THURSDAY: Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour

On Thursday we made our way to that which is at the center of nearly every St. Louisan's heart. Not time in St. Louis would be complete without it. Of course I mean the brewery tour.

WEDNESDAY: Meramec Caverns / St. James

Wednesday morning we made our second excursion far outside of St. Louis, this time along I-44. Our first stop was Meramec Caverns, which I haven't been to since I was in 5th grade.

TUESDAY: St. Louis Cardinals game

Tuesday night my mom came over to watch the girls so that Yoli, Don Hector, Doña Lucila and I could go to the Cardinals game.

SUNDAY: Malcolm W. Martin Arch overlook

Across the river from downtown St. Louis is the Malcolm W. Martin Memorial Park. This year they finally completed a scenic overlook tower from which you can take great photos of the Arch and the St. Louis skyline. This past Sunday, we took Yoli's folks and the girls to grab some photos from there.

Still going

Despite our lack of blog posts this week, rest assured we are going full-bore. Together we have visited quite a few places this week, ranging from the Malcolm Martin Arch viewing platform in East St. Louis to a Cardinals baseball game to Meramec Caverns to St. James (where my brother Justin lives).

Also, Don Hector has helped me continue on with my bunk bed finishing project. I finally finished staining all the head boards, and Don Hector did most of the first coats of finish on the non-headboard pieces.

Photos/videos will be coming sometime soon, whenever we can find time. :)

This morning we will be off to the Anheuser-Busch brewery.

Honorable mention for Yoli

Today, the Ferguson Farmer's Market had its pie contest. Yoli really likes these dessert contests.

Playdough, Garbage, Zoo and Botanical Garden

Check out photos from the last two days!

First week, in photos

Here are a few photos from the first week of Yoli's parents trip to the United States.

We start off by taking them to the Delmar Loop for lunch at Fitz's, followed by a look around Plowsharing Crafts, where Yoli once worked years ago.

The arrival

It was Tuesday night and Yoli and I were a bit exhausted.

We had been running around for days, making preparations for the arrival of her parents from Bolivia. Perhaps the biggest of these was the purchase of a minivan, which required a test-drive, offers, counter-offers, and a used car inspection.

Today is the day

Yoli's parents should be here late tonight.

This morning, I got the title to our "new" minivan: a 2000 Mercury Villager in really good shape. For those who care about such things, it is a dark green color. It should be of great service to us while our family temporarily grows to 7 people.

I still need to take care of inspections, etc. Hopefully it will be drive-ready Wednesday or Thursday.

As far as the house goes, we have made a lot of progress, but much remains to be done. I guess I better stop typing and get back to cleaning while the girls are still asleep!

Getting ready for visitantes

We've spent the last week slowly making progress toward getting ready for the arrival of Yoli's parents.

A few things we've accomplished:

• clean sun room
• make curtain rods and hang curtains in sun room
• make tentative deal for a minivan

Of course we've been doing other stuff, too. Today we hit the farmer's market and bought some peaches (and soy candles). Later I took Jadzia to the library for a presentation by the Butterfly House about ladybugs, which was very good.

Yoli also wrote up a 4-page step-by-step guide for her parents on how to traverse the airports and airplanes from Santa Cruz to Miami to St. Louis. We hope they make it with no problems. Thankfully speaking Spanish is not an obstacle in Miami, and in St. Louis all they have to do is follow the crowd to the baggage carousel.

Tuesday night will be here before we know it. Now all we have to do is clean the rest of the house.

Coming to America

Today was the culmination of a lot of work Yoli and I and her family have been doing in recent months: Yoli's parents received tourist visas so that they can come to America!

This is not a particularly easy process for Bolivians. It requires paperwork, making an appointment online with the embassy, and traveling to La Paz. That trip is no trifle: it is an extremely long bus ride, and it is high in the altiplano. Since Yoli's parents are older and because they live in Santa Cruz in the lowlands, we were very worried about altitude sickness.

They left Monday from Santa Cruz, and traveled first by bus to Cochabamba. Cochabamba is higher than Santa Cruz, but not so high as La Paz. They spent a day there sightseeing, in order to help their bodies acclimatize before continuing on.

They had to wake up early this morning (Thursday) in order to make sure they were at the embassy before the 8 a.m. appointment. I understand that Yoli's dad was on his knees praying much of the night! We all had a very real fear that they would be denied the visa. After all, when it comes to the embassy, you are guilty of wanting to become an illegal immigrant unless you can prove otherwise. We have heard many horror stories.

