And now for the photo that best represents our drive home from Alabama!

Hmmmm . . . wonder what that is? Well, our drive home form Birmingham, normally 8 1/2 hours, took 14 hours. There was a horrible accident on I-57 in Illinois. We sat in traffic for over 2 hours before making a u-turn on the interstate. During that time, Jeb was the first to use the cup. We then detoured and followed a two lane road to go around the accident. Until -- you guessed it -- dead stop again. For another 2 hours. On a rural Southern Illinois road with nothing but ditches on either side of the road. Thank you Starbucks cup for serving us well two more times. Yep, my boys can now tell about the time they had to potty in a cup somewhere in the middle of nowhere Illinois!

Having a Blast in Birmingham . . .

We spent 5 days in Athens and then moved on for 5 days in Birmingham. The kids wanted to stop and see my college, Birmingham-Southern. They didn't remember going to Easter egg hunts there when they were little. :( It is amazing how much the place has changed in the time I have been gone -- A lot happens in 16 years. WOW! Here are the kids at the fountain (which was there when I was) sitting in front of the new student center (which was not!).

The Balogh girls . . . Ansley, Emily, Lil, Allison, Martha and Virginia.
All the Balogh cousins enjoying the pool . . .Martha, Jeb, Bobby, Allison, Lil, Ford, Ansley, Emily and Virginia . . .
Virginia and Martha monkeying around!
Ansley, Lil and Ford . . . so happy to see each other!
More pool fun . . .

Happy 4th and Sweet Home Alabama

Mema came to town for the 4th and got to enjoy the heat and fun of the VP Parade downtown with us . . .

Happy 4th of July!!

Then it was nice to have a little extra help with the drive to Alabama! Since Brent couldn't make the trip, it was nice to have Mema with us! I decided this year that we must introduce my kids to an Athens tradition -- Dub's Burgers. Ford enjoyed it so much that he bought a shirt!

And of course the Kiddie Carnival is not to be missed! Maggie is great to help with Jeb!

Jeb riding the little cars -- he actually likes them even though it doesn't look like it!

Virginia and Jeb at the top of the ferris wheel . . .

Mary and Virginia getting a little snooze in on Sarah on the way to Tuscumbia, AL to see The Miracle Worker at Ivy Green, childhood home of Helen Keller.

Ford and Virginia by the well where Helen spoke her first word -- water.

Virginia, Ford, Mary and Sarah with a statue of Helen Keller.
A visit with my grandfather, Pap . . .
And Jeb and Bud having a little checkers challenge . . .

Living in St. Louis, my kids don't know a lot about farms and gardens. I wanted to freeze some black eyed peas to have for the winter and a friend offered full access to their garden. So off my mom and I went with Ford, Jeb and Sarah -- did I mention it was noon and about 97 degrees outside?

But we all picked and picked . . . and thankfully my friend picked some more and brought them to us. After all was done, I have 15 quarts of black eyed peas in my freezer!!! And I learned that my kids would starve if they were required to pick their dinner each night! :)

Some summer fun . . .

The summer is flying by . . . somehow I thought we would get bored but we have been anything but bored! Here are a few random shots of our summer fun . . .

Virginia and her friend Megan enjoying snow cones at the pool. Each of my kids gets a dollar at the pool and snow cones seem to be the treat of choice this summer! They love swimming, especially because tons of their friends swim at the same pool. Even Jeb can swim on his own now -- I can't believe I officially have three swimmers!

Through June we were spending LOTS of time on the baseball field with Ford. This was taken after the game where he hit an inside the park grand slam!!! He was very proud and so were we!!!
The ice cream truck has started driving through our neighborhood. What a wonderful treat! Jeb likes Shrek ice cream and Virginia prefers Scooby Doo!
This year was our first year to buy season tickets to The Muny. The Muny is an amazing outdoor theater in Forest Park and this is the 92nd season. Virginia LOVED seeing Beauty and the Beast and she and Ford both enjoyed Cats. Next up, The Sound of Music!
Our other consistent summer treat has been frozen yogurt. The rage has hit St. Louis -- Fro Yo, Chill and Yo My Goodness are our favorites. I really can't resist a yogurt treat!!!