TED DREWES, HANNIBAL, THE MILLS

It's probably not possible to really catch up so this will be just a synopsis of the past couple of weeks. Eventually I will put even more pictures on Facebook.

Trips to Ted Drewes are always "necessary" in St. Louis. We met Jason and family there one evening and were continuously entertained by the kids.

Conversation with Sammy... Moppy: Sammy, your ice cream has melted. Let's throw it away. Sammy: No, that's OK... I'll just drink it!!!

Masha got an orange slushie for all of us to share... so thinks Sammy & Lizzie.

Ring around the roses... pocket full of posies... ashes, ashes, we all fall down!!


I decided Masha needed to visit the birthplace of Mark Twain so on Wednesday afternoon we headed for Hannibal. We took the scenic route (thank you, Keith) - the Great River Road on the way up. We stopped along the way for some great views of the Mighty Mississippi.

A ride on the Mark Twain riverboat was the first order of the afternoon.

The Mark Twain cave was also a must-see.

And at the request of Jasper... Huck Finn hats. No trip to Hannibal would be complete without them.

Is Masha trying to break into Mark Twain's boyhood home? And I'm sure she's hoping for someone to paint that fence so she doesn't have to do it.


On Saturday, it was a day with the grandkids. The weather was iffy so we headed for fun at The Mills.



After a walk through Cabela's, car races and lunch, Charlie asked what I wanted to do next. I said, "It's time for the Cardinal game. Why don't we go home and watch it?" Sammy: "Actually, it's not time for the Cardinal game so let's stay here." But we did go to the Cardinal store to get the kids their Cardinal hats. As we were walking towards the exit, Sammy says, "Hey, time for ice cream!"

Malikas left on Monday evening to go home to the Isle of Man. I really, really liked having her here for almost 3 weeks. I wasn't ready for her to go home. I miss her. :-(

This past week was our annual Sports Crusader Basketball Camp so there was no time for anything else... almost all day, every day was spent at church. It was a good week with several kids coming who had no church affiliation. Plus we probably gained some Upward basketball players, too.

I was so tired by Friday evening I could hardly think straight however the week was not over. I headed to Julie's for the start of the MOPS retreat. Dinner was a potato bar and salad - very good - and then some brainstorming about vision and goals. An excellent vision statement came out of the evening... "Connect with God - Connect with moms". I've never worked with such a focused team of moms and leaders. It's a fabulous steering team!!! It's gonna be a great year on Planet Mom!!!

Sara arrived safely back home after a week with the Mission Raleigh team. And she's going to be around until Monday morning when she leaves with our Centri-Kid group for Bolivar.

We are having some great weather in St. Louis... especially for July. Sara loves the fact that we've turned off the air conditioning. She's been cold ever since she got home from Nigeria... especially when she's in an air-conditioned building.