...back to this regularly scheduled blog...

...already in progress.

I'm back. Hopefully we can get back to our routine this week, and get back to getting things done. I can feel this summer slipping through my fingers, like a clock that keeps tick-tick-ticking the seconds away.

It's been a while since I last posted. A little over two weeks ago my aunt passed away. She had an 11 month battle with cancer, and although we knew it could come to this, I think it still took us all by surprise. I am sad, but I have strong faith that is carrying me through this time.

A week later came Independence Day, and the arrival of my mom from Arizona. Since then, an astonishing amount of my time has been spent with my many family members who have converged on the St. Louis area. My mom, my newly married sister & brother-in-law and my grandparents have all been in town. They all begin leaving tomorrow, which means that things will begin to settle down again. Bummer. I love their annual visits. Although I guess it will be nice to get back to relaxing & having my boys all to myself...
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I have been knitting throughout the last two weeks. I've been working on a blanket for my soon-to-be niece or nephew. My brother in law is an artist, so I thought he might appreciate this OpArt blanket.
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Since my sister was in town a short time, I was very lucky to get to spend a whole day with her and her new Hubby. We did a little hanging out at my house, then went to White Castle for lunch. After lunch, we decided to go to the World Bird Sanctuary.

Tyson really enjoyed spending time with Aunt Heather & Uncle Miles. They talked...
...and looked at birds...
and provoked a huffy attitude from the cranky resident turkey.
Tyson was also really excited to see the bald eagles, which we recently studied in our National Treasures unit.

Riley enjoyed the noisy parakeets & parrots, and loved the opportunity to run & walk all over so much space. (I think he also enjoyed picking up rocks. What is it about kids & rocks?)
Here's my sis & her new hubby. Aren't they so cute together?
Everyone was very interested to see the different kinds of hawks they had.

After the sanctuary, we decided to take a drive through Lone Elk Park. It's a park that you drive through, and you get to see all kinds of animals: elk, deer, even bison. I took this photo while we were n the bison area... that's Heather & Miles in the rental Prius in the side mirror.

Unfortunately, that's about all we saw. It was a hot, muggy day and apparently all the animals were off keeping cool. Away from the road. Out of view.

It was a busy day, and Riley ended up taking his nap in the car. I was lucky to snap this picture of Tyson stroking Riley's hair to help him fall asleep. (Ty is not wearing his seat belt in this picture only because we were still driving through the park... at about 5 mph. He buckled up before we got back onto the real road!)
After our uneventful drive through the park, we all went back to my house where we were joined by my dad & stepmom for a BBQ.

It was a great day, and I am really happy we all got to spend that much time together!