The Curtis Clan - Summer 2010
Summer Solstice to Fall Equinox
Six Flags
On the longest day of the year/Solstice, we made our 3rd visit to Six Flags with our good friends from Columbia, MO the Holmes and their two girls. It was an exceptionally hot day but we stayed cool with each family sharing a bottomless 32 oz soda cup filled with 3:1 water lemonade mix (we easily refilled it over a dozen times). That along with the occasional water ride helped a great deal. The trade-off of dry underwear versus being cool when the temps are in the mid-90s seemed worth it to most of us. The eldest girl Alex, at 10 finally began pushing the envelope for the more adult roller coasters but not the other three, who still felt the River King Coaster was the limit of the excitement needs. As in the past, choosing a Monday eliminated having to wait in any line longer than a few minutes, except for the air-conditioned Scooby Doo and the Scary Swamp arcade ride.
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Bugs Bunny and the Curti at Six Flags
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Happy Trails
That weekend Randy took the girls on their first for horseback ride at the Kraus farms in Valley Park. We had a couple one hour “Evaluation/Lessons” that we had picked up as volunteers at the school’s Trivia night/silent auction but they expired at the end of June, so with scheduling we did on a 90+ degree day. Before riding, they made the girls brush the horses, check their hooves for rocks, bridle them and lug the saddle from the tack room, which struck an unexpected responsibility chord from the start. When signing them up, we had to talk them into accepting Cate at 6 years old but she seemed the more comfortable of the two from the start, getting her horse to trot and weave between the poles after her first time around the exercise corral. Jane was as cautious as ever and wasn’t comfortable the idea of going faster and asked to be done about 5-10 minutes early. Afterwards, she was all gung-ho about it though. Given the costs, we don’t see regular riding lessons in either ones future but depending on the lingering interest Cate might get another shot or two.
| Cowgirl Cate |
Cowgirl Jane |
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Happy Tails to You
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Hot Dogs with Catsup
On Sunday we made a trip out to Pam’s Dachshund Ranch to visit Lilly and her two puppies. After four ½ weeks, they were lots more fun and animated and the girls got to play with them. Perhaps it’s fortunate that there were only two puppies and that both were claimed by the breeders as B seemed quite smitten as well.
| Jane and Cate |
with Lilly's puppies |
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On the way out we stopped in Collinsville to see the World’s Largest Catsup Bottle (the Brooks Catsup Water Tower) and took the standard gag photos and bought a bottle of Brooks Tangy Catsup at the quickie-mart next to it.
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Jane, Bethany and Cate with the World's Largest bottle of Catsup
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Randy and the standard gag photo
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4th of July
We attended the annual WG Community Days Parade on Saturday the 3rd of July (there are too many churches on the parade route to hold it on Sunday morning of the actual 4th). It was the usual mix of the Corvette clubs, scout troops, schools, etc though upon reflection no Shriners. In an election year, there are always politicians but perhaps surprisingly the largest political group was the 50+ “Tea Party” marchers supporting Ed Martin, running against Democratic incumbent Russ Carnahan for Congress. Nowhere on the float did it say he’s running in the Republican primary and nowhere on his web site does the word Republican pop up. It will be interesting to see if that remains his strategy after the primary, assuming that he wins.
On the actually Fourth, we made a new float on the girls’ wagon for the Tuxedo Blvd parade. Jane and Randy spent a couple-few hours on it in the morning but it turned out OK for the before parade photo op with Maddie. Maddie wisely bailed out, as the float fell off the wagon about five houses down the street and mostly disintegrated. The girls held up the poles for the flag so it worked ok. Next time we need to focus less on recycling all the material for the float and more on having a SOLID platform rigidly attached to the wagon (starting earlier is always a good idea too). That evening we went to a neighbor’s personal fireworks demonstration and sparklers instead of fighting the crowds to get to the community ones in Webster or downtown.
| Randy, Jane Cate and Maddie with float before |
...and afterwards |
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Camp Lakewood
On the Wednesday after the 4th of July, we drove Jane down to Sunnen Lake outside Potosi to attend the YMCA’s Camp Lakewood for 4 days and 3 nights (the mini-camp for 6-8 year olds). We considered sending Cate as well but when we it was sign up time, she didn’t really want to go and we didn’t want to coerce her. On the way down, we stopped to see the Thunderbird Petroglyphs at Washington County State Park, which was pretty cool.
