contest photo

entered this vacation photo in our local newspapers vacation photo contest. keeping my fingers crossed

preschool halloween party

declan chose to be a snake, mom made hat,

grandma (me) made body of snake, dad did face paint declan wrapping dad up as a mummy to toilet paper

good way to burn up some of that energy

dad and boy heading home after a hard day of partying

the last scary face of the day

forest park sights

this is my first official month of semi retirement!

i've already completed several things on my honey do list.

one of the was to go to the science center to see the imax movie

Journey to Mecca. about the 18 month 5000 mile journey to Mecca undertaken by

Ibn Battula in the 14th century. Battula was a 14th century Moroccan law student on his first pilgrimage from Tangier to Mecca to the most sacred sanctuary of Islam, the Grand Mosque.

The film is breathtaking especially the aerial view of the Hajj from a helicopter showing all the pilgrims walking the 7 times around the Kaaba in the center.

Since i didn't have any time constraints i decided to visit a few of the buildings in the park. It's much less crowded during the day

jewel box, the fountains in front have been drained for winter. the jewel box is on the national historic register because of its example of outstanding green house design built in the art deco fashion. it open in 1936 and is used for flower shows, weddings, and meetings

this is the planetarium also in forest park. you can reach the science center from here to visit the Imax theater. i love the shape of this building front entrance. The planetarium was constructed in 1963 by Gyo Obata. The roof design is called a hyperboloid (huh????) structure. It features a planetarium and different type of space and aviation exhibits and during the holiday season, features a big red bow tied around the middle Forest Park is a wonderful place to visit anytime of the year and most of the exhibits are free so anyone can visit.

phil the gorilla

this is phil, he lived at the st louis zoo from 1941 to 1958. he was one of the largest

gorilla on record, weighing a whooping 785 pounds. i remember seeing him

as a child and he was featured in life magazine. phil was stuffed after his death

and is still a big hit at the zoo. my grandkids would be the 4 generation to see phil.

the st louis zoo is free to see the animals, the children's zoo, train and the animal show

do charge admission. the zoo is 100 years old this year. the bird flight cage was

built for the 1904 world's fair and is still being used

historic st charles ghost tour

the charm of old st charles

tour guide and part of the

group of 23

one of the house that

has a ghost, its a computer

software company now. the

ghost supposedly are actors

in the past the building had a theater

a ghostly carriage???when i took this there

were people in the carriage as well as the

driver, but i don't see anyone

using a meter that picks up

electro magnet energy; it was

really beeping at this site

rebuildt church and moon. the cemetery that was

part of the church grounds still contains remains building with an amorous ghost

ghostly garden

the tour was interesting, we must have walked 4-5 miles on

uneven pavement in the dark, but everyone made it

with no disasters and a few photographers got

some interesting images on their camera. i got

nada

st louis zoo

our day at the zoo, becky (daughter) pushing declan and laney, brian (son in law) and brendan (oldest grandson) we rode the train that runs thru the zoo, has several stops so you can get off and on

laney and declan climbing on the frogs

brian, declan, laney and me on the statue

of phil the gorilla one of the zoo's most

famous animals

beck and laney in the fountains, not sure

laney wants to try it out

better view of phil, declan and laney

up close and personal

laney loved the chimps

laney on the quadrunner with wellies; declan with dog

Hoops (nickname hoopy) and Declan Laney, tomboy and fashionista. she loves shoes, has a whole collection but these wellies are her favorite

quilt show

the show was here at the community college gym the patterns, colors and detail are amazing! click on picture for detail

mom loved elvis, she would have loved this

loved the pattern, like how it looks like canned goods on a shelf.

yo yo quilt

i think this is my favorite.

homecoming 2010

grandkids all dressed up

where's the fire?

Bolingbrook

desert at Cheddars restaurant no more room in the trunk

spent about 15 hours shopping over 3 days

the castle in the river, sits in the Mississippi river and is a water

intake valve for the city of St Louis