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!

Life with braces has begun

It's a long and expensive process, but Emilyn is on her way to a perfect, healthy smile.

She made the big board at Dr. Mason's office, which lists all the kids with "back to school" braces. And she posed for one last photo with that smile we know and love...

Getting braces on is a long process! So long that Daddy and Allen couldn't make it there until the latter part of the fun. First, the anchors are sized for Emilyn's back molars and are cemented on. Then, the brackets are glued on, and finally a wire is threaded through all of the brackets. Emilyn had her choice of many colors of bands, and she can change the colors every time she goes back for an adjustment! (This time around, she picked peach and light blue.)


And here's the finished product! We'll have to learn a lot about taking care of the braces and her teeth, what to eat and what not to eat, but we're ready to get started on this journey.

Big first day of school !

Wow, this day seemed so far a way a few years ago... But, Allen has started kindergarten, for real. And Emilyn has moved into seventh grade. A big step for both of them!

Now they're both getting their pictures taken by the porch railing on the first day! They are so big! *sniff*

Spacers in - so far, so good

Emilyn's orthodontia update:

Four spacers went in the day before school started. They are little rubber bands that go between her back teeth to make a space for the metal bands that will anchor her braces.

This was also the visit where they took photos and molds to document where her teeth are now. This part didn't go so well... My poor girl. Believe it or not, it's not pleasant to have a huge metal tray full of goo in your mouth, especially when you're a gagger! But the brave girl got through it with some help from Daddy, and her friend Maya lent some encouraging words. Maya just got her braces on a few weeks ago, so she can help Emilyn know what to expect.


And, we saw the No No Board... and tried not to think about Halloween with braces.

The best thing to happen downtown - well, ever !

Our absolutely last hurrah before school starts came Sunday, at Citygarden. It's an amazing park and sculpture garden that's smack in the middle of downtown St. Louis. But what really makes it fun is -- the fountains!

Allen was a bit cowed by his first faceful of water, but he got back in the swing and was soon diving right in to whatever body of water he could find. Emilyn, who said she wasn't going to get wet, couldn't resist joining in the fun.


And when you want to take a break from the fountains, there are plenty of sculptures to climb on... and into!

A new addition this time was the chime pads you can dance on and make your own tune!



Daddy rode 25 miles down from our house to join us, then tacked on 50 more for good measure on his way home. The kids and I walked over to downtown's biggest grocery store, Culinaria, for snacks and drinks -- and saw a giant praying mantis along the way!

For the rest of our photos and videos from Citygarden, click here.

One of us is ready for kindergarten

Well, the fugue state I've been living in hasn't delayed the inevitable: Allen starts full-day kindergarten on Tuesday.

I know he will do great. Just like I knew Emilyn would do great. It's not about logic... it's about sending your baby to school all day, every day! Yikes. But I will make it.

Meanwhile, Meet and Greet day at Sorrento went off without a hitch. Allen saw his new classroom, and we got to see all the new doors and walls throughout the school! It's a bit hard to recognize in places!

Allen's classroom was Mrs. Barrow's when Emilyn was in kindergarten. It's pretty much the same as it was then. But Mrs. Kelley has it stocked with all kinds of cool stuff, which Allen has already gotten a taste of. Including his favorite geometric tiles! And a fabulous map rug! (Geography -- maps and flags -- is his second passion, after science.)


So, he's got a bin and a mailbox and a seat at the green table all ready for him to go on Tuesday. Not to mention his nifty shark backpack and lunch box. And he's been practicing on the playground. He's ready!

Another last hurrah

We celebrated the end to another awesome summer by going to the Incredible Pizza Company. We first went there in 2008... In my post then, I called it "kiddie Vegas, with pizza."

A lot has changed since Daddy and I went to the arcade in the olden days. No more quarters, no more tokens... and now -- no more tickets??! You swipe a card to play, and now the machine credits your card with the "tickets" you've won! So, no ticket-eating/counting machines... No wads of tickets in your pockets... And NO satisfaction watching those things spit out of the game! Harumph.


Sarah came along this time, which was cool... She and Emilyn had a swipe card of their own, and they racked up some pretty good ticket totals. Daddy and Allen got back on the track, this time in the Lowe's car... They had a spirited race against the Home Depot car, in which there was much jostling but neither won. I think the little girl in the Bud car took the race.

Our "virutal" tickets brought some very real booty... lots of candy for Emilyn, a blow gun for Allen, and some frinky light-up bumpy ball thing for Sarah, among other stuff. Mommy just concentrated on eating cookies from the buffet. Bad case of dieter's remorse! But, as usual, it was a nice way to wrap up another fun summer.

Taking tough news like a Champion

It was a bit of a rough day for my girl!

Last week, at the dentist, Dr. Dunagan had some concerns about Emilyn's X-rays and recommended we see an orthodontist. I made an appointment for a consultation today at West County Orthodontics.

We went in, and Dr. Mason made the diagnosis pretty quickly: Impacted cuspids. Emilyn's secondary top canines won't come in without orthodontic help. If they stay where they are, they could become abcessed. In the case of one, she'll have to have a bit of oral surgery to expose the tooth and add a small chain so it can be pulled down and into place.

Of course, all this means... braces! Honestly, I thought braces were for rich kids who wanted perfect teeth. But Emilyn has a true medical need for them, and she's going to get the side-effect of a perfect smile! Not bad.