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Jane and Cate "roughing it" on the bunks in an "old" cabin at Camp Lakewood
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A lot has changed in the four decades, since Randy attended Camp Lakewood. The “cabins” are no longer the rustic clapboard, with wire screens on the windows and doors with wooden floors (the sheds at Lowe’s are more refined) and least I forget the WWII era surplus bunks with squeaky springs. The SNL “Bad News Bees” sketch about bussing off comes to mind but that’s veering off. The cabin are more like college dorms with air conditioning dry-walled sleeping rooms, a common room with sofas and comfy chairs, a wooden balcony and a shower and bathroom across the hall (no more 200 foot hike with a flashlight to go tinkle in the middle of the night in a spider infested bathhouse). And supposedly Jane got the older and more tired of accommodations. Jane thought it was fantastic, mostly as a function of getting a top bunk.
The Y has a strict policy about no cell phones, game boys and laptops. Cameras were permitted and we debated about sending her with a camera but decided against it, not waning to be “those” parents. Well, she was the ONLY kid in he cabin that didn’t have one, so there were limited pictures of her time there.
The activities had changed somewhat at camp, at least for 7 year olds. Sure there was big campfires and singing (like old favorites Little Cabin in the Woods, Mr. Moon) but the emphasis was less the classic camp activities such as archery, canoeing, caving, riflery, lanyard crafts, sand candles, etc. and more on making the kids feel comfortable being away from home. Jane did go swimming in the lake but only did so for 5 minutes and before quitting it because the fish were going to eat her. She was very happy none-the-less and had a terrific time. She wasn’t too disappointed to come home though, primarily a function of her Indy cousins coming in for the weekend for the first of their three visits in the summer. Lots of swimming and pizza fun.
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Jane at Camp Lakewood
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Sage Family Reunion at Innsbrook
A few days later, the St. Louis portion of the Sage returned to the A-Frame we rented last year at Innsbrook, and were later joined by Colorado Sages on their Mid-west vacation. Lots of doing noting but hanging out, reading, canoeing, a bit of fishing, swimming, reading and at night recounting old family stories lubricated with many beers and cheap wine. The tale of a teenage bother wrecking the family golf cart and not covering it up elicited an incredulous response from Bethany of “Why didn’t you just sink it in the lake?” Randy thinks she’s watching WAY TOO many TV crime dramas and is a bit concerned that he might go missing sometime and he emphasized that the spouse is always the first suspect.
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Aunt Rosemary, Cousin George and Jane try fishing
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Jane and Cate had an interesting misunderstanding regarding the TV signal at Innsbrook, thinking that it only had golf, as that was all they ever got to see, before the observation was passed on to their chagrinned grandfather.
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Bethany, the girls and the in-town cousins
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RANJANANY (23 July-16 August +)
Summer is a busy time for everyone, but once the day camps were over our lives became even less routine as we moved into what amounts to a month long family “festival” between RANdy’s Birthday thru JANne’s and onto BethaANY’s, or Ran-Jan-any. Besides celebrating each day within the immediate family, there’s usually another event (meal/cake & ice cream) for the greater family. Plus there’s using the free and BOGO restaurant coupons that flow in if you’ve filled out the any forms or questionnaires. About a year or so back we start restating our birthday on such questionnaires to spread the coupons out a bit but we still get a dozen or so each. Of course, we don’t use them all but its hard not to follow up on a free DQ Blizzard. In that same period, add in birthdays for our dog Lilly, an uncle, a sister, a good friend, the end of summer vacation and start of the school year for additional fun and the days without some form of mini-celebrations are rare. Ranjanany is sort of Ramadan Doppelganger, where instead of fasting for a month, one feasts for a month. Oh bother!
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The girls help Dad with the candle chores
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Let’s Watch Baseball!
