New Baby!

Lewis!
Pictures

First Day of Kindergarten

Mason had his first day of Kindergarten back on August 17th. He's been having fun and making many new friends. He even seems to learn something now and then. Here are some pictures from his first day.

Mason walks or rides his bike to school each morning. On the first few days, Alice tagged along.



Mason's buddy Leo goes to first grade, so they walk or ride together most days.



Looking for Mason's line...



Waiting for the bell to ring. Mason did not seem to have any anxiety.



Jeni's last day with two kids in the house -- for another 8 weeks or so.



Nobody to talk to in line on the first day. Two weeks later, he has lots of friends to talk to.



I have to say that there was a lot of pollen in the air that morning. Or maybe the traffic kicked up some dust. For whatever reason, my eyes were just a bit watery....

Stitches

Mason had a run-in with our neighbor's usually sweet dog.

Afterwards he was at the emergency room until 11:40pm waiting to get stitches. He thought it was pretty cool to still be up past midnight.

Today he is doing great and says that sometimes he forgets that he as an "ouchie."

Here is he this morning.

St. Louis trip

We just got back from St. Louis where we saw some sights (sites? it seems that either makes sense) and visited with our friends, the Murrays.

Mason points the way to the Gateway Arch.



The nice lady didn't get very close to take this picture.



We didn't go up in the tram. Probably a good thing. Mason didn't handle sitting in the demonstration one very well.





Aaaahhhh, look out above you!



It was over 95 degrees that day, and the kids were a little cross with us by the time we stopped for lunch.



They quickly relaxed in the AC.



We stayed at a nice hotel that was run by idiots (long story). We just have a few picture enjoying the hotel AC.





On Sunday morning, we went to the highly recommended St. Louis Zoo. I think the heat was affecting our enjoyment.





(This is Bridget, by the way.)



We went on a train ride which helped cool us off, though we didn't see many animals. The tunnels were neat.





The best part was the penguin area because it was very cool inside and you can get very close to the penguins.



I may get another job as a wildlife videographer.

June and July

Alice is sure cute in her new towel isn't she?



We went to the zoo to see the WildKratts with our family. Mason was in awe.







Summer fun tires Alice out and she has been falling asleep on the couch. She is difficult to wake up when this happens as Mason shows.



When awake she is cute/devious looking.



Gillian came to visit and Mason and Alice took her to see the Park District farm.







Fun times!

May

May has been busy. We visited Allerton Park for Mother's Day.



Mason turned 5 and graduated preschool in the same week!





We visited the Shedd Aquarium, too.



Jeni and the kids went to Lake of the Woods one day.



Mason's Aunt Amy got him a trailer bike and we towed Alice around the neighborhood yesterday. Fun? Yes! Safe? Uh...

Reaction to the big announcement

Big announcement

Ahem...is this thing on?



Expected arrival: October 31, 2011