Day 1/2 vacation

On Saturday, we drove down to Texas for a little vacation. My mom flew in on Friday evening to drive with us. In true Otterman fashion, she missed her first flight and nearly got stranded in Chicago during a layover. Alas, she made it to STL, only to drive back home with her two screaming grandchildren. Thank you mom, you're the best!

Sunday we had a delicious pork roast and enjoyed sidewalk chalk art of questionable talent. I got a rare chance to visit a Sam's Club. As most of you know, we are huge Costco fans.

Monday we enjoyed lunch at Market Street (yum sushi) and then swimming with Aunt Ann. Below you will note a photo of me digging in the trash can outside our hotel. No, I was not drunk, though I wished I were. I had lost my keys. I parked about 100 feet away from the front desk when we arrived at the hotel. Somewhere between my car and the desk, my keys disappeared. After tearing apart my purse, car and the lobby, we decided some evil (probably A&M fan) had stolen them. While sweating about calling Chuck to have him overnight my spare key and fretting about the tongue lashing that I was about to get... the phone rings... the evil Aggie returned my keys that were apparently taken by mistake from the front desk. PHEW! Crisis averted! Time for a big 'ol Margarita!!

Tomorrow shall bring shopping at the Galleria and lunch at the American Girl Doll Store. Stay tuned!

Happy Belated 4th of July!!

Good friends + Good food = Good times!!Charlie really liked Amy's birthday cake!

Daddy and Charlie watching Curt blow things up (from a distance)

Sean is in charge of the lighter...

Curt and a serious explosive

Chloe and a sparkler

Race for a Cure

Chloe and I painted the town... pink!

Curt and Amy's annual BBQ

This picture was supposed to go at the end... but kept popping up at the beginning...The LEFT OVERS!!! We visited Amy a couple days later to help her finish off all her delicious food!
My tree-hugging daughter, entertaining herself

Charlie has your phone, Curt!

YUMMY!!

Our Mr. Host... Curt

Mrs. host... Amy (on the left)!

CHLOE: Can I have something for desert?
CHARLIE: I want dirt, too!
MOMMY TO CHARLIE: You want dirt?!?
CHARLIE: Yea!

Charlie's new summer 'do'

Fantastic time in Chi-town

Off to Chicago... Grandma came in town on Saturday (despite crappy flights). We visited over Super Smokers BBQ and turned in early. We were on the road by 6:30 Sunday morning! JUST US GIRLS!As soon as we got to Chicago, we visited the Science Museum. Our favorite exhibit were the baby chicks.

This chickie is about 1 hour old
downtown Chicago

This is where we stayed
The Whitehall

American girl doll brunch, soooo cute!

Chloe had her face painted at the aquarium

We went to Navy Pier Tuesday morning. It was so foggy, you couldn't see much. by lunch, the fog had lifted and we enjoyed lunch overlooking the water.

Chloe loved the beach. She insisted the water was warm... she and I have very different ideas on the definition of warm.

Best pizza in Chicago! http://http//www.pizanoschicago.com/

Unfortunately, our trip had to come to an end :(

But can someone settle our dispute?

... is it pronounced Ch(eye)-town or Cheeee- town?

Field day fun

Chloe and her BFFs. The sky threatened rain all morning, but held off just so our kids could play outside! Summer has officially arrived at our house. Bring on baseball, fireflies, BBQs and swimming!

Back to my own bed!

On Tuesday morning, Charlie started with a nasty cough and was wheezing. I got out the 'ol nebulizer and gave him a couple treatments. He never really cleared up, and in fact got worse as the day went on. By the afternoon, he was really breathing hard so we visited the pediatrician office. I have to give a shout out to the PNPs at the office, Lisa and Nancy- we love you guys! Charlie really sounded junkie when we got there and she put a pulse ox on him. His o2 sats were not acceptable, so she gave him another breathing treatment. His sats never really got above 90, so she sent us to the ER. As you can see in the picture below, he was not his usual, happy self. But, after a couple days of oxygen therapy, frequent breathing treatments, steroids and antibiotics, the 'normal' Charlie was returning. Our nurses, respiratory therapists and of course, recreational therapists at St. John's made our stay very tolerable.
and Chloe gave the cafeteria 2 thumbs up!

My Old Kentucky Home Party

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Charlie's new phrase...

"WATCH THIS!"

Uh oh... usually accompanies something dangerous that he shouldn't be doing.

Busy weekend!

It's time for April Showers... for the Girl Scouts! This weekend, they distributed bags to be filled with personal care supplies. The bags will be collected next weekend. Thank you for your support!

Dinner at Incredible Pizza

and perfect weather for soccer games!

HAAPY EASTER

Chloe: Hey mom, ask me some questions
Mom: okay, what is the capitol of Missouri?
Chloe: um, 'M'?
Mom: well... yes... I guess it is!

Chloe's birthday

For Chloe's 7th birthday (yes, 7) she decided to have a slumber party with her 2 BFFs. They had PaPa John's pizza...
Brownies and ice cream (Chloe has decided that she doesn't like cake... I guess I need to get a DNA test to make sure she is mine)

and opened presents... This was the one thing that she has been asking for since her last b-day. The skin tone turned out to be a little darker than it looked online, but Chloe is happy.

For spring break this year, we decided to stay home and paint. Chloe's room was first:

BEFORE

AFTER

...next we tackle the bathrooms.

American Girl Fashion Show