Allen is 6 !

My big kindergarten boy has turned 6 years old!

Wow, it's so very hard to believe. But he is getting really big, and the Big 6 is a big deal around here!

The day started out with him hunting around for his presents at 6:45 a.m. "This is not Christmas," Mommy said. "You have to wait until later to open your presents!"

So, off to school he went, where a really awesome birthday hat was waiting. He put it on and headed down to the school office where -- this is new! -- the birthday kids get to read the video announcements! Here is, reading the weather. AMAZING reading, buddy! (Sorry the sound's not great.)

A little while later, I came back to school with ice cream cups to share with all his friends. These days, your individually wrapped, peanut-free birthday treats may be consumed only in the lunch room... Sheesh. So I stayed for lunch! And that was fun!


(It eased my mind in so many ways to see Allen behaving like a real "schooler" -- asking for help from teachers when he needed it, talking and goofing around with his friends. Whew! That's a load off!)

After lunch, we went back to class, and I read "The Big Orange Splot" -- which was my favorite book when I was 5 and 6! The kiddos always get a huge kick out of picturing us big people as kids like them. Thanks, Mrs. Kelley's class, for being such good friends and listeners!


When school was over, Grandma got on Skype and the present-opening could begin in earnest. Allen got some amazing things: A T-shirt with the Swedish flag; a root beer making kit; a secret formula science kit; an inflatable remote control shark blimp, and more!


Then it was off to Burger King and Orange Leaf frozen yogurt, both as requested by the birthday boy. A great day for our big 6-year-old! We love you, Joe Schmoe!

Howlin' good time at the wolf sanctuary

When Daddy goes on a long bike ride, the rest of us need something to do... Luckily, it was Wolf Days at the Endangered Wolf Center.

I've heard of this place, but it's normally not open to the public. It does, however have an open house/fundraiser once a year, and this time, thanks to Facebook, we learned about it in time!

Fun activities included leather working and Indian dances! Emilyn and Allen made some really cool bookmarks.

Good pictures are hard to come by... Wolves are gray and fuzzy, you know, and so are any pictures you try to take! Plus, they are penned up behind multiple layers of chain link, and kept pretty far away from observers. But they are very beautiful animals, and truly amazing to see!


And we had lots of time to shoot self-portraits while we waited for the shuttle back to our car! After that, it was time for macaroni and cheese in the Loop, plus cookies at Dough to Door! Mmmmmm.

Learning the practice of " birthday month "

Allen is a member of Geoffrey's Birthday Club at Toys R Us... A nifty little marketing gimmick that gets you in the store before the big day.

The birthday boy gets treated to a balloon, a crown and a $3 dollar coupon. Well, OK, we had to go... We checked out the Playmobils; Allen tried some two-wheelers; and he picked out an excellent bug vacuum for his pre-birthday gift.

This should make Aunt Laurie proud!

God bless America, beautiful voices and the Cardinals !

And let's not forget: Wonderful weather!

After such a long and nasty summer, it was nice to finally get to the ballpark, and in such great weather. It was Emilyn's first time singing at the game as a middle schooler... She and the 7th and 8th grade choir sang "God Bless America."

I got to hang around the great center field area before the game... A band was playing, Fredbird was "beaking" people and posing for photos, and I enjoyed a ridiculously overpriced hot dog and bottle of water (11 bucks). Ahhh... The old ball game!


Chris Carpenter pitched a gem against our bitter division rival Brewers (and we won!) on a beautiful night. And it looks like these girls had fun... Go Cards!