During the 2nd weekend of Ranjanany, we crammed all our live baseball watching for the year into three days. We had a great coupon deal to see the Gateway Grizzlies for $10 a person for second row seats, a hot dog, soda, chips and $5 of Grizzly Bucks to spend as we desired at the ballpark in Sauget. Our neighbors the Kennedys joined us for the game and all were in good spirits. The only downside was that it was raining. It let up enough to start the game but the umpires called it after 4 innings, as it became a deluge. Still we felt like we got more than our money’s worth of free parking, fun, food and fan gear: a Grizzlies cap and some temporary tattoos (and we didn’t have to sit through 3 hours of baseball). All of this for $40 for all 4 of us. It’s hard not to love the idea of baseball under such circumstances.
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Enjoying the Grizzilies' game in the rain note the coordinating team colors
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Sunday, 1 August, was the WG Computer School’s annual trek to the Cardinals game to sing “Take Me Out To the Ball Game” at the 7th Inning stretch. Once again it was $40 for all 4 of us, which included soda and a hot dog (note the running thread of appreciation of cheap thrills). As in the year before, our seats were in the last row seat of the ballpark. Actually being in the VERY last row is desirable in that you’re under the overhang in the shade and you get the breeze over the edge, which makes for very pleasant sitting. Our seats makes for a interesting contrast to our first Cardinal game together in the old Busch Stadium, 6 rows up from the third base line but in a blistery 95 degree direct sun light afternoon (this was more pleasurable). As before the school had to sell a large block of seats to get the honor of singing the anthem, so we ended up inviting the greater Sage tribe and some neighbors to help meet the quota, eventually having a group of 17.
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Sage tribe at Cardinal game
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The kids were glad to get a Build a Bear Ozzie Smith Bear give away and Pujols hit a three run homer to help win the game. With our new telephoto lens, we got a good series of picture while waiting for the girls to sing.
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Albert Pujols Homers!
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The night before the game, the Sage tribe got together to make Sage Pizza at their folk’s house, who were out of town for Alvan’s 45th high school reunion. We took a group photo to show them we missed them and how much we appreciated the use of their digs.
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Sage Pizza Den Gang
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The following week Jane and Cate went to “Peace Trail” camp in the morning at the local United Church of Christ. Peace Trail is set up as an alternative to the heavily packaged Vacation Bible Schools (VBS) offered elsewhere in the community and the rest of America. Randy still has lingering issues three years after sending them to a VBS where the focus was on teachings from the Old Testament (see Spring 2007 for his rant). Although not overtly about Jesus, it clearly focused more on the Good News teachings of Christ, rather than the intolerant, spiteful, jealous God of the Old Testament. The family picnic at the end had a good vibe and we plan on sending the girls again next summer.
Jane’s 8th Birthday
On Thursday, we had our standard family gathering of pizza, cake and ice cream that was enjoyable as always.
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Jane's Castle Cake
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On Friday, Jane hosted at non-sleep-over Slumber Party for a few of her classmates. The decorated pillowcases ate a grand Castle cake courtesy of Mom and watched Jane’s favorite film The Parent Trap before their parents picked them up at 9:30. Several parents commented how thoughtful the Friday night timing was which allowed them to go out on a date or see a movie, while their child was at the party.
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Jane's friends display thier pillow cases
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The Second City (Nothing but the 2nd Best for Us Curtises)
The next morning we got up and headed to Chicago for a vacation (on the 3rd Saturday of Ranjanany). We didn’t get a hotel downtown, as Lady Gaga and Lollapalooza were playing at Grant Park and it was the end of the Chicago Koman Walk. So instead we got a room at the Northbrook Renaissance and enjoyed the view from Lake Shore Drive as we took the scenic route to the northern suburbs.
On Sunday, we went to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio in Oak Park. The girls thought the children’s playroom there was much cooler than theirs but no offense was taken as we had to agree with them. After lunch, we headed into town and got multi-day passes on a hop on/hop off double-decker sightseeing tour bus. In two hours, we got a guided 13 mile tour through the Loop, and didn’t exhaust the kids (or parents) by walking too much.
