April featured us settling in to homeschooling and the pandemic — well, as best we could. Highlights included getting a tumble track for the dining room; visiting Holly for her birthday; a family Zoom talent show; Passover on zoom; Easter; hiking with the kids; and enjoying good spring weather. You can always go to the […]
March 2020 is when everything changed — pandemic hit, spring break basically got cancelled, kids started staying home from school, etc. We still managed to have some fun: some activities before everything got shut down (gymnastics meet, Brynn’s school field trip, ice skating, and then of course lots of time around the house. You can […]
Highlights from February: Georgie at Doggie Daycare, gymnastics, Valentine’s Day parties at school, Han’s Birthday, Brynn’s Birthday, trip for Esme’s gymnastics meet / water park fun. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
We forgot that we had saved a bunch of pictures that the teachers had taken and sent in the classrooms in the Fall of 2019 (Brynn 3rd grade; Han 2nd), including first day of school, class projects, etc. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and […]
Highlights from January 2020: Han at school, Georgie at doggy day care, time with friends and neighbors (and their cats!), Brynn’s guitar recital, Esme’s gymnastics meets, Gigi’s birthday, Brynn’s school choir concert (and her solo!), and fun around the house. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the […]
Aah, to see the world through the eyes of a child. We can’t experience that, but we can get pretty close but looking at all the photos/videos/screenshots the kids took in 2019 with “their” devices (for Esme, it’s her phone; for Brynn and Han, it’s old iPhones that we repurposed and let them use mainly […]
We’re waaaaaay behind on posting, but trying to make our way through the backlog. Here’s some highlights of December 2019: Georgie at doggy daycare; home recedorating; Esme band concert, Brynn guitar recital, and Brynn choir concert; Jeff trip to DC; gymnastics; attempts at our Holiday Card; Brynn and Han school holiday parties; Brynn ice skating; […]
As has become the tradition, we headed to Colorado for winter break and spent a week with Mimi, Papa and Uncle Patrick. In addition to getting to celebrate Christmas (and Hanukkah!), we got to play on the new zipline they got for the kids, feed the chickens, play with the dogs, visit Papa at work, […]
Highlights from November: Kids in the paper; annual post-Halloween candy pancakes; Esme gymnastics meet; cosmic skate; Han school concert; weekend in Chicago for family fun + Skalars concert; Jeff’s 40th birthday; Fakesgiving; Jeff’s trip to Lisbon. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or […]
Annual “official” school pictures for the 2019-2020 school year (Esme, 6th grade; Brynn, 3rd grade; Han, 2nd grade) You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
Highlights from October included: Esme and her trombone; Gigi’s cat Maxi; Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Gardens; Aunt Debbie’s visit; Mimi’s visit; Leslie’s work trip to China; Halloween. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
Highlights from September include: Remodel pictures; Axe throwing; lots of Georgie; fun around town and around the house. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
August was fun! Brynn’s plays/performances, Esme’s birthday party, Robyn and Debbie visit, Leslie and Jenine’s Drag Cruise, new bikes, first day of school, welcome Georgie to the family, fun around the St. Louis area and at home You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video […]
Highlights from July: Webster Groves Community Days (4th of July Carnival); Brynn performing arts camp; trip to Pigeon Forge; Jeff triathlon; fun around the house. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
Highlights from June: Brynn softball; trip to Six Flags; giant slide at Calum’s birthday party; remodel in progress; Blues win the Stanley Cup! You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
Highlights from May: End-of-school year; Saylor’s birthday party; remodeling begins; Brynn softball; Brynn talent show. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
Well, it’s taken us only about 6 months to recap the China trip! Day 13 was our last full day in China. We started out with a trip to the Shanghai World Financial Center, one of the tallest buildings in the world. It was an amazing view, though Dad and Brynn were a bit unnerved […]
Well, as you can tell (given that it’s November and we’re just now posting this) we’ve been a bit behind on posting for various reasons. We’re trying to get caught up. With that out of the way… Day 12 in China started out in Shanghai, and then a long bus ride to Suzhou. The main […]
Today was an important but challenging day. We went to visit the Shanghai Children’s Welfare Institute, the orphanage that Han lived in from when he was ~1 month old until we adopted him. No one was really “excited” about visiting but we knew it was an important thing to do. Esme didn’t want to visit […]
Today was a pretty easy day, and no one was complaining. Our flight from Guilin to Shanghai wasn’t until the afternoon, so we didn’t need to leave the hotel until 12:30. We slept in, had a nice leisurely breakfast, and went swimming. We got the whole bus to ourselves on the way to the airport! […]
Today we took a “side trip” from Guilin to Yangshuo, about a 90 minute drive from the city center. The rivers were all high from the recent rains but our guides were able to find us a place that was still open for the bamboo rafting we had been hoping for. It was a lot […]
Day 8 was our first full day in Guilin. It’s a smaller city — “only” 700,000 people — but known for its natural beauty. Our first stop was a local tea farm; actually, a government-run tea research farm where they test out different ways to (better) grow tea. We learned more about tea in 10 […]
Our one day in Chengdu centered around the thing we had all probably been looking forward to most out of the trip — PANDAS! Chengdu is home to the Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding — basically, a zoo that consists almost entirely of pandas. It’s a beautiful facility and we had a great (if […]
Our day started out in Donghan Village where we spent the night with a local family. While the immediate “village” was fairly small, the Donghan village apparently has a population of 50,000 people, and there were giant high rise apartments nearby. We were expecting a bit more of a rural/farm-type atmosphere, but it was still […]
This was a fun day! Wet, but fun. We started with a trip to the Terra Cotta Warrior museum / factory. The kids (meaning – anyone who’s not a parent!) got to make their own warrior (though they couldn’t keep it, since it takes a few days for them to dry, be fired in the […]
Day 4 we arrived in Xi’an via the overnight “soft sleeper train.” It was a fun experience and everyone actually slept reasonably well — the slow rocking of the train all night probably helped, though “soft” does not describe the hardness of the beds. After we checked into the hotel and freshened up, we enjoyed […]
Our second full day in China was a hot one. We started off by being able to sleep in a bit, which was nice because it was a long day as well. We went to the Temple of Heaven, which was magnificent but we spent most of the time trying to find shade. The grounds […]
Our second day in China (and first “full” day) started off with a visit to the Jade “museum.” We say “museum” because it was more of a big store/gift shop with a short tour/demonstration, but it was still entertaining. We got to see some amazing jade sculptures/carvings/artwork, learn more about all of the different types […]
Hello from Beijing! We had a pretty good first day(ish) in our trip to China. Mimi flew in to St Louis on Thursday night. Friday morning we left the house and began our ~20hour trip. Our flight to Chicago was uneventful, and a tight connection got us to our China flight just on time. The […]
Highlights from April: School field trips and projects, Brynn’s “Read, Right + Run,” Go! St. Louis Marathon/Relay, Leslie + Esme + Brynn “Spa Day,” metal detecting in the front yard, our “temporarily adopted dog” Nyla (long story), Easter party, Han learns to ride his bike without training wheels, Brynn guitar recital, ice skating lessons, and […]
Jeff and Leslie signed up to run the Go St. Louis Marathon Relay with their friends Jen and David. Leslie got sick and couldn’t run so Jen and David got a sub to fill in. Jeff ran anyway and despite his slowness — and his shenanigans at the finish line — the team still did […]
Highlights from March included: Brynn’s field trip to the Magic House (China exhibit!); gymnastics meets; fun at school and around the house. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
We’re a bit behind on posting this… but a few months ago we had a nice chance to have Jeff’s uncles (Grandpa’s brothers) and aunt visit. It’d been a while since Nevin and Gail had been to St. Louis and this was Uncle Jay’s first time getting to meet Leslie and the kids. We had […]
For spring break this year, we headed to Washington DC to spend a few days with Jeff’s sister Stephanie and her family, and then spent the week exploring all of the “touristy” stuff in the city. Highlights with the Kilpatricks included visiting the Mansion on O Street, Duck Donuts, the local Farmer’s market, and the […]
We’re a bit behind on posting these, as you can tell by the fact that it’s mid-April now…. but maybe we’re just still recovering from a busy busy February! Highlights included a trip to Chicago for Esme’s gymnastics meet, Brynn starting ice skating lessons, Chinese/Lunar New Year, Han’s trip to the ER (he’s fine now!), […]
Highlights from January included: Gigi reading to Brynn’s class at school; Clark ice skating party; Esme’s DARE Graduation; Snow!; Esme’s gymnastics meets; and Gigi’s birthday. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
Every year Esme’s gym hosts the Meet Me In St. Louis gymnastics meet, and this year we were able to get a photographer to get some nice pictures of her competing. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all of the pictures and video or order prints directly from SmugMug.
The cold and dreary winter weather got a little bit brighter with some visitors in January — Jeff’s aunt Debbie, uncle Nick, cousin Robyn and her husband Cody. The prospect of bad weather (which luckily wasn’t as bad as we were expecting) meant we didn’t plan too much, but we did get to spend a […]
Lots of fun in December, including: School projects and parties; Esme’s first gymnastics meet of the season; Hanukkah; soccer; Esme’s winter play/musical/concert; New Year’s Eve.
Given the way Christmas and New Years’ fell on the calendar this year, and how/when we scheduled our trip to Colorado, we had 5-6 days between when we got back from visiting Mimi and Papa and until work/school started back up again, so we figured we’d take advantage of it and spend a few days in Kansas City. We hadn’t been since November 2014, and Han hadn’t ever been, so we booked a few nights at Great Wolf Lodge, and also took advantage of some of the kid-friendly things at Crown Center, including Fritz’s Railroad Restaurant, the Legoland Discovery Center (where we met up with our neighbors the Starbucks who were in KC visiting family), and Crayola Cafe.
Skiing, hot springs, playing in the snow, and more highlights from our 2018 trip
Highlights from November included: a visit to the Healthworks museum; seeing Santa in Old Webster; Fakesgiving; Dad’s birthday; Snow Day!; Garden Glow at the Missouri Botanical Gardens; Christmas lights on our street; walking through Winter Wonderland at Tilles Park; and Brynn’s holiday concert (photos and videography by Han).
Since The Kilpatricks were in town for Thanksgiving, we decided to take the opportunity to get some “big” family pictures taken. Thanks to our friend Emily (and her assistant — and Esme’s friend — Katie) for the great photos. The weather even cooperated and we were able to get some pictures outside!
Stephanie, Dave, Ian and Celia visit St. Louis for Thanksgiving
October was a fun (and warm!) month. Highlights included: Jeff and Leslie travel for work (separately); Brynn Girl Scouts; Best of Missouri Market at the Missouri Botanical Gardens; Forest Park Forever Fall Funfest; lots of lost teeth; and lots of Halloween-related activities. You can always go to the SmugMug gallery to view or download all […]
The kids’ school pictures turned out great this year!
