Crossed Off the List (185/365)

TIME: 6:53 PM
PLACE: Six Flags Over Mid-America
SUBJECT: StellaDella

First item crossed off the Summer Bucket List : #1 – Ride everything at six flags. (Well, every ride we could fit in…close enough!)

I love her face on the American Thunder rollercoaster – the boy next to her is all “Yahhhhhhhh” and she is so nonchalant.

Good times…
 


TIME:  7:46 PM

Here are all three on the last ride, the Xcalibur…they look a bit grumpy.

The ride starts by spinning them horizontally.

…then starts to rise in the air while spinning vertically.

They are now fully vertical and spinning.

Coming back down – still spinning!!

Back down and stopped.
Hmmm…they’re expressions don’t look any different.
Time to go home.

Walking On Water (181/365)

TIME:  11:25 & 11:26 AM
PLACE:  Splash City
SUBJECT:  StellaDella & MonkeyBoy

SD’s Girl Scout troop had planned a trip to Splash City today.  Unfortunately, the weather did not get the memo.  It was a bit brisk!  Hard to believe that it is the last day of June and it only got to the mid 70’s.  We only stayed about 2-1/2 hours – SD & MB were pretty chilled.

New Harmony (177/365)

TIME:  10:45 AM
PLACE:  New Harmony, Indiana
SUBJECT:  Atheneum/Visitors Center

We took a day trip to New Harmony, Indiana today.  I expected the children to be completely bored.  Surprisingly, only one was cranky – DramaQueen (go figure). 

TIME:  10:56 AM
PLACE:  Inside the Lenz House (circa 1819-1822)
SUBJECT:  Door and stairway

We took the walking tour and were able to enter into several buildings that are only open to visitors with a guide.


TIME:  12:47 PM
PLACE:  Outside the Antheneum
SUBJECT:  Split rail fence posts

It took about two hours.  StellaDella asked some questions that impressed the tour guide (That’s my girl!)  Afterwards, MonkeyBoy even stated that it was “More interesting than I expected”

TIME:  8:40 AM
PLACE:  State Route 66
SUBJECT:  The now closed New Harmony Toll Bridge

Remember this bridge?  I drove across it in November of 2010.  It closed on May 21, 2012 due to structural deficiencies.  It’s still a cool looking bridge.

Apple Picking (253/366)

StellaDella and I went apple picking with the Girl Scouts today.


Even DramaQueen came along.

The summer drought was hard on this tree.


But most were loaded with apples.


We took the tractor back to the main building.


There we saw a turkey.


And pigs with curly tails. (SD got to throw an apple in their pen to feed them.)


But I think picking the apples was the best part.

A Day At The Museum (190/366)

Marge: There must be something we can do to encourage Lisa's gift. An art class. Ballet lessons. They have fun things to do at the museum on Saturday.
Homer: Whoa, whoa, Marge. I'm not spending my Saturdays at a museum. Unless... museums don't have foosball do they?

The Simpsons: Season 9, Episode 3, Lisa's Sax(19 Oct. 1997)

TIME:  This afternoon
PLACE:  Cedarhurst Center for the Arts, Mt. Vernon, IL
SUBJECT:  The kids, HH and stuff we saw

MonkeyBoy “in” a painting.

StellaDella weaving.


Chairs in the atrium that I would love to own.


DramaQueen by “Shroud for Crypt 33 - Marilyn Monroe 2007” quilt by Sun Smith-Foret.


HandsomeHusband and SD reflected.


A statue outside.  Sadly, I did not get the name of this statue, nor the sculpture at the beginning of my post and could not find them on the cedarhusrt.org website.

Firemen (158/366)

“The difference between a man and a boy is, a boy wants to grow up to be a fireman, but a man wants to grow up to be a giant monster fireman.”

Jack Handy (American Writer and cast member of Saturday Night Live from 1991-2003. Famous for his Deep Thoughts comedy sketches.)

TIME:  12:23 PM
PLACE:  Missouri History Museum
SUBJECT:  DramaQueen, StellaDella & MonkeyBoy

I told the kids not to eat any breakfast this morning and at 10:30 we arrived at Crown Candy Kitchen to partake in a Heart Stopping BLT. 

StellaDella enjoyed it.

My son uttered these immortal words - ”I can now die without any regrets.”

We then went to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park.



One of the current exhibits was “Fire! Friend and Foe”  That is where they stuck their heads in the photo prop and MB tried on a much-too-small fireman’s costume.  They also sat around a (pretend) campfire and (pretended) to roast hotdogs and marshmallows and play a ukulele.



A successful summer field trip!

Anybody Got A Quarter I Can Borrow? (143/365)

“I like vending machines, because snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at the store, oftentimes I will drop it so that is achieves its maximum flavor potential.”

