On Monday mornings in the late spring and through the summer, I help a group of researchers form the World Bird Sanctuary capture birds in special nets at the ecology center where I work.  On one of these mornings, I was fortunate to be able to bring Corvin and Sonora with me.  They watched while we carefully removed the birds from the nets, measured their wings and tails, weighed them, and put small metal bands on their legs so we can identify them if they are captured again later.

After being shown the proper way to handle and release the birds, the kids were able to hold the birds for a moment and let them fly away. You can see Corvin taking a goldfinch from my friend, Colleen, and then releasing it.  In the second photo, you can see the blur of the flying bird if you follow Corvin's eyes (about waist height a few feet away from him).

Sonora Did a great job showing how to properly hold the bird.

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Nordstrom was was having an opening Gala for their St. Louis location. They spared no expense, closing off a large section of the St. Louis Galleria mall parking lot for complimentary valet parking. Tickets were $75 each with the proceeds going to charity. They wanted to launch their store with great fanfare and the type of customers that could afford to shop there. At this point, anybody that knows me, would ask why I was there. I'm too cheap to pay for the ticket, and I don't care about my appearance. Dressing up for me is jeans and a button down shirt. If you're lucky, I'll comb my hair.

It turns out that my brother in law and his wife bought tickets for this event. One of their favorite bands, Naturally Seven, was slated to be performing during the gala. They somehow got two extra tickets and invited us to come along. I'm not one to miss a party with free food and an open bar, so off we went. We arrived at the mall to a huge line of traffic in two cars. We were not sure if the two couples would stay for a similar time or not. I followed Brian through the parking lot until I realized that we were in the valet parking line.

I have some personal issues with valet parking. First is that I hate tipping because I'm cheap. Even with free parking, I didn't want to feel obliged to anybody. Second is that our minivan isn't known for being clean. I don't want to subject a random stranger to my brand of filth. Finally, I am very sensitive about my keys. In the 11 years that I have been married, I have only lost them once... I always worry that the valet will loose my keys. I took a vehicle to the dealership once and when I picked it up, it had a new key. I know because it looked in different shape, and because it didn't turn the lock like the original one did... So I pulled a U-Turn and parked way out and we walked in.

Once we got in, it took me a while to get used to the store. Because I was not wearing a suit, I was in the minority. I felt under dressed. Don't worry, I was wearing slacks and a button down shirt. I tried what I thought I needed to do for fitting in. It didn't take long before we ate the food and started in on the drinks as well. it was weird eating food in a department store. There were not any places to sit, so you had to stand and hold everything. I stuck with dry finger foods so as to not mess myself or anything expensive around me.

Naturally Seven was amazing to hear in person. They are a acapella band that uses their voices as the instruments. I have a feeling that there was some auto-tuning going on, but what they did was still amazing. After their concert, we felt even more comfortable. Only the few photos below and the album can tell the whole story though...

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Race for the rivers is an annual canoe race/event benefiting the Greenway Network. They host two canoe/kayak races and a bike race during the event. At the end of the race, there is a festival. It focuses on environmental sustainability and other earthy things. This year, I was slated to participate in the 20 mile race in a dragon boat with 10 other people. I was really looking forward to this boat. I did a practice run and the boat was extremely fast.

Unfortunately for myself and the rest of the racers, the canoe race was cancelled due to the river being above flood stage. They still had the biking events and the festival. While I was sad that we weren't racing, the family still went out to the festival and enjoyed what they had prepared.

The kids played with the pirates that had a spot at the event. Corvin tried his hand at sword fighting! This is a great event that we plan on being part of for many years to come.

One of the kids favorite places to play is the "Rocket Park". Its within a few miles of the house and Corvin and I have biked there before. Kelly and her kids came with us for the visit. One of the great features of the park is a bunch of trees surrounding the play area. They serve a double purpose. First, they shade the benches that the parents sit on while kids play. Secondly, my kids like to climb them. Since they are not too tall, its rather safe for them too.

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The family went over to Steve and Jackie's house to visit. Honestly, I just wanted baby time. So I quickly took Nathan and held him as much as I could.

Of course no trip anywhere could be complete without Corvin or myself doing something crazy. Use the photo below to set the scene...

In the basement of the house, Corvin and Sonora are sitting nicely and getting along. Corvin has the Nintendo DS, so he is happy. They are pleasantly taking turns, so I'm a happy parent. Corvin inquires "Steve, does Jackie have a DS?". Steve responds "Yes she does, its somewhere upstairs. Not wanting the kids to mess up somebody else's DS (cause they can be rough on them), I said, "Corvin, you can't have it cause its in Jackie's underwear drawer." Without missing a beat, Corvin responded "I want to stick my face in there!".

This caused much laughter and I like telling the story. I'm not sure where he got the idea, but its funny. Crazy kids!

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