where I talk with my inside voice
Noah’s first visit to see the St. Louis Symphony was, appropriately, to hear the music of John Williams, complete with characters from Star Wars in the lobby of Powell Hall. We’ve been talking about the instruments of the symphony in his music class, but he really enjoyed seeing them in real life. And I enjoyed watching his reaction. I also...
Six years running, here is our annual Pipes family christmas card. Best holiday wishes to all of our friends and family!
Although many people are unaware of it, St. Louis County boasts a world-class wolf sanctuary. Originally founded by Marlin Perkins, the Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka houses several species of endangered wolves and foxes from around the world. We spent the final day of our staycation on a tour of the facility. I guess we had pretty good luck because...
It’s not often that you get a St. Louis weather forecast in August that calls for highs in the low 80s, so when you get one, you have to take advantage of it. Day 5 of our staycation found us enjoying a day at Six Flags. Here are the video highlights of our day.
Day four of our staycation took us to see the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica, a rather incongruous blend of Romanesque architecture and Byzantine art that took almost 70 years to complete. It houses one of the largest collections of mosaics in the world, all of which are stunning. The kids were impressed with the size of the space inside, and...
Thank goodness that’s over. The thirtieth day couldn’t come quickly enough for me. I think I say this every year, but this was by far the hardest month so far. We had so much stuff going on this month, just finding the time to write was enough of a challenge, but I also struggled to find topics that I thought...
Noah gave us a scare last night. He had been running a fever since Friday, but by Sunday morning he was feeling better and his temperature was down. Then he started complaining about neck pain and he couldn’t turn his head, so we started worrying that it might be meningitis. Calling our pediatrician, he recommended a trip to the ER,...
Josie’s castle / play table is almost done. In just a couple of hours this morning I was able to get a coat of primer on everything and assemble it in her room. She can’t wait to start playing with it, but I think I may need to take it back apart in order to finish painting it. I attached...
I still can’t figure out how St. Louis was lucky enough to be selected as the location for Marine Week 2011, but I’m not complaining. It was a great way to spend a father/son afternoon. Noah got a big kick out of the helicopters, the weapons, and the tank. Here’s a short video of our adventure:
I challenge anyone to watch the documentary Food, Inc. and not be influenced to make at least a few changes in the way you eat. More than likely, you’ll change a lot. You’ll look at that half-pound chicken breast and wonder if the chicken was still able to walk, supporting its unnatural weight. You’ll wonder what dose of antibiotics you’re...
If I haven’t mentioned it before, I really like Sketchup. Yesterday I spent less than an hour designing a new play table for my daughter Josie, and tonight I spent about an hour cutting out the pieces. Talk about rapid prototyping! If it’s not obvious from the image, this table will sit in the corner of her room and be...
In almost every project around our house, we invariably reach the point where this phrase is uttered. It happens so often that it’s a running joke. Today, Father’s Day, was no exception. It began with us simply wanting to swap out the hangers in both of the kids’ closets. Noah’s clothes have gotten big enough that they don’t stay on...
I took Noah to Powell Hall tonight for their Sound of Music Sing-a-Long. They showed the movie complete with lyrics in the subtitles and everyone had a blast singing along. Before the movie started, they had a costume contest, so a lot of people dressed up as characters, including an adorable pair of little twin girls dressed as nuns (who...
It’s a typical St. Louis summer. We are barely into June and it’s already into the 90s, with a heat index above 100. So to beat the heat, it’s time to fill the pool (and upgrade our slide, thanks to Craigslist). Our humble little pool is barely big enough for the kids but this year we have another family member...
Day two of our staycation took us to see the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. We watched Albert Pujols et al finish a three-game sweep of their long-time rivals the Chicago Cubs, defeating them 3-2 in the 10th inning. It turned out to be a beautiful day despite the forecasts of record heat and humidity, and though we were...
As a consequence of our canine commitments, an extended vacation this summer was not in the cards, so we decided to do a “staycation” this year. And since the kids haven’t seen many of the St. Louis landmarks, we figured this would be a good option for us. First up: a trip to the Arch. But we started with breakfast...
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