Happy Birthday, Henry Shaw!

Jack, Maddie, and Jacob (and their moms) all went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens for the birthday celebration of the Garden's founder, Henry Shaw. They loved watching the magician, feeding the huge Japanese goldfish, running through the Children's Garden, and hanging out on the blanket for snack time. Here's a picture of the group:

Trip to Georgia

Jack and I traveled to Blairsville, Georgia with my parents to see my grandmother. We had a wonderful time and were sad to leave. Here are a few of the highlights:

Playing with Nana, Pop-pop, Grandma Reach, and Mom at the playground

Laughing at Pop-pop when he got stuck on the slide and had to come down backwards

Going back and forth from Grandma to Pop-pop in the tunnel

Hanging out on the porch

Singing songs with Nana

Running through the field

Playing ball outside

Swinging on the porch swing

Running through Grandma's gardens and enjoying the beautiful flowers

Hanging out with his Great-Grandma Reach for the first time!

Chauffeuring everyone around town

Sharing his favorite books with Grandma


Going to visit Cabbage Patch Land and getting to see a Cabbage Patch baby born in the cabbage patch!

Giving his new Cabbage Patch friend a bottle

Showing his new friend the cabinet where Grandma stored all the fun "toys" (e.g., Styrofoam plates, cups, bowls, etc)

Giving Elmo a great big hug when we got back to St. Louis!

Future Cardinal Pitcher?

Much to Corey's dismay, he's starting to show a preference for throwing right-handed.

He's got a pretty good arm though for a 15-month old - this throw almost landed right on my camera!

4th of July

We had a busy day for the 4th of July - we started out at the parade with Ella and her family. It was a bit much for the kids - they loved watching bits and pieces of it, but I think it was too much excitement and new things for them to really get into it. They also got really hot and the end of the parade was right around nap time.

So after the parade we packed up, and Jack took a nap in the car on our way to the carnival.

At the carnival, Jack got a soft pretzel, rode a train, stared in wonder at the rides, and decided that he didn't like snowcones (which was fine with me, because I got the rest of his!)

After a few hours of rest, we headed over to the Berndts for a bbq. Jack loved playing with Julia - she taught him how to "sword fight", which he quickly picked up. He'd take his "sword", walk purposefully out of the room, then all of a sudden turn around and storm back to her were he'd play fight with her, then just as sudden, turn back around and storm back out! He did this for about 20 minutes!

Yum

In an attempt to get Jack to eat something other than grapes or melon, I coated his fruit in whipped cream. He somehow managed to eat all the whipped cream, and none of the fruit. Oh, and most of the fruit ended up on Lola's head, where Jack threw it and Lola attempted to catch it. You can see a few splatters of whipped cream on top of her head!

Alien baby

Father's Day

For Father's Day, we had brunch with the Franklins, then took Jack to the Science Center. He loved watching the cars drive by under the bridge and sitting and reading truck books.

Jack and the ladies

Now that Corey is no longer "the man about town", Jack is doing his best to fill those shoes.

Baltimore fun

We traveled to Baltimore with the Reach family (Nana, Pop-pop, Uncle Jesse, and Uncle Jake) for the NCAA Lacrosse Championships (continuing a fine tradition of almost all Reach family vacations centering around lacrosse).

Jack had a great time -

exploring the hotel room (especially the telephone) . . .
Looking out the window to the Inner Harbor and watching the boats (Elmo liked watching the boats too, apparently, since Jack left him on the window most of the weekend) . . .

Playing video games at ESPN Zone . . .

Enjoying the great big bed . . .

Going to a Baltimore Orioles game . . .

Going to the Children's museum with mom and Nana . . .

Getting to sleep with mom and dad in the big bed . . .

Eating out all weekend . . .

Cheering on Johns Hopkins in the Championship . . .

And reading books with dad on the flight going home . . .