Our Zoo membership expired on June 30th. So, wanting to squeeze as much value out of that little piece of paper as possible we loaded up, grabbed the cousins and went...on the hottest day of summer so far.

Our Navigator...
Wild animals...beware

Cousins, and buds!

Why I don't Comment on Your Blog...

This morning, I had just finished printing out the chore chart for my oldest before Cubs when I realized I had 2 minutes and 45 seconds of free time. I decided to catch up on my favorite blogs. This is what happened next:

J: Mom...what are you doing?
Me (distracted): Leaving a comment on a blog.
J: A what?
Me: A blog.
J (patronizing): Mom...that's not how you spell 'both.'
Me: That's good because I'm trying to spell 'booth!'
J: Who is that to? What are you saying? Who is that a picture of? Why are you doing that? Do you even know who that is?
Long Mommy pause (the one where you weigh the conseqences of child endangerment)
Me (resigned): Ya know, I think I'll do this when you are unconcious.

How Far Would you Go for Good

Cheese Fries?

A favorite hang out in High School, it's where you find

truly great cheese fries--no equal, anywhere

(and believe me...I've looked)

I just returned from a trip long over due--back to my hometown in Missouri. It was WONDERFUL. Ok. It was wonderful for me. I dragged my sister-in-law along and all my shouted enthusiasm was somewhat lost on her:

“Look! That’s my High School.”
“There’s my old house!”
“I made out in that parking lot!”
“I learned to roller skate there!”(ok…that one was a lie. I never learned to roller skate. I learned to fall down.)

Mmm-mm. You can take the girl out of Missouri but you can’t take the Missouri out of the girl. Going back home I felt like I met pieces of myself. Pieces not lost, but maybe forgotten. There are some really lovely things about the Midwest. The pace is slower, the people are completely genuine. LJ remarked on how kind and polite everyone was. Family friends took time out of their busy day to talk to me. I went to church and was treated like a lost treasure. My heart expanded two sizes just seeing some of these people again.

Here are some highlights...

Outside the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art home to my favorite painting in the

world, Mrs. Cecil Wade by John Singer-Sargent

Exterior and Interior shots of Union Station in Kansas City,

one of the most sublime places on the planet
We stayed in downtown Kansas City, two blocks from the Power

and Light District

The J.C. Nichols fountain at the entrance to the

Country Club Plaza...great shopping, great eats...beautiful!

Whaddup??
We're only two weeks in, but here is what our summer is like so far...

J-man just finished baseball season. He had machine pitch this year. Initially he came home disgruntled at how few hits he was getting, letting me know he preferred coach pitch. But he ended strong. He got on base each time he was at bat and frequently scored for his team. Fielding was a different story but he was as good/bad as any of the other kids. This summer he is starting to read the Harry Potter books...has already finished book one. He just returned from a camping trip with his dad where he shot a BB gun for the first time. Oh joy.

This Little Miss is the poster child of summer. If she is concious, she wants to be on the go. It's difficult to keep up with her. She is always on the trampoline, begging to play in the water or wandering off with her friends. In between she is showing a slight interest in cooking. She gets involved with whatever I'm doing in the kitchen until something better comes along. Her hair lightens in the sunshine and so does her mood. The first word she utters when she wakes is "play." It's unfortunate for her that mine is "chores."

Junior Bacon turned two last week. Currently, he's all about trucks. This is where there is a distinct advantage in having an older son. Suddenly, that obsolete fire truck that has been gathering dust is cleaned off and a fabulous distraction on a rainy afternoon. Little man's vocabulary has taken off lately ushering in the stage where I stand between my son and the rest of the world and...translate. "Truck" sounds like "duck" and the most essential word, "chocolate" comes out "cha-kit." It's a good thing I speak toddler, because a handfull of chocolate chips is a great negotiating tool during a melt-down.

If My Life Had a Soundtrack...
I couldn't live without music. It's an essential thread that weaves it's way through my life adding texture, tying my past to the future.

