I'm back!

Our trip to Cedar Point was great! I finally got to ride the Top Thrill Dragster and I can say that it was the most thrilling roller coaster I've ever been on, even though the ride only lasts 17 seconds! It's a serious adrenaline rush. Between the 4 of us, we rode 14 of the 17 roller coasters there. The 3 that we didn't ride went upside down and we're not big fans of going upside down! I did ride one stand-up coaster that went upside down though, albeit not my favorite. I will post some pictures from the trip each of the next several days.

This is where we stayed in Sandusky. We did not have any reservations before we left and we anticipated just staying at some "mom and pop" kind of motel, which we did. This place had 8 units! But it was clean and cheap, so it was fine with us. All we really did there was sleep anyway and the owners were very nice. It was in the lobby here that I found out Michael Jackson had passed away.

This picture was taken on the first day we went to Cedar Point outside of McDonald's. The water is Lake Erie. It's really pretty nice there because the amusement park is located on a peninsula and therefore, even when the temperature is high, you have a breeze almost all the time.

Here is one view of the park as you drive up to it. Pretty cool! The yellowish colored coaster is the Top Thrill Dragster. The blue one on the left side is the Millenium Force and is seriously the smoothest coaster I've ever ridden. It is really awesome too!

Here is B2 trying to climb the rope ladder. She is falling in this picture.

Family shot in front of an old rail car.

I look too happy to be here!

They are having their feet massaged on a "footsie wootsie."

June turns into July

I owe you 7 more pictures. I am going to have to finish this project in July.

I didn't take a picture of anything "interesting" today AND, we are leaving tomorrow for Cedar Point and will be gone for 5 days. I promise I will finish this task next month!

June 23

I took a picture tonight of something that sits on the counter in our kitchen. Yes, that is our family on a Wheaties box! We had this made in 2003 when we were at the Mall of America in the General Mills Cereal Adventure area. Each of the girls also made their own box of cereal and got to design the cover of the box. It was pretty neat. Yes, there is real cereal in this box (still) and yes, that is a plastic cover you see around it. Bruce loves this souvenir!

June 22

I forgot to take a picture of something today so I am posting an old picture that I've never had on my blog. This is B1, B2, and one of their very good friends (who happened to spend the night at our house last night) back in March at the High School Musical musical at our school. The picture was taken from pretty far away with a zoom lens. I think it's a cute one though!

June 21

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Today was party day at our house. This is the 4th or 5th year that we have hosted a Father's Day party for our families and some friends. It's always a fun time and we always have a TON of food! Seriously, we have a lot! Here's one of the things I made this year.....Banana Split cake. It's not really cake though; it's a dessert. I love it, which is why I chose to make it. I have not had this for awhile now and it tasted really good!

The girls and I gave Bruce a hot dog cooker for Father's Day. He has wanted one of these for awhile now. It's the kind that rolls the hot dogs up and down on a hot surface and cooks them. He immediately had to make one for himself and try it. It worked!

Here is Bruce and the girls doing a "3-way kiss." We do a "4-way kiss" every year on New Year's Eve so this was his special Father's Day kiss!

We also gave Bruce a pair of flip-flop Crocs to wear. I think he liked those as well because he wore them all day long today.

My dad and my honey!

Some of the bathing beauties in the pool!

And some more.....

Shinza managed to escape from our yard this morning. She ran around the neighborhood for maybe 10 minutes. Then I think she decided it was just too hot to stay out and about, so she came back home!

The kids got a lot of use out of the slide today!

Even the really little ones had fun in the pool!

I had a great day. I love having this party every year because honestly, it's one of the only times anymore when I see my 2 uncles and their families. It's also nice to spend time with friends. I hope everyone enjoyed the day as much as we did!

June 20

Happy Birthday Shinza! Today is our dog's 6th birthday. We always celebrate the birthdays of our pets and since dogs aren't supposed to have chocolate, she usually gets some kind of white or yellow sponge cake.

6 shiny caneles!

Taking it directly off of the plate from B1!

YUM!

June 19

THE FIRST ONES!! Here are the first tomatoes I picked for the season. I love tomatoes. My cherry vines are loaded with little green tomatoes right now. These two probably could have waited another day, but I was just so excited to pick them! All of my tomato bushes are really full of green tomatoes. It looks like it's going to be a great season for them.

June 18

Tonight was my second Girls Night Out for the week! It just happened this way and wasn't planned to be so close together. Tonight I went out with 3 high school friends. It was a very nice, relaxing evening. We first went to dinner at Calico's in downtown St. Louis and then we went to the Cardinal game, which the Cardinals lost, but still, we had fun! These pictures were taken with my phone camera so the quality isn't real great.