September was a good month! Lots of fun stuff including: Esme reading to Brynn’s class at school (and lots of other school pictures); last day at the pool for the summer; lots of fun around the neighborhood; Families with Children from China Fall Picnic; herd of elk at Lone Elk Park; apple and pumpkin picking at Braeutigam’s.
Jeff’s aunt Debbie and uncle Nick made the trip up from Atlanta to spend the weekend in St. Louis to visit us and GiGi and Grandpa. We spent a lot of good time together hanging out, watching movies, and looking over old family pictures, plus ventured out to do some pottery painting and sample some of the Bunches’ favorite St. Louis eateries (lots of treats!)
Highlights from August included: Esme’s 10th birthday; Brynn’s summer plays; neighborhood block party; and first day(s) of school.
Late on recapping July, but here were the highlights: Bike riding, bowling, Esme’s first sleepaway camp (in Tennessee!), Brynn’s “pop star” camp, Leslie’s trip to Indianapolis, Summer School showcases, fun at Faust Park / the Butterfly House.
Summer family vacation to Gulf Shores, AL
Aunt Stephanie , Uncle Dave, and cousins Ian and Celia came to visit for the week of 4th of July
June was a fun month — here’s a recap: Brynn’s trip to the zoo with her girl scout troop; Han’s last soccer game of the session/season; birthday parties (not our kids); Esme gets a cavity filled; Leslie makes the (online) paper; trip to Six Flags; and first trip to Ted Drewes of the season.
Highlights from May included: Jeff’s new scooter; Samara’s birthday; Justin Roberts concert; Cardianals game; Jeff and Leslie’s trip to Las Vegas; last day of school; and fun around St. Louis.
What a trip! Jeff and Leslie got to spend a week in Bali (plus ~2 days of travel time on each end to get to/from there) and it was fantastic! Jeff won an award at work and we got to be part of his company’s annual “Winner’s Circle” trip with 70 (!) of his colleagues plus each of their guests (!!).
Highlights from April included: Easter egg hunting; Read Right and Run race in Forest Park; Clark school bowling party; Esme’s character choir concert; Han’s school field trip to the zoo; Brynn’s 1st Grade Concert; Brynn’s field trip to the wild bird sanctuary; Chinese Culture festival at the Botanical Gardens; Han’s Kindergarten concert; and Brynn’s (2nd ever!) guitar recital.
March flew by! Highlights included: hanging out with Samara and Sailor; fun at the library; gymnastics; “Superhero Day” at Esme’s school; Jeff and Esme’s trip to Springfield, MO for the Xcel Silver state gymnastics meet; opening day of the season at Six Flags; Easter Egg hunt at Southwest park.
All about our spring break trip to Jamaica
Looking at the pictures from February 2018, it seems like only a few things things happened — Brynn and Han had their birthdays (7 and 6, respectively) and Esme had 2 gymnastics meets — because that’s about 98% of our pictures. There were some other things that went on, of course, but those were definitely the highlights!
It was a fun start to the new year! Highlights of the month included: New Year’s Eve with Samara (and Sailor and Byron and Wendy); Esme gymnastics meet(s); ice skating, rock climbing, and roller skating (most due to birthday parties); weekend in Chicago (for a gymnastics meet), including a fun day at the Museum of Science and Industry; and Han’s 100th day at school.
Highlights from December included (but were not limited to)… Esme and Dad go go-karting (Esme was scared at first but had a lot of fun); ice skating; fun at the Magic House; celebrating Hanukkah with GiGi and Grandpa; Esme’s holiday choir concert; Brynn’s winter party at school; hanging out at Byron and Wendy’s with Samara and Saylor, and then New Year’s with them at our house.
While the midwest (and east coast) was facing record-low temperatures, we escaped to Colorado for Christmas week where it was unseasonably warm. Mimi and Papa had been without snow until a few days before we arrived, and then after we landed on Christmas Eve, some more snow fell into Christmas morning, at least allowing us to do a bit of sledding and snowman building.
There wasn’t enough snow to go skiing, but we made do, having lots of fun around the house making “bath bombs” and soap, snow ice cream, buttermilk pie, and playing with all the new toys and games (lots of fun new card games!) the kids got for Christmas. We went to Paonia one day to visit Papa at work and have lunch; we drove to Grand Junction to have a fun “kids day” (trampoline park, McDonalds playground, and Chuck e Cheese) at to Ouray for the Hot Springs.
We had a lot of good fun with Mimi, Papa and Uncle Patrick and can’t wait to do it again soon!
Highlights from November included: Esme’s first Xcel Silver gymnastics meet; Fakesgiving; Brynn’s first guitar recital; Thanksgiving weekend, including trips to the Botanical Gardens, Tilles Park Winter Wonderland, raking leaves, our now-a-bit-of-a-tradition Black Friday mini golf, raking leaves, trip to the cat cafe, Garden Glow at the Botanical Gardens, and putting up Christmas lights and decorations.
Highlights from October: Music and gymnastics fun (not at the same time); Esme Girl Scout field trip (with MiMi!); Brynn soccer; Neighborhood block party; Han pumpkin patch field trip; and plenty of Halloween parties and festivities.
Esme: 4th grade; Brynn: 1st grade; Han: Kindergarten
We were very excited to spend the weekend in Atlanta and celebrate Jeff’s cousin Robyn and her wedding to our now-cousin-in-law Cody! They are fantastic people and a fantastic couple and everyone had a great time. The kids were SUPER excited to get to be in the wedding too!
Highlights from September included: Brynn at school and on a field trip; Brynn and Han school pictures; lemonade stand; last day at the pool; LouFest; gymnastics (both at gymnastics and around the house); Han’s short stint in karate; Leslie’s trip to DC; Brynn soccer; fall FCC picnic; apple picking; Esme’s girl scout weekend; Samara’s 2nd birthday; and fun around the house and with friends.
Here’s some of the highlights from August: Brynn performed in a musical/play; fun with neighbors and friends; first day of school (Esme: 4th; Brynn: 1st; Han: Kindergarten); the total eclipse; Jeff and Esme’s ninja warrior day; and lots of other random stuff.
Esme decided she wanted to have her 9th birthday party at SkyZone, so the kids (well, girls, really, except for Han) had a great time on the trampolines, rock climbing wall, ninja warrior course, warped wall, slackline, jousting, and other fun stuff. Mom and dad even got to jump too! Everyone had a great time.
We were lucky to have Jeff’s sister (Aunt Stephanie) and her kids (Cousins Ian and Celia) visit for a long weekend back in July. The cousins had a great time together — highlights included a trip to the Science Center and the whole family going to a Cardinals game as a belated Father’s Day / Birthday gift for Grandpa.
Highlights from July included: 4th of July Parade; Jackson’s birthday party; Jeff and Leslie attend a karaoke party; trip to Six Flags; and lots of fun at home with friends/neighbors and around St. Louis.
It’s been a busy summer! Highlights of June included: Esme’s first end-of-season gymnastics banquet (and she got the “most improved” award!); sleepovers and fun with friends/neighbors; Webster Groves Art Fair; Han at swim camp; Father’s day; “Kickstarters” running club; Gavin’s roller skating birthday party; Isaac’s birthday party.
For the second year in a row, our big summer vacation was to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We looked at going to some different places, but everyone enjoyed it so much, so we went to the same hotel we were at last year. Mimi and PaPa came along again also and we had a fantastic time. Highlights included: “Fishing” in the ocean; Esme and Dad renting a waverunner; lots of jumping into the pool (over and over and over); a day trip to Xel-Ha; tons of good food and fun stuff to see and do.
Han at school, Brynn’s kindergarten concert, Esme at the Magic House and days off school with Gigi and Grandpa, seeing Byron and Wendy (and, more importantly, baby Saylor and Samara too), lots of fun with friends, Esme at Kyra’s paintball birthday party, Mother’s Day brunch, Brynn playing guitar in the talent show at school, Han’s end-of-school party, last days of school, lots of school projects/artwork, and good family time.
April was a month of fun! The weather started turning nice so we had lots of time outside, playing in the yard and hanging with the neighbors. Other fun included: watching the Go! St. Louis Half-Marathon and Marathon; Easter party at Donna’s, Chinese Culture days at the Botanical Gardens, and “Friendship Party” at Han’s school.
March 2017 featured fun with the neighbors, Girl Scouts cookie sale, guitar lessons, paint night, fun at the Magic House, Han getting his tonsils out, and Esme’s state gymnastics meet.
We loaded the family into the minivan and covered 1800+ miles for Spring Break this year! We spent 1 night in Nashville, 1 night in Asheville, then arrived in Raleigh to hang out with our friends The Veetys for a few days before going to Charlotte together for fun at Great Wolf Lodge… then an overnight in Lexington, KY before getting back home.
February is always a busy month with 3 family birthdays and lots of other events. Here’s a bunch of pictures from all the fun, including: Han, Brynn and Han at school; fun at the Magic House; National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day; Esme doing pottery with her Girl Scouts troop; going to the movies; Esme gymnastics meet(s); Mom’s birthday lunch (outside! in February!); Han’s birthday party at our house; Brynn’s ice skating birthday party; Han’s birthday trip to the Zoo (so warm!); Mimi visiting; Mom and Mimi’s women’s weekend trip; volunteering at the food pantry; and Brynn’s guitar lesson (she’s learning!).
Fun stuff from January included: Esme and Han at school; Esme’s first piano recital; Esme’s gymnastics meet; birthday parties; the family goes bowling; trip to Lake of the Ozarks for Esme’s gymnastics meet; and Chinese New Year.
Highlights of the month included: our 2016 holiday card; Esme’s first (and second!) gymnastics meet; Han “field trips” at school; Brynn’s new guitar (lessons start in January); Esme’s 3rd grade holiday concert at school; fun with faceswap and other photo filters; Esme and Brynn’s holiday parties at school; New Year’s Eve with baby Samara.
We got to spend about a week in Colorado over the holidays (both Christmas AND Hanukkah!) with MiMi, PaPa, and Uncle Patrick.
There was a lot of fun stuff in November, including: Esme learning to ride her bike; our annual post-Halloween Halloween Candy Pancakes; fun at the Science Center and Missouri History Museum; Esme’s first gymnastics meet; Han’s PJ day at school; our 11th Annual Fakesgiving; and fun at school and around the house.
We had a nice time in Atlanta over Thanksgiving with Jeff’s side of the family. Highlights included roller skating, a trip to the playground on Thanksgiving day, a production of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer at the Center for Puppetry Arts, a walk on the Atlanta Beltline, and lots of fun time playing together.
It’d been almost a year since we got family pictures taken, so we figured we were about due. The kids were fairly cooperative — Han didn’t want to get his picture taken by himself, and insisted on holding the stuffed animal (bunny? dog?) that they had at the picture studio which probably has who-knows-how-many germs on it. Brynn had a bit of sass in her that day, but it actually translated well to some cute pictures. Other than that, we think they turned out pretty well, or about as well as you could expect for 3 young kids.
