Yep, it's still way cooler where he is. (pun intended :P)

"Let's just go slap John"

This is a quote from a family friend upon hearing of the adventures of John one summer while he was in high school. You know everyday run of the mill stuff like scuba diving in the Keys or canoeing in Canada. Imagine the assault should he be regaled with tails of the last few months of Baby John's life in Alaska. Fishing, spending time on the boats of The Deadliest Catch, tracking wild bear, freezing his hiny off, and just basically living the life. Below are a few pictures he's shared with me. I figured you'd rather see his adventures- mine involve playing guess that smell in Wilson's dirty clothes hamper and trying to beat my personal best paper towel usage in scrubbing down Miller's place at the dinner table. Yeah, it's a real uncharted frontier around here. . .

Last Day to Vote

If you haven't already done so, please go HERE and vote for Blair E. Batson. This is to win a game room makeover from Xbox. Don't forget, you can vote 10 times! They've fallen behind and are currently fourth- only the top three get the makeover.

Let's Hear It For The Boys!

We got up dark and early and headed to Vicksburg for the Across the River Race this morning. Phil ran the 5 mile and Wilson ran the 1 mile (with dad dragging behind). I'm so very proud to say that Phil placed third for his age group and Wilson placed 1st for his. Yea, guys!!! It was an early start and the kiddos crashed on the way home.

Playing on the cannon ("canyon") while Dad was running

Phil coming back across the bridge

Wilson & Phil coming back across the bridge

Wilson getting his medal

Phil getting his

The boys with their medals with the bridge they ran across in the background

Miller

Boots

Miller finally has some boots that fit- and she's in love! I got her some rubber boots this spring anticipating that she would grow into them, but apparently I was a little ambitious. I have a basket of "yard shoes" by our back door and whenever she wants to go out to play she tries to put her boots on, but then walks right out of them! These new ones are great. They're a sort of vinyl fabric with felt inside. They Velcro all the way up and you can fold the sides down to get her little foot in- so much easier than the rubber ones (which are supper cute cows, complete with a tail hanging off the back- maybe next year!). Below is Wilson sporting the same outfit at about 17 months.

Frist Soccer Game

We finally got to have our first soccer game this Saturday- the first two were rained out as were a few practices. It was so much fun! I don't think I've ever seen Wilson play so hard at anything. He ran all over the field, stole the ball some, and even made the last goal of the game! In the words of Miller, "Yea, Weeson!" This is him with his buddy William from school that was also on our t-ball team this summer.

Trip to chicago

A few weeks ago we flew to Chicago to see the sights and visit Uncle Bruce, Aunt Sherry, Charlie, and Cole. We had so much fun & the kids did great. Below are collages of our trip (in reverse order- click on them to enlarge). Day one we landed and Sherry took us to our hotel. From there we walked to Navy Pier, rode some rides and had some ice cream. That night we had some deep dish and then walked through Millennium Park and enjoyed the fountains and sculptures The next day we went to the Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum. In the pics from this day you'll note that Miller made a new friend at the aquarium and insisted on kissing this poor child every 5 minutes or so. The highlights from the Field museum were all the dinosaurs and pirates (you can see the pirates scaling the walls of the main hall). We then went down to the Mag Mile to check out the Lego store. The third day we were there the kids hung out with their aunt, uncle, and cousins and Phil and I went to Oak Park where Frank Lloyd Wright lived. We did a couple of tours there and had a great grown up lunch at Hemmingway's Bistro- you know table cloths and menu's without chicken nuggets. Later that afternoon we did a quick sweep through the Art Institute. The last day we were there a sweet friend of Sherry's kept Miller while she and I went to the Merchandise Mart to look around and Phil and Wilson went to the Museum of Science and Industry. After that the three of us met back up and did one more quick run through the Art Institute. I marveled at the miniatures room and Wilson got to go see all his favorites from Baby Einstein. I'm very proud to say he was able to tell which paintings in the impressionist room were Monet and which were not. The next morning we headed home, much more cultured than when we left.

Chicago- Day 4- Science and Industry Museum

Chicago- Day 3- Day trip to Oak Park

Chicago- Day 2- Field Museum

Chicago- Day 2- Aquarium