Ellie is 3!

Kate's friend, Ellie (Katie and Clay's daughter), just turned 3, and Kate helped her celebrate. Ellie had a pool party, so Kate was thrilled about that part. What she was not thrilled about, however, was sharing her mommy when Ellie wanted to sit on my lap, too, so she could be closer to Kate. Once Kate got a little food in her, things were looking up...until Ellie sweetly sat next to Kate during cupcake time. As you can see in the only photo I have of the two of them together, Kate clearly misunderstood the song, "It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to." Ellie was happy as can be, though, so that's the good news. Kate did pose pretty adorably for some pictures towards the end of the party. In the last picture, I can't believe how long Kate's legs look. She is getting so big! I can't believe she'll be turning 3 before we know it.

Leisure Time at the Lake of the Ozarks

Greg, Kate, and I were invited to join Leslie, one of my friends from work, and her whole family at their annual lake trip in the Ozarks. We headed down on a Wednesday, did some outlet shopping, and then spent all of Thursday at the lake house. Kate (with much help from Leslie and a lucky Finding Nemo fishing pole) caught several fish, got to "drive" the boat, and ended the evening by playing with her new friends, Vivian and Ian, and relaxing in the hammock. Being at the lake brings back many great memories for me of all the time my family spent at Lake Centralia at the Besant Cabin. I could almost picture my dad sitting in the lawn chair on the dock fishing for hours or my mom at the outside dining table playing Canasta. Thanks, Anderson family:)

A Peaceful Day at the Botanical Gardens

To celebrate Greg's first official day off of summer school, we headed to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Greg loves going there to take photos, and Kate had a great time running around in the children's play area and the fountain. The weather certainly did not feel like July in St. Louis, and we had a wonderful time.

Happy Fourth!

Grandma and Grandpa came in town for the Fourth. We ate at Lester's for lunch...yum, stayed up late, and went to the Chesterfield fireworks. The next morning, Kate slept until a record 9:00 a.m., and we had strawberries and cream for Breakfast at Wimbledon. It was an incredible match. Roddick got SO close, but not close enough:(

Kate's Big Girl Room!

Since summer is the only time we seem to have time to breathe, we decided to paint and decorate Kate's "big girl room." Here she is sitting on the bed. She keeps bringing various stuffed animals into the room to tour it. She says, "There is my big girl bed...my curtains...my pictures." It may be some time yet before she sleeps in there, and we are in no hurry, but in the mean time, I think she likes it!

Did I mention I love summer?

From the Magic House to the Boat House- Kate could spend all day at the Magic House, and we went on SUCH a hot St. Louis day that we appreciated being inside. She is somewhat obsessed with Cinderella right now, so sitting in the "beautiful coach," as she says, was quite a treat. Then, Aunt Kori had a free pass to ride the paddleboats at the Boat House in Forest Park. This week, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous, so we went on a lovely ride (though Kate got a little upset when I had to help steer a bit so we wouldn't go in circles or plow into the sweet mother duck and her ducklings!) and then had lunch inside to cool off. On the way home, Kate was worn out and ready for a nap, and I asked her what was wrong. Her response was seriously, "I'm getting fiesty!" I about lost it. She is just getting so big and more and more fun that I can hardly stand it:)