Forest Park Balloon Glow

Last night we joined our friends, Douglas, JD & all their kids at the Forest Park balloon glow. It was so cool. The park was packed. It took FOREVER to get there, but it was a great experience. We always love getting together with Doug & his family. The kids had fun playing together & the adults had fun eating & chatting.

This first picture is of the Energizer Bunny Balloon. It was huge!
I liked the gumball machine balloon.






Experimenting with light tricks

More light tricks


All the kiddos
Happy 20th Birthday to someone or something

A close-up view of the Energizer Bunny

Here's a video of the balloon glow. When the horn would sound all the balloons would fire up the flames. It was such a pretty sight.

First Day of School

I'm such a bad mother. More than a month after school has started I'm finally posting the picture of the first day of school. Austin & Dylan hate this tradition. They feel embarassed that I'm taking their picture while their friends could be watching! That's why it's never a picture of great quality. I'm literally trying to snap a picture while they're walking out the door.

This year the boys are at different schools. Dylan is in 6th grade & Austin is in 7th. The first day of school Austin came home loving his new school. Dylan came home crying saying he wanted to be home schooled. Things have improved some for Dylan. He's no longer asking to be home schooled, but he definitely doesn't love his school like he did last year. Oh to have the problems of an 11 year old!

Saint Louis Zoo

Right before school started, we decided to do one last summer thing. Off we went to the Saint Louis Zoo. They have a new exhibit where you can pet the stingrays. So, here's the pictures from our day at the zoo.
The zoo entrance
The stingrays were so soft. They loved to be petted. They reminded me of dogs because they would swim under your hand so you could pet them & then they turn around to come back for more. There were a couple who had really cute personalities. They'd splash you on purpose. Sometimes they'd flip up a little to look like they were smiling at you. I think we spent an hour with the stingrays, but it felt like just a few minutes - so much fun!!
Notice the happy face?

Not so happy anymore!!!
Austin's getting so tall!
Here's a mongoose.
My sweet boys
I took tons of pictures in the butterfly house. I was trying really hard to get a picture of a blue butterfly that kept flying around me. It was so fast! I never got a great picture of it, but here's some other beautiful butterflies.