In the Making

I can feel it coming. I no longer wake up with the blaring sun. We need to bring sweatshirts and wear socks in the morning. The just finished summertime sleep sack may have to wait.

The grass is verrrr-ry crusty.

The Zoo is verrr-y wonderful.
Yesterday we saw Tigers, Meerkats, Polar Bears, Sun Bears, Elephants, Warty Pigs, and Zebras.


More baking going on.
No canning this year.


Ever had Chocolate Zucchini Bread? If you put about 1/2 cup too much zucchini in, it feels just like bread pudding in your mouth, but without the bourbon sauce. Don't eat it all in one sitting!

Midwest Tour, Part 4

The end of our Midwest trip (a week ago already) took place in St Louis, which is where the camera died. So-o, we have exactly two (2) photos of kiddo and Grandpa at the pool.

In STL Paul's parents gave us a tour of their fitness center, Lifetime Fitness, which is amazingly huge and beautiful. There is granite everywhere, the snack bar has actual real foods, and they have at least 3 pools and 900 treadmills. We got to try out one of those pools, and it was fun. Paul & I went down the big slides; raced a couple times. He won. More mass.


I wish we had more photos of St Louis because Adelaide had turned that house into her own playground pretty quickly and it was pretty funny. Hopefully G&G have a few to share?


Jump over our crazy flight home, doing laundry, getting back onto a sleep schedule, and waiting for the car seat to be found & returned. Yesterday I met my birth class friends at the park and we played and had snacks. Orion & Gabe are also 14 months old, and you can tell.


For example, they know where their belly buttons are.



And sometimes they're not afraid to cuddle somebody else's mom.

And they know how to crawl through the tunnel. Or just sit.
Next week, play date at the zoo!

Midwest Tour, Part 3

There was a part 2, right? Oh right! Columbia... Adelaide's first Indian food experience, going shopping, going to the Farmers Market for "Bloooooo" berries.

Next was Iowa!
We held long jump contests.

Start Line, originally uploaded by apkoski.

We played at the park.

We had a reunion.

Ate a bunch of food.... sat around.

Met Katie Kackler, one of the cutest and simultaneously annoying toys of almost ever.

It was a good stop. How do I never manage to photograph the host & hostess? They are too quick.

More On Midwest

After two 2+ hour flights, one lost car seat, a 9:00 sushi order, and sharing a pillow with 2 cats, we are home. So.... 3 Days in Columbia (MO), 3 in Washington (IA), and 2 in St. Louis. We took fewer and fewer pictures as the week went on. By St. Louis the camera battery had died.

In Columbia, it was all about the babe. We read baby books.

We watched the baby.

We played with the baby.

I discovered (well, Adelaide did) this great little block wagon and decide to try out my depth of field skills. Needs work, but not too shabby.


We spent one afternoon at the mall (because it doesn't take much to entertain a toddler), and tried the carousel. She was most excited when it wasn't moving. :0

Midwest Tour, Part 1

Today we find ourselves in the not-too-hot (and "between spectacular and comfortable dew point") Mid-America. And it's no myth, there's lots of corn out here.


We spent the first 3 days of the week in lovely Columbia, however we did not watch the 4 am news there, so I'm not sure how the weather stacked up. It was nice enough to go for a morning run and not have sweat drip off your elbows. It was also nice enough to run amongst the trees and grass, and not be chased by a dozen deer flies.


It was also nice enough to go to the Farmers Market and get some vegetables. See, Dad & Sandi actually plan their grocery shopping to not get the peppers and asparagus from Mexico because they are available at the FM. And another cool thing is that they can get there and home again in under an hour. Twice. ;)
And another good thing is that they give out free noodle samples. She's in heaven.
Look at those midwestern wimps. Umbrellas.

And more corn. Truckloads.

I didn't know till recently that there was no apostrophe in Farmers Market, so sorry for all those prior references to the FM that included apostrophes.

Ok, more on Columbia later. For God's sake, people, hang on to your hats.

On Ducks

"Dahh!" is everything these days, and once in a while she's right. (um, in this case, Dah = Duck. Just barely.)
Anyway.
Ducks, she loves them.


And if you throw a few rocks in the water...

they come a scurrying.
Because they're used to getting food thrown.
Aren't they so cute?
Just a few more.
Blue Lakes resort ducks really know how to entertain a kid.
And they're so patient for food. Sorry babies.