Starchy takes the kids to Shedd Aquarium

Because I was gone this past Saturday (spa day whoot-whoot!) Starchy took it upon himself to take the kids to Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.  To say they (I include Starchy in this) were excited, was a gross understatement.  They were literally shaking at the prospect of going on an adventure to the big city.  

Now I am usually the one with the kids 24/7 so my nose was a little out of joint at the thought of missing out on such a fun day.  But being the consummate grown-up that I am, I put aside any jealousy and sent the three of them on their way.  

My one request from Starchy was that he take pictures and document the day.

Here are the pictures that Starchy came home with...

Clearly HP and The Dude mistook some other person as their dad.  Because they are totally looking the wrong direction!  Or maybe Starchy took up ventriloquism and threw his voice over to the right...I dunno.

A nice straight-up-the-nose shot of Starchy and HP.

Even in a crowd, HP knows how to strike a fierce pose (Oh look!  A fish in the background!).  
She looks half-hammered here.  Don't know what is up with the face.  Maybe Starchy said "Gimme a look like you are chewing on your tongue".
Again with the posing (notice how HP is more concerned with the popcorn then the fish).  She takes after her grandmothers in that respect.
A nice shot of The Dude gazing at the underwater sea life...oh wait...nevermind...just some more popcorn.

HP checking out a tent...at the AQUARIUM...are you starting to see the pattern here?

3-D glasses before the big Sponge Bob show.  
A nice shot of The Dude checking out some sharks...nope...wrong again...just him wearing two pairs of 3-D glasses.
HP and The Dude in front of the sea otter's exhibit.  Can't you see how excited the kids are at seeing the marine mammals!  Frickin' eh!  NOT ONE SINGLE PICTURE OF THE KIDS WITH SOME FISH?
Next time I am SO going.  And I promise a giant post all about the kids AND FISH! :)

Scarecrow Festival

HP, The Dude, Yamma and I took in the Ottawa Scarecrow Festival this morning.  It was a perfect day to be outside.  The kids were both VERY excited!  

We saw some of our friends from daycare (Peanut, Swanny Jr, Ms. Frances, Gum's Mahoney) and you'd have thought the kids hadn't seen each other in years (rather less than 24 hours).  

As grown-ups, although we may be happy and excited to see our friends, we never show it the way children do.  There is something so cute about watching your kids squeal with delight when they recognize a familiar face.   HP, The Dude and Peanut were truly happy to see one another!

The festival was well attended and it seemed like the entire town was out to enjoy the nice weather.  

HP, getting her face painted.  She was dead-set on getting a butterfly and was pretty darn bossy towards the artist, demanding that it be pink.  She used her manners, but had to dig deep to find them!

The Dude and his blue balloon.  He was standing on top of a giant Lincoln hat when I took this picture.

Some of the vendors...

The Dude doing a bean bag toss.

HP trying her hand at bean bag tossing...

The Dude getting a white mouse painted on his cheek (I have no idea why he chose that).

The posers.

Yamma, feeding the kids some of their free candy.

HP loved the petting zoo.  She really likes animals (I wonder if she will still feel that way after she meets my parents hissing cats this Christmas...time will tell!)

The kids checking out the smelly animals...wait...did I say that out loud?

I love these kids.

Canoe Trip

Starchy got a wild idea that we should take the kids canoeing down the fox river this past Sunday.  Knowing that HP and The Dude would be a handful in a canoe, we invited Pappa and Yamma to come along for reinforcement.

It could not have been a more perfect morning.  The air was crisp and the river was calm.  We took our time floating down the river.  The kids enjoyed Oreo's and Pringles (a RARE treat around homebase).  The Dude tried his hand at paddling and didn't do half-bad.  HP was content to sit with anyone who's lap happened to be open.  

We saw a few herron, some cows (this is Illinois after all), a dead fish, and some naked trees (HP pointed to tree's without leaves and deemed them "naked").

Aside from the lackluster wildlife, the scenery was beautiful.  There are gorgeous cliffs lining the river and the greenery was very lush from the recent rains.

To cap off the end to a prefect boat trip, HP and The Dude both took 3 hour naps once we got 

home!

The Dude chowing on some Oreo's.  Yes, that is dirt on his face.  He is 100% boy.

HP and I.  Don't mind the Sunday morning bed head, the river isn't known for taking good glamor shots! ;)

Starchy and his Mom.

The Dude digging for craw fish.  Thank GOD he didn't find one.  Yuck.

They were SO excited to go canoeing even though they really had no clue what it was.

Starchy and the kids.

HP had a death grip on the pringles.  She kept saying "I wuv these chips".

The view...

White Wedding Part Deux

Since yesterday's post, I have been inundated (whoo, big word!) with emails from former teammates and other MU swimmer cronies requesting more pictures from the wedding last weekend.   That, plus I know my mom LOVES to snoop and check out all of the wedding hoopla, made me want to post additional pics.  

I apologize to my readers who are not Mizzou swimming alumni, this may be boring.  Be strong, it will pass... :)

Here is the wedding party in its entirety.  The bridesmaids had nice black dresses, that complimented a variety of figures (one girl was 4 months pregnant!).  