We’re a bit late getting these posted, but here’s a recap of October: Han and Esme at school (and field trips!); Esme’s girl scout field trip; birthday parties; pumpkin; fun at the Magic House; Esme and Brynn playing around with the iPad camera at home; Han in his hand-me-down Iron Man costume; Brynn’s Kindergarten consecration at temple; various Halloween festivities; Brynn’s “Name of the Day” book from school.
We had a special set of visitors for Labor Day weekend — Jeff’s aunt Debbie and uncle Nick, cousin Robyn, and her fiancé Cody.
Highlights included: celebrating Esme’s birthday; visiting the Magic House, City Museum, and Zoo; playing at GiGi and Grandpa’s house and in our backyard; and swimming!
In this month’s batch of photos: Esme at school and at Mara’s birthday party; Han at school; fun at the Magic House, bowling, Tower Grove Park, and a back-to-school picnic; Brynn learns to ride her bike without training wheels; first day of school; big machines day at the church behind our house; swimming and diving; and fun around the house.
Can you believe this girl is 8?!
We had a great birthday weekend. On Saturday, Esme first got to celebrate with gymnastics party with her friends — as you can see, everyone had a great time. Esme got to use some of her Target gift cards on Sunday and practiced gymnastics on her new tumbling mat that mom and dad got her. On Tuesday, Aunt Stephanie and Cousins Ian and Celia arrived and we got to celebrate her actual birthday day, including a FaceTime with MiMi and PaPa.
This month’s photos include: Webster Groves Community Days (July 4 carnival); July 4 weekend; trip to the Science Center; July 4 picnic at neighbor Gary’s; swim camp; pictures around the house, taken by the kids (a lot of them, many of them blurry, but it’s fun to see their “perspective”!); animals at the library; launching model rockets; paddle boating and fun in Forest Park; pen pal letters from/to (second) cousin Ellie; Jackson’s birthday party.
In this month’s photos: running in the Macklind Mile; celebrating Grandpa’s birthday; birthday parties; trips to outdoor music/festivals; going on a miniature train ride; and lots of fun around the house and with our friends.
Once again we’re a bit behind on posting these, but it’s just a sign that we’ve been enjoying summer a lot! May brought us a new addition to the family — our Au Pair Felicia, who joined us from China, and has been setting in well and getting to experience a lot of fun things about St. Louis already! Also in May: Mother’s Day in Lafayette Park; end of the school year; Magic House; Jane’s birthday party; trip to the Zoo; lots of gymnastics around the house; picnics and fun in the backyard; trips around the area with Felicia.
We just got back from a fantastic week in Playa del Carmen (just south of Cancun) with Mimi, Papa, and Uncle Patrick.
We’re a bit behind, if you couldn’t tell, given that it’s June 1 and we’re just now posting pictures and video from April. We’ve had a busy but fun spring. April’s activities included: Fun with friends, 2nd Grade Circus, Mimi and Papa visiting, lots of great time outside in the nice spring weather, haircuts, sewing with Gigi, Olympics at gymnastics, and some crazy spring weather!
In this month’s photos: Han and Brynn at school; Esme’s “Persuasive Writing” assignment; fun around the house; Brynn at one of her friends’ birthday parties (honestly can’t remember who — we’ve been to so many parties lately); Brynn and Han ice skating (Olivia took them for their first time!); Easter at “Aunt” Donna’s.
A recap of our spring break trip to Disney World
Brynn turned 5. Han turned 4. We celebrated at home. We celebrated with a party. The big excitement was that Silly Jilly came to the party and did balloons, magic, and some comedy bits that went over great with the 3-6 set. Esme and her friend Mara contributed some face painting. It was a bit crazy but everyone had a good time and it was quite the memorable event!
In this month’s photos: the kids at school; Esme’s girl scout trip to the firehouse; artwork; Esme loses another tooth; Esme’s Maker Faire at school Mensch Makers at temple; fun outside in the nice weather; birthday parties; more artwork; and a lemonade stand (in February!).
This month’s photos include: Esme’s overly dramatic note to mom and dad (when we took away her Chromebook because she wasn’t listening to us); obstacle course and fun at gymnastics; Brynn and Han at school; Magic House; neighborhood friends; buying presents to donate to kids who don’t have presents on their birthdays; video games and fun at America’s Pizza Company; welcoming Gigi and Grandpa to St. Louis; birthday parties; fun outside and around the house.
December was a fun month to wrap up 2015, including: Brynn and Han at school; singing at home; Esme’s school holiday musical; Han visits the fire station; annual Hanukkah Party at the Baker-Schmidt’s; winter break bowling; Santas on the Loose 5k and Kids Run; Hanukkah and Christmas lights at home; watching our babysitter Olivia at the Everyday Circus; Hanukkah presents; Pickleball; and lots more artwork!
We hadn’t been to Colorado in 2 years — and Han had never been there — so we packed up the family for a week plus in Colorado with Mimi and Papa for our winter break vacation.
It’d been a while since we had some family photos taken, and we bought some nice traditional Chinese outfits for the kids last year when we were in China and they are starting to grow out of them, so we figured it was a good time.
In this month’s photos and videos: the kids at school (and Esme on field trips); day-after-Halloween Halloween candy pancakes (a new tradition, hopefully!); bike riding; Holiday Walk in Old Webster, including Santa and the Bubble Truck; a trip to America’s Incredible Pizza Co. with neighbors Meredith and Allison; our 11th Annual Fakesgiving celebration; walking through the Christmas lights at Tilles Park; putting up the Christmas tree and holiday decorations (and trying to get a good picture of the kids); trying to get some good “portrait” pictures for our 2015 holiday card (you’ll see it soon enough!); and neighbor Gary’s annual Christmas light extravaganza.
Recap of our Thanksgiving 2015 trip to Atlanta
Pictures from the visit plus of GiGi and Grandpa’s new condo in St. Louis!
In this month’s batch of photos: Esme at school (and field trips); a bunch of random videos; Han and Brynn at school; Dad visiting Brynn and Han at school to play the vibraphone; at the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Gardens; Esme and Mom at a Girl Scouts field trip; Han at (yet another trip to) the Emergency room (he was fine, ended up with just a band-aid); pre-Halloween at Six Flags; first trip to the St. Louis IKEA; fun at the Magic House; fun at home; Jeff mountain biking; schoolwork and stories; Han enjoying lunch out with Mom.
Halloween isn’t just a day, it’s a week, if not the whole month! We’ve long found that costumes get worn several times for various events around town.
This year was special because it was the first time Han had been trick-or-treating before! He quickly got the hang of it and was a fan (though what 3-year-old wouldn’t be a fan of getting tons of free candy?!)
Pictures include dad trick-or-treating with Han and Brynn in Old Webster; the Halloween party at Esme’s school; Halloween day-of dress-up and neighborhood party; and trick-or-treating itself. There were a few other things we didn’t get pictures of that week (e.g. Magic House Halloween party) but you get the idea.
Mimi had fall break from school and wanted to come out and visit the grandkids, so she and Aunt Jackie (Mimi’s sister) came out for a long weekend. Everyone had a great time — the weather was fantastic, so we spent a lot of it outside. Highlights included fall fun in downtown Kirkwood, playing in the backyard, visiting Brynn and Han’s school to read books, getting to watch the kids do gymnastics, and some good meals (and dessert)!
In this month’s photos: The kids at school; fun in the backyard; Han’s first self-portrait; mini golf and video games at St. Louis’s Incredible Pizza Company (yes, that’s really the name of the place); Dad and the kids at Six Flags; fun at the pool; Jeff and Byron go go-karting; Lego day at the Library; fall fun at Eckert’s; Webster Jazz and Blues festival; Apple picking with Meredith and Allie; Families with Children from China picnic; haircuts, fun around the house and plenty of artwork, of course.
In this month’s photos: Back to school; fun and games at America’s Incredible Pizza Company; the Chinese Lantern Festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens (sans kids!); painting with Mom at Pinot’s Palette; Esme and Dad’s day-of-fun-before-back-to-school; Wild Wonder Outpost and other fun at the St. Louis Zoo; Festival of Nations at Tower Grove Park; Dad, Brynn and Han at the Tour de Fun carnival; Libby’s birthday party at BounceU; and fun around at the park, around the house, and in the backyards with neighbors.
Recap of Han’s naming ceremony, GiGi and Grandpa and MiMi and PaPa’s visit, and the first day of school for Brynn and Han
Recap of Esme’s 7th birthday weekend.
In this month’s crop of photos: Macklind Mile; Brynn at summer school; Webster Groves Community Days (July 4 carnival); 4th of July parade and parties at the neighbors’; trips to the Magic House, Build a Bear, the library (for animal adventures); Esme’s lemonade stand; various camps and mom and dad “sans kids” activities.
In this month’s photos and video — Esme displays her skills learned at swim camp; Esme at Magic House camp; getting a portrait of the kids at the Old Webster Summer Night Street Dance; haircuts; fun around / outside the house (much of it in the rain — wettest June on record in St. Louis!); Jeff visits Grandma Else during a work trip to Atlanta; Esme displays some of her creations from YuCanDu art camp; Jeff playing with the Hot House Sessions at PrideFest (first gig with them in ~9? years!!!); Macklind Mile; annual Misslefits rocket launch; new landscaping (finally done!); Ben & Libby’s impromptu gymnastics party.
Recap of our summer vacation to Cancun
Recap from May 2015
April was a busy month at the Hinyard-Lash household. Now that the sun is out and the weather is consistently warm, we are spending as much time as possible outside. Please enjoy the miscellaneous pictures from all of our April adventures, including: Earth Day celebration in Forest Park, Spark Night at Brynn’s school, a trip to Six Flags, the trip to the ER to fix the head wound acquired as we were leaving Six Flags, an Easter egg hunt at Donna’s house, movie night at Esme’s school, the Read Right and Run race, fun with the neighbor kids, a Seder, and videos of Esme at gymnastics, Han falling asleep eating lunch, Brynn reading a book she wrote, Han practicing for American Idol, and Esme providing a lesson on chick hatching to Brynn’s class.
Esme visits Brynn’s class to talk about baby chicks
Here’s what happened in March: Chinese Festival at the Magic House; Esme’s first lost tooth; springtime at the Zoo; and lots of fun eating and playing outdoors.
Recap of the Kilpatrick’s visit to St. Louis
This past weekend we traveled to Atlanta for a momentous occasion — Jeff’s Grandma Else’s 90th birthday! It was quite the occasion, and not only did we get to celebrate with Else, but with most of the rest of Jeff’s side of the family. It was extra special because it was the first time that everyone (except GiGi and Grandpa) got to meet Han!
Brynn got her ears pierced; we enjoyed both unseasonably warm weather as well as a nice snowstorm; Han wore more of his sister’s clothes; Esme and Dad went to a Daddy-Daughter Girl Scouts dance; we celebrated National Ice Cream For Breakfast Day; we visited the Butterfly house; and we had lots of fun around the house, as always.
