Last Saturday my mother and I flew to St Louis to meet the Arndt family and attend the Softball Classic. We had supper at the house Saturday night. We met most of the family then. We spent a couple hours hanging out and talking.
Sunday, we showed up at the park sometime around 8:30. Setting up started soon after. The whole day was a blast! It wasn't what I had expected, as all the booths were under one tent. That meant we were with everyone all day. We even got a break and got to watch some of the games too! After the booths were shut down, the game still had more to go. I got to sit right up by the fence! Several of the guys, when not actively playing, would come sit with us. We got an up close and personal look at the game, and our own expert to help explain things! Such fun! We were at the park until after 1:00 in the morning, helping clean up. Even that was fun. I got the whole team to sign a hat for me! I was going to have just the members of the current team, but one of the younger guys goof around with me all day. So his name is on the very top!
Monday, Ma and I went into St Louis to do some sight seeing. We saw the Arch, and went to the museum underneath. We didn't have the time to go up. Then we saw some of the downtown. Ma drove me past the Scottrade Center, where the St Louis Blues play. We had Subway for lunch (thanks Oz.) We followed our GPS to it, and it took us to a large office building. Eek. The Subway was inside. :) Then we drove back into Illinois, to join the family for Church service. It was also our chance to say goodbye.
It all went so quickly. It was all so much fun! I'm already trying to find a way to go back next year. Hehe
Now pictures:


Ma near the beginning of the day, getting things set up.


One of the many softball games!


My goofball friend! He dodged our cameras all day! Hehe, little did he know. I have tons of pics of him!


Ma, later in the evening, manning a booth.


The famous Silly Putty ball, with a little bit of Michigan included!


The St Louis Arch. It was really cool to see.


My Ma at the Arch

Me at the Arch


I know, not everyone is looking, but I like it anyway. Oh, the duck is mine, the penguin is theirs.


Still not perfect, but it works!


Luke was nice enough to take a picture with me.



The hat the guys all signed for me! My new favourite hat!

So, yeah, wow. I'm terrible at this. I kinda expected that. Sorry it's been so long since I updated.

Summer has been going well. Oz is off in China, leaving me the oldest at home. In her absence, the younger kids and I have tried to keep busy. We've gone on lunch dates, had a campout in the backyard, and went on a nature hike. We still miss Oz, but it's been fun to spend time with the each other. I've been busy working too. I haven't been working more this summer, actually I've been working less, it just seems very busy.
The Tim Horton's we work at have now added a Cold Stone! We've made many changes. I haven't been affected too much, since I work mornings and mostly at the window. I have gotten used to working without Oz, but I miss her there. I am having fun with my coworkers though.
I'm saving up my money for two trips. The first is to be this next weekend. My mother and I will be going to Illinois to attend the Soft Ball Classic held by the Arndt family. I am very excited about it! The second trip will be flying out next year to Tasmania to visit my friend Olivia, another trip I am very excited about.
Oz has been able to keep in pretty good contact, via skype, email, and phone. She has sent us pictures, letters, and video. We got to 'meet' two of her girls Cali and Lilly. They were sweet. She is doing well. The four weeks of camp are now over, and she is now at the China run camp, were she is just there to help as needed, not actually have kids. She had two boys her first week, and two girls each of the next two weeks. The fourth week she had none, and was in charge of craft time. I want you to see some of her kids. We don't have pictures of Cali and Lilly. :( But, without further ado:

This is Fu Ai Qiu aka Ike. He was about 6 or 7. He was a little hesitant at first, but was quickly calling her sister. He was quite rambunctious and hard to keep up with.

This is Li Ran Ran aka Ronny, my personal favourite. He was unable to walk and used a little scooter to get around. Oz, would wrap her purse handle around the steering wheel, and he would sing songs as the walked. He was a little rascal that gave her a run for her money, but also held her heart strings.

The second week she had YaYa. YaYa was a foster child, and wasn't quite sure what to think of camp at first.

Also, she had Bai Bai. They nick named her Boo, the Mandarin word for No, since that was her favourite word. She had a very twisted back, but that didn't keep her from running. She wasn't ready to leave when camp was over.

Oz also got to see one of her girls from last year, Icey. She remembered Carm! That made her happy.'

A taste of things to come

So, I'm back from my Sister-Trip. Oz and I had a wonderful two weeks, first traveling to California and the to Oklahoma. I will post pictures and tell all about it soon. I just have to sit down and do it! Until then, here are a few pics from the trip!

Ozzie and I in front of the Honda Center, where our team the Anaheim Ducks play!


We got to meet a bunch of the players and take pictures with them. This is just one of them. Brett Festerling is on the left and Dan Sexton is on the right. The day we took the picture was Brett's birthday. And, we got to give him a card! It was cool. He seemed to like it that we had remembered!


Here we are at our very first Anaheim ducks home game!


This is a new little friend we made. We stayed with a her large family while we were in SoCal. She was so sweet. I feel in love with her.


Saw the ocean for the very first time!


I love my big sis!


We went bowling!

It was so great to see David. We had so much fun!

Okay, so that is all for your teaser. I will try to get down to writing a full blog on our time!