Must. Have. Nap.

Cora isn't willing to let anything get in the way of her naps... including a pesky older sister or even one of her favorite activities -- eating. The last picture was taken during our vacation at Lake of the Ozarks with Steph's family. Notice the bite of food she still has in her hand.

Aunts are awesome

Aunt Ali stayed with us for a few days at the end of July and as always, everyone enjoyed having her around. She's a topic of conversation just about every day around here. We can't wait to see her again!

StL Art Museum

Check out the arch mowed into the grass on the hill in front of the Saint Louis Art Museum in Forest Park in honor of being the host city of the MLB All-Star Game. We're thinking about trying to replicate it in our front yard.

City Garden

City Garden opened downtown a couple months ago (http://www.citygardenstl.org/)... just in time for the All-Star Game. It's directly across the street from Joel's office so it makes for a great place to go have a picnic lunch with Daddy (it's commonly referred to as "Daddy's park" around our house) and enjoy some time outside.

The shiny black building behind Cora peeking through the tree is Joel's office building.

Snake

A couple months ago, Miriam was playing quietly on the other side of the couch from where I was sitting and all of a sudden she said, "Look Mommy, a snake!" I was a bit concerned until I walked around the couch to see the 'snake.'

Perfecting her masterpiece.

The talented young sculptor brushing off her hands after her work is complete.

"Mommy, don't touch it."

Daddy's guitar

Miriam spotted Daddy's guitar case in the basement recently and asked Daddy if we could bring it upstairs and get it out. The girls have had fun plucking the strings.

Father's Day

The first couple pictures were actually taken last Wednesday evening when Daddy returned from a work trip to Canada. It worked out pretty well though because it gave the girls and Mommy a little extra time to work on Daddy's Father's Day present (pictured below).

The quote around the frame says: "Our fingers may be small but we still have Daddy wrapped around them." (Feel free to click on the picture if you want to see it bigger.)

Hello summer!

Last week, our neighborhood playgroup met at the fountain in Tower Grove Park to cool off a little. We were hoping the wading pool would be open also, but evidently it's only open Thursday through Sunday this summer.Cora: Um... you're getting all wet and you don't even have your swimming trunks on.

Pigtails

Yesterday was Mommy's first attempt at pigtails. There was much more cooperation from the 2-year-old than the 1-year-old... as is shown by the respective sets of pigtails.

Science Center

On Monday, some friends were in town so we met Sara, Rachel, Rose and Marcia at the St. Louis Science Center. A great time was had by all!

It's a.....

 

Companionship

Mommy's best guess is that Mim told Cora she would share some of her candy reward if Cora would keep her company while she sat on the toilet.

 

Lafayette Park Summer Concerts

We kicked off the summer with the first concert at Lafayette Park this past Saturday evening. Mim made new friends, Cora pooped, we all enjoyed some yummy beef brisket smoked by Daddy and we hung out with friends and enjoyed some great music.

 

Daddy FINALLY hangs the "free" swing

The girls have been not so patiently awaiting the hanging of the swing in the back yard. But they have been very appreciative now that it is there.

Memorial Day

We enjoyed hanging out with my (Steph's) family over Memorial Day weekend. The girls had a particularly good time with Uncle Marcus.

New Stroller

This is actually the most valuable vehicle we own.

Steele Family Vacation Video

At the end of March, we traveled to Savannah with Joel's family. His brother Micah made a picture video of the trip which you can view at their blog:
http://micahsteele.blogspot.com/2009/05/savannah-vacation-video.html

A taste of the good life

And here are a few shots of Cora enjoying the undivided toys and attention at Grandma and Grandpa Steele's!

A Date at Fitz's

After the half marathon, Grandma and Grandpa took Cora home with them since Mommy needed someone to watch her the following Monday and Tuesday mornings. Daddy and Mommy had some fun one-on-one time with Mim and Cora had some fun one-on-one time with Grandma and Grandpa Steele. We took Miriam on a dinner date to a St. Louis favorite - Fitz's Root Beer. She enjoyed the root beer immensely!

We saw very little of this...

and a LOT of this!

Saint Louis Half Marathon

On a rainy Sunday morning a few weeks ago, Daddy ran his third St. Louis half marathon (after running the Illinois half marathon in Champaign just the week before). In an attempt to stay a little bit drier, we hung out under an overpass to see him run by in the middle of the race. Daddy did a GREAT job, despite the rain. After some yummy brunch with Grandma and Grandpa Steele, all of us who did NOT run the race took naps, but not Daddy. We love cheering for him when he's running!

Practicing politeness

Cora has started saying "thank you" consistently and Miriam has started saying "you're welcome," so it's been really fun in the last few days to hear Cora say "thank you" to Mim and to hear Mim say "you're welcome" back to Cora. It makes the other 90% of the time when they're picking on each other a little more tolerable. :)

Miriam, the Artiste

A few weeks ago the Shike's came to town for an event they were organizing and we had the opportunity to hang out with them for a couple days. On Sunday Dan, Olivia, and Hunter went to church with us and on the way Mim drew this on their magna doodle. By the time we could get home to get a picture of it, the artwork had faded somewhat. Hopefully you can still make out the detail

When asked what she had created, she exclaimed with pride "A SHARK!" Yikes, I can't even draw a shark this well.

Then today as we were putting the girls to bed, I (Joel) noticed our magna doodle in Mim's bed. I tossed it aside with the rest of the rubble to clear a spot for her to lay down. When I turned around, this picture was staring at me. When asked what the picture was she remarked "Daddy" (nevermind the dress, you weren't supposed to know about these things)

She's two, for crying out loud. Aren't they just supposed to be learning to draw "circles"?

Mim's first race

The day before Joel ran the St. Louis Half Marathon, Mim had the opportunity to run her first race - a 50-yard dash.

The pre-race excitement!

The in-race nervous breakdown. You can't really tell from the video, but she just got really scared and started crying and wanted me to pick her up.

The post-race medal!

Goodbye Chass, Lyrick & J

Our friends and backdoor neighbors, Chassity, J and Lyrick moved away a few weeks ago. Before they left, we made a visit to the Anheuser-Busch Brewery for a "Stables only" tour (you'll see the clydesdales in the back of one of the pictures) and a stop at the hospitality room. Lyrick loves superheros and specifically asked me to take a picture of him doing a "Spidey pose." Then Mim immediately tried to imitate it. It was really cute.

We miss you guys!

Mr. Brown Can Moo

This is a favorite Dr. Suess book around our house right now. It originated from Stephi's college years and some sorority "event." :)