Boy Scouts & Our St Louis Cardinals' Experience

While our personal lives had been really (really, really) rough over the last months, life just keeps ticking on.  In the midst of it, sometimes I shoot and sometimes I sit.  I haven't been great about getting those shots blogged (or even sometimes edited) though, so I am going to just get a short and sweet one out and then start working on some of the others that got missed from earlier this year.

As a part of being a Boy Scout, our son gets incentives for fundraising.  One of his cooler ones this last year was if he sold a certain amount of popcorn, he got to participate in a semi-private day at Busch Stadium.  It was a neat experience to get to go behind the scenes and be a part of a smaller crowd for a day there.

It was a day that included a hot dog lunch for the Scouts.  Of course, when you have a 4 year old sister, you might have to (begrudgingly) share.  And it was a day of getting a picture op with a certain tall bird. 

Fredbird wasn't a big fan of our boys' hat being turned to the Blues' side, so he made sure to fix that for the photo (and then return it while he signed the ball on Aaron's head).  He is known for his antics; I mean, aren't all mascots? And then off we went for a tour.  It was neat to be behind the scenes, and the kids even got to have fun playing a scavenger hunt game.  Emma was pretty adorable following the lead of all the other kids and writing down her scribbles, I mean answers, with everyone else.

But the coolest part of the day was definitely being able to see the Cardinals' World Series trophies lined down the side of the room.  While our team has had 11 World Series wins (2nd highest in all of baseball!), the trophies didn't come onto the stage until 1967, so there are only 4 in the stadium.  Pretty awesome sight, even for this low level baseball fan, so you can imagine how cool my husband thought it was.

Until next time,

Dancing in the Sunshine

Our girl is a dancer.  She is a dancer, a singer, and a general performer.  You might not EVER know it (or guess it) about her because of her SUPER shy initial persona, but underneath it all, she has a real piece of her that comes out when she feels safe.  Or evidently when she thinks no one is watching.

While at my grandparents' house recently, she went out to the back patio to play.  On the sliding glass doors, there is a reflective film to stop that brutal Florida sun from fading everything in sight.  And when you pair that with a three year old dancer who has no idea that anyone is watching...well, beautiful things are sure to happen.  I mean, who was I to tell her any different?  It made my heart both full of joy and a little sad to think that my grandparents would have loved to watch her play in their home.  *sigh

My girl's show was a little dramatic.  She started slow, with some soft side steps, then big movements and large swings.  I really do wonder where it all comes from.

She kept it up with those serious looks, fast moving arms and twirls of her dress.



And then Daddy joined in.  And he took it to the next level with dips and spins.

It was a lovely and magical dance.  One I hope to hear the laughter and singing of in my mind forever.

Until next time,