cardinals game

last tuesday we went to st. louis without the kids. we dropped them off at tessa's parents place and hit the road. we stopped by rei to get some supplies for our trip to the smoky mountains and ended up staying longer than we had planned. that got us over to the game a little later than we intended. still in plenty of time but it meant we had to pay $4 billion to eat stadium food.  it was cool however that we met a lady on the way up to the stadium that had some friends bail out and she gave us some tickets in the outfield box on the third baseline in the 4th row. best seats of my life. it was a blast. cards stunk it up though and lost 4-1. the game got over around 11 and we got home at 2:30 in the morning.

ozark state park

yesterday we did a 4 mile loop as we try to fine tune our hiking shape for our trip to the smokies. 2 weeks and counting. it was a fun trail that wound up and down the ozark hills. some scenic overlooks a couple streams and lots of, "ashes ashes we all fall down" being sung from a certain individual strapped to my back. 

as you can see from our last picture we ended up locking the keys in the car as we were packing up to head home. sheesh. david sperling, our new hero, saved our lives. we tried to hit the unlock button with a stick but were unsuccessful. big surprise huh? i had to hitch a ride down to the ranger station and called david, who then drove me home to get the spare keys and then back to the park to tessa and the kids who had to wait for over two hours for that whole process to work itself out. i don't even want to know how many times they sang its raining is pouring.....

big surf

these are pictures of us a big surf. it is a water park literally 5 minutes from our house. we decided to give it a try this summer (and loved it.) next summer we have already decided to get a season pass. cody will be ellen's age next year and will enjoy it just as much as she did this year. no telling how much fun ellen (and daddy) will have next year. 

bubbles and tea

ellen enjoying some of her birthday presents

ellen's birthday

august 4th was ellen's birthday. she is now over 2 years old. as you can see from the pictures she has a pooh bear cake, which tasted pretty good. some of her presents included a tea set, a doctor kit, veggie tales, books, bubbles, pickles, and hugs. 

we now spend our days getting shots and checking our blood pressure while sipping on tea and eating pickles.

the next level

ellen is now jumping from the tall black platform