The Curtis Clan - Winter 2012

Winter Solstice to Spring Equinox

Map of St. Louis County circa 1930
(Note: Tuxedo Park south of Brentwood and north of Webster Groves)

1930circa STL County.jpg

Christmas / Holiday Break

Our holidays coincided with the 2weeks the girls had off from school (21 December – 3January). Randy was originally was suppose to be off the whole time but court litigation ordered “research emergency” changed his priorities and he only got to take off a couple days (“research emergency” started as a joke but it happens too often to think it’s funny anymore). As our norm we did not go out of town, instead enjoying time with people returning to the St. Louis to see family and friends in a series of what have become traditional rituals such as the White Christmas screening, the anniversary of our first date (#12), Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Sagemis. The big gift for the girls was an Xbox 360 Kinnect purchased in part from the nagging feeling that we were socially ostracizing them enough already by not having paid TV without adding video games too. The kicker was when Bethany realized that looking at all the gifts we had gotten for them, it was all clothes and books and nothing FUN. Of course this would make us the worst parents ever! (Or at least in the view of the overly dramatic).

Jane and Cate playing Xbox 360

Another present of note was Amy and Alvan buying metal detectors for the grandkids and then planting quarters and dimes in the yard for the kids to find. After an hour or so of poor results, additional coins were dropped for the kids to have some semblance of success. Amy and Alvan fared better with notes books of copies of the letters that the 5 Sage siblings had penned over the years as kids to each other and their parents. The letters were typically penned at moments of anger at some minor transgression that seemed HUGE at the time. The best is Rosemary disappearance while skiing in Lichtenstein and no one noticing.

Sage cousins make an Arch

With the arrival of the Indy Cousins, there were outings with all the kids during the day to the Science Center and the City Museum to let them expend some energy before getting penned up in the house. It was a great fun. The many (FFF) Forced Family Fun events and other gatherings with friends in town were very enjoyable yet draining condensed in such a short time. After the FFF, we settled down to a course of reading and naps on a couple lazy days with no deeds to do or promises to keep.

Sage cousins at City Museum

Just because they come from Indiana doesn't mean they're...

2011-12-28 Big Dum Hoosiers at City Museum.jpg

We welcomed in the New Year watching movies (Meet Me in St. Louis, Thor, Daddy Long Legs). Although not the first time it occurred to me that the happy ending of Meet Me in St. Louis of the family not moving to New York and staying in St. Louis is the perhaps the quintessential native St. Louisan sentiment. Perhaps it’s a case of life imitating art, as I think the film has become how much of the community likes to think of itself. It’s a 70 year old confection of Hollywood war time nostalgia of a time 40 years earlier but I love its sentimentality and totally agree with the enthusiastic disbelief Judy has at the grandeur of the Fair that takes place “Right here where we live - right here in St. Louis.”

January

The winter was a particularly mild one (sign #137 of Climate Warming) which allowed Randy and the girls to enjoy a series of weekend Field Trips instead of staying cooped up on the weekend. In keeping with Mr. Banks thinking that “outings ought to be, fraught with purpose and practicality” there was an educational bent to them. On different days they went to the Wild Bird Sanctuary / Lone Elk Park where they did lots of Owl and Bison pepping on their photo safari. We also clicked pics near home at the old Petrolite plant.

Deco Statue at former Petrolite plant

2012-01-07 JnC w statue at Petrolite.jpg

A week later we explored the northern banks of the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers (something every St. Lousian ought to do but doesn’t). On the way back home, we went to Dam 27 below the old Route 66 Chain of Rocks Bridge and played on the sand bar beach exposed by the winter low water below the dam (an underwater, passive rip rap structure).

Jane and Cate at Mississippi and Missouri Confluence	Randy too (This is January 16th...in Missouri)

Jane and Cate at Dam 27 (Did I mention this is mid-January in St. Louis?)

The January 3rd Grade Brownie outing we went to Cahokia Mounds museum. Hopefully the girls will have a bit better of an appreciation for the early Americans that they’re studying now. The museum held their interest for a bit but the girls had the most fun outside.