The cutie-patootie flower girl.  She did a bang up job!

Wine bottles from the rehearsal dinner.  Cute eh?  Notice the chocolates on the table in the background.  They also had Shane and Jenny's picture on it...a nice personal touch.

Starchmeister and I in the hotel before the madness...I mean...our friends arrived.

Mike C, Dirty Dane and Starchy.  Both of these guys came in a day before the rehearsal to spend time with us and the kids.  Dane helped me with the kids at daycare giving horsey rides and playing catch for (what probably seemed to him) hours on end.  We love these guys.

Starchy attempting to scare me into putting my camera away.  Obviously it was fruitless.

Andy and his wife Amy.  Amy is a sister of an MU swimmer (hi Ellen!) and was a blast to hang out with as we watched our husbands fulfill their groomsmen duties!

Brady and his girlfriend Rachel.  

Pardon the crappy picture, but they didn't allow flash photography in the church.  I just thought I would show the gigantic-ness (is that a word?) of the chapel itself.

Nice Day for a White Wedding!

Sorry about my lack of posts lately.  It has been weighing on my mind.  Unfortunately, I haven't been able to keep my eyes up past 8:00 PM from a combination of post-Olympic exhaustion and my recovery from this past weekend.

One of Starchy and I's best friends got married last Saturday.  Shane, swam with us in college, and from the moment we both met him, he has been part of our lives.  It was a great wedding, and Shane, although nervous at times, came through swimmingly (pun intended).  

The great thing about one of our old Mizzou teammates getting married is that it gives us a chance to catch up with other friends as well.  

As usual, I am going to let the pictures do the talking.  I think you can see how much fun Starchy and I had, and how much we are loved (and love) our swimmer friends.

The Groomsmen (L-R) Mike C (MU swimmer), Brady (MU swimmer), Bill (Bride's brother), Shane (Groom & MU swimmer), Thad (Groom's brother), Andy (MU swimmer), Starchy 

Here is how classy Starchy is...guess who ripped one as I was taking the picture?  I am so proud.

This was cocktail hour.  It was so pretty and overlooking a pond.  Although my focus was more on the shelves of drinks BEFORE the pond.  

Starchy giving me the put-the-fecking-camera-away death stare inside the limo.

Oooh...lookie here...who is this little number? ;)

This was the boys the night before the wedding.  There were other wives there, but we were outnumbered 3 to 1.  I feel sorry for the poor maid that had to clean up our hotel room.  Stale pizza and beer is a hard stench to get rid of.

I have no idea what Starchy is doing with his mouth here.  Another one of his Corky poses.  At least Shane looks cute.

Champagne.  Limo.  How swanky!

These shoes were so cute.  Too bad they didn't make it to the damn reception.  I think I may burn them.  

I love this picture and here is why.  The photographer (who had the personality of a tree stump) was trying to get candid's (why he thought all the groomsmen jumping like fairies was "candid" I will never know).  So he told all of the we-were-once-college-athletes groomsmen to jump on his count.  Check out my good friend Mike C on the far right (the one that looks like a chachie).  He didn't even get off the ground.  We saw this picture in my camera as soon as it was taken and didn't let Mike C forget about his 1/4 inch vertical the entire night.  

Carny Fun!

We took in the Riverfest Carnival last night and boy did we whoop it up!

Starchy, Do-it, HP, The Dude, Morehouse (a friend visiting from Montana), his wife Bergen, Dirty Dane and I acted like a bunch of hooligans.  We had A BLAST!  

HP and The Dude were on cloud nine.  I don't think they have ever been so spoiled with such undivided attention (from our awesome friends).  You know you have chosen your friends well when they care about your kids as much as they care about you (if not more).  

Here are the guys.  From L-R, Starchy, Do-it, Morehouse, Dirty Dane.

HP is a people watcher (like the three generations before her).  She was talking to everyone and anyone.  I think she would have happily stayed there all night.

 The Dude was checking out the "big boy" rides.  This was the first year that he really got to experience the upgrade from the kiddie rides.

His first big boy ride.  Dirty Dane was with him every step of the way (bless his heart).  Although The Dude didn't actually utter any words, its as if he is telling me "I'm okay mom, now put the damn camera away".  

The Dude started to get a little nervous so he latched on to Dirty Dane's hand.

 Up they go! (check out how relaxed The Dude's feet are, you will need a reference point for the post-drop comparison).

HOLY SHNIKIES!  My baby is WAY up there (I am pretty sure I was holding my breath at this point).

This is after the free fall.  Hanging on for dear life (notice how his toes are curled, friggin' hilarious!).

A more tame ride.  What carnival would be complete with out the gigantic slide? 

Those blankets give me the heebies. I don't even want to think about when the last time they saw a washer was...bleh.  Although, The Dude doesn't seem to mind.

This is HP's favorite ride.  She must have gone down at least 10 times (gotta love wristband night).

Wee-haw (I am not looking at the blanket...focusing on the tu-tu instead)!

HP and her new best friend.