" for everyone but me and I was honored to accompany the 4 "rookies" to the top!

The girls had no clue what was in store for them as we drove downtown. . .

. . .here is what greeting us at the Riverfront - - - VERY high waters. Normally there is "Riverfront parking" along the rivers edge, but today the river waters met the roadside curb:

I had Tubbles and her Mommy pose under the Arch:

Miss Jhansi was ready to board the North Tram, Capsule #1. . .

Tubbles enjoyed the tram ride:

. . .so did my girls:

Peyton kept looking out the windows trying to figure out where we were heading. This was a far cry from a Disney World ride!

Once we reached the TOP, we enjoyed the views while Miss Jhansi was enthralled with how much this massive structure was swaying. At 630 feet, it freaked her out a bit :-)

Here is the new Busch Stadium and the Old Cathedral:

The Old Courthouse:

. . .and some video footage of the tram ride back down:

Peyton & Tubbles enjoyed the sculpted tribute to the "Builders of the Arch". . .


To celebrate our survival in the "swaying Arch" we went to Gus' Pretzels:

Taylor devoured her giant pretzel stick!

Taylor update

I apologize but I completely forgot to bring a camera yesterday to capture the many fun moments of our Mother's Day celebration. After Mass and a brief gift presentation at Gung Gung & Papa's house. . .Potsou and I took custody of the Schnowz and took her to lunch and did some child-free shopping. I must say the greatest feeling on earth is hearing a crying fussy kid and knowing that yours are safe at home with their Daddy :- ) My sincere thanks go out to Uncle Charlie and Daddy Kia for their paternal skills which enabled us to go out on the prowl for a few hours.

Now for the Taylor update. This morning while Peyton was at school Taylor went to the doctor for her 18 month check-up. She is 33 inches tall (80th%ile) & tipped the scales at 23 pounds 6.5 ounces (40th %ile). Basically she is a lean mean muscle machine :-) Her two shots....she took them in stride with minimal tears.

Fredbird / Thumbelina / Mother's Day Eve

This morning we attended the Annual Fredbird / Thumbelina event at "Coldwell Banker Gundaker Real Estate & Mortgage". . .

Fredbird hopped in to Thumbelina's play yard. . .

Taylor was very intrigued by Thumbelina (the world's smallest horse) and kept trying to call her over. . .

Mr. Goessling urged Thumbelina to go see Taylor:

Taylor enjoyed eating AND sharing her bag of Cracker Jack:

Jack was adorable as usual:

After nap time, we celebrated Mother's Day Eve and the girls thoroughly enjoyed playing with their cousins. Peyton was enthralled with Uncle Jeff's version of a "goodbye hug"-

She tried to do what Uncle Jeff did but could not quite lift Luke up, let alone upside down!

Taylor's favorite place after dinner seemed to be on Kaitlyn's lap.

Peyton's oldest cousins felt pretty cool that I was allowing them to help with her bath tonight. Just for kicks they dyed the bathwater PURPLE!