the zoo, again

I think Ty asks me every day (probably several times a day), "Hey mommy, do you want to go back to the zoo and ride the train with me?" I love it--it's the sweetest thing. (And if you were here, he would ask you too.) The zoo is one of our favorite STL attractions. Oh how we will miss it when we live in a city where you actually have to pay to go the zoo. Anyway, today we made it early enough to go see the new sting ray exhibit before catching the zoo train. I think Ty might have pet one of the string rays if I hadn't screamed when I touched one. (It was slimy--I couldn'd help it.) Corey and I both touched the sting rays. I was pretty proud of myself.

love this face

summer birthday parties

Today we celebrated sweet Laine's birthday party at this fabulous park in Des Peres with a water spout for the kids. Ty and Laine met when they were about one month old and have kind of grown up together over the past three years as their daddy's studied to become pastors. We'll miss all of the Pennylegions when we leave St. Louis. Here are a few snapshots from the day...

(that's our little friend, Maggie, in the backgound) :)

Saturday night Cardinal's game!!!

Some very sweet friends of ours gave us tickets to see the Cardinal's game last night, and we had an absolute blast!!! (I've decided I could spend every summer Saturday night that way!) We felt like kids--we were so giddy! We sat right behind the Cardinal's dugout so we were able to watch the players run down the first base line and see their faces as they ran into the dugout after each inning--can you believe that??? It was so fun!!! We loved the hole ambiance and didn't want to leave when the game was over! Thanks, Josh and Sarah! You're the best!

the girls at the game

sitting on the dugout!

Pujols up to bat

and, of course, Fredbird doing the "sprinkler" in front of us! :)

watching the All Star game

I love having boys! I love watching them be boys. I love that they play rough, wrestle, throw balls (and even do a pretty great job at catching them!), jump in puddles, play in the mud, and like sports. Here are my boys...watching the All Star game with their daddy. I love that at 18-months and 3-years old they're just as into it as he is. Their faces in this picture make me laugh!

family pictures

I'm really excited about our new family pictures! Thank you, Drew, for spending the morning with our family and for persevering in that crazy humidity! We spent the morning at Longview Farms, a place I wish I had discovered three years ago--it's beautiful! Here are a some of my favorites...

Miss Emily

Ty and our sweet friend, Emily, at the zoo.

fun summer times

having a blast in the pool

my little serious one