Mitch Hedberg (American Comedian, 1968-2005)

TIME:  11:13 AM
PLACE:  St. Louis Zoo
SUBJECT:  Peacock at vending machine

The 1st graders (along with the kindergarteners) had their field trip today and StellaDella insisted that I go with her.  I had her and two other girls in my group to chaperone.  I think this was the highlight of the day – we stopped to eat our lunches and the resident peacock sauntered by and started pecking at the vending machines.  It looked like he wanted Doritos, M&Ms and water to eat.  The kids thought it was the funniest thing they had ever seen.  More than likely, he saw his reflection in the front panel and was letting that other peacock know he didn’t appreciate him being there.  A storm with high winds rolled into the area right after we entered the Insectarium.  After it settled down to slightly less than a downpour, we sloshed our way back to the bus.  I do believe that I’ve had enough of wet, rainy field trips for now.

SkyScreamer (139/365)

“Go Big! Go Six Flags!”

Six Flags Theme Park Motto

TIME:  2:28 PM
PLACE:  Six Flags-St. Louis
SUBJECT:  SkyScreamer swing ride

MonkeyBoy’s school band had a field trip to Six Flags today and I was one of the chaperones.  It rained. all. stinkin. day.  AND it was cold.  Did that stop the kiddos?  Hell to the no.  The rode The Boss (wooden roller coaster), bumper cars, the Highland Fling (a ride that spins horizontally then vertically).  They were all completely soaking wet when they went on this ride (I was only slightly drier watching them under my lovely blue vinyl poncho with Bugs Bunny on the back).  It had to be quite brisk at those 23 stories above the ground and being flung around at 43 mph.  Then - because really, how much more wet could they get? - they rode the Log Flume about 8 times in a row.  While I waited for them I amused myself by taking photos of my feet…

 
(See the rain? Cold! See the edge of the blue poncho? Très chic!)

Ball Pit (138/365)

 
“Life is just a bowl of pits.”

Rodney Dangerfield (American Comedian, 1921-2004)

TIME:  12:36 PM
PLACE:  St. Louis City Museum
SUBJECT:  Ball pit

It was school picnic and parade time today and like last year, we opted out of participating.  The kids decided that they wanted to go to the City Museum instead.  Except for MonkeyBoy losing his wallet while crawling around the tunnels (and the $22 he had in it!!!) it was a good day.  We paid the additional fee to go onto the roof and enjoyed the gorgeous weather we had today.  The kids also loved playing in the ball pits on the ground level which were filled with kick ball sized rubber spheres.  While I sat and let the kids run like wild monkeys, the sun was casting shadows from the bars of the cage over the balls in the 6 year old and under pit, which was surprisingly unoccupied at the time.

Poultry-geist (302/365)

 
A chicken and an egg are lying in bed.  The chicken is smoking a cigarette with a satisfied smile on its face and the egg is frowning and looking put out.  The egg mutters to no one in particular, "I guess we answered that question."

Unknown

TIME:  10:12 AM
PLACE:  Rainbow Ranch Petting Zoo
SUBJECT:  Buff Cochin chicken 

One of the nice things about working part time is that I can volunteer as a parent helper on school field trips.  SD had one today to the Rainbow Ranch Petting Zoo.  2 teachers, 6 adults, 21 kindergarteners and 23 first graders boarded the bus a little before 9am.  4 other adults followed in cars.  It rained yesterday so we were prepared for a muddy farmyard.  Luckily there was a break in the rain this morning while we were there.  We saw rabbits, goats, swans, ducks, deer, horses, zebus, zebras, donkeys, miniature horses, an ostrich, an emu, sheep, llamas, a peacock and a cat.  There was even a farm dog (a Great Pyrenees) named  “Stella.”  At the end we wandered through a corn maze.  We were going to eat a picnic lunch in a local park, but after we re-boarded the bus it started raining heavily again, so we ended up going back to the school.  The kids enjoyed themselves and behaved for the most part…a successful outing!

‘Shroom (221/365)

 
“I am... a mushroom; On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then.”

John Ford (English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet, 1586-1640)

TIME:  2:09 PM
PLACE:  Homer F. Stemler Memorial Walking Trail
SUBJECT:  Mushroom (unknown variety)

HandsomeHusband did some damage to his calf muscle at MB’s football practice on Saturday and spent much of today in bed with ice and heat packs placed upon it.  Poor guy!  DramaQueen had a birthday party to attend at the Millstadt pool from 1-6pm today.  I dropped her off and took MonkeyBoy and StellaDella to the Stemler Walking Trail in order to take pictures and to let HH rest his leg in relative peace and quiet.  It was daggum hot out there, let me tell ya.  And the spider webs across the trail were plentiful.  After about an hour and 15 minutes of hiking, we were all soaking with sweat and quite thankful for the air-conditioning in the car on the way home.