What a weekend! With Han turning 3 on Friday, and Brynn turning 4 on Sunday — plus Mom’s birthday the preceding Wednesday — it was quite a busy few days. We are birthday-ed out!
Esme participated in the Clark Elementary School Science Fair and won 2nd place. For her project, Esme wanted to “learn about taste” and do something with baking, so she decided to see if people could tell the difference between sugar cookies baked with the normal recipe and those baked with a 1/2 cup less sugar. […]
Our first “official” photos as a family of 5
Pictures/video include: Brynn at school; our belated Holiday Card; trips to the Zoo, Magic House, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and a bunch of other local attractions; Esme’s schoolwork; bike riding with the next door neighbors; Esme’s science fair experiment (seeing whether people can taste the difference between cookies with different amounts of sugar); Han at gymnastics; lots of fun around the house.
Pictures and video from MiMi + Papa’s visit: Dec 29 2014 – Jan 12 2015
Once everyone was home, we had a crew of 9 in the house for a few days while GiGi and Grandpa and MiMi and Papa all overlapped, so that’s what these pictures are of. This included our “fake” Christmas eve (since we got home on Christmas Day, we told the kids that we had arranged for Santa to come back again to our house the next day, so on Christmas night we pretended it was Christmas Eve and decorated cookies for him), Christmas morning, lots of playing with new toys, fun and dress-up and lots of eating around the house, a meal out at Red Robin followed by Blue Bell ice cream (you’re welcome, Papa!), and our attempts at a picture of GiGi and Grandpa with the kiddos before they left (one of these had to have turned out okay, right?)
Here’s what happened when GiGi and Grandpa visited and took care of the girls before and while Mom and Dad were in China — everything “pre-Han”
Lest you think all we did in December was go to China… well, that certainly was a big part of it, but we have some other “random” photos. We’ll be back to China/Han/Holidays updates soon, but for now here’s some other stuff we did in December: a bunch of pictures from Brynn’s school, including a visit / musical demonstration by Dad; more of Esme’s artwork; holiday decorations; and Leslie and Jenine’s beautiful “Santas on the Run” costumes.
Our arrival back in St. Louis with Han on Christmas Day
Again, sorry for the late post, but time got away from us (and we’ve been busy since we got home, as you can imagine!). Our last day in Guangzhou was pretty relaxing. We woke up and took our time getting ready in the morning then had our last big buffet breakfast of the trip. We […]
Day 12 — Visit to the Consulate, Yuexiu Park, Pearl River cruise
Day 11: Pearl and Jade Markets, Yuexiu Park (Five Rams Sculpture)
Day 10: Shamain Island
Days 8 and 9 – Last day in Shanghai, Han’s first plane ride, first day in Guangzhou
Day 7 – Last full day in Shanghai. Yu Garden, Xintiandi
Day 6 – Visiting Han’s finding place, walk to The Bund
Day 5 – adoption finalized!
Day 4- Our first day with Han!
Welcoming Han to our family: December 15, 2014
Day 3 in China — traveling from Beijing to Shanghai
Recap of Day 2 in China — Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, silk factory, acrobatic show, urban mall.
Recap of the first day in China — Great Wall, Hutongs, outdoor food market
There are some extra photos from our friend Jenny’s wedding in Milwaukee (which was back in October but we just got copies of the pictures now). There’s Brynn’s school picture and other pictures from her class from this past month. We danced at the “Lights on After School” party. Flat Brynn and Flat Esme made the trip to Washington DC to see Aunt Steph, Uncle Dave, and Cousins Ian and Celia with Dad when he had to go there for work. There is of course some artwork and schoolwork from Esme. We got a ton of work done on the house (no tree! new driveway! started on some landscaping!) We had our annual Fakesgiving (we think this was the 9th annual one, if we’re keeping track correctly). Then there’s the book — a book Esme wrote little by little over ~2 months. (We love her stream of consciousness, it cracks us up.) Then there’s pictures from our weekend jaunt to Kansas City and Great Wolf Lodge, next door neighbor Allison’s birthday party, out and about in the city and Garden Glow at the Botanical Gardens.
In this month’s photos: Esme’s 1st grad school photo; Brynn at school; Mom’s new tattoo; trip to Milwaukee for Jenny’s wedding; Sukkot at temple; art show; Halloween half-marathon; Dad’s trip to Atlanta; Six Flags; pumpkin picking; landscaping work at the house; Trunk or Treat; trip to the Wineries; Girl Scout bonfire; Halloween at gymnastics; Halloween at the Magic House; Halloween parade at Esme’s school; trick-or-treating; and plenty of artwork, of course.
There’s a fun alphabet book that we’ve had for a while. Brynn wanted to have it read to her before bed a few nights ago, and after Dad finished, Brynn wanted to do it again. Dad said it was time to go to sleep, but she insisted. A compromise was made — Esme could sit in bed with Brynn and read it to her. This video below was the result. It may be a bit tough to hear (Oliver is making whiny noises in the background too) and tough to see (it was in the dark with a flashlight, after all) but you should be able to still get a sense of the pure joy they had from reading together…
We were looking at pictures of cousins Ian and Celia and thought it would be fun to send a video response (it was too late to FaceTime). Of course, we couldn’t do it “normal” so we had fun with the “mirror” effect on the Photo Booth app on Dad’s MacBook…
In the September 2014 photos: last day at the pool for the summer; notes to Brynn at school; Girl Scouts and other fun at the Botanical Gardens; artwork; Esme’s field trip to the apple farm; swimming; Leslie goes to a Polo match; Jeff’s trip to London/Zurich; more swimming; more artwork; Zoo; Esme’s “adoption” announcement drawing; Brynn at school.
We’re a bit late to upload this, given that the Webster Groves swimming pool closed a few weeks ago, and colder fall weather has already set in… but here’s a great video of Brynn doing a great job and really enjoying swimming in the kiddie pool. She’s already looking forward to next summer!
In this month’s pictures: Brynn at school; birthday parties; fun with neighbors; Botanical Gardens; first day of school; lots of artwork; Esme’s sleep study; more birthday parties; and Esme’s first lemonade stand.
Esme turns 6! Summary of Esme’s 6th birthday party and the whole birthday weekend
Fourth of July carnival in Webster Groves; neighborhood Fourth of July party; blackberry and vegetable picking; enjoying the Children’s Garden and picnicking at the Botanical Gardens; first trip (for the kids) to Six Flags; and fun with friends/neighbors.
Recap of our trip to Cape Cod and Washington DC
Riding the rides at the Community Days festival/carnival
In this month’s installment: Brynn at summer school; Webster Groves Art & Air Festival; reading with Byron; Dylan’s birthday party; enjoying the outdoors in the Old Orchard area of Webster Groves and at the “beach” at the Magic House; Esme at swim camp; Gavin’s birthday party; hanging at the pool.
Here’s a recap of May: Lots of time outside! Beautiful spring weather = happy family. Pictures include ones from Brynn’s last month in the Orange Room at school (Pink Room next fall, here we come!), trip to the Magic House, trying out some new makeup, a momma bird who took up residence on our grill outdoors, painting pottery for Mother’s Day, Esme’s artwork in an art show, exercising with dad, Esme’s spring music concert, Esme’s friends playing at our house, Brynn at her friend Jane’s “Frozen”-themed birthday party, at the Children’s Garden at the Botanical Gardens, dining al fresco, Zoo 5k in Forest Park, birthday and graduation parties, last day(s) of school, and a bunch of other random stuff.
Well, we survived out first family trip to Disney World! (Just barely, but we still survived.) Overall, it was a great trip. The kids had a fantastic time, we ran them ragged and got to see pretty much everything we wanted. Highlights from the trip: getting to hold hands with Minnie and Cinderella; playing in the pool at our hotel; lots of great food (Leslie and MiMi especially appreciated the gluten free friendliness); going on their favorite rides (It’s a Small World, Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh) many, many times. It wasn’t without some problems, though: Mimi ended up in the ER one morning because of a stomach bug (we later learned it was probably brought to Florida from her class, many of whom later came down with the same thing), Jeff got a visit from the EMTs when Esme accidentally kneed him in the face when they were playing in the pool (no stitches required!). Still, if we had to do it over again, we would, and probably wouldn’t do anything differently.
No surprise, we’ve got a TON of pictures. Between 2 iPhones, 2 cameras, and then the pictures we got from Disney (they have a nice new program where you pay one flat fee and get all of the pictures they take at the parks, character breakfasts and rides), we hopefully captured everything noteworthy (and plenty of things that weren’t).
Every year at Esme’s school they have a contest where students (and usually their parents) have to come up with a way to protect an egg from being dropped off of the room of the school. This year the rules included no parachutes and only “biodegradable” materials (the definition was a bit loose, but mainly seemed designed to prevent the use of plastic).
There are two videos here — one where we did a “test drop” at home (one of many), and the actual drop at the school at Saturday’s picnic. Did the egg survive? Take a look for yourself…
Last week was the annual spring music concert at Esme’s school. We weren’t quite sure what to expect, and we were treated to 3 songs performed by her class (Senior Kindergarten) along with the younger kids (Junior Kindergarten, Pre Kindergarten, and Early Childhood) — plus a “bonus” song that the SK kids requested (from the Lego movie).
Fifteen years ago, Jeff and his then-coworkers (a bunch of 20- and 30-year old guys) got together one weekend to launch model rockets, just like when they were kids. The “Missilefits” have been getting together once a year since. Now the guys are older, the group has expanded, and there are tons of kids to help chase down the rockets.
We brought the stomp rocket — or, as Brynn was calling it, the “romp stocket” — and during a delay in the action, we brought it out to the launching area for Brynn to give it a go. We were all amused by what happened…
April was a busy but fun month. The long and cold winter finally gave way and we were able to start getting outside. In this month’s photos: pictures from Brynn’s school; fun outside in the neighborhood; a going away party for Reis =(; outside at Tilles Park; Easter egg hunt and other fun at the Botanical Gardens; face painting at WashU’s Thurtene carnival; playing at Charlotte’s; Princess Fairy Tale Tea at the Magic House with dad; Earth Day; Leslie’s weekend in Nashville with Jenine for a half-marathon; bird’s nest(s) — and baby birds!; fun with friends; and lots of artwork, of course.
In this month’s photos: Dr. Seuss’s birthday at the Magic House; enjoying early spring at the park; Jeff in a banana suit (it’s a work thing, don’t ask); lots of pictures of eating, for some reason; going-away party for Reis; lots of artwork.
We just wrapped up a fantastic visit with GiGi and Grandpa. They were able to arrange a trip to St. Louis to spend time with the girls over their spring break week, plus take care of them for a day when both mom and dad had to be out of town at the same time. Everyone had a fantastic and busy week-plus-a-few days — zoo, Magic House, Butterfly House, Purim carnival, gymnastics, cooking, swimming, dress-up, movies (mainly Frozen), art museum, hopscotch, playgrounds, and plenty more.
