Saint Louis Zoo

We went to the zoo with the Bennett family on Saturday - early in the morning, to take advantage of free admission to the Children's Zoo and Carousel.  Oh, and also to avoid suffering in the extreme heat.

Well... one out of two wasn't bad.  We went cheap, but we went hot.  How is it that temperature means nothing when you're under 6 years old?

Here are the pics.  Since I'm not offering commentary, I'll just list the participants: Brian, Marci, Brianna, Cameron (he's the dude with the mohawk), Laney, Liliana, Katie and me.  (Yes, that's the correct use of 'me'.)

...ah yes - I forgot to mention that the day was capped with some lawn-sprinkler frolics.

I'd also like to point out that - unlike in some other, quick-to-publish blogs - all photographs that were not taken in 'landscape' were actually rotated to their proper orientation before we published our post.  We feel this gives our blog a classier look, and reflects the proper appreciation of its readers...  Ahem.  You know who you are!

Hush Little Baby

Somehow, over the last few weeks, Liliana's bedtime routine has become a long production. She wants us to read her a story, then tell her a story, then sing her a song, and then stay in her room until she falls asleep. The falling asleep part used to take about 15 minutes but then started to take longer and longer until Jason or I found we were spending an hour or more in her room every night.

So we decided it's time for Liliana to start putting herself to sleep. As her motivation, taking a page from the Golwitzer playbook, we've been using temporary tattoos. If she goes to sleep without screaming, crying, or getting out of bed, she gets to put the tattoo on in the morning. It has been a sufficient motivator a couple of times over the last week and she has happily been sporting a couple of tattoos and Jason and I have happily been enjoying an extra hour of quiet together in the evenings. We are hoping for long-term results even if our daughter temporarily looks like Kat Von D.

Tonight I tucked her into bed with her tattoo in a plastic baggie, ready for successful placement in the morning, but was met with some resistance. She started to whimper and told me that she wanted someone to watch her while she fell asleep because she was scared. I tried to figure out what she was scared of so that I could assure her she was safe but she wasn't able to verbalize whatever it was. So finally, I told her that I was going to pray. I told her what I was going to do, closed my eyes and asked God to watch over her while she goes to sleep. That seemed to calm her instantly. So I told her I loved her and that I would be back to check on her. As I left the room she said, "Mommy, will you close the door so God doesn't get out?"

P.S. We haven't heard a peep from her room since. Thank you, God, for the peace you bring and for watching over us even when we're going to sleep.

Father's Day Weekend

My parents missed our wedding owing to a really nasty case of the flu, which was bad.  But they rescheduled for Father's Day weekend, and we had a really nice visit!

We have no picture evidence of our Friday evening together, but it was fun...  We met them at Harrah's, where they were staying as guests of the casino.  Apparently they were picked up at the airport by a stretch limousine!  Yeah, Mom's kind of a big deal with them I guess...

The buffet was great.  Lilie enjoyed a wide variety of chocolate desserts healthy, nutritious food.  She did prove a bit difficult to contain while we dined, but that's to be expected.  Lilie hadn't seen her grandparents for a long time!

We hung out with Nana and Papa in their room afterwards.  Lilie was intrigued by the bathroom more than anything else, and no wonder!  Jacuzzi tub and a multiple-jet shower...  Although she didn't get to try either of them out, Lilie did insist that we all step into the shower.  Together.  At the same time.  Fully clothed, without the water running.  I guess she just wanted to revel in the fact that it was possible?

We spent the following day hanging out in Wentzville - after a trip to see the chapel and the hall where we held our reception.  Lilie had a great time showing her Nana and Papa around.  It was fairly exhausting; she napped on the way home.  We spent the afternoon and evening at home.

Sunday was a grand adventure.  Nana and Papa came over for a bit.  Then Lilie and I picked up Jonas and Lucas as we took Nana and Papa back to their hotel in the afternoon.  It was hard saying goodbye to Nana and Papa, but we softened the blow by sharing some frozen custard in Wentzville before dropping the boys off at their mom's.

Okay, enough blathering...  Here are the pics!

Do you want me to let the dogs out.... or no?

Nana checks out the jingles!

You can tell by the look of desperation on Dad's face that Lilie snapped this one.

Lilie was taking 'silly face' pictures, but Katie wouldn't play along...

This is the beginning of a series of Lilie pictures...

Lilie had to hold the trash can open with one hand while she took this picture.

Nobody wants to know which part of the dog this is...

I *really* find this one intriguing!  Taken from inside the Dora play-haus.

Lucas, Liliana, Jonas

Hey - it was a *long day*!

Jingles

A big thank you to our friends, the Rudds, for sharing some tadpoles with us! When we first brought them home, I wasn't sure who was more excited: Liliana or Jason. In the last couple of days, even I have become kind of intrigued and attached to the cute lil' guys.

Liliana has called them many things: "tap poles", "goldfish", "wiggly tings", etc but the one thing she calls them most often is "jingles". I'm not sure why....but I think it's super cute so I haven't really been correcting her. You'll see in this video that she gave them another name. Reminiscent of one of my favorite Dr. Suess stories (Too Many Daves), Liliana wants to call them all CC. Jason says she's referring to the fact that they all look alike and are, therefore, carbon copies.

Anyway, they are a lot of fun to watch and it's even more fun to watch Liliana enjoy them! (Except maybe for last night when she insisted on getting out of bed to come back downstairs to tell them goodnight because she forgot and was afraid they'd be upset.)