Brownies at Momks Mound

We were fortunate to see a couple of rafters of wild turkeys (yes I had to look up the term “rafters” http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/about/faqs/animals/names.htm ). We saw one rafter along the interstate on the way there and another rafter across the field at the museum. For a bit the girls were more interested in seeing the turkeys then climbing Monks Mound and they headed off to see the rafter of ten turkeys up close. They got within 30 feet or so before the turkey trotted off into brambles, unfortunately without seeing them fly.

Brownies chasing Wild Turkeys

I probably should have stopped them from pestering the wildlife but the imagery tapped a sentimental chord within me for Ernest H Sheppard’s sketches that accompanied AA Milne’s Us Two, a favorite poem of mine from 3rd grade.

"Let's frighten the dragons," I said to Pooh.
"That's right," said Pooh to Me.
"I'm not afraid," I said to Pooh,
And I held his paw and I shouted "Shoo!
Silly old dragons!"- and off they flew.

Hopefully my retelling of this will likely cause not cause a similar reaction to Dorothy Parker’s short New Yorker review of A. A. Milne's The House at Pooh Corner under her byline of Constant Reader: "Tonstant Weader fwowed up. , though I’m afraid I might cause a bit of nausea in my bride (but Randy is the fan of the cynical Parker vowing to make a Dorothy Parker’s Bitter when he starts home brewing again).

The kids celebrating the new playground donated by the WGCS PTO

The last weekend, Dan and Cate made a trip to the Transportation Museum. Cate enjoyed it but was disappointed not to be able to climb all over the engines like she did in Dennis the Menace Park in Monterey. Meanwhile Jane had requested an afternoon alone with Mom to talk. The way Jane presented it Bethany felt it was going to lead to one of the first “talks” about changes during puberty (She did get the American Girl doll book on the topic). She was relieved when it was only just a desire for maternal attention and the innocence remained intact (or at the very least the assumption of the innocence).

Cate at Transportaion Museum	Randy too

Also in January, Jane and Cate made great improvements during the 2nd session fall season of soccer at the Vetta Soccerdome. The small indoor venue forced them to interact a lot more with the ball instead of just chasing the herd and they both advanced accordingly to actually look pretty good. . It was terribly exciting to see them both almost score the last games as they play their best soccer ever. They went from insisting on playing defense all the time to the last game where Cate started playing goalie with some enthusiasm and Jane planted herself in the goal crease waiting for the ball to come down field in order to put the ball in the basket. It was parental joy seeing her beam with happiness after finally scoring her first goal. She really wanted it after watching her friends do it for so long. Of course we signed them up for another session. (No pictures really captured the essence of the games, a function of plexiglass and boards obscuring the camera’s access to the action).

Like much of the US we caught Downton Abbey fever in late January through mid-February as Season 2 premiered in the States. Sundays at 8 became a date as our DVR went on the fritz and stopped recognizing half of the channels. It wasn’t hard at all to skip out early on a Super Bowl party as we had other priorities. Not quite as good as the first season as it was a little soap opera-y at times with an occasional clunker in dialogue (perhaps written too fast). Still these were only minor glitches in a semi guilty pleasure.

February

On Groundhog Day we took advantage of the super cheap hockey tickets for the Jr. Blue Note Club ($40 for the family with many souvenir trinkets) to watch the Blues beat the LA Kings. Nana had gotten them some nice Blues T-shirts so they looked the part along with some for their American Girl dolls (which fortunately they were satisfied dressing up like themselves but didn’t feel the need to drag along with them. Dad wore his circa 1992 jersey and appeared to be the only one in the Savis Center with one from the Ron Caron days. The girls don’t appear headed towards being huge fans but they did enjoy it enough, particularly with the bottomless soda and popcorn we bought.

The Curti cheer on the Blues

The following weekend we got up early still decked out in our jammies to celebrate National Ice Cream for Breakfast at Webster’s Serendipity. Having waited in line for over half an hour 2 years earlier, we decided to go 15 minutes before they opened and got first place in line accordingly. It helped some but since they have a front and a back door which they opened simultaneously, it was chaotic there for the first 15 minutes. Since we were in our jammies we got free coffee mugs and hot chocolate and coffee to go with it.