It was unseasonably warm today — or maybe it was that it was “normal” weather today, but it’s been so unseasonably cold lately. But, either way, the kids spent a good part of the day outside, and had a good time riding bikes and scooters and taking advantage of the nice weather (and the daylight savings time shift).
In this month’s pictures: Brynn at school; National Ice Cream for Breakfast Day; Valentine’s Day Party at the Baker-Schmidt’s; haircuts; Esme’s pseudo-sleepover; swimming at the Y; post-tonsillectomy recovery; fun around the house and dining out.
Fun from Brynn’s third birthday weekend
Brynn sings and dances to Let It Go from the movie Frozen
Esme shows off some of the choreography she has learned from watching the YouTube video
In this month’s photos: Brynn in class, lots of artwork, big snowstorm, fun at the museum, birthday party for Esme’s friends, and fun indoor and outdoor activities.
Enjoy Brynn’s sing-along rendition
Brynn has been enjoying “reading” lately. Of course, when you have the same books read to you over and over and over, it’s pretty easy to memorize them. We caught her in bed the other night, using her flashlight to read Pinkalicious (one of her favorites) to herself. We tried to get a video of her tonight reading Pinkalicious, and we got one, though this is a bit of a “crazier” version. If you can understand what she’s saying, though, you’ll see that she’s actually telling it pretty much word for word.
Esme is having trouble deciding what she wants to be when she grows up. She explains her choices in this video.
In this month’s set of photos: Hanukkah at home, Hanukkah party at the Baker-Schmidt’s, Christmas crafts at the library, getting ready to play in the snow, Esme’s holiday pageant at school, building a snowman with the Mahers, Gardenland Express at the Botanical Gardens, Garden Glow at the Botanical Gardens, Holiday party at Esme’s school, haircuts, fun at the Magic House, and lots of random artwork.
We spent Christmas in Colorado this year, and had a great time with Mimi and Papa and Uncle Patrick. The girls were super excited for — and a bit overwhelmed with — Christmas, and spent a good part of the week playing with all their new toys. Memorable moments — sledding outside with Mimi, feeding the guinea pig (Amelia Rose) from Mimi’s class, Esme’s first time skiing, first movie in a movie theater (Frozen), going for a ride with Papa in his Razor 4×4, Brynn “baking” cookies most of the week, Brynn visiting the doctor for an ear infection, and trip to the hot springs in Glenwood Springs with Mimi and Uncle Patrick.
Esme’s first day of skiing
Enjoy this classic Christmas carol, as interpreted by Brynn, accompanied by crescent roll.
There is rarely a quiet moment around the house. Literally. Very literally. Both kids seem to love to sing — Esme more than Brynn, though every once in a while we have dueling songs… and on a rare basis we’re able to capture this on video for an extended period. So, enjoy these “duets”…
This past Thursday the Rohan Woods school treated family and friends to a holiday concert program. Let’s see what the critics say: “It was short, sweet, and to the point — and cute.” — Leslie. Watch the video and judge for yourself.
Thanksgiving in Atlanta
In this month’s installment: pictures from Brynn’s preschool; going on a horse drawn carriage ride through Old Webster (the first time in the carriage for all of us!); Dad’s birthday; walking through a Winter Wonderland light display in Tilles Park; at the Myseum; Fakesgiving; and neighbor Gary’s light display.
Esme sings her awesome song she made up about Thanksgiving
Esme’s rendition of the “Aleph Bet” song, the Hebrew version of the alphabet song.
In this month’s pictures: Grandparent’s Day at Esme’s school; Halloween costumes; Pumpkin Picking with the Parkers (try saying that 5 times fast!) and other fun at Eckert’s; Tate’s birthday party; Trick or Treating in Kirkwood; Trunk or Treat; Halloween Party and Parade at Esme’s school; and Trick or Treating on (real!) Halloween.
We were taking the dogs for a walk today and for some reason Brynn decided she was not happy about the acorns that were in her way…
Grandparents Day, Purina Farms, Grant’s Farm, the Science Center and Planetarium, and more!
Every Monday, Esme’s class draws “Weekend News” where they draw a picture of what they did over the weekend. She didn’t go to school on Monday since GiGi and Grandpa were here, so her teacher sent a blank copy home. Esme decided to draw a picture of what she did on her special day with her grandparents (and dad and Brynn) and narrate it for us. (And no, Grandpa Art did not have a picture of a cat on his shirt. Not where that came from.)
Tons of random pictures from September. Fun times!
Brynn rides a pony at Forest Park
Esme and her class get on local TV
Esme reads more Dan the Rat stories
Esme learned the months of the year at school, and a song (with some hand movements) to go along with it.
Brynn dances to some old-time hot jazz
Since the last set of videos we posted of Esme reading were such a hit, we thought we’d post this one too. (Don’t worry, we won’t post a video every time she reads something new.) Thanks MiMi for the sending such great stuff in the mail to read!
Esme reads the decodable books Sad Dot and A Bib
One of the things Esme has been enjoying in Kindergarten is “coach” (what they call their PE/gym class, along with what they call the PE/gym teacher). This morning, she showed off one of the things she’s learned — curl-ups — along with the fun rhyme that goes with them, and Mom and Brynn decided to […]
August was a busy month — it seems like it was sooooo long! It started off with MiMi’s visit (actually carrying over from July), then Esme’s birthday and party… and then swimming, gymnastics, a trip to the Myseum, lots of time outside, and back to school stuff.
It’s amazing how many different activities you can do with just a few blankets and pillows. After a good 15 minutes of jumping onto the blanket pile, we then played hide and seek, and then set up the room for some bedroom gymnastics. The real title to this should be Topless Bedroom Gymnastics, but I […]
“Swimming” at the Tower Grove Fountain
Brynn’s first time off a diving board, and she embraces the belly flop
Every year around this time or so we get family pictures taken. So, we did it again.
Photos from this month include Food Truck Friday, Bowling (sponsored by our credit union and their mascot), Webster Community Days, haul from our vegetable garden, fun with the neighbors, gymnastics, artwork, dinner with our former neighbor Ed, trips to the zoo and playground and Botanical Gardens, and lots of fun with MiMi during her visit.
Food fight video and pictures from Esme’s backyard birthday bash
Esme does the backstroke and butterfly
Our summer 2013 trip to New Braunfels (Schlitterbahn!) and San Saba
We’re a bit late getting these up due to our summer vacation that crossed over from the end of June to July (more about that tomorrow) but we’ve still got a great set. It was cooler than normal and we took full advantage of it with lots of outdoor stuff. Enjoy the pictures which include: at the Butterfly House with Bella; strawberry picking and picnic at Eckert’s; (rainy) picnic at the Botanical Gardens for the Whitaker Music Festival; Music in the Streets Festival in Webster Groves; dress-up and fun at the Fairy Tale exhibit and elsewhere at the Magic House; at the splash pad at the Webster swimming pool; cooking and dress-up around the house; Ries’s 4th Birthday Party; and more of Esme’s artwork.
Meredith and Alison from next door came over for movie night. Esme wanted to watch Princess Sing-along Songs instead, and it turned into this “dance party” unlike one I’ve never seen before. Esme and Meredith insisted on full accuracy (see 0:48). If you don’t think this is this cutest thing you’ve ever seen then there […]
The girls continue to love gymnastics. This week, Brynn was all about the forward roll — in particular, the proper form before you start the roll, as this video illustrates (she did this over and over about a dozen times)
Many of you already saw this, but in case you haven’t (and to save it for posterity), we were interviewed for an article on work-at-home dads for the St. Louis Beacon, a local online-only publication.
The girls have really been enjoying gymnastics class recently. Brynn has her parent-and-me class at the same time as Esme’s 3-4 year old class. This week attendance was a bit light, so it was a good opportunity to get a video of E doing a “circuit” of a few different activities.
Brynn has been playing hopscotch lately. Or, should we say, Brynn has been “playing” “hopscotch” lately. See this video for example…
In the summer, the zoo stays open late on Friday nights and has live music. This past week, it was a bit on the warm side, so they had some misting fans set up. This is a great example of how somethings as simple as a misting fan and a cover band can keep our […]
The girls have fun running into the couch. Literally.
Brynn at the library; Esme and Brynn at gymnastics; Esme’s drawing of the “Cut the Rope” iPad game; Esme’s last day of the school year at pre-school; painting fingernails; fun the Harkonen’s; playing at Kirkwood Park; day at the Wineries (don’t worry, it’s lemonade); ice cream at the Zoo; and playing in the basement during the tornado warnings.
GiGi and Grandpa visit for some quality time with the kids and some help playing nanny/babysitter
Photos include more from Brynn’s first haircut and some great photos of Esme and Brynn at the Botanical Gardens
The rescheduled version of Brynn’s 2nd birthday party
One of the projects the Blue Room at school worked on this year was making food robots. These are basically, um, drawings of robots that make, um… well, really, it was a pretty open assignment. We’ll let Esme explain hers…
Esme and Brynn were in particularly silly moods the other day while taking a bath. Esme kept pretending that Esme’s leg was a “tofu leg” and asking if she could eat it… then pretending to eat it… then pretending to spit it out… and Brynn found this hilarious, as you can see from this video
Story and video behind Brynn’s first haircut
We’ve got a lot of fun stuff in this month’s crop of pictures — dining out; pre-Easter event at Purina Mills; at the Zoo; “practice” Easter Egg hunt with the neighbors; our big snowstorm (2nd highest 24-hour snowfall total in St Louis history!); Passover; first Gymnastics class; Owen’s birthday party at Chuck E Cheese; and Easter Egg hunt at our house and Easter Dinner at the Veety house.
Our first big road trip to visit Nick, Debbie, Robyn, Else (and GiGi and Grandpa) in Birmingham, Alabama
In this month’s crop of pictures: out to eat; playgroup party at our house; Magic House; PJ day at school; self-portraits and school projects; “sleepover” on the floor; Parker’s 5-year birthday party; trip to the Butterfly House; and fun around the house.
The fun and memorable story behind Brynn’s second birthday
Esme and Brynn decided to have a spontaneous dance party while getting ready for bed tonight — take a look at this video and hopefully you’ll enjoy watching it as much as they enjoyed dancing for it.
Fun around the house including dress-up; quotes and drawings from Esme’s school; art projects and story time; out to lunch; fun at the City Museum; and new bunk beds!
A recap of Jeff and Leslie’s trip – Dec 2012 – Jan 2013
GiGi and Grandpa’s visit; Debbie, Nick and Robyn too!
Here are a few pictures from preparing for / and opening presents on Christmas morning…
Facepainting; Christmas lights; a Hannukah party; trips to the Botanical Gardens, Chuck E Cheese, the Butterfly House, and the Magic House; the “Robot Party” at Esme’s school; and a few pictures by Esme herself.
Esme sings Up On The House Top
November was a month of “ing”: dancing, bowling, princess-ing, drawing, napping, playing, writing, raking, and, of course, Fakesgiving.
Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Mimi and Papa
Leslie, Jeff, Esme and Brynn get professional family pictures taken for the first time in over a year
Leslie picks up a spare while holding Brynn
Art projects, swim lessons, dance class, baking, eating out, get-togethers with friends, trips to the playground and the Zoo… and plenty of Halloween festivities!
Kitchen renovation; winery day; trip(s) to the Zoo; Esme’s class “field trip” to the park two blocks from school; Jeff’s Tough Mudder before-and-after; fun in Forest Park; fall fun at the pumpkin patch and Grant’s Farm; and enjoying the nice weather in the Maher’s backyard next door.
Esme has been practicing her headstands lately. She has gotten quite good at them. In her own words, as you can hear on this video, she is able to hold herself in a headstand for “18 minutes long”
We already showed you how Brynn enjoyed the bubbles at the Forest Park annual Fall Family Funfest. Now, it’s Esme’s turn to show off her hula-hooping skills.
This past Sunday we had a great time in Forest Park at the annual Fall Family Funfest. It was nice weather — a bit windy, though, which presented some problems for when Brynn was trying to blow bubbles. Everyone say it with us — 1… 2…3… Blow!
Esme has been exhibiting some more “big sister” traits lately. Esme and Brynn both like reading, so it’s only natural that Esme would read to Brynn.
Fun at the Magic House; Japanese Festival at the Botanical Gardens; another haircut for Esme; the Greentree Festival in Kirkwood; apple picking with the Harkonens at Eckert’s; Taste of St. Louis; more artwork and fun around the house.
We think the girls are cute, though of course we’re biased. However, this month seemed to yield an incredibly large number of cute photos of them both individually and together.
Esme at 4 years and Brynn at 18 months
Yesterday was Brynn’s 18 month birthday. She is very proud of this new “trick” she learned.
The Hinyard-Lash clan visits Mashpee for some fun with GiGi and Grandpa
A recap of Esme’s birthday celebration — happy 4th birthday!
The girls playing around the house, at the Botanical Gardens, at Onondaga Cave State Park, running some errands, dance class, Mom and Dad’s night out to the Lantern Festival at the Botanical Gardens, and even Dad’s first AARP card
Esme takes her first trip up the Arch; Jeff reunites with an Elementary school friend he hasn’t seen in 23 years.
Mom leads Esme and Brynn in the Hokey Pokey
For your viewing pleasure this month: a giant 12-scoop sundae (don’t worry, Jeff and Leslie shared this with their friends Scott and Jenine); a progression of Esme self-portraits; fun at the Zoo with Bella; Reis’s 3rd birthday party; trying to beat the heat at the Macklind Mile (and the heat winning); and lots of good sister fun around the house.
Pictures from our trip to visit MiMi and PaPa
Mother’s Day brunch; Tower Grove park fountain; fun in the backyard; 5k in Forest Park; playing on the mini trampoline next door; ice cream!; Esme’s drawings; fun around the house; Mother’s Day picnic dinner at the new playground at the park up the street; strawberry picking on Mother’s Day; Bella’s ice cream and pajama themed 4th birthday party; making Mother’s Day gifts; dance class; more at Tower Grove Park and Bella’s birthday; more time at the playground and around the house; Dad’s Day Out with Esme at the Wabash and Frisco train; and more Mother’s Day gift-making.
Esme ice skates for the first time
Video and pictures from Esme’s first school play
GiGi and Grandpa came to visit for about a week and boy was it fun. They had a great time baking and doing art projects with Esme and Brynn. The weather was pretty nice overall, so lots of quality time was spent outdoors. They each even got the chance to go into Esme’s preschool class for part of the day, which everyone (Esme, classmates, teachers, and of course GiGi and Grandpa) really enjoyed.
Esme’s first photo exhibit at school
In which Brynn shows off her newest dance moves
Pictures from our record-breaking warm month of March
A lovely day for an Easter Egg hunt at the Missouri Botanical Gardens
Brynn “learns” to play peekaboo
Esme entertains Brynn by swinging on the swingset
Visiting Washington DC to see Aunt Steph, Uncle Dave, Cousin Ian, and the newest member of the clan — Cousin Celia!
Esme shows off her non-tap tap dancing routine
Lots of drawings by Esme; Dad’s trips to Atlanta and Las Vegas; one of Esme’s classmates’ birthday party at BounceU; Super Bowl party; new matching cheerleader outfits for the girls; taking advantage of the balmy weather at the park; and Esme’s dance outfit.
Pictures from MiMi’s visit — playing on the swingset, dance class, fun around the house
Pictures from Brynn’s 1st birthday party
Climbing on mom; Brynn sitting and clapping; Brynn requesting a book
Brynn’s height and weight at her one year checkup
Video of a playgroup dance party
A birthday party at The Little Gym; dining out; lots of drawings and cards from Esme (and one from Brynn!); enjoying the playground during an abnormally warm January afternoon; a trip to the Butterfly House; and visits to The Veetys, a pre-Mardi Gras festival in Soulard, and the annual Bicycle Swap meet with The Parkers.
Esme’s made up song about her made-up dog Pepper Carlor
Pictures from Brynn’s first trip to Colorado (and GiGi and Grandpa’s, too)
We round out the year with Brynn’s first trip to see Santa, holiday lights, birthday parties, and, as always, dress-up around the house.
Esme’s made-up gingerbread song
Jeff grows a moustache — watch the day-by-day progress!
Jeff’s birthday; trips to Lone Elk Park, the Wild Bird Sanctuary and the Zoo with Andrew and Reis; and fun around the house.
Pictures and video from our 7th annual Fakesgiving celebration
Pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to Washington DC to visit the Kilpatricks
Brynn’s 9 month checkup
Esme’s first soccer practice
“One spring day there was an old woman who went out to pick flowers. She went back outside to pick up the vegetables from the orchard. Then she had to go inside because it was a rainy day. Then she decided to make carrot soup. When the carrot soup was done her parents and then […]
Aah, October — a month-long celebration of harvest and Halloween preparation. Our October included lots of dress-up, harvest festivals, some running races, putting up Halloween decorations / carving pumpkins, rooting for the Cardinals (World Series champs!), pumpkin picking with Bella and her family, and general fun around the house, including a lot of good “sister time.”
GiGi and Grandpa visit for Halloween
Brynn takes her next steps (literally and figuratively) and goes on a chairpushing adventure
Esme’s school picture; footprints with Brynn (that’s our nanny Laura holding her); apple picking with Reis and Andrew; visits to Grant’s Farm and the Botanical Garden; Esme’s first “unassisted” spelling of her name; photo documentation of Jeff’s first “century” bike ride; and some other fun stuff around the house
Brynn shows off her crawling and pulling up skills
Esme’s attempt at Irish step dance, or something resembling it
Family pictures: Esme (3), Brynn (6 months); Mom and Dad (considerably older)
Nice pictures of the girls together: Esme at 3 years old, Brynn at 6 months old
Recap of August, including pictures from the 80s run in Columbia and a few leftovers from Esme’s 3rd birthday
Pictures from Esme’s 3rd birthday party
Just another day around the Hinyard-Lash house, with singing and crawling and who knows what else…
Jeff and Leslie leave the kiddos at home and take a quick jaunt to Bermuda
Esme at 3 years and Brynn at 6 months
Pictures and commentary from Brynn’s Hebrew Naming ceremony
Brynn takes her first, um, scoots (?)
Mimi, PaPa, Uncle Patrick, GiGi, and Grandpa Art visit St. Louis
Family visit to San Saba and Beaumont
Random pictures from around the house and at the zoo
Picnic at the Zoo with The Harkonens; Jeff and Byron preparing for their Mud Run; Webster Art + Air festival with The Stones; Rowen’s 3rd birthday party; dressup at our house with Finley; hanging out with Reis; and… Brynn’s first solid food!
Photos from the 2011 Macklind Mile one mile race
A new 4th of July running tradition…?
An assortment of pictures from January-May 2011 from Esme’s room at the Webster Groves Early Childhood Education Center
Brynn at 4 months old — 17lbs, 11oz. 25″
Visiting Atlanta for Robyn’s high school graduation
Random pictures including: Olive’s 3rd birthday party; the “Bubble Bus” at Esme’s school for an end-of-year party; riding the mechanical rides at the mall; the “Bark in the Park” festival in Forest Park; the Zoo 5k (and kids sprint); and hanging out around the house.
Finley turns three years old
Brynn starts swatting away attacking insects… or baby toys, whatever you want to call them
Pictures from Jeff’s trip to The Netherlands
Easter party at Donna’s and Ben Baker’s birthday party
MiMi and PaPa visit St Louis and get to meet Brynn!
Esme shows off her dancing moves
The results of Brynn’s diet of Baby WeightGain 3000 are clear to see
Brynn shows off her beautiful, chubby cheek, silly toothless grin
Brynn rolls over at 6 weeks (and change)
Random pictures from March 2011
Crazy weather, even for St. Louis
Steph, Dave, and Ian visit St. Louis
Brynn and others; pictures from March 5
One month, 11.5 lbs!
A few pictures from GiGi’s visit prior to Brynn’s arrival
Brynn’s third week
Brynn and the family settle at home; Grandpa and GiGi visit
Brynn’s stats at 1 week (and change)
Ice storms and wind storms and heat waves — oh my!
Dad and Esme celebrate Claire’s birthday at Jack’s house
Brynn heads home for the first time
Brynn: day 3 — some nice “professional” phots
Brynn: the first 48 hours
And baby makes 4
Esme gets herself dizzy
Inflatable soccer fun as Parker turns three
New Years’ Day at the Veety house, dress-up around the house, and Esme’s first trip to Chuck E Cheese
Esme can play iPad games all by herself
A recap of photos from Esme’s first semester at the Webster Groves Early Childhood Education Center
Happy Wedding! And welcome to 2011!
Highlights from December 2010
MiMi and PaPa hang out in St. Louis with Esme while Jeff and Leslie head to Costa Rica
Final recap of our Costa Rica surf vacation adventure
Surf Simply video recap
Costa Rica — Jeff + Leslie’s pictures
Holiday card 2010
Thanksgiving 2010: Atlanta
Pictures from Thanksgiving 2010
Playing dress-up around the house, playing in a big leaf pile with our neighbors Taylor and Tyson, having dinner with Reis, and getting Esme’s first “formal” school picture taken.
Festival of Lights 2010
Esme is getting prepared to be a big sister
Pictures from the 6th annual Fakesgiving festivities
Esme masters the downward facing dog and then some
Random pictures from October 2010
Esme the Pirate takes on Halloween
Gigi and Grandpa (aka Jeff’s mom and dad) come down to enjoy some of the awesome quasi-fall weather that St. Louis had to offer during October.
