The Science Center...

...doesn't open until 9:30. But there are dinosaurs outside.

Opening Night 2011

Well the Blues are Back!  So, because us Wichards love traditions.  We took the annual picture of the kids with their Blues jerseys.  I have thought you might want to see last year's pictures as well.  The Blues lost the home opener, but we know that they will have a great season!

Pumpkin Patch

Each Fall since Walt was 1, we have been going to Rellecke Farms in Pontoon Beach, IL  (it sounds like a great little town, the name is a little deceiving) .  We like it because if you get there right when it opens, it is not busy and we can ride a couple rides, see some animals, buy a pumpkin  and head home.  The kids loved it.  Francine rode her first ride, called The Barrel Grand Prix, it was pulled by a tractor.  Walt held onto her the whole time. 

We picked a great pumpkin, I am sure that we will pass on some pictures when it gets carved. 

Cotton Candy...

Hockey Pictures

So we may need to go back to the live description of the Hindenburg disaster to find realistic words to describe the first day of Affton "Learn to Play".  By that, I mean that there were a ton of kids all out on the ice at the same time, and it was the first time for many of them in an organized setting.  Walt spent most of his time pushing a "sled" around the ice, and while it may not seem possible, I can tell you for sure that he actually made improvements as time went on.

Learn to Play (or LTP) is open for kids between 4-10, and what they do is separate you into 2 groups on the first day.  One group is able to skate, whereas the second group needs to learn that skill.  Affton brings out players from their AAA team (the Junior Blues) and other teams to help out the kids, and the ratio is pretty good from a teacher/pupil perspective.  The pictures were taken from my phone (we forgot the good camera), but Walt is wearing a red jersey, black pants, and gray socks, and has a black helmet.  I've tried to highlight him as well as I could in the pictures, and if you click on the individual pictures, you'll see that I put a box around him to distinguish him.  Also, if you watch the whole video, you'll definitely know which "skater" he is - he's only slightly faster than his old man....

In the earlier post, I mention something that he said on his own as we were getting undressed.  You couldn't wipe the smile from his face, and when he told me (without my asking how he liked it) that "Daddy, I loved hockey".  I felt pretty good about the day.  Soccer has been fun so far, but nothing compares to what we got out of today.  I hope that he keeps this level of enthusiasm.  Here are the pictures and the video:

Walt Before Blues Game

Here's a picture of Walt before the Blues preseason game on Saturday.  They've done some very extensive renovation on the old Kiel Opera House which includes the limestone bears out front.  Here's Walt being a ham....

Francine Stays Home With Daddy

Francine was home sick with Daddy on Friday with a low fever (her fever was VERY high on Thursday night, but on Friday, it wasn't as bad).  Here's a picture of her that illustrates how disheveled she was even though she was feeling a bit better.

...she's going to kill me for posting this picture when she's a teenager.

Walt's Birthday Party

We decided to host a late birthday party for Walt because it was so much fun last year to go to the park for the concert.  So we met about 25 of our good friends at Benton Park.  It was great.  Everyone seemed to love the party at the park.  Walt had a lot of fun with all of his friends.  There were about 16 kids- ages 3 weeks-8 years old.

Soccer Pictures

Walt's soccer team had pictures last weekend.  We decided not to order them, so here is a look from as close as I could come to walt's team. 

After Hockey

I'll have more pictures and a video to post later tonight or tomorrow, but this was Walt after his first hockey practice. He told me "Daddy, I loved hockey".