Wilder's First Baseball Game

On Sunday it was Father's Day, and the Mets were playing the Cardinals, so we all hopped in the car and made the roughly 1h drive to Citifield for the big game. Unfortunately the Cardinals won (which pleased everyone else no end, and Bluet in particular really got into it. Aside from the result, a good time was had by all; - although to be fair this was not the ideal location for Wilder who doesn't really like to sit down in one place and watch a whole game - I am sure this will come; for now this was his first baseball game, and he did enjoy clapping along every time with the sound of the crowd. At the end of the game the kids got to queue up outside then re-enter the ballpark at field level, and come out onto the field and run the bases, just like real players. Luckily for me children too small to run by themselves could be carried by their parent, so I got to run the bases carrying Wilder - he was excited to see Mr Met on the way around, but when I put him down to run to home plate he was more interested in sitting and playing in the dirt so I had to pick him up and run the rest of the way home. 

More cousins, St Louis, Ozarks and the Zoo

Some more days with Nate and Lila


We had some time for another trip to the cabin in the Ozarks, for a canoe trip with Lila and Nate (not pictured)


Here is Bluet eating honey nut cheerios, just like every other day of the trip



Bluet also invented a rope jumping game



After the farms, we went up to St Louis to go to the Zoo and the baseball

(Ilona and Bluet went up with Abatha, Scott, Nate and Lila a day early so we could pack up in peace. Here are the pictures we were sent to assure us they were ok)




  

BLOGSTRAVAGANZA IV!

Better late than never (I hope) here is the last week of our summer trip.


Ilona, ready to hit the road (and dressed for St Louis)

Our final destination was a day in St Louis with Abatha, Scott, Lila and Nate. The highlight of this was when Scott and I got to go to the local record shops........I mean when Abatha, Scott, Emily and I got to go to the Broadway Oyster House and then the BIG Game.......Or maybe it was seeing all the cousins playing together in the sun. In any case, it was a great end to the trip and I think we were all a little sad to pack up our bags and head home......

Apparently all 4 year olds like to climb trees

BLOGSTRAVEGANZA!

We returned yesterday from the US of A. Strangely I woke up at 8AM, so I must be over jet lag already. Let's see. The flight back was long, but uneventful (actually 3 flights back - St Louis - Chicago - Dusseldorf - Zurich. Not much sleeping going on in 20h of travelling. Highlight - Ilona coming back from going to the lavatory with Emily, and talking about the 'loud noise' in the bathroom of the toilet flushing for about an hour. Also, the sushi at Chicago O'hare was pretty good.

Anyway, it has been a while. So I will recap what we got up to in Missouri over the next few days.

Ilona on the plane. NB she doesn't really like being on the plane. Especially when it has to make an unscheduled stop in London

Our unexpected stopover at the hotel in Newark

The first week (I can't remember much - it was all about getting over the jetlag, and was a blur a week later). So, when we arrived in St Louis on Sunday we found out about Hamil having been bitten by a snake the previous night. The plan had been for Emily, Abatha, Wayne and I to go to the baseball game Sunday afternoon, just after arrival. However, Emily and Abatha decided they would rather go see Hamil and make sure he was OK, and Wayne was also with Hamil as as a snake expert, he wanted to reassure Hamil he would be ok (he was, and was back out on the river camping with us a week and a bit later).

As I had to be in St Louis on Monday to go to a green card appointment, I stayed in St Louis while they headed to the farm. So I went to the game on my own. The game went into extra inning scoreless, which was not ideal, given the jetlag. But eventually the Mets won, which is good (although I had to leave before the end due to fatigue). After a day in St Louis dealing with my green card and then buying some jeans and records, I flew on a very small plane from St Louis to Cape Giradeau to meet up with everyone else. Which was kind of fun because the skies were clear and blue.

Mets hero Jake DeGrom

Ok, back to what you are really interested in, pictures of the kids-.....So back on the farm, we went for dinner with Bluet and Ilona's great grandmother (not pictured) at Outback Steakhouse. Bluet still looks somewhat jetlagged

Ilona enjoying some old toys.

It was hot, so to cool down some clothes came off.

This is apparently common, but has a beautiful tail, so I was impressed

On Wednesday or Thursday of our first week, Emily's friend from University, Kara, came with her family to enjoy Missouri. They also joined us on a canoe trip (see the next week). Here we are enjoying the sun in Hamil's garden

'I hun-garey'

The day before we went on the canoe trip we had a picnic at the neighbour's house. Here, Ilona is enjoying having her own packet of crisps