It comes much too quickly every year.
This year, we drank up the warm summer days like an icy glass of lemonade...too delicious to sip slowly. It was bottom's up for this little family!
We played and we drove and we swam and we laughed. It was a great summer!
And now, the lazy days are all gone.
School started today.
Last weekend was our final summer roadtrip. 
Hannah did great during the game. She was a lot more into the action than she was last year. I loved hearing her sing along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!" during the 7th inning stretch! The victory fireworks were a little too loud for her liking, though.
After the game, we spent some time walking around downtown.
Last weekend was our final summer roadtrip. We got tickets to see the Cardinals and Cubs play at Busch Stadium.
This seemed like a good idea to me in April when the tickets went on sale.
The reality of a 100+ degree heat index in August, however, was not such a great thing!
Regardless, we are Cardinals fans, in company with some of the best in baseball, and no stinkin' heat index was going to keep us away from watching the Cards beat the Cubs.
It's always great to watch baseball in St. Louis.
Hannah did great during the game. She was a lot more into the action than she was last year. I loved hearing her sing along to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!" during the 7th inning stretch! The victory fireworks were a little too loud for her liking, though.After the game, we spent some time walking around downtown. Hannah posed for a picture with the Wizard.
A street percussion band was playing right outside the third base entrance, and our little dancer put on quite a show of her own jamming to the rhythms. At one point, a lady passing by handed her a wad of dollar bills and told her "that's for being my favorite street performer of the night!" Hannah took the money up to the band and put it in their pot...then she kept right on dancing! 
When the music was done, we drove out to my parents house for an overnight stay.
A street percussion band was playing right outside the third base entrance, and our little dancer put on quite a show of her own jamming to the rhythms. At one point, a lady passing by handed her a wad of dollar bills and told her "that's for being my favorite street performer of the night!" Hannah took the money up to the band and put it in their pot...then she kept right on dancing! When the music was done, we drove out to my parents house for an overnight stay. My parents live in a beautiful place. I did not appreciate it so much when I was growing up there, but now that I live in the land-of-no-trees, I know how beautiful Mid-Missouri really is.
(To illustrate...During a spring thunderstorm here, Hannah looked out the front window and said "Look, Mommy! It's a rainforest!" Only in Central Illinois does a rain shower on a single tiny red maple tree equal a rainforest....)
Anyway, suffice to say that my parents' home is in a beautiful location. It feels like an arboreteum to me when we go back to visit.
Hannah loves it there!
(Almost as much as she loves this lion!?!?) 
One really cool thing about this time of year is seeing the hummingbirds at Mom & Dad's house.
One really cool thing about this time of year is seeing the hummingbirds at Mom & Dad's house.My parents have been putting out feeders for years and years, and they keep them full like it's their job. They even go so far as to keep track of the birds' migration timing so that they are well-stocked when the teeny travelers fly through.
To see the feeding frenzy that is currently happening at their house is a unique experience.
I know these pictures won't do it justice, but literally there are up to 50 hummingbirds feeding at their two feeders at any point in time.
I tried to capture some images by climbing up on a ladder near the feeders, but felt like I was taking my life into my own hands as the tiny little pointy beaks whirred past my ears. 
Here I labeled the ones that stuck around while I was clicking shots. What you can't see are the swarms of hummingbirds that were sitting in the trees just behind my shoulders, crabbing at me to quit interrupting their dinner!
I am so thankful for my parents' love of nature and the outdoors and for all of the experiences that they gave to my sisters and me. I hope that we can find the same kinds of opportunities for Hannah to learn about the natural world around her. Chances are she'll grumble and groan as we march her through State Parks and Nature Areas, but someday she'll be old enough to look back and appreciate that her childhood wasn't spent entirely in front of a television. I know I do.
Here I labeled the ones that stuck around while I was clicking shots. What you can't see are the swarms of hummingbirds that were sitting in the trees just behind my shoulders, crabbing at me to quit interrupting their dinner!I am so thankful for my parents' love of nature and the outdoors and for all of the experiences that they gave to my sisters and me. I hope that we can find the same kinds of opportunities for Hannah to learn about the natural world around her. Chances are she'll grumble and groan as we march her through State Parks and Nature Areas, but someday she'll be old enough to look back and appreciate that her childhood wasn't spent entirely in front of a television. I know I do.While summer may technically be over, we're really looking forward to all of the fun fall activities to come. The carefree summer schedule is definitely something I'll miss, but the coming 4 months are my favorite time of year.
There are lots more memories to be made!
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