My little sailor!

The World's tallest man

While we were in St. Louis, we went to Alton, IL the home of the world's tallest man. Robert Wadlow was born in 1918 and grew to the height of 8 feet 11.1 inches. Here is a picture of Brooke and I with him. I barely come up to his waist. At his death, he weighed 490 lbs. He was 7'4" at age 13! Here we are sitting in a replica of a chair that was made for him. I just can't imagine being that tall!!

St. Louis

Well, Ethan and I went to St. Louis the end of May and we had a WONDERFUL time. It was fun to see how excited everyone got to see Ethan. In fact I think dad was the funniest with him. He would play all of these funny games with him and then he would show him off to anyone that walked by, regardless of if he knew them or not.

The first did when we got there was Ethan got his first haircut by his uncle Aaron. Ethan did so well and didn't cry at all and he looked 'stylin' after Aaron was done. The next day we were there, we took Ethan to the zoo for the first time. I think we all enjoyed it more than he did and Brooke and Aaron had fun carrying Ethan around. We also went to see Dad at the office, because he wanted to show everyone his grandson. Here is a picture of the corn king and his future heir, the little kernel, sitting upon the corn cob!

Probably the most exciting thing we did while we were there, was to go to Cabella's!!! My dad was so excited to take his first grandson to Cabella's for the first time and even bought him a shirt to document such a momentous occasion. Here are several pictures from that trip. We had a great time trying on different hats and exploring the store. Don't worry, my dad made sure we saw every inch of the store--he didn't want Ethan to miss out on anything.

Uncle Aaron was also kind enough to buy Ethan a St. Louis cardinals outfit to go with the hat that his grandpa bought him. The St. Louis outfit is to remind him of his roots. As you can see we had a great time, especially Ethan!

Newport, RI

Eric had training up in Newport, RI the last week of May, so Ethan and I went up with him for a couple of days before we left for St. Louis. We had a ton of fun. One day we went and toured two of the mansions. It is unbelievable how ornate and massive these homes are ...and then they were only used at the most 4 months out of the year.Here is a picture of the Elms. Construction of The Elms was completed in 1901 at a cost reported at approximately $1.4 million. Here is the other mansion we toured...it is called Rosecliff. This mansion was finished in 1902 and cost $2.5 million to construct. If you have ever seen the movie "The Great Gatsby," it was filmed here.



Here I am in front of two old navy carrier on base in Newport; the navy is trying to sell them, but having no luck!

Laundry Fairy!!

I have Ethan trained so well. Here he is doing my laundry while I sit on the bed and eat bon-bons and watch my soap operas!! What a good little boy I have. I haven't quite decided what chore I want him to learn next, I am thinking I might have him clean my bathrooms!!

Ethan's new toy!!

Here are pictures of Ethan in his new favorite toy. Eric actually bought it for me as a mother's day gift--just wait to see what he gets for Father's Day. When we first got it, Ethan was too little to touch the ground, hence the dictionary on the ground. He just loves his jumperoo and it is fun to watch him in it.

Great Granny

Here is Ethan with his Great Granny. Don't they look so cute together!!

Mystic Seaport

On Friday, we went to Mystic Seaport. Mystic Seaport is a re-created 19th century seafaring village. One of the more interesting things we saw was the Charles W. Morgan, the only remaining American wooden whaling ship.
Here is everyone in front of the Charles W. Morgan. The Morgan had a successful 80-year whaling career. She made 37 voyages before retiring in 1921, and was preserved as an exhibit through the efforts of a number of dedicated citizens. Her longest voyage was four years and eleven months, while her shortest was "only" eight and a half months. I can't imagine being stuck on a boat for that long!

Here is one of the guides on the ship. He was very involved in preserving the ship and had numerous facts to tell us about the Charles W. Morgan.

Boston Duck Tour

Eric's parents and both of his grandparents came to visit last week for Ethan's blessing. It was so fun having them and we did so many fun things while they were here. On thursday, we went up to Boston and went on a duck tour of Boston. I had always wanted to go on a duck tour and we had so much fun. Our tour guide was so interesting and funny and had a lot of fascinating facts to tell us as we toured around Boston.
This is Captain Paul Reverse, our tour guide. His story dates back to the days when Boston was at the center of the rebellion, the Revolutionary War. Yes, he too was out there, on April 18th 1775, with Paul Revere and his many comrades. That night, when the two lanterns went up in the Old North Church, Captain Paul Reverse became so excited he managed to mount his horse backwards and ride fast from town screaming, “The redcoats are going, the red coats are going!” Many, many years have passed, and although he wasn’t much of a messenger, he has become a great storyteller, tour guide and liaison to the beautiful old city of Boston.

This is the finish line of the Boston Marathon, Eric wanted to document that he and I had crossed it!! Go us--okay, so we drove over it!!

Finally, this is a picture of the duck tour out on the Charles River with the Boston Skyline in the background. Doesn't that look like so much fun!!