When they got to the embassy at 7 a.m., there were already 10 people in front of them in line. Ah, the benefits of age: the embassy folks moved Yoli's parents to the front of the line. Apparently they were treated well and not asked very many questions during the interview.

Anyway, this is exciting news. We aren't 100% sure when the visas will take effect, but we should know in a few days. Our assumption is that we will be able to have Yoli's parents visit beginning some time in June.

Family, food, history

Family history isn't all dusty books and blurry microfilms.

Lately, I have re-discovered salsiccia.

Salsiccia is an Italian sausage. My memory of it is that my Grandpa Renaud would always cook it as part of his big Christmas breakfast spread each year. I remember as a kid not being thrilled with the taste of it.

Well, it was on sale at Schnucks a few weeks back. Because of the family connection, I thought I'd give it another try after many years. And it turns out we all liked it quite a bit. It wasn't too spicy that the girls complained (which they sometimes do depending on the variety of sausage).

So we got another batch this week. We ate some today as part of a simple meal: some salsiccia, broccoli, and corn on the cob.

Tonight I was reminded in an article on St. Louis-style barbecue on Wikipedia that salsiccia is pronounced around here "suh-zee-tsa." I had been saying "sahl-see-cha," which is similar to the Spanish word for sausage (salchicha).

As soon as I read that, it was like lightning resonating in my brain. It was as if I could hear the voice of my Grandpa or my Aunt Carol using that pronunciation in my mind.

Anyway, please share your food-related family stories. I'm sure there are quite a few!

Ocho de mayo

This morning we took the girls out for "transportation day." It's a special event in Florissant put on by Parents As Teachers. We were there last year, and Jadzia really liked it. The girls got to explore all sorts of vehicles: police, ambulance, fire truck, motor home, refrigerated 18-wheeler, dump truck, front loader, snow plow, golf cart, tractor, Big Foot, etc.

In a very strange coincidence, later in the afternoon three of those vehicles would converge on our street. First, a police officer pulled over a driver for some sort of infraction. This is unusual on our street, as traffic tends to be light. Moments later, a fire truck and an ambulance pulled up to a house on our street, lights flashing and all. A woman was led away on a stretcher.

It was as if the transportation fair had followed us home.

After Yoli came home from work, I thought it might be nice to get some Mexican food. I hadn't remembered it was Cinco de Mayo, but once Yoli mentioned it, I felt sure that's what we should do.

We headed over to El Palenque. Pretty much all of Ferguson was there.

We got into a booth right away, but the ordering process and getting our food took forever. But the miracle of miracles is that not one, not two, but all three of our daughters were well-behaved through the entire evening. Jadzia and Ludi ate most of their food, too -- always a plus. It was an evening that had all the ingredients for disaster, but by God's grace, we averted it.

(this article's title is in reference to Jadzia. I tried to explain cinco de mayo to her at the restaurant. She insisted that today was OCHO de mayo)

Piedmont and Clearwater

The outlook for our "weekend" (Tuesday-Thursday) trip was not good. It had been raining and the forecast called for more of the same.

But this was our last, best chance to take advantage of my four-day work week and the three days off it afforded us.

Easter 2009

Yoli and the girls colored eggs on Easter Eve. They kept it simple, using regular food coloring, rubber bands, and crayons.

The eggs turned out beautifully, but the only problem was the girls wanted to eat them right away!

I am retro-dating this post, since the photos in it took place in the middle of April. Sorry for the long delay.

Smiley Josie

Puppy love

In this sequence, watch as the girls sit unknowingly on the neighbor's step. Quietly, a giant horse-dog approaches from behind ...

Baby ballet

Jadzia loves this video called Baby Ballet, which teaches kids how to do various ballet movements. She takes it fairly seriously. Her nanny recently purchased a genuine ballet outfit with slippers. Jadzia absolutely loves to put it on and dance.

Unhappy one minute ...

And then happy the next ...

These photos are from a trip to the Botanical Garden.

Pay no attention to the baby behind the curtain!

Yoli and Jadzia are putting together a flower arrangement. It actually has lasted quite a while and is still up on our mantle.

A whole lot of laying down

Yes, that's pretty much how one can summarize the life of a baby. If she's not being swung in someone's arms, then she is more than likely laying down on a bed or somewhere.

Jadzia: artiste

Jadzia now can draw things we actually recognize!

Stan Musial baseball cards

For all you baseball fans out there, check out this quiz I created for stltoday.com ...

Can you tell a genuine Musial baseball card from a fan-created fantasy?

http://www.stltoday.com/mds/sports-cardinals/html/2296