Happy Birthday, Dad!

My mom had the idea that we should go visit my dad in St. Louis for his 61st birthday, so Courtney, my mom, and I went out for the weekend.  We went to the St. Louis Art Museum for his birthday.  My dad took a photo of Courtney & I next to my favorite piece of art there--Degas' ballerina.  I have a smaller version at home in my living room.  Then we went to my mom's favorite Italian restaurant, Talayna's, while she reminisced about her college days at Wash U.  

This is where my dad lives.  I love it there.  It's so peaceful and beautiful--and did I mention green?  I really, really miss the green.  That night, my dad, Courtney, and I stayed up till about 2 o'clock in the morning sitting in the back yard watching a lightning storm.  A lightning bug flew up my pant leg and was sitting blinking on my thigh.  Courtney tried to pick it up, and it took probably a good 30 seconds to figure out that it was under the fabric of my pants.  Then we both jumped up squealing, flapping, and trying to get it out as my dad sat there and laughed and laughed.    

I will always remember that night and how happy I felt to be home spending silly time with my family.  I love you guys.  Dad, hope you had a happy birthday!  Thanks for having us visit.

Happy Birthday, Courtney!

Courtney had never been to Promontory Point or Golden Spike, so we agreed to take her for her 22nd birthday.  Since we went on a Saturday, they had a whole production and ran the trains for us.  We had a really fun time, and Eric & Courtney even got to make themselves souvenir pennies.   

Courtney had learned about the Spiral Jetty in one of her art classes, so while we were in that neck of the woods, we stopped by there, too.  The Spiral Jetty is an earthworks sculpture on the Great Salt Lake.  It's made out of basalt rock and you can actually walk out on it.  It's really beautiful and definitely a unique experience.

The Spiral Jetty is quite off-the-beaten-path.  You have to drive several miles on unpaved ranch roads to get out there.  On the way back, Courtney had a big idea to pet a little colt, but the mama horse didn't love that idea.  This strapping bull came right up to our car window as we carefully navigated through a series of deep potholes.  Luckily, Courtney had no desire to pet him.  

The way back to civilization was fraught with peril for Courtney.  We got caught in construction on I-15 (no huge surprise there).  Eric let Courtney drive home and while we were in this massive traffic jam, Courtney kept leaving these huge spaces in front of us and then zooming to catch up to the car ahead.  Finally, Eric asked her what the heck she was doing.  She reluctantly admitted that she didn't want to drive along side the moving van next to us because she was afraid to look at it.  Courtney's fear of aliens strikes again.

  

Luckily the big, scary alien cartoon didn't prevent us from making it home, and that evening we took Courtney to Rodizio and had a party with our mom, Derek, Angela, Emma, and Mary.  Eric even made her an ice cream pie.  

What a great day--thanks for sharing your b-day with us, Courtney!

Quack, quack!

The other day I get this call from my sister Courtney.  Here's the conversation:

Courtney: Wanna see my ducks?

Paige: What ducks?

Courtney: My pet ducks.

Paige: Courtney, two things come to mind.  First, you live in student housing.  You can't have pets.  Second, ducks aren't pets.  So, once again, what ducks?

Courtney: My roommates and I decided to get some ducks. They're really cute and fuzzy.  Want me to bring them over?

This is my life.  As it turns out, Courtney isn't the only one enthralled by ducklings.  Hugo was rather taken with them, too.  We let the duckies go for a swim in our guest tub.  At first Hugo was satisfied to gaze at them longingly over the side of the tub. . .but he eventually suffered extreme separation anxiety, and he hopped right in with them.  

Here's the post tub-time conversation:

Courtney: I need to dry the ducks.

Paige: What do you mean?

Courtney: The ducks are wet.  I need to dry them.

Paige: Courtney, they're DUCKS.  Perhaps you're unaware of this, but ducks are rather well-known for swimming.  I'm fairly confident that they're designed to dry without our intervention.

Courtney: If I don't dry them, they get cold.  I know what I'm doing--we do this all the time.

The preceding photo was not staged.  This duck really stood there under the blow dryer until it was nice and dry and fluffy again.  I couldn't let a couple of freshly clean and fuzzy ducklings go unappreciated, so we called my goddaughter Emma to come play.  

The ducks got a spa treatment.  Hugo made some charming new friends. Emma received a delightful impromptu play date.  All-in-all, it was a good day.  

Thanks, Court!

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