Halloween trip to MBG

Arline and I went to MBG to see if we could find any Fall color.  It has been distinctly absent this year and we really didn't find much, even in the Japanese Garden.  We did go in the Climatron for a change as it wasn't that warm.  We can always find something flowering in there

I really love ferns and seem to be accumulating quite a few at home these days, these are lovely and I'm sure loving the humidity

They moved the Chihuly into the Climatron while they are working on the new entrance-I don't know if this is its new home permanently or whether it'll get moved again once construction is complete

We found Groot asleep in the Children's Garden!!!

This was the best I could do with Fall color!!!

Last trip to MBG with Ben for a while

In the spirit of "doing things one last time" before Ben leaves for Madrid, we met Arline at MBG.  

In the spirit of "who can get the best picture?", I zoomed in on this dragonfly.....

The tree I always try to get a picture of

We ALWAYS have to check out the stumpery!!!!

My attempt at an "artistic" picture

I love the gourds in the Kemper Center at this time of the year

Nice bank of sunflowers and not too tall

I really want to test how much weight these can actually hold, but don't want to find out it's less than I weigh!!!!

Christmas 2020

I think a lot of families would say they had more gifts than usual this year, we certainly did.  Not sure if it's a result of boredom and online ordering, overcompensation for lack of social interaction, or extra funds for not eating out etc.  Regardless, we seem to have a lot this year and I didn't get much for anyone else since we aren't seeing anyone this year.....

Ben wanted to open the bag from Arline first, she bought him these Harry Potter pajamas

Ben was in charge of distribution (as usual!)

Jan and Julie got Ben a bunch of "new house stuff" this year

I finally got Sam's Beatles magnets from Liverpool framed-after 2 years!!!!!

Maggie got her usual "things to keep Maggie occupied" gifts a.k.a. "what will keep Maggie off her phone" gifts.  So far, they are not working-mostly because we got her a new phone!!!!!

Gift of the day-Jan and Julie got a Ben a kitchen book, has recipes but also pointers for starting off on your own, was a great idea

We had beef tenderloin for dinner-still staying away from the turkey

Ben wanted apple pie

I even moved my office up into Ben's room so we could eat at the dining table

Christmas Day 2019

Well, I feel like I waited until the last minute to do everything this year, but eventually, I got everything done.  I guess I could have moved the stinky shoes from under the Christmas tree!!!!

 I even set the table on Christmas Eve so that I didn't need to do it while I was cooking

 Sam and I got up at our usual time-long before Ben and Maggie surfaced.  Maggie got up around 8 and just went straight for the TV as usual.  Ben never grows out of Christmas though, and was all about it once he dragged himself out of bed!!!!

 Ben passed all the presents out to everyone.  This was the first year he had bought something for everyone and he was very anxious to hand them out and get a verdict

 Ben bought Maggie a Jack-Jack Pez dispenser

 And he bought her this shirt, she hasn't taken it off since!!!!

 We bought Maggie this jacket-hopefully she will wear it !!!!

 Sam wanted a hat to keep his head warm in the cold weather!!!!  He wears it rather well.....

 Ben looks like it's all a serious affair!!!!

 Ben bought me an absolutely beautiful designer skirt, but it was way too short for me.  He sees me as a 20-something, 6 ft, 100 lb supermodel!!!!  I am always talking about how old I am and how I need to lose weight etc.  He always replies "oh mum, you're not old/fat/etc"  I need to remember that he sees me as doing no wrong and I should not talk badly about myself.
The weather was beautiful again this year-almost 70 degrees.  Ben sat outside on the patio sunbathing..

 Ben, Maggie and I went for a walk around Creve Coeur lake while Sam went bike riding

 Jan and Julie came for dinner.  We sat outside on the patio for a while, such a nice thing to do on Christmas Day

Yet another successful year

Easter Sunday 2019

It was a perfect Easter Sunday day this year. The weather was really fantastic.  While Maggie was with Jan and Julie, Ben and I went for a quick walk around Forest Park.  He drove my car for the first time, I think he was pretty impressed!!!! 
We walked around Grand Basin and I took this photo of the Art Museum, it always looks lovely up on the hill

Grand Basin

The dogwoods have been fantastic this year

Ben and I went over to Jan and Julie's for lunch.  They had some friends from church, so it was a nice gathering.  Perfect day to sit out and enjoy the sun!!

Dyeing Easter Eggs

No Ben this year!!!!  We could not make all of our schedules align so we had to dye eggs without him this year.  Took us a bit longer and was much quieter!!!!!

Arline got new kits that can make a marble effect on the eggs, I gave it the seal of approval!!!!!

These are our eggs

Arline's eggs

Not a bad result for 2019

Ben's 18th birthday dinner

We had Ben's birthday dinner the Monday before his birthday because he was doing scholar bowl after school on his birthday.  He wanted to go to the Melting Pot for his birthday.  We had never been before.  It was pretty expensive but definitely worth it because it's more of an event than a dinner!!!!!

We decided to do the four course dinner, which includes a cheese fondue, salad, entree and chocolate dessert.  Because we had a larger party, we got to choose two of each dip.  The cheese fondue was fabulous, I'd have been happy just with that.  Surprisingly, the best combination was with the apple!!!

Ben and Arline

Ben and Julie

After the salad, we had entrees.  Each person can choose 3 or 4 meats to go with the cooking method.  We had a basic vegetable broth and this lovely coq au vin broth.  Everyone got different meats (or vegetables) to go with it.

Maggie eating her chicken

Ben got a birthday cake!!!!!

I'd say the chocolate course was the best, but we were all pretty full by that time!!!  We got a dark chocolate salted caramel and the kids wanted S'mores

Lots of goodies to dip in the chocolate!!!!