Just Peachy (209/365)

“Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches,
Movin' to the country, gonna eat me a lot of peaches,
Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches,
Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches.

Peaches come from a can,
They were put there by a man,
In A Factory down town,
And if I had my little way, I'd eat peaches everyday,
Sun soakin' bulges in the shade.”

“Peaches”, The Presidents of The United States of America, The Presidents of the United States of America (1995), Track 4

TIME:  9:57 AM
PLACE:  Eckert’s Peach Orchard
SUBJECT:  Peach

This morning the kids and I went to a farm to pick our own peaches.  I love picking our own fruit.  We always joke that they really need to weigh us before we go into the orchard because we sample as we pick *wink*.  Today, they were picking at the rows right in front where you pay, but the kids wanted a tractor ride so we loaded everyone onto the trailer.  They drove us in a big circle around the orchard and dropped us off about 50 feet from where we started.  I do believe that we spent more time on the tractor than it took us to pick our peaches!  I’m thinking a peach crisp with vanilla ice cream is definitely in the works for dessert this week.

Edited to add:  Today is the 20th anniversary of the first date I ever had with HandsomeHusband.  The day after our date, he sent me a dozen sweetheart roses – well, today, he sent me a dozen long-stemmed red roses.  Thank you babe…I am so glad you asked me out!

The Mixed-Up Chameleon (188/365)

 
The true Chameleon is small,
A lizard sort of thing;
He hasn't any ears at all,
And not a single wing.
If there is nothing on the tree,
'Tis the Chameleon you see.

Carolyn Wells (1862–1942), U.S. poet. How to Tell the Wild Animals (l. 31–36). . .Fireside Book of Humorous Poetry, The. William Cole, ed. (1959) Simon and Schuster.

TIME:  1:43 PM
PLACE:  The Library
SUBJECT:  StellaDella and a chameleon

As part of our library’s summer reading program, they invited the owner of a local reptile shop – The Tye-Dyed Iguana – to educate the kids about exotic reptiles.  There was a lizard, boa constrictor (a female named “Jack”), a Madagascar hissing cockroach, this chameleon, and a very long, very large albino python.  I confess, I forgot the name of this chameleon, but I do remember the name of the python – Aphrodite.  The owner, Matt, let the kids come up in groups and hold her as she was stretched out.  At the end, about six of us parents were holding her and she had enough – we got snake musked!  Not the most pleasant aroma…but it’s what snakes do when they get fed up with everyone holding them.

Now StellaDella wants a lizard.  That is so not happening – we have too many pets as it is right now.

Poolish Pleasures (175/365)

 
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

TIME: 2:00 PM
PLACE:  Millstadt Pool
SUBJECT:  Monkeyboy

Our field trip this week was swimming.  We went to the Millstadt pool with my sister and her kids.  My sister-in-law and nephew joined us shortly after we arrived.  They have a wading pool area for the little kids, however it was closed today due to an "incident", so everyone was in the main pool.  In the "deep end" with the diving board, they rotate between letting people jump off the diving board and letting people swim in the area.  This is MB jumping off the side during the swimming time.  The kids had a good time - even though we forgot our towels at home! Doh!  I made sure that tons of sunscreen was liberally applied before we ventured out into the sun.  Around 3pm, dark clouds and thunder rolled in...closing the pool for the day.

Yatsuhashi (160/365)

There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.

Thornton Wilder (American, Playwright & Novelist, 1897-1975)

TIME: 10:03 AM
PLACE:  Missouri Botanical Garden - The Japanese Garden
SUBJECT:  Yatsuhashi - "eight bridges"

We embarked on our first "field trip"of the summer this morning.  We met up with my sister, her two children and her mother-in-law at the Missouri Botanical Garden or "Shaw's Garden" in St. Louis, Missouri.  We arrived when they opened at 9am and went to the Climatron first.  We then made our way to the Japanese Garden.  This zig-zag bridge is located in the southwest lakeshore of the Japanese Garden.  The Missouri Botanical Garden website states that it is "...called Yatsuhashi, a name meaning “eight bridges” and referring to a place in Mikiwa Province, Japan, where in the 10th century a single river branched into eight channels. Each channel was crossed by a bridge around which grew masses of irises. This ideal is emulated in Seiwa-en by soil-filled iris planters placed on both sides of the bridge."  My sister and I both remarked that the irises were just beautiful.  The sister then observed that we sounded just like two little old ladies.

Just around the bend from this bridge is another bridge were for a mere 25 cents, you could feed the Koi.  This I believe, was the highlight of the trip for the 5 children.  I spent about $2.50 in quarters feeding the fish.  We wandered a little more, then went to the Children's Garden so the kids could play for awhile.  We left a little after noon.  About 3 hours is all they can handle.  I'm thinking that I need to come back sans children and with my tripod, in order to get some really good flower shots.