Oglepalooza

We went to Leslie's hometown in northeast Missouri this past weekend, for the annual Ogle family reunion. We didn't go last year (because Leslie was eight months pregnant with Landon) and we hadn't been to Monroe City since May, so we were looking forward to it.

We got there Friday evening and stayed with Leslie's aunt and uncle, Joe & Debbie.


Saylor, Dusty and Skyler — Joe & Debbie's three sons and Leslie's first cousins. Oh my gosh, they've grown up! Saylor and Skyler were the little ringbearers in our wedding, but now at 15 and 16, respectvely, they seem even older than that.

They took me up to the shop to show me the new race car they're working on, the truck they drive to school and to tell me about other adventures they've recently gotten away with.



Jackson was excited to jump up on the little trapeeze bar and hang upside down by his knees with no hands. So Skyler showed us that he could do it, too.


Tiffany and her son Tanner.


Brothers roughhousing in the kitchen.

Late Saturday morning, we all went into town to tour the new daycare that Mechele has started.



After lunch, back out on the farm, we walked up to the 70-year-old barn that Leslie's dad (who used to be a butcher) is converting to his own meat-processing locker. It'll be called White Barn Meats.



Jackson exploring the hay loft.

A Coke and a smile.










We hung out at Greg & Mechele's house the rest of the afternoon and evening; quite a few relatives from out of town came over for a family reunion pre-party. It was great weather, the kids loved running around together and we made s'mores over the bon fire.

Then, all day Sunday was the family reunion.




As you can see, Landon got held quite a bit.



When it was time to eat lunch, Leslie's grandpa made a few announcements and led us all in The Lord's Prayer.




Siblings


The youngest person there was baby Bryce, at just 21 days old. Here he is with his grandma and great-grandpa.





At the end of the afternoon, it was time for us to head home. Here's a house that we always pass ... and always say we're going to take a picture.

We had picked up these huge mums for the front of our house from a guy that Leslie worked with when they were in high school. For several years now, he's run a great florist shop/nursery out of his historic home on Main Street — and they were only $4.50 each!

We made a pit stop at Subway in Brookfield, Mo., but the men's bathroom was so gross, I had to use the women's instead. Besides wanting to call the health department hotline, I also wanted to say "There IS a paper towel dispenser, too."

But we did get the pleasure of seeing the Pershing Balloon Derby. I think Jackson counted 13 hot-air balloons in the sky, that we could see all at one time.

Happy Labor Day!

Petal to the metal

I've already cut back our peony bush for the year and these, too, are about to go under the knife.

The gerbera daisy that Jack gave Leslie for Mother's Day.

Zinnias that Jack planted as seeds.

Well, well, well ... (plus five more)

My best friend, Nash, who lives in Chicago, knows that fatherhood is actually one of my favorite "hobbies" and that I love doing fun activities with our boys. So for my birthday this summer, he and Jeff sent me a very creative "hands-on" gift that's fun for kids of all ages — a fancy caterpillar cakelet pan and special decorating kit from Williams-Sonoma!

As soon as the UPS truck stopped in front of our house that afternoon, I called Jack to the door so we could see what it was. Though it seemed like the anticipation was killing him, I made sure to take our time and open each part very carefully. First, we looked to see who sent it and where it came from. Then I had him shake the big, sturdy cardboard box to guess what was inside (he could hardly lift it up). I slowly cut the tape with a utility knife and inside were two beautifully wrapped gift boxes ... and lots of plastic air pockets as cushioning. Again, I encouraged him to shake the individual boxes to listen for their contents. He made some pretty outlandish guesses. Finally, we untied the grosgrain ribbon, freed the signature Williams-Sonoma cookie cutters and he tore apart the wrapping paper.

Popping the pile of packaging.

We couldn't wait to get to work, and make our multi-legged masterpiece. We filled every other well in the pan with yellow cake batter, then added cocoa to the rest to fill the remaining four wells with our newly created chocolate batter. (Likewise, we dusted some dry cake mix that we had set aside in the yellow cake wells, and sprinkled cocoa in the rest of them to "flour" the chocolate sections.) After it baked and cooled, we decorated our homemade creature with edible eyes, wiggly antennae and magnificent markings, using the colorful sanding sugars, little jimmies and nonpareils.

It was a real treat. Thanks Nash!