Outings with Eli and Roman

While Rebecca and Roman were in town we went on a few outings while we enjoyed the 70 degree weather. We visited Rombach's Pumpkin Patch in Chesterfield, MO.
They have Ft. Rombach for the kids to climb on.
Tractors. . .
And, lots of pumpkins. We always enjoyed going there when my girls were little, but they've gotten away from the Pumpkin Farm and have added several gory, ghoulish sections which I didn't like.
The next day, we met up with Leah and Eli at Faust Park.
We rode the carousel---an antique that I rode when I was a child.
Then, we went outside to the playground . . .

before we headed to the Butterfly House.


We photographed butterflies,
We hid from each other. . .

The boys tried catching the butterflies. . .

Someone convinced Roman, that if he sat, held out his hand and smiled, a butterfly would land on him. . .but, none did. He sure looks sweet doing it, but they preferred the rotten bananas hanging from the trees.

Happy Birthday, Jane

Happy Birthday, Little Sister! I love this photo of us---I look so mischievous and you look . . .stunned----No, I meant to say "stunning." Although these photos are in black and white, my dress was a beautiful light green (a little lighter than my car) and yours was a lavendar/lilac. Our grandmother Vennie made these dresses for a very special occasion---I was a bridesmaid and you were a junior bridesmade. . .
for a "Tom Thumb Wedding" at Lafayette Park Methodist Church. Can you find us? I remember being terribly put out that I wasn't chosen to be the bride, but now that I look back at the photo, it could have been worse---I could have been a guest. Click here for information about Tom Thumb Weddings and Click here for an article about one more recently with some background also. I can recall Mother saying it was a fund-raiser for some group at the church.
Did you find us in the front row to the right?
As with any wedding there were photos before the event. . .
Some staged in a park.
I wanted to end with a very earnest, serious photo of me saying, "Happy Birthday, Jane---I love you and I forgive you for being so darned cute in that lavender/lilac dress!"

Eryn's Wedding

Last weekend we went to the wedding of Eryn, whom we have known since she was a baby---she lived in our neighborhood and was a friend of our daughters.
Her parents have had a difficult year so this was a very happy occasion. Here they are before the wedding with their granddaughter.
Here are the wedding party---wow, Eryn has a lot of cousins!
I love their dresses and bouquets. I'm not sure of the bridesmaids, but L-R: Katie P. (PWHS friend), Sarah (PWHS) ,Karen (Groom's sister), Amy G. (Scott's wife),Kristen (PWHS), Sheri H. (PWHS friend). I'm sure my daughters would know for sure.
I was so impressed that they had memorized their vows.
Aren't they a handsome couple?
Here are Eryn's brother and sister-in-law, Amy.
After the wedding party left, the bride and groom circled back to the front of the church and stopped to greet and dismiss the people in each pew. It was so much better than standing in a receiving line. It was a wonderful wedding from start to finish when the groom thanked everyone for coming as they were leaving the church.

J. Seward Johnson Exhibit in Chesterfield

Recently, Rebecca, Roman and I went on a kind of scavenger hunt trying to find the sculptures of J. Seward Johnson located around Chesterfield, Missouri.
The attention to detail was amazing---even this gentleman's book had words--mostly nonsense with the sculptor as the main character.
Some of these were in Chesterfield Athletic Complex.
And, some were at Central Park near Chesterfield Mall.

Some were modeled after famous paintings.

And, some were just from the sculptor's creative mind.
This canvas which the woman is painting reflects accurately what she is looking at.
They are all child-friendly allowing Roman to sit on her lap.
Some were of ordinary events.
But, some fit in so well to the surroundings that we sometimes had a hard time finding them.

The brochure did have GPS co-ordinates if we had a hard time finding them.

The Awakening

The city of Chesterfield has a sculpture exhibition until Oct. 31. The one above is in the Sachs Library (the boy on the left is my grandson Roman)
In front of the library is a couple---the pickpocket is, again, my grandson Roman.
The reason for this exhibition is the city's acquisition of "The Awakening" which is hard to miss.
It is a 70 ft. presentation of a giant awakening.




"The Awakening" is permanent, but the other 20 pieces are on loan. It was a little like a scavenger hunt trying to find them all. At one point we mistook a surveyor for one of the pieces, but managed to realize our mistake before embarassing ourselves by stopping to take a photo.

One of the statues was in a park nearby featuring an artist painting "The Awakening" across the street.