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Umbrellas of Oak Park at FLW House
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On the Monday (the 65th Anniversary of the Bombing of Nagasaki), we paid a quick visit to the location of Chicago Pile, the site of the first self-sustaining Nuclear Reaction at the University of Chicago conducted by Enrico Fermi on 2 December 1942. Well Dad thought it was noteworthy and everyone else humored him. It was only a few minute detour on the way to the Museum of Science and Industry. Our first stop there was to see the daily spectacle of watching baby chicks hatch, which has been occurring at the museum every day for decades. Jane and Cate insisted we returned throughout the day to check on the progress of the hatchlings, attesting to the popularity with kids. Lots of super cool stuff at the MSI but the “Idea Factory” and the U-boat were the biggest hits.
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Dad, Jane and Cate on the MSI Climbingwall
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Tuesday we started off at Millennium Park, making the obligatory goofy pictures at the Bean (aka Cloud Gate) and the spitting water Crown Fountain. At the Navy Pier, we visited the free Museum of Stained Glass Windows, which was a hit.
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Family portrait with The Bean
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All things paled compared to the penultimate destination of the trip: the American Girl Doll store on the Michigan Miracle Mile. It was a block long, 2-story boy-free zone dedicated to pre-teen girl enrichment and positive role modeling. It would be easier to appreciate the American Girl phenomena if it weren’t so heavily merchandised and at such premium prices. Miraculously we got out of there for ~$25 per kid, which got them each a set of glasses for their dolls (foreshadowing alert) and a hat for themselves: a very French purple beret for Cate and a stylish Kit Kittredge depression era toque for Jane.
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Jane and Cate at American Girl doll store
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Near the end of our tour bus ride on our last day in downtown Chicago I asked Cate: “What do you think?” “A good day!” A good day indeed. That evening we discovered that the sauce for the vegetable Kofta at the Curry Hut in Highwood was fabulous, at least on par with the Chicken Tiki Masala sauce at House of India. On the way out of town the next day, we stopped into the IKEA in Schaumberg and purchased EKTORP armchair for the basement we’ve been thinking about buying for the last year. It’s very comfy and now we want the matching sofa which will also fit in the minivan. :)
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Going out for our last night in Chicago (er..err...Highwood) Note the new chapeaus on les juenes fils
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A Tree Grows in Webster
When we got back, we attended a tree naming ceremony in Margaret Park as Cate won the naming rights for the recently planted Silver Linden, which she named “Annabelle”. They took a picture for the Webster-Kirkwood Times but it wasn’t news worthy enough, go figure.
16 August – First Day of School, 33rd Anniversary of Elvis’s death and Bethany’s 40th Natal Day
Since it was Monday, we decided to partake in the Pasta House Monday $12 special of all you can eat salad and pasta with Bethany’s folks. Her mom made a cake, which we enjoyed afterwards instead of embarrassing Bethany at the restaurant.
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Jane and Cate on 1st day at school
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40th Birthday Party
On a bonus 4th weekend of Ranjanany, we (Randy, Elizabeth, Maria and Rosemary) hosted a party celebrating 40 years of our favorite Bethany at our house. There was a yummy cake from Claytons and other hors d’oerves treats including naan dipped in Tiki Masala sauce from House of India. Numerous friends and family including Aunt Kate and Uncle Don from Pittsburgh came for the adult only gathering (Jane and Cate hung out with their cousins with sitters watching the tribe).
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R&B at her 40th Birthday Party
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Bethany’s siblings Justin and Rosemary penned a tribute song, sung by the Sage family singers, to the tune of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" by Frankie Vallie and the Four Seasons)
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Sage Family Singers seranading Bethany
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You're too good to be true
Can't take our eyes off of you
So many candles in the cake
The light keeps me awake
That many flames can't be safe
It shows the lines in your face
But it looks good on you
We can't take our eyes off of you.
You've got heaven in your eyes
You're old, so no surprise
Pretty soon you will see
Some brochures from AARP
So much worse it could be
If you had kids who were forty
It's proud Mom and Dad who do
And they can't take their eyes off of you.
