Meet the Ratties!!

My daughter has 2 new additions to her little furry family. June Bug & Rat Bastard. (She named hers and her husband named his...I'll let you figure out who named who.) Two tiny little girls. Full of curiosity and wiggly little pink noses. They are precious!



Part of their home is a little Dr. Who box. Which they are quite fond of.



Another part of their home is a blue tunnel that they absolutely adore!





Getting all snuggly in my hand. It is not as easy as one might think to hold a tiny June Bug and take her picture. But I managed.



And here is little Rat Bastard checking out the situation.



This is pretty much how Davis looked the whole time. Very intense. Concentrating. Alert.



One last one of June Bug looking up at me from my lap.

Afternoon on the front porch

I went out with Nikki this morning. We shopped and had fun in general. I brought home a few things. This was Chance's reaction to a new item he saw on the front porch.



And this was the item that held his attention.







Then I moved on to take other pictures. Green.



And he moved on too. To roll in something in the yard that was plenty interesting.

Chance...in Black & White

Felt black and white today. It was either rainy or sunny. Never in between. Chance was confused as to why all the photos.


“dogs and angels are not
very far apart”― Charles Bukowski, The People Look Like Flowers at Last


But, dang. He is a striking fellow.

Chance on a rainy afternoon

Chance occupied himself with his favorite toy...a nerf football. With a squeaker. He adores the squeaker!

A walk after dinner

Chance & I walked to the park by our house after dinner. I took a couple of pictures.

St. Louis...VP Fair & More!

After breakfast with the family, we were off and running. Went over to St. Louis with Nikki, Daniel & Luke.

We finally found the general location of the VP Fair (after much debate and discussion about Skinker). I feel like we circled the fair several times before finally honing in on it. This year, for reasons only the St. Louis officials are privy to, the fair was in Forest Park. Now let me begin by saying, Forest Park is a beautiful park. Lovely. Green. Lush. And large. Very, very large. I also might add we, the fair goers, were not allowed to park in Forest Park. I somehow hold the St. Louis officials responsible for this. You're probably thinking..."what is the big deal? Grab a shuttle!" Wrong. A slight oversight by the St. Louis officials. No shuttles. Parking was far away and expensive. To the tune of $30 and up.

Officials announced the location for the next Fair St. Louis, which won’t be on the grounds of the Gateway Arch in 2014 because a $380 million renovation of the area.

I feel like St. Louis really dropped the ball on this one. The VP Fair was fun downtown. But in the park it was, well, bland. And very awkward to get to. But I digress.

We did eventually obtain a parking spot. Somewhere on the other side of I-64, and walked through the zoo, up and down some hills to finally get to the fair in the middle of the park. In hindsight, I wish we had just spent the day at the zoo. The only saving grace was the Art Museum. So trip not a complete fizz. Anyway. We overcame and still had a great time.



Going into the Zoo (which, BTW, is the best Zoo in the world...AND it's FREE!!) this girl was sitting in a rocky area with this sweet little pup in her lap.



I did see this free roaming peacock!







Then we exited the Zoo and made our way into Forest Park.



And that lead us to a most magical place...The St. Louis Art Museum!! Currently on view is Impressionist France.





In the entry hall was this exhibit. My most favorite.

Louise Bourgeois
American (born France), 1911–2010
Cell (Three White Marble Spheres) offers an ambiguous environment of protection and imprisonment, freedom and surveillance. Here three marble spheres are enclosed in a box-like structure of rusted steel, mesh, and panes of glass, some broken. Two larger spheres both shelter and overshadow the smaller sphere between them.

My people. Soaking the culture.



This was my most favorite picture of the day. Timing. All in the timing.



And we began winding back through the zoo across the interstate to our car. (Bitter? No! Not at all!!)



As we made our way through the park, I asked Nikki to strike a pose. I wanted to try a new photography method I have been reading about. The Brenizer Method. If you're interested, this picture is a composite of 30 separate images.





I saw a dandelion. YUP. Something we don't see in Florida. So I had to take a picture.



The next day we were on our way home. We crossed a bridge that was new to us...The Stan Musial Bridge. Really a pretty bridge!



Just some skyline shots of St. Louis from the interstate.



A little girl on the shuttle (from car rental to airport...see even they can get it right! Shuttles people. Shuttles!) She had the biggest eyes. Mesmerizing.



Then someone else wanted his picture taken! Nothing like a bumpy ride to try to take pictures.



Last stop in St. Louis...Lambert Airport.