First in line for Ice Creme for Breakfast day

2012-02-06 BJC Ice Creme for Breakfast.jpg

Daddy attempting to entice Cate to share with him	Jane enjoying chocolate peanut including via osmosis?

Later in the day, dad finally got around to teaching Jane and Cate how to play chess and they seemed to enjoy it (though not enough for a second game any time soon). It was even more fun teaching them how to play Monopoly as a family. We started at 7:30 and continued on to 10:30 with the planned game end time moving back three times as everyone was having lots of fun and didn’t want to quit or go to bed. We stopped just as the serious bloodletting began occurring when the hotels went up and people would start mortgaging to meet the rent. It was a particularly Norman Rockwell moment of a family game night.

In mid-February we spent a week living the Catholic dream of a larger than average family as we watched George and Henry while their parents went skiing (partial pay back for them watching the girls while we went on the cruise last November). It was lots of fun as the energy level at the Casa-Curtis jumped up several notches with the extra kids. It was nice to have some extra testosterone even if only from a 2 ½ and 4 ½ year old. The boys turned our kitchen and foyer into an arena, as the hockey crazed kids tended to look at practically everything from the standpoint of turning it into a hockey game. It was fun having the Shaw boys serenading us with Oh Canada over dinner for no other reason than they know that song better than any other. We also got to listen to some fine trash talk about the lyrics for Thomas and his Friends between the kids. Our trains and Hot Wheels got as much attention that week as the girls had probably given them cumulatively in the past (without boys around). Our favorite lines for the week included Henry – “Daddy LOVES the Blackhawks!” (Definitely NOT the case). And George’s open dealing with our wiggly bathroom door knob “You’re house is broken Aunt Bea”

Jane Henry George and Cate

We took the tribe to the Lowes Build and Grow (helping 4 kids at once may be a bit too much) and the Magic House where they all enjoyed climbing the 3 ½ story bean stalk.

Top of The Bean Stalk Ma!

Playing school in the Magic Tree house Tallgrass Prairie exhibit had its moments where the older cousin bossiness was less welcome.

What you talking 'bout Cate?

2012-02-12 Jane Henry George and Cate Magic House.jpg

Science Fair

For the second year, Randy decided to “help” (coerce) the girls with Science Fair (SF) projects. Having done a red ribbon one together in 2011, he thought they could each handle one (besides as a 3rd grader Jane had to do one on her own). Cate’s was a fairly easy one of counting the colors of peanut butter M&Ms in 24 bags making graphs with the Ms themselves. This was pretty fun and when the enthusiasm waned, it became time to eat the ones that had already been counted. Writing up the hypothesis and conclusions where the most challenging as it was the least fun. Figuring how to bring in the mandatory “SAFETY” elements was also challenging until we figured out not eating all the M&Ms at once was the closet we could come up with (it helped that it was completely ridiculous). The inspiration for Jane’s investigation came from the news that an Edwardsville, Illinois man claimed to have found a mouse in his Mountain Dew and wanted a $100K to witch PepsiCo replied in court that it wasn’t possible as the mouse would turn to a jelly like goo due to the acid content in the soda after 20 months (the can’s bottling date). Well with a small bits of pork steak serving as a dead mouse and Mountain Dew along with Coca Cola, Water, Vinegar and lemon juice serving as independent variables, Jane results over a month produced small amounts of jelly like goo, indicating the guy was likely scamming the soda company (a la Bob and Dave McKenzie Great White North episode on how to get a free case of beer). As before, breaking it up into bit sized chunks to match their interest levels and attention spans was the key. AS in 2011, the girls both got second place ribbons, but were coveting the Blue 1st place ones that went to those DAMN McGuire kids again. Wait till next year. Here are the PowerPoints:

How M&Ms and What Colors in a bag?
Will Mountain Dew Dissolve a Mouse?

On the Friday of President’s Day weekend, we went to an art show for one of the girls classmate’s at the Sheldon. We’re hoping that it will inspire them a bit to create better art no obvious light switch changes are evident.

