Briscoe's First Birthday

Briscoe had her first Birthday on Saturday. Sadly, we didn't do much to celebrate. I did give her some beef broth on her afternoon kibbles, but I'm not sure this made her feel particularly well.

Although she's 1 (or 7 in dog years?), she still has the energy of a puppy. She loves to play with Elise and I wouldn't be surprised if she'll be sleeping in Elise's room before too long. She knows several commands (sit, wait, down, off, roll-over and shake). She's still not great at going for walks, but that's my fault for not taking her regularly.

Today, she had her hair cut at Perfect Pets Dog Salon. Paul says he'd shave her every now and again if I'd pay him what I pay Perfect Pets....it is pricey, but she sure does look and smell better. Funny thing is, I have to take her every 6-8 weeks and it costs more than I pay for my own haircut. There is something wrong with that!

Our Big Girl

Today marked another big milestone for Elise! Grandma and Grandpa Kloosterman brought over her big-girl bed (the twin beds that the Bonner girls used as kids). And tonight, as we speak, she's sleeping on it. It took her a little while to fall asleep, but she didn't cry much. She was listening to her music, talking to "Baby" and "Ralphie" and playing with her new pillows and blankets. (...sigh...) She's practically all grown up. Where does the time go?

Our only fear is that she'll fall out of bed or that we'll wake up in the middle of the night with Elise sandwiched in between us!

Locked Out

I was outside this afternoon letting Briscoe out to do her business. Elise was patiently waiting at the front door. A few moments later, Elise said, "I want to close the door." Okay. No problem. Only when Briscoe was finished and we went to go in, the door was locked. Yes, that's right. Elise locked us out of the house. And to top it off, she kept pulling the window treatment aside as if to tease me that she was inside and I was out.

With Paul in Milwaukee, I'm thankful for remote garage door keypads....

Apple Jon

This is 'Apple Jon'. At least that's what Elise affectionately calls him. Funny....when shown a picture of her other uncle, she says 'Uncle Rudi'. I'm sure there are other nicknames for Jon that I don't know about....

The Great Houdini

Elise never ceases to amaze me. While in Memphis, we learned that she can escape from her Pack-n-play. Okay, I can deal with that. Yesterday, we found out that Elise can climb out of her crib. In fact, while in a 2-minute time out, it became so quiet upstairs, I began to wonder what was going on. When Paul went to check on her, Elise was standing at the top of the stairs. She climbed out so stealthily, we didn't even know.

Houdini strikes again. While supposedly taking a nap this afternoon, we hear the click of her door. Elise once again climbed out, went to her bookcase to get a book, and was ready to head down the stairs. I'm at a loss for words. She's going to have to work on her Alcatraz escape plan if she wants to get past me!

I think it's time to think very seriously about a big-girl bed (and maybe a lock for the outside of her door). :>)

Mud Island River Park

While in Memphis, Jon took us to the Mud Island River Walk. Libby was content pushing her stroller around the park, but Elise loved the Mississippi! Here's proof:

Libby's New Teeth

Come on, Libby.....smile for the camera. Cheese!

We're Back!

It's time to play catch-up....

St. Louis
As I mentioned before, Paul, Elise and I caravaned to St. Louis with Paul's parents. Our primary purpose was to catch up with the Solomon's, good family friends. But, in the meantime, we also spent some time visiting the Zoo and Grant's Farm.

Here's a family shot (they are so rare, I thought you might be interested in seeing one):

This is Mrs. Solomon....feeding the fish by moving the Hippo's tail. As the sign says, "the tail acts like a 'manure spreader' to shoot dung everywhere." Remember, God made animals for all sorts of reasons....

Elise had a great time brushing the goats at the Children's Zoo...



and at Grant's Farm....


(Grandma and Mrs. Solomon enjoyed Elise being nibbled on by a couple of the goats, but Elise didn't seem to mind.)

Southern Hospitality

Do you believe the weather down here? Paul and I feared we'd be suffering through high 90s with high humidity, but it appears that Hurrican Ernesto has brouht milder temperatures to the mid-south. It was in the low 70s in St. Louis and it's in the low 80s here. No kidding! Absolutely perfect!

Good thing we didn't go to South Carolina or Massachusets as we originally planned! It's thunderstorming in Hilton Head and it's cold and rainy in Boston.

Zoo, Farm and More Zoo

You may be wondering what happened to us...it's been a while since the last post. Paul, Elise and I have been touring the zoos of the mid-south. Okay, it's been more than that, but so far we've been to the St. Louis Zoo, Grant's Farm and the Memphis Zoo. Elise has been in pig-heaven!

We left on Sunday for a trip to St. Louis to visit some of friend's of Paul's family, the Solomon's. Grandma and Grandpa Seamon came along with us for this part of our trip. It's been several years since we've seen the Solomon's and it was the first time that they had met Elise, so it was fun for everyone. We did tour the St. Louis Zoo and Grant's Farm over the two days that we were there. My favorite part of the zoo was watching the month old baby Elephant named Maliha. So cute! Elise loved the carousel and the train ride.

On Wednesday afternoon, we continued down I-55 to Memphis to visit my sister Bethie, brother-in-law Jon and niece Libby. Libby turned 1-year old on August 26th and is as cute as ever. She has really warmed up to Paul and me and Elise loves to play with her (I mean her toys!). Yesterday was a home improvement day, which went surprisingly well. We (Jon, Paul and I) moved a 220V outlet for the dryer and also relocated a dryer vent. Paul and I are really impressed at Jon's handyman skills (but mostly that he's willing to try things he's never done....something we're not particularly good at). Today we went to the Memphis Zoo and we'll be going up to St. Jude's this afternoon to get the grand tour and to visit Bethie. More on that soon!

Stay tuned for pictures.....