St. Louis Trip

Here's a link to a slideshow of pictures from our St. Louis trip, most of which are of the spectacular Missouri Botanical Garden. If you are ever in St. Louis, do yourself a favor and stop by. It turns 150 years old this year making it the oldest such garden in the country and is home to a 14 acre Japanese garden which is the largest Japanese strolling garden in the Western Hemisphere. We couldn't have been there at a better time; it was on fire with spring color. As the saying goes, the pictures don't do it justice. As I think back, I am kicking myself for the pictures we didn't take. I think there is a bit of sensory overload that begins to kick in. Not only do they have the beautiful Japanese Maples, flowering trees and shrubs and flowers, they also have the biggest Pin Oaks I have ever seen. There was a Pumpkin Ash so big you could fit your hand in the fissures of the bark. I am already looking forward to our return, maybe in the fall!

We also visited the Arch and the zoo (which is only 3 miles from the garden). At the zoo it turned cooler and sprinkled on us most of the time so we didn't get as many pictures. We had a good time and are thankful to Po for the trip!

Soccer

Last night was the first night of soccer practice. The boy was pretty excited. There were probably 60 kids in his group (they broke them down to about 6 kids per coach for 10 "teams"). We have been playing in the back yard where we try to take the ball away from him (he also adds some of his own strange rules). Leading up to the practice he kept saying that he wasn't going to let any of the kids take his ball away. When we first got there I think he was a bit overwhelmed. We got his shirt and walked down to the fields and we said go get 'em. He said, "I am not playing with all of those kids." It didn't take him long to get out there though. He threw his ball out into the field, where everybody was kicking around with the coaches and parents, and chased after it. He likes to drop back about 30 yards and then and kick the ball (he's pretty tired by the time he actually gets to the ball). He's in the same group as cousin Tyler. He listened well and stayed pretty focused. We had to strong arm Isaac to keep him off the field.

Narnia at Union Station

http://narnia.unionstation.org/

Good Morning

From Crops