At Sheldon Art show

After 16 ½ years of outdoor living, Randy’s Suzuki Sidekick had acquired a multi-toned bleached outlook that was beginning to embarrass us, so Randy got it painted just in time for Leap Day. No snowflakes or yellow cow spots but it will be hard to miss as it might be described as Glowworm Green. The girls LOVE IT, which means three of the four Curti who are happy about it. Bethany is definitely embarrassed finding that it hurts her eyes and feels we should apologize to the neighbors despite it coordinating nicely with her new spring purse and her green winter coat. Perhaps if we put a margarita machine in the back to match the color she’d like it better. It does have that party on four wheels vibe to it like a Chevy’s Fresh Mex catering van. However, when decked out with some magnetic shamrocks for St. Patrick’s Day it had a different vibe.

Jane with the Suzuki Gloworm	St. Pats Samauri

Interesting to compare the color to Randy's favorite Tonka Truck as a kid

Randy had a work trip to San Francisco in February which allowed him to stay the weekend in area to visit with his college roommate Jake and his wife Andrea as well as visit with his Dad and Gaye at their home in Pacific Grove.

Randy and Ron Curtis in Pacific Grove

March

Jane and Randy saved a yard’s worth of daffodils, day lilies and irises from being trashed when the home was torn down as part of Sunnen’s redevelopment on the west side of the industrial court and Metrolink stop. The security stopped them as they entered in the closed off neighborhood but considered that it was a noble and good cause (he’s main job was to chase off copper rustlers and other scrappers). It gave us hundreds of daffodils even after sharing with anyone we thought of asking to take some. It’s hard to tell if all will take to transplanting but we’re hopeful. Later we got a bunch of hostas a day before the house went down.

Uncle Van and Gwen’s Wedding

The first part of the month was filled with the events leading up to the wedding of Bethany’s middle brother Van to one of his best friend’s younger sisters Gwen. They asked both Jane and Cate be flower girls, who were once again quite pleased to be part of the festivities and at the center of attention for moments. Their other cousins over the age of four were ring bearers or a junior bridesmaid. With only two attendants for both the groom and bride, the wedding party skewed to the very youthful (2 to 1). The wedding and the reception were at the Peabody/Kiel Opera house. It didn’t actually occur on stage but in the Art Deco lobbies which provided a very swanky ambiance with the catering. The rehearsal dinner was on Thursday night and a dinner at McGurks (which was three times larger than the last time Bethany and I were there ten years ago?).

Jane George and Cate hanging with the Kiel Bear

2012-03-08 JCandGeorge with Kiel Bear.jpg

The Sage Singers serenaded the couple to the tune of So Happy Together:

Imagine Van and Gwen, we do.
We think about those high school nights,
It’s only right.
To think about so long ago
On Gray Barn Lane
They hung out together.

Now twenty years have passed,
So fast.
Gwen’s not just Jason’s little sis,
They’re all grown up
Imagine them with Hank the Dog,
On Gray Barn Lane
They’re living together.

Refrain:
I can’t see Van loving nobody but Gwen,
For all his life.
When they’re happy
Baby the skies will be blue
For all their lives.

Now wedding bells will ring, a-ding,
No matter how he asked her to,
She got her ring.
We hear it was a lovely night
On Gray Barn Lane
They’re happy together!

Sage Singers serenade the bride and groom

With the family in town, we sent the girls to school on Friday and enjoyed the lunch buffet at House of India with Aunt Katie and Uncle Don, Micah and Tiffany.

Sage tribe with the bride and groom

2012-03-10 Sage tribe with bride and groomCurti.jpg

The wedding on Saturday was a very nice affair, and the girls made to about 9:30 before pooping out (with Mom and Dad not coercing them too much to stay longer feeling a little tired themselves). It was a nice long weekend, catching up with family and coming together with new family.

Bethany and Randy with their Folower Girls

Peabody Reception Ballroom

Winter ended while the girl’s were on spring break for school but we cover that in Spring 2012.

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