I like getting together with these gals. We've known each other for so long that it is just comfortable being with them. There is no pressure to act a certain way or be a certain person. It's just nice to hang out together and talk about our spouses, kids, and families as well as old times!

June 17

Today, we took my mother-in-law on her annual Mother's Day trip. We choose a day in June and take her on a "mystery" trip. She doesn't know where we are going. It is fun.

Because of an evening ball game and softball camp in the morning, we were a bit short on time this year so we opted for a close destination. After the girls got done at softball camp, we went to Applebee's for lunch. Then we headed to St. Louis and we took her to Lumiere Place. She enjoys gambling and so do we. But Bruce (being the nice guy he is) let her and me gamble for a little over an hour while he took the girls for a walk on the Landing. Then they found an ice cream cart inside the Lumiere Hotel.

We left Lumiere and headed for the arch. This picture was taken as we walked from the parking garage to the north leg. I think it's a good picture!

The clouds were moving when I took this one. It makes me dizzy standing below and staring up at the arch!

Here was a photo op of the little capsule thing-y that you ride to the top inside.

Busch Stadium, home of the best team in baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals.....taken from atop the Gateway Arch!

Our family at the top!

I think we forget that one of the biggest tourist attractions in our country is only 25 miles from home. We don't really even notice it anymore when we cross the river into St. Louis. But yeah, the Gateway Arch is a pretty cool place!

June 16

Tonight was a Girls Night Out with friends. We do this every 3 months or so. Tonight we went to a place in Edwardsville called Wang Gang. The weather was perfect that we were able to sit outside and eat. The meal was yummy and we had enough food that we all brought home leftovers!

Sesame Noodles with shrimp...............

Spring rolls..........
Lettuce Wraps...........

Thai Basil Fried Rice...........

Crab Rangoon...........

After dinner, we sat and talked for awhile at the restaurant, let our food settle a bit, and then headed to Bobby's for dessert! It was a very tasty evening!

June 15

These are pics of B2 playing softball. She has been a lot of fun to watch this year.

She knew I was taking this picture, so she posed for me. I'm glad the ball didn't come to her!

She was actually making a play at 3rd base here. She fielded the ball and threw it to the shortstop, who was covering the base. They made the out!

Batting......I don't think she hit the ball on this one though.

And pitching. She too began pitching lessons this past winter. She is doing pretty well so far and it has been a lot of fun watching her develop her own form! Very cute!

June 14

On one of her last days of school, B2 and her classmates became "wax figures" of people in history. People could walk past them and push the "button" next to them and then they would recite some information about who they were and what they did in history. B2 was Henrietta Swan Leavitt. I had never heard of this person so I too learned a little from this lesson! Here she is posing for me as her was figure. On the card is written the spiel that she had to recite every time someone pushed her button!

June 13

This is what happens when you sit out at ball games most of the day and forget your sunscreen. Major farmer tan (burn) here! I should have been smarter.

Those lovely little brown speckles are from other times when I didn't wear sunscreen. Now I'm going to have even more!

On another note.....let me just say that I am really, really happy that school is out. Really. I know that we teachers complain about our salaries and the fact that we work way more hours than people realize, but we get some pretty nice perks too. Like all the major holidays off (and sometimes another day or so to go along with it), a nice break at Christmas, usually a decent break at Easter, and of course......summer! I find myself sitting at my kids' games now, like today, and just breathing easier. Yeah, I have like 6 loads of laundry that need to be done, but you know what? I have time now to do it. So we can go with the team after the game and get ice cream or pizza or whatever and I don't have to feel like I really need to get home to do this, that or the other. I can't imagine working in some other career where I get like 3 weeks per year off. No way. And yeah, this summer is a short one in my district, but I'll take it anyway! Life is just a little sweeter in the summertime. I truly enjoy my family more.

(Deep breath........ahhhhhh!)

June 12

Tonight we had a movie in the park.....Madagascar. I hadn't seen it prior to tonight and I thought it was cute. We had free kettle corn and water and then hot dogs and soda were for purchase. In this picture is B1 (in pink) and some of her friends In this picture.....B2 (in Hannah Montana) and some of her friends.

They had a great time. Hard to belive it is June 12 and we were out there in jackets with blankets wrapped around us! Weird weather!

June 11

Here are a few pictures I took last night during the electrical storm. I stood on the front porch for awhile, hoping I could catch a shot of a big lightning bolt, but that didn't happen. Instead, I mostly just got rain. And then once the wind started up, I began to get wet!

I think this picture must have been shot when one of the bolts of lightning lit up the entire sky because it looks like daylight, but I guarantee, it was about 9:45pm!