Nothing says fall like pumpkins and 90 degree weather
Some fun stuff from around the house, the neighborhood, and the city
Year 3 of Esme at the gardens
We join the Veetys for a trip to Belleville for some quality time in the apple orchards
An update on Baby #2’s progress
Esme grabs a leash and goes to work
Esme never stops believing
Jeff travels East, loses a day, gains a day, and still tries to figure out what day it is
Random photos from August 2010
Esme at 2
We live the high life in the high altitude, if only for a few days
Weighing in at nearly 25 pounds, in this corner, from Webster Groves, Esmeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Expected release date: March 4, 2010
More pictures from Esme’s 2nd birthday party
Flowers, tomatoes, and Esme — oh my!
I scream, you scream, we all scream like a two-year-old eating frozen custard!
Esme turns two!
Sledding — it isn’t just for winter anymore
GiGi and Grandpa get a great workout trying to chase around an almost-two-year-old for a week
Pictures from our 2010 summer vacation to Cape Cod
Esme tries her hand at a special kind of bowling
Esme stores her fork for safekeeping
Lots of activities this Independence Day weekend
Random pictures from June 2010
Happy Birthday Reis!
Esme starts with a somersault and ends with so much more
E is for Esme…
Reis takes Esme out for a night on the town… or maybe just a ride across the kitchen
Esme serenades herself during breakfast
Jeff’s second father’s day
Esme likes to dance, no matter who is watching
Recap from May
Finley’s second birthday party at Laumeier Sculpture Park
Esme and Cousin Ian spend a nice spring weekend together
Esme is growing fast, though not fast enough to fit into these rain boots
Esme wants to read… then run around the house… then read… then run around the house…
Night night… wake up!
1,2,3…19?
Esme shows off her new gymnastic and dance moves
Jeff, Leslie and Esme visit Leslie’s Grandmother in San Saba, TX
Random pictures from April 2010
Esme, Jeff and Leslie visit San Saba to see Great-Grandmother
Taking advantage of the free wi-fi in the San Antonio airport… More photos and video from our weekend trip coming soon
Esme destroys this vanilla cone — it never knew what hit it.
A lovely spring weekend in St. Louis with Jeannie and Kenny
Old Navy knows how to keep kids entertained so their parents spend more time (and money) in their stores.
Decorations and new furniture around the house
Random pictures from March 2010
Esme loooooves slides
Esme shows off one of her favorite activities — eating!
Weekend in St. Louis with GiGi and Grandpa
Esme learns to fall down intentionally
Random pictures from February — Esme turning 18 months old, and Esme and Reis in dueling boxes
Esme + Dad + empty box = tons of fun
Yet another reason not to drink and drive
MiMi spends spring break with Esme
Esme prepares for a life as an abstract artist
Thomas the Train helps Parker celebrate turning 2
We go exploring the wonder that is The Magic House
Happy half-birthday Esme!
Esme does the alphabet dance
New Years Day brunch, painting a picture frame for GiGi’s birthday, a trip to Surf Dogs, fun around the house with Reis, a post-bath mohawk, and other good times.
Esme’s first trip to the unique and entertaining City Museum.
“Professional” pictures of our almost-18-month-old
Esme has big socks to fill
Esme tries to decide between sleeping and eating
Esme and Reis introduce our new houseguests — The Veetys!
Esme goes for a ride
Esme is a puzzle queen
A collection of random pictures from December 2009
Christmas 2009 in Beaumont, TX
Celebrating the holidays
Random pictures from November 2009
Thanksgiving in St. Louis, with Jeff, Leslie, Esme, Art, Gloria, Else, Steph, Dave, Ian, Debbie, Nick, and Robyn
The 5th edition of our annual pre-Thanksgiving tradition
Esme plays mommy to the little ones
Jeff’s birthday weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks
A visit to Faust Park, home to the Butterfly House and a great playground
Keeping track of all the words Esme can say
Esme entertains herself playing with some shoes
Random pictures to recap October 2009
Halloween 2009
Esme goes trick-or-treating at the St Louis Zoo
We try out the new kids rockin’ fun zone at the St Louis Zoo
The 5th Annual — and Jeff’s 3rd — edition of this fall bike-and-brew tradition
80s costumes rule as Wendy celebrates a new decade
A recap of our annual trip to Missouri wine country
Pumpkin patching at Eckert’s for Sydney’s half-birthday
Picture from the annual fall tradition
They say you should let sleeping babies lie; maybe because it’s so hard to wake them up…
Esme finds mom’s crazy antics amusing, rather than scary (as you’d think she would)
Spoon? Spoon? I don’t need no stinking spoon to eat cereal…
Good finds from a garage sale, birthday parties, around the house…
A jaunt to Belleville, IL for some apple picking
Esme practices for the upcoming season of “So You Think You Can Dance.”
Esme shows off her dancing skills at the annual Festival of Nations celebration in Tower Grove Park
A collection of random photos from August 2009
Lillie turns 1
To this kid, the whole world’s a doggy.
Professional pictures from Esme’s 1st birthday party and weekend
August 2, 2009 — Esme turns 1!
The family descends on St. Louis in advance of Esme’s birthday
We travel to Massachusetts to see Grandpa Art, Gigi, Aunt Stephanie, Uncle David, Cousin Ian, and a nice cast of supporting characters
Esme displays her one-year stats
Esme discovers her love of blackberries; we go through a whole bottle of Shout trying to clean up from it
Esme turns 1 — time for cake!
Gigi and Grandpa Art visit with Esme in the new house, part 2
Gigi and Grandpa Art visit with Esme in the new house
The third and final installment from our trip to Colorado for Grandpa Kenny’s surprise birthday party
The second installment from our trip to Colorado for Grandpa Kenny’s surprise birthday party
The first installment from our trip to Colorado for Grandpa Kenny’s surprise birthday party
Random pictures from June 2009
Esme takes full advantage of the open floor plan in the new house
Esme walking, cruising, and crawling around the kitchen
Welcome to Reis Andrew Veety!
Today we had a great Father’s Day — Jeff’s first as a dad. Esme is getting her second tooth in (we would have posted a picture of the first one, though we’ve been unable to get a photo thus far) and seems rather upset about it, so she’s been in a bit of a bad […]
Esme is completely mobile and taking it to the streets
Yard Sale, Art Fair, and fun in the fountains in Tower Grove park
Esme is progressing from cruiser to toddler to Weeble
It’s that time of year. No, not tax season — birthday party season. All Esme’s little friends are turning 1 year old and we’re in the midst of a string of birthday parties. On Sunday, it was Gabe’s turn, and Esme had a great time at the party. She loved the musical entertainment, as you […]
Pictures from the housewarming party
Just a nice picture to cheer your day up
Family trip to the Webster Groves Aquatic Complex — the first of many
New pictures of the house, the newly-painted great room, and some new furniture and toys
A nice video of Esme crawling around the kitchen, practicing her wave
Well, maybe not walking on her own, though getting there…
Memorial Day weekend concludes with crazy weather patterns and Byron’s birthday party
The birthday party train continues as we celebrate Rowen turning 1
Brielle, Beth, Roo, and Joanna come by the new house for some good food and playtime
Esme learns to wave — sort of
This has nothing to do with Esme — we’re just testing the blog
Video of Esme learning to share
Pictures of Jenny’s visit to St. Louis, May 2009
Random pictures from May 2009
Pictures from Finley’s 1st birthday party
First set of photos from the new house
And in this corner, at 9 months old, weighing in at 19lbs, 2oz…
A great video of Esme standing, “talking,” and playing
Esme standingand the adults packing up the house
Packing the house and hanging out with MiMi
Esme learns to stand. Next trick: advanced calculus.
Pictures from Esme’s last Mommy + Me swimming class at the YMCA
Leslie and Esme travel to Texas to visit Great-Grandmother
She’s 8 months, she’s beautiful, and she’s mine
We sold a house! We bought a house! All in less than the time it takes to eat dinner.
Esme shows that she’s more interested in the camera than her toys.
Esme shows her love of knocking things over at an early age
Blast from the past; a video of Esme at 1 day old
Esme shows her love of the remote control
An afternoon at the St. Louis Zoo and in Forest Park with the Dorsch family.
Pictures of the house for sale
Pssst — wanna buy a house? Got a good deal on one right here…
Esme is on the move…
The past week has brought some new arrivals into the extended Hinyard-Lash family. Leslie’s cousin Matt and his wife Annie welcomed their first baby, Ellie Ann Thomas, making this Esme’s first 2nd cousin. And Dave’s stepsister (that’s Jeff’s sister’s husband’s stepsister) welcomed their fourth baby –and fourth boy! — Lincoln Silas Fisher. We’re not sure […]
Jeff and Leslie race stairs for fun (?)
Pictures from Mommy and Me swim lessons
Esme had her first swimming lesson on Wednesday and, just like her Mommy, seems to enjoy the water. The class is a parent and baby class that is really about getting used to the water. We sang songs, practiced “swimming” to toys, and pushed off the wall. Esme even went down the little baby slide. […]
Esme’s Grandpa Art summarizes our trip to DC in movie form
Esme shows off her talking — and grabbing — abilities.
A video of Esme, perplexed by her cousin Ian
Esme meets her cousin Ian for the first time
To supplement yesterday’s 6-month update, here are some more pictures from on/around Esme’s 6 month birthday. These on our SmugMug gallery, so you can download the high-quality versions for printing, or order prints right from there if desired.
My, how the time flies…
Esme shows off her ability to talk and crawl in circles (a little bit)
A photo gallery with some miscellaneous pictures from January 2009
Every day it seems like Esme gets more and more active and is interested in “playing” with more different things around the house. Yesterday we spent some time on Skype, getting to see our first live video of Ian (and Steph and Dave, plus Art and Gloria who were visiting), and then having some good […]
Esme competes in her first 4-mile race
Welcome Ian Graham Kilpatrick to this world!
The family travels to Las Vegas for a wedding. Luckily, they don’t gamble away the baby
We’re in the middle of a big cold streak, as is a good part of the country right now. It hasn’t been this cold in St. Louis in about 9 years. In fact, it’s so cold (“how cold is it?”) that this morning, the steam coming out of the sewer vent outside had frosted over, […]
Adventures in baby food
2009 is off to a busy start. Jeff was in the office for his new job on Monday, and then off to Charleston, SC on Tuesday for 5 days. Leslie did well alone with Esme all week, and vice versa for Esme with Leslie. Despite the busy schedule, we’re going to keep trying our best […]
Ringing in 2009.
