Memories and... artillery

Didn't everyone spend their childhood crisscrossing the country, measuring cannons? Well, we sure did. Here's a shot from Laurie, from her trip to Salem, Mass., on Halloween (celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary...):

Here's what she had to say in her note:

"thought you would..... i don't know exactly
get a warm fuzzy
tear in your eye?
choked up
Smile?
Something we found in Salem @ Halloween.....
and no we did not measure it!"

Just because

Here are a couple pictures of Allen playing outside today... Just because!

Thanks for the visit!

Grandma and Joe headed home today. It was great having them here for a whole week. A lot happened! Emilyn lost two teeth, and Allen started walking for real! I know Joe really loved his bowling and calamari... Hope you had a safe trip, and see you next time!

Look what our boy can do!

I can't say that I captured his "first steps." I can't say that he ever really took "first steps." He just evolved into walking upright! He started cruising on the furniture... Then he flung himself between pieces of furniture. Kind of like a pinball. And now he does more walking than crawling. Check him out!

Spares and strikes

The other thing Joe wanted to see was the Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum. What a great place! You can bowl four frames for free downstairs with admission to the museum. I had to go to work after four, but Joe and Steve finished a full game. Let's just say I was winning handily when I left. It's a neat museum, with plenty of open carpet space for Allen to practice walking!

After I left, everybody went over to the stadium to shop for championship gear at the Cardinals store.

A fun time was had by all!

Bowling Hall of Fame

Majority Rules!

We had a little lesson in civics and voting on a field trip to the Magic House... But first, we played like heck in the village! All the buildings were decked out in the campaign posters that Emilyn and the other second-graders had made. On the ballot: Recycling, wearing helmets, wearing seat belts, playground safety, going to school year round (that one failed in a landslide!) We voted on eight ballot measures, then each team got to tally up one.

Anyway, it was really fun, and I got to go, because Grandma was here to take care of Allen. So, it was neat! Hope you all go and vote Tuesday! And, when they're tabulating into the wee hours, please think of me, and the rest of your free press. As Emilyn exclaimed at the end of her field trip report: "WE THE PEOPLE!"

Second-grade trip to the Magic House

Lunch on the Hill

We just had to take Joe to St. Louis' Italian neighborhood, the Hill. Known in less-gentle times as Dago Hill. Where even the fireplugs are painted green, white and red. We had lunch at Cunetto's. Our server was very nice and spoke Italian to Joe. He wrangled two things that weren't even on the lunch menu! That's what you get when you travel with Don Giuseppe. First class all the way, baby! Allen ate like crazy, and a nice lady at the next table took our picture.

Toothless cheetah

Trick-or-treating was fun. And it didn't even rain this year!!! Emilyn lost her first top tooth. A few days later, she'd lost the second!

Allen was a good boy, even though it was a long, chilly walk and he got cold hands. He got his first real tastes of candy, so it was totally worth it.



And here are the jack o' lanterns Steve and the kids carved with Uncle Pete!

Halloween 2006

Hartmans head south

Hartmans? Or is that Hartmen? Either way, they're all cute as heck.

Pete, Kim, London and Cecilia all came down this weekend for a visit... Too bad I'm working all weekend and in Jazbox HELL! Anyway, everybody else had fun, I hope. They bought pumpkins and carved them, and they look cool! Sorry that Emilyn and I had to run out today to her horse-riding party... We didn't get to adequately say goodbye! Thanks for coming, everybody! See you on Thanksgiving.

"We shocked the world" -- WORLD CHAMPS!

That was the quote from Jim "Hollywood" Edmonds, our superstar centerfielder, on Friday night as your Cardiac Cardinals won the 2006 World Series in beautiful downtown St. Louis! There are all kinds of neat images to see, and I hope you all take the time to look at some at my paper's website, and at the Cardinals' home page.


I heard some of Cardinal Nation got a little crazy downtown after the game... Climbed all over Stan the Man (the statue, not the Man himself) and poured beer on him... Trampled the flowers around the stadium... Way to riot, St. Louis!

What an amazing October! I won't say it was an amazing season, because it really wasn't. It was one disappointment after another. But it was a total turnaround from 2004, when we had SUCH high hopes, and then got manhandled by Boston. This year, we didn't know what to expect! I said here that they could go all the way, and here, they did it! Congratulations, world champs!

Happy birthday, Emilyn!

We brought Miss Niles' class special birthday treats -- Krispy Kreme! -- today, and Emilyn got to say the Pledge of Allegiance over the loudspeaker! Mrs. Norman says Emilyn should have a career in public speaking. For her kind words, she got a donut. So did Miss Niles, Miss Beim and Mrs. Sevier.



Remeber, Emilyn: You may be growing up, and you may have a baby brother to take care of, but you'll always be my girl. Happy birthday, Weet-o.

I'm a star! (at DropShots)

I was reaching the limits of my free membership at DropShots, so I went ahead and ponied up 5 bucks a month for "star" status. I really encourage all of you digital users to join me! Even if you join for free, you get space for 500 photos and 10 videos. People who view your pictures can leave comments right on the site (thanks to Phil and Ellen for being the first to try out this feature), and you can add new users to your "friends" list. Then you'll see what photos they've posted recently, in case you missed anything. And, now that I'm a "star," you can leave audio and even video comments for Emilyn and Allen! Who's got a webcam?

It's a bouncing good time at SkyZone!

Since Emilyn got kind of gypped out of a birthday party last year, thanks to her still-recovering mommy, this year she got the golden ticket: Anywhere you want, kid. So, she picked SkyZone, a trampoline center in the Valley. Hey, it's the only birthday invitation that comes with a liability waiver!





She and six of her friends bounced their butts off Sunday. For an hour! Then, it was time for pizza, cake and presents.



I hope everybody had a great time! I know the birthday girl was happy! She got some great presents! Thanks to everyone. Enjoy these photos... (They have some challenging lighting there at SkyZone!)

Emilyn's birthday party at SkyZone