After all that shocking stuff, we took our girl to the mall for some "retail therapy." She got to pick our lunch destination (food court), plus a spot for treats after (Auntie Anne's).

When we got home, we found that her seventh-grade schedule had come at last. She's a Champion! (As opposed to a Trailblazer. But we knew she was a "champion" already.) A few tough moments there, too, as word rolled in across the 12-year-old texting superhighway that most of her friends will be Trailblazers. She's feeling better about that, though, because four of her classes (choir, Spanish, math and science) go across teams, so she'll have friends from both in those. Including her all-important "bestie," Sarah!

So, considering how many blows her world took today, I'm pretty darn proud of how she handled herself. We'll take each tough thing as it comes and, no matter what, her special beauty will shine through! Love you, my girl!

Getting ready for school

On Monday, Allen met his kindergarten teacher when she came to our house for a quick visit... Mrs. Kelley, who Emilyn never had but has taught all the way from kindergarten up to eighth grade. Perhaps she'll need all of that experience to deal with Allen!

Emilyn is burning up the Web and wearing a path to the mailbox waiting for her schedule... Soon we will know whether she is a Trailblazer or a Champion! Another one of those famous Crabbe Coincidences came yesterday when we were shopping for school supplies during Missouri's tax-free weekend. As we were waiting in line to check out, talking about Mr. Bradley, last year's math teacher, the woman in front of us asked: "Where did you have Mr. Bradley?" Turns out, she's a teacher at Southwest Middle, seventh-grade world history! So, if Emilyn is in fact a Trailblazer, she has already met her social studies teacher! How convenient!

Allen has his very own binder now... and of course a shark backpack, with matching lunch box. And we've got lots of lunch foods to load it up with -- we just have to keep Allen from eating them all before school even starts! Which is now just 10 days!

Steve and the bombers

When Steve heard that the last flying B-29 bomber, Fifi, was going to be at the Spirit of St. Louis airport, he knew he had to be there! And, bonus! The Commemorative Air Force's B-25 Show Me was there, too!

The first day, he and Allen went, but it was too darn hot for the boy. The next day, Daddy went by himself, and that was better. He didn't take a ride this time (whoa, those prices!) but he got a wonderful shot of himself in the cockpit of Show Me. I think he looks right at home!

I like the fact that Allen gets to see something that few people get to see and won't be around much longer... history in the air!


For the rest of Steve's photos, and videos, and captions, click here.

Five days in the Loop

I think that, after this week, I could give Joe Edwards a run for the title of "honorary mayor"!

Emilyn and Allen both spent this week at COCA arts camp in the Delmar Loop of University City. Emilyn took part in "Own the Mic," a class about singing and stage presence. Allen -- luckily, we think -- got shut out of "Supersonic Superheroes" and ended up in "Sculpture Safari," a camp for slightly older kids about animal sculpture. His teacher, Rudy, said he thrived with the bigger kids and did a great job!

Emilyn got two great opportunities out of "Own the Mic." One, she was handed the lead-off solo for the campers' final performance, "Firework" by Katy Perry. Awesome!!! Then, because the last day of camp coincided with the dedication of a statue of Chuck Berry, Emilyn and the other singers from COCA got to perform a little impromptu "vocal flash mob," singing "Johnny B. Goode" for Chuck and all the assembled guests. What an amazing honor! It was thrilling just to be there. And boy, did I ever get close to the Father of Rock 'n' Roll!



 

Meanwhile, while the kids were in camp, I spent three hours every morning just wandering around the Loop -- and it's a great place to just wander. The only problem was this week's punishing heat... I managed a pretty long walk every day, despite coming down with some freaky summer bug. Then I ended up cooling down with a book at the Bread Co. or dozing a bit at the U. City Library. Both days I was at the library, I saw the same older woman dozing in another chair. I felt much more sorry for her... I bet she was there because she didn't have air conditioning at home. I'm glad she had a safe place to spend the hot days; many older folks have died in this unrelenting heat wave. I think the summer of 2011 will go down in the books!


Back to the Loop's treasures: We discovered Cheese-ology, an all mac-and-cheese restaurant; Ginger Bistro, home of the yummiest bowl of happiness I've eaten in a long time, bulgogi beef -- and giant forks; Fitz's root beer bottler and restaurant, where you can get the most titanic floats I have ever seen and watch the soda works go round and round; and much, much more! (P.S. Allen is now a huge proponent of the healthful benefits of Fitz's root beer!)

I think it's safe to say the Crabbes felt right at home in the Loop... and we will be back. To see all our photos and videos from this week, click here.

From Sweden, with karlek

Karlek, the Swedish word for "love"!

The feeling is apparently mutual for Allen and Månegarm, the Swedish folk metal band that Daddy introduced him to. For months, I have been posting Allen's fan pics on Månegarm's Facebook wall... Allen singing "Himmelsfursten," Allen wielding his Thor hammer, Allen with the Swedish flag he drew all by himself... The band always responds favorably, so I asked them to send Allen an autographed picture.

Well, his mail from Sweden came today, postmarked from Uppsala, with 28 kroners worth of stamps and everything! He got a patch, a keychain and an autographed picture -- with a super-cool personal message on the back! Hednatid, indeed!

Those hard-core rockers have made a little boy's day, that's for sure. I told Allen I can sew the patch on his new shark backpack, when it comes. Reasonably sure he'll be the only kindergartner with heavy metal swag on his backpack!

(P.S. Allen wants July 15th marked on the calendar every year as the day he got mail from Sweden.)