We went out for Mexican food last night (mmm, El Paisano) and Esme got her first taste of a live guitar player. It was rather loud and she was confused (see photo below) for a bit before breaking into a full-on bawl. Luckily, she recovered, and on the next go-round, he played something more soothing […]
“Professional” pictures of Esme, from September 2008
Sunday night was the last night of Hanukkah and we decided to celebrate. A feast of traditional Hanukkah foods was prepared — traditional latkes (though we added in carrots, too), latkes from a mix (the Jewish equivalent of instant mashed potatoes, though much better tasting), and apple blintzes. Though the food took much longer to […]
Traffic in western Colorado is more bovine than automobile
Esme’s first visit to Colorado, part 2
We’re spending this week in Colorado with Leslie’s family, and it’s been a great trip so far. Due to some technical difficulties, we haven’t been able to upload as many pictures as possible — though, if you know Jeff and Jeannie at all, you know that there are plenty of pictures being taken. Esme was […]
There’s the time in many people’s lives when it seems like every weekend is a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. Then there’s the year or so when it seems like everyone is having a graduation party. Then there’s the summers where you lose track of all the weddings you are attending. Well, we’ve now hit that […]
Happy Holidays 2008 from Leslie, Jeff and Esme
Esme discovers her voice; babbling and light yelling ensue.
Mmm, rice cereal — when does the fun end?
Rollin’ with the Esme — she takes her first ride in a fun plastic play car
Esme has spent most of the first 4 months of her life on her back, and she finally says “Enough!”
Esme with her new favorite (delicious) toy
Two more months, two more pounds and two more inches
Food, family, and fun (and more fun) as Esme celebrates her first Thanksgiving in St. Louis with Grandpa Art and Gigi, and Aunt Steph and Uncle Dave.
Mom and Dad discover that Esme can entertain herself quite well just by looking in the mirror.
Esme enjoys the finer things in life, like soothing herself with a nice delicious thumb
Esme demonstrates her strength by holding her arms out straight for several hours
The burning bush in full bloom
I can’t believe that this is noteworthy of a picture
A recap of Election Day 2008
We take Esme to Mom and Dad’s alma mater, Forest Park, and the zoo
Esme’s first Halloween!
As they say, let sleeping babies make crazy poses
Five nights in a row of good solid sleep makes a happy baby and happy parents!
We attempt to take pictures of Esme with pumpkins. She does not seem to enjoy this.
Esme takes her first trip to Missouri’s wine country
A collection of photos from Esme’s morning routine
Esme sleeps for 10 hours straight; Mom and Dad freak out that something is wrong, then rejoice when they realize everything is okay
Pictures and recap from the annual fall day-long pub crawl / bike ride
You may now only address Leslie as Dr. Hinyard, PhD
Esme heads to Texas to visit her great grandmother Murr and attend her first wedding.
Esme checks in for her 2-month checkup. News flash — she’s still big.
Esme hangs out with Bob and Steph and Ben while Jeff and Leslie hit the town.
The crew heads over to the Missouri Botanical Gardens for the annual Best of Missouri Market festival.
Freshly washed hair + cool duckie towel = funny faces
A smorgasbord of technology — Skype, several digital cameras, webcams, etc. — allow for GiGi to sing to Esme and for all of us to watch the whole thing.
We continue our attempts to try to calm Esme down with The Swing
Leslie and Esme visited Dad for lunch today. Esme was a bit cranky, though she calmed down when some music came on at the restaurant. The song? Twisted Sister’s classic “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” Jeff taught Esme how to sing along:
There’s all sorts of tips on how to calm a fussy baby. Sometimes the easy ones work. Sometimes you have to resort to the hard ones — this was one of those times…
A random collection of pictures of Leslie and Esme from the past few weeks
Send a blessing to be added to Esme’s Blessing Box
Commentary and a nice group picture from Esme’s 6-week birthday party / Hebrew naming ceremony
Esme models a crazy mismatched outfit
Esme shows her excellent taste in music very early
Esme makes some fun faces for the camera
Esme weighs in at her one-month checkup.
Video and audio of the noises of a sleeping baby
Esme braves the heat for the annual Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Gardens.
Esme rolls over at 5 weeks. What next — she learns how to juggle?
The family goes to get ice cream at the local neighborhood snow cone stand
Pictures from the 2008 Moonlight Ramble bike ride
Announcing the new page at hinyard-lash.com/archives/
Esme realizes that her hands can be used for something productive.
Jeff eats dinner with Esme hanging on in the Baby Bjorn. Crumbs also co-star.
Leslie carries Esme around asleep in the sling
Esme shows off her new Dirty Dancing-inspired outfit. Watch out, Jennifer Grey!
We head over to the Festival of Nations with Andrew and Sara.
Jeff and Esme during their first time home without Mom
Before there was this blog (“The Hinyard-Lash Experience”), there was “The Lash Veety Experience,” the name for the as-yet-to-actually-rehearse-or-perform drum duo of Jeff Lash and Andrew Veety. Though the band hasn’t officially played yet (we offered — but were rejected — to perform at Nancy and Rowdy’s wedding), the promotion continues. Last week, Andrew presented […]
Pictures and video from Esme’s first bath
We wanted to get some nice pictures of Leslie and Esme together, and this morning we were lucky enough to have a quiet moment to capture mother and daughter. Of course, the moment did not last very long, as Oliver decided he wanted to participate as well. Still, there are a number of great photos […]
Not sure who taught this to her — we’ll let the picture speak for itself…
Another trip to the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market
Yes she is.
A number of people have mentioned that they would like “real” pictures of Esme. It’s not that the ones we’ve been posting are bad — they’re fine for viewing on your computer, though if you want nice printed photos, you really need higher resolution photos. Rather than try to take orders for who wants what, […]
Common wisdom is to “swaddle” your baby, to give them a womb-like feeling. Esme seems to enjoy this most of the time, though often it seems like the main benefit is to give her something to keep her occupied — try to get her arms out. She never really kicks her legs, though she will […]
If the constant barrage of photos and videos isn’t enough to keep up with Esme, there’s one other option — videoconferencing! For all those distant relatives and friends, we’ve found that video chat works surprisingly well for getting your virtual fill. If you’re interested, let us know, and we can set up a time to […]
And we’re not talking about Jeff’s cool “Canada” t-shirt. In case you can’t read it, it says “Daddy’s Little Princess”
Step 1: Wrap Esme in blanket, creating “Baby Burrito” Step 2: Pick up Esme Step 3: Find camera
It’s been a busy week for Esme — first doctor’s appointment, Grandma visiting, lots of walks with the dogs (more on that later), and some good socializing with other babies. Last weekend, John and Leigh brought over Rowan (10 weeks) to socialize, with Andrew and Sara joining us for some good outdoor grilling as well. […]
Pre-Esme, Leslie and I had a Saturday morning ritual: Wake up early, early being defined by when the dogs wake us up Watch The Soup, which we had DVR-ed from the night before Walk to Tower Grove Park Pick up some good stuff at the Tower Grove Farmer’s Market Luckily, on her 2 week birthday, […]
It was great having Grandma Jeannie (or MiMi, as she has chosen to be called) here last weekend, and though it was sad for her to say goodbye to Esme, she’ll be back to visit in about a month. We were lucky to have the first of what will surely be many visits involving three […]
Dear Esme,
Esme had her 1-week checkup at the doctor Monday. Everything is fine, she’s doing great and we go back in a few weeks for her 1-month checkup. The only thing worth noting is her weight — here’s a quick recap: Birth; Saturday, August 2: 7lbs, 14oz. Hospital discharge; Tuesday, August 5: 7lbs, 7oz. (it’s normal […]
This is my first post with my new 3G iPhone. It’s pretty nifty; I can post from the phone and even include a picture from the built-in camera. Typing is a bit slow, though hopefully I’ll get better over time. Thanks to Esme for helping me test the camera and to Leslie for letting me […]
The weather was beautiful on Monday evening, and Leslie was in dire need of some fresh air — it had been 10 days since she’d taken a real walk outside — so we grabbed the baby, the dogs, and the grandmother, and we headed over to the wonderful Tilles Park for Esme’s first walk. She […]
Hanging around the house yesterday, we realized that we had enjoyed a week plus with Esme, all before her expected due date. In all fairness, the original due date we received in December 2007 was August 11; after the first ultrasound, that was unofficially revised to August 8.
This blog isn’t just about Esme. Now, granted, up to this point, it has been mostly (almost entirely) about Esme… though the point was to keep everyone updated on more than just the baby and the dogs. This weekend we made an interesting discovery in the garden. Jeannie was helping weed (more on that in […]
We survived week 1 of parenthood, and more importantly, Esme survived. It’s been a thrilling ride so far and we have a lot more to look forward to. Yes, we’ve been a bit behind on posting pictures and video these past few days, though we’ll hopefully redeem ourselves this week. In the mean time, here’s […]
Esme got a very special visitor today — Grandma Jeannie came to spend few days helping out and hanging out with her first grandchild. She spent a few solid hours just hanging on to Esme, so much so that dad didn’t get a chance to hold her at all this evening. Just to clarify, that […]
We’ve been taking as many pictures and as much video as we can (and as our hard drive will allow), trying to capture a bit of what it’s like to hang out with Esme.
We were able to come home from the hospital yesterday, a day earlier than planned. Though we had an excellent experience — the staff was amazing and the facilities were fantastic — it was nice to start out life at home. Thanks to Sara (and Andrew) for taking care of the dogs, and for this […]
Not to leave anyone out, we had some more visitors on Monday at the hospital. It was great to have so many people come by to keep us company and say hi to the Bundle Of JoyTM. When Nino and her 14-month-old Luka stopped by, Luka was not too happy that mom was holding another […]
We’ve received a few questions on the name — understandably — so we thought we’d share a little bit more about how we came up with the name Esme. Leslie picked it. There you have it! No, actually, there’s more to it. We had names that we liked long before we got pregnant, and went […]
It’s amazing how many different expressions a 3-day-old can have. In around 2 minutes, she cycles through several dozen of them. We were lucky enough to capture a good number during one of her naps this afternoon.
We got the “official” hospital pictures yesterday, and Esme was not in the greatest mood. When you interrupt her feeding for pictures (or, well, interrupt her feeding for anything), she is not too happy, so it was a challenge to get a few pictures where she’s not crying. Mom and Dad and the photographer were […]
We had a nice restful day today, including some good relaxation with mom and dad.
You’ve seen the cute, cuddly side of Esme — now see the “other” side of Esme.
It is not only amazing to have Esme with us, but we are also blessed to be able to share in our joy with so many friends and family. Thanks to everyone for all the well wishes we have received from all across the country and beyond. Not to play favorites with “Congratulations” wishes, but […]
Several people have asked for more pictures and more video, so we’ll be adding as many as we can. Esme was pretty sleepy today, though we were able to capture some good examples of the fun faces she has been making. You should be seeing a video here. If you don’t see the video, you […]
Esme had a nearly endless stream of visitors today. She was very well-behaved and everyone had a great time holding her and hanging out. Sara and Andrew got an extra special surprise as Esme decided to um, “perform one of her baby duties” while Jeff was cleaning up from an earlier baby duty. Luckily, no […]
SAINT LOUIS, August 2, 2008 — Leslie Hinyard and Jeff Lash formally unveiled a new brand identity for Baby TBA today that represents a significant reorganization and rebranding of their household status. Baby TBA, originally scheduled for full public launch on August 11, was released ahead of schedule today at 1:27pm, and immediately rebranded “Esme […]