[full voice making the horn sounds -- ba-da, ba-da, ba-da, ba ba da da-da, da-da, da-da, ba-da da ...]
Refrain:
So Hap-py Birthday!
Now you've turned Big 4-0
Oh Hap-py Birthday!
Only sixty to go
Oh Hap-py Birthday
We hope you don't mind that we sing...
So now you're forty!
and life is now in full swing
Oh Lordy, forty!
you've got two kids and the ring
Oh baby for-ty!
Yes Hap-py Birth-day!
It's too bizarre to be true
your age divided by two
is how we think about you
But Jane and Cate might belie
an age you just can't deny
Their mother's beauty they can't ply
One green and one brown eye
For their love you don't have to try.
Forty years have flown by
Still see the youth in youth in your eyes
But we've had lots to drink
Can you trust what we think?
Pardon the way that we stare
Not enough grey in your hair
You're just too good to be true
Can't take our eyes off of you.
Refrain 2:
You're Pret-ty Baby
Do you like chicken or fish?
What are we saying
We know Sage Pizza's the best
But now you're forty
The doc says don't eat like that still
So Hap-py Birth-day
you're a Sage-sib pioneer
the first to forty
the next one’s not for two years.
We love you ba-by
Yes Happy Birth-day!
New Year, New Looks
With the start of school, Cate began multiple daily requests to cut her hair, so after a solid week of it we decided she really had made up her mind. Before starting, Cate promised, “I won’t freak out like last time”. Nevertheless, Bethany began cutting in the back, but as soon as Cate saw the hair trimmed of the sides she immediately began feeling remorse and begged her Mom to stop cutting and reattached it. She calmed down and was exceedingly pleased with the results, bouncing up and down to watch it bounce.
With the start of school, Jane commented that her spot in the last row of the class made it kind of hard to read what the teachings was writing. Since we had both gotten classes at Jane’s age, we had been expecting this and quickly scheduled an appointment with the ophthalmologist. The verdict was that she has 20/30 vision. In regards to getting glasses, she was SUPER excited (see America Girl Store story above). As parents, we certainly don’t get everything right, but our preparation for this inevitable moment was dead on. When they told her the turn-around time was two weeks, she voiced her disappointment, bemoaning the fact that she would not have them for the annual yearbook pictures on Friday. Well those technicians, not wanting to disappoint an 8 year old girl who was excited to be getting glasses, put a rush on the glasses and she got them in 3 days, just in time for her classroom picture.
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Cate and Jane sporting thier new hair cut and glasses geared up for their 2nd year of YMCA soccer league
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After a 3 month stay at the Dachshund Ranch to have her two puppies, Lilly returned to us at the end of August. She was excited to see the girls and they were ecstatic to have their dog back (Maddie has never really bounded with them). Her absence seems a bit like the cover story in decades past of a young woman’s several month disappearance to take care of an ill relative in a distant town when she was in the “family way”. Although we were a bit concerned that she may have picked up some bad habits while at the ranch but she fit in like no time has past.
Labor Day Weekend
As is our tradition we make no plans for the American cultural end to summer but to hang out at home and do as our whimsy strikes us. With the events scheduled throughout the rest of the year, it a welcome respite of “no deeds to do, no promises to keep”. Sunday morning was a case in point as the a broken water main became an impromptu block party for a dozen neighbors as we watched the Missouri Water guys trench a hole, splice in a new pipe and backfill it with gravel and cap it with asphalt. Jane, Cate and Lilly took great pleasure in splashing in the temporary creek formed by the open hydrant to flush the spliced main out.
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Cate and Jane splashing in the hydrant water
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We also took a trip to the Wild Bird Sanctuary and Lone Elk Park. The WBS has made incredible progress in the last 15(?) years from being a side attraction at the park to being the main draw with numerous cages and paths courtesy from dozens of Eagle Scout projects. While going through the Bison Area, it was like the girls were on a photo safari.
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Photo hunting the big game (bison) at Lone Elk Park
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