Shopping Day

Sophia and I had a great Monday today in spite of the gray skies. For months, my mom and I have been trying to get a day to meet at the Outlet mall at Lake of the Ozarks, which is right about halfway. Because of her vacation and some random scheduling, she hasn't had a half day in several months, so we couldn't make it work.

Finally, we were able to arrange it today.

 

Imagine our delight when Dad happened to be serving jury duty this morning, finishing just in time to come with her!! We couldn't have scheduled it that way if we'd tried, but Sophia and I were both thrilled to have him along on girls' day out.

 

I love shopping with my mom. It really cracks me up how the flare for the sparkle and the drama in clothing selection has (mostly) skipped me and headed straight from my mom to Sophia. They nearly always agree on clothes, while I tend to think they're a bit . . . much? I've been reining my mom in for years on her clothes, although we almost always agree on my clothes. Now I'm going to just continue the battle the other direction. Oh well. Just another way to keep things interesting.

Homecoming Festivities

Homecoming Weekend has been fun, save the one particular disaster which will not be mentioned here...

The parade on Saturday morning was lots of fun. We waited for what seemed like forever, but finally it was coming. This was Sophia's reaction to hearing it was close...



Marching Mizzou is always a highlight for me, but Sophia covered her ears for every marching band, even the ones with a total of fifteen marchers...



The rest of the morning was a lot of fun just walking around and eating lunch downtown with all the excited fans, students and parents. Homecoming weekend is one of my favorites.

Then before the game, oops. Scratch that. Before bed, we had a tailgate on our street. See, an actual tailgate.



The best athleticism of the day right here. I'll cheer for this Tiger any day.

Spelling Perspective

Not literally spelling the word "perspective." I'm just saying perspective can be influential when one is learning to spell... Sophia knows how to spell her name. Ask and she will (usually) dutifully respond, S-O-P-H-I-A. We've been working a lot on her letters lately because she really seems to enjoy making and connecting the sounds.

The other night, she and Erick were talking before bed about letters and spelling names. She asked how to spell her friend Ava's name, and he made the sounds and asked what letter it sounded like. She lit up and said "A! I will spell it!" Erick was understandably impressed with her confidence when she spelled, A---O-P-H-I-A.

Okay, well that's understandable. So she asked how to spell Daddy. Again, she answered with the correct first letter. "I can spell daddy! D-O-P-H-I-A!!"

So, clearly we have to work on a little perspective. Seems like Sophia tends to think the entire world has names that are all spelled the same with the first-letter exception...That would definitely be confusing.

Concert in the Park

Sophia has been to many concerts in the park by now with all of our visits to Shelter Gardens. The other day, I was lucky enough to get my own concert performance. She keeps her songs simple, but gives it gusto. Enjoy!

Christmas Idea

If anyone needs a Christmas idea for me, I've got one. I was just flipping through the channels and saw a little bit of Anne Hathaway in Becoming Jane. I truly love the story. I find Anne Hathaway, although I love her and think she's cute as a button, pretty unconvincing as a legendary British novelist or a spinstress or, did I mention, British? That's a big pet peeve of mine. I really can't stand it when actors are supposed to portray an accent or dialect, and they are just a little bit off. I still have nightmares about Nicholas Cage's "southern drawl" from Con Air.

Anyway, back on topic, in the movie, Jane Austen was up in the night writing with her pen and ink. Love it. Her handwriting is beautiful. It seems to me that words would flow more easily and beautifully if they came from the tip of a fountain pen like that. Am I wrong? So maybe I should give it a try. Pretty sure I'd just make a mess, but it can't hurt...

Who are the creepy old people? Oh, it's us.

Last night we went out to dinner and such with some great friends. We used to go out weekly with these same friends back in the day. A mere three years ago. What's different now? Kids. Lots of 'em.

Anyway, we tried out the new Broadway Brewery downtown where Uprise Bakery was located under America Shoe on Broadway. They use local ingredients and brew several good beers. Erick and I shared the most fantastic pizza I've ever eaten. Erick didn't like it, and this would be the first pizza he has ever been ambivalent about. It was called the green bean pizza. Local green beans, local blue cheese and walnuts - I don't know their origin... So delicious.

It was a lovely evening downtown.



After a lovely dinner, we walked down the street to HotBox Cookie Shop. We sat, ate our fresh cookies and played UNO. Quite a few people from campus came in and out while we were there. The only other group present was a large group of teenagers. At one point, when we were in the midst of our game, I looked up and said, "Hey, guys, do you realize that we have become the creepy old people hanging out downtown?" Yep. That's us.



Playing UNO. Being goons.



After a few games of UNO, of which I won zero, we headed to Addison's because we just didn't want the night to end - even though it was 9:30!! Did I mention we're old?



It was a lovely evening. We've lived a lot of life together, and I still love hanging out with these old friends of mine.

Fall in the District

This Sunday was one of those fantastic days for our family that I hope will be repeated but really can never be duplicated. Our morning was relaxing and fun. Church followed by a walk around the mall.

When Sophia woke up from her nap, we decided to bundle up and go for a walk downtown. Sophia wanted to ride in her big brown stroller, which keeps her snug since she's outgrown it. Of course, I'll not object since it keeps her warmer than an umbrella stroller and Erick and I don't have to carry her around the city.

I brought my camera with me since I've decided that The District, which is what Columbia wants to call the downtown area, is the best place we have access to in which to get some great shots. I was not disappointed.

Sophia was fairly cooperative since we were letting her run around in some cool spaces, climb on stairs and such. I think her profile is my very favorite thing to capture.



We walked down Orr Street off Walnut downtown. It's the newly developed area with Sven's, Orr Street Gallery, and here we're in front of what will soon be a Wilson's Gym.



Sophia wouldn't look at Erick while he was taking our picture. She chose instead to maul me.



We walked down a block to get her picture in front of her dance studio. Yes, after just one week, it's her dance studio. This is her reflection in the door.



Then we walked to the other side of downtown and walked a little around campus. We haven't been to the Quad since before Commencement in May, so Sophia was thrilled that she could actually run on the grass now!



This is when I decided it was time to put the camera away. She decided it was safer just to hide from me.



We continued our walk, talking and laughing the whole afternoon. I really don't think I can remember having a nicer time. Picture perfect.