The right song will transport you back in time, turn an average moment into something deeper, take you to the dreamscapes of your imagination. Kind of like hallucinogenic drugs without the health concerns.

I got to thinking about this the other day when a song came on the radio and I was sucked back through the vortex of time. So, I sat down and started to compose a list of songs that immediately called up other memories. Musical snapshots...

Rubber Ducky You're the One (Ernie): Maybe it was his nasally voice, maybe it was the duck itself...whatever the appeal, I can still sing every single word.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella): I listened to this one over and over and over again on my white plastic record player---the beginning of my indoctrination at the hands of Walt Disney. The song induced a crack like addiction to handsome princes and happily ever after. It took me decades to learn that these things are, actually, very hard to come by.

Dancing Queen (Abba): I collapsed into a blushing heap of humiliation when my dad walked in on me singing this one into my air mike, shaking my hips and wowing my imaginary audience.

The Reflex (Duran Duran): Staying up late for Friday Night Videos. Crushing hard on Simon Le Bon (a transfer of affection after Nick Rhodes went and married some woman who wore as much makeup as he did).

Take On Me (Ah-Ha): Riding in the back of Dean’s mustang with Jenny while Dean and Jared did 360’s in the icy parking lot of Carlton’s Shipping Company. Those guys were so cool…and totally hot!

Barbados (The Models): Jenny and I washing her little white Subaru (christened Fred) trying to erase the dent we got by being in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. It didn't work...

Just Like Heaven (The Cure): Tom. The rest -- you don’t need to know…

Possession (Sarah Mclachlan): That boy with the funny last name I was crazy about. Great kisser, but he was dating two other girls at the same time.

Thorn In My Side (Eurythmics): Ford standing outside the sliding glass door of my apartment yelling up to my neighbor…asking her out. Yes, we were dating. Genius.

Interstate Love Song (Stone Temple Pilots): I. Can. Run. One. More. Mile. Yes. I. Can.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes (Cinderella): Watching with my daughter on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Let the brainwashing begin…

From Van Morrison to The Cure. From Sugarland to Muse to Classical Guitar…what’s on your playlist?

Hindsight...

If there was one word my husband would have tattooed across my forehead (backwards so I could read it when I'm brushing my teeth morning and night), that word would be R-E-L-A-X.

I was reflecting on this fact this afternoon as I was running errands with my 22 month old in tow. I had Muse blaring at decibles that the Parents Advisory Council would frown upon, not to mention the questionable content of the lyrics. But as I glanced back at my cherub, his feet tapping and hands clapping with a HUGE grin on his face (baby likes Muse!) I flashed back to when my oldest was the same age. We listened to A LOT of Mozart, because the experts said it would make him smart (it worked by the way...the downside is he is now smarter than me!). If I was tired of Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I'd settle for the classical radio station. When that was a snooze...classical guitar. It was a stretch, just coming in under my stringent standards. I didn't want to corrupt the kid. My-oh-my. If I could travel through time and have a chat with that anal first time mom...

I think I'm coming along with the whole letting go thing. I can't magically wave a wand over the world and make it perfect for my kids, but maybe if they see me moving more comfortably through life, they will too!

We are "vacationing" in Arizona right now. Vacationing is in quotes because I'm on my own with the three kids. More accurately I should say, they are vacationing and I am just trying to keep up. My vacation will come the day after we get back and they are in school. Ahhhh...

So the other day we were driving back from the Arizona Museum of Natural History. My oldest, out of the relative quiet of the back seat asks, "Mom, where are the terrorists in Arizona?" My brother and I exchanged a questioning look.
"Terrorists? Honey...there are no terrorists in Arizona."
"Ya-huh! That billboard back there said, 'Terrorist Information.'" My brother and I started to laugh. We had just driven past the Gilbert City municipal buildings. I responded, "No honey, not terrorist...it's tourist information." I tried to explain the difference between the two words, just to erase that worried wrinkle in his brow.

One carries a camera and is victim of over priced cotten candy at a baseball game (12 bucks) ...the other carries an oozie.