THE MOST AWESOME BLOG POSTING THIS SUMMER!

Friends and Family: are you sitting down? No seriously, this is going to blow your mind! As we do each summer, Asja and I attended a Cardinals game last night. Now, some of you may recall that we met the home plate umpire at Quizno's before a game last year and he gave us sweet tickets just behind home plate.

Well, prepare for an even crazier story... last night Asja and I were sitting in seats in the third balcony above left field in a section for the St. Louis Bar Association- not great seats, but we just love being at the game. Suddenly, shortly after the first pitch, a pretty lady comes up to us and asks, "Is it just the two of you at the game tonight?" She proceeded to tell us that she had a couple of really good seats that were provided by one of their sponsors, StubHub, and that if we, out of the thousands of spectators, wanted them, the seats were ours.

Of course, Asja and I, always up for an adventure, agreed. We followed her all the way around to the other side of the field and down a level. We entered into an air-conditioned area where chefs were preparing fresh foods and the seats were all luxury.

Through another door we passed and out onto a balcony where two leather-clad Lazy Boy-type recliners, emblazoned with the Cardinals logo were awaiting our arrival! We could not believe our eyes! There was even a huge, flat-screen television by our feet so we didn't miss a single beat of the action!

The catch? Well, this is where things get even better! We could have the seats for the entire game so long as we were in them during the fourth inning. During the fourth, Fredbird, the Cardinals' mascot, came through the door with a couple of the beautiful Cardinals ladies and a camera guy. Yes, Asja and I were on the jumbotron for a solid 30-seconds screaming and hollering like crazed lunatics!

After our appearance on the BIG SCREEN... and I do mean BIG... I received a phone call from Jesscia, The Circus Lady. Turns out she and the St. Louis Arches were at the stadium too and saw us on the jumbotron. They invited us down a floor, almost directly under where we were, into their private suite. In addition to seeing the gang from the circus, which is always a treat, we had access to food and drinks and an even better view of the game!

Of course, after hanging out there for a while, Asja and I longed for our comfy chairs back up stairs, so away we went to enjoy the rest of the game.

Ladies and gentlemen, this was an evening Asja and I will not soon forget! Our experience last night was one of the most amazing of my life and certainly a highlight of Asja's summer vacation.

So, how's your mind? Blown?

Today, we travel back to Trout Lodge with the St. Louis Arches and some more fun in the sun! I'll post again when I get the chance. Loveyall!

Photos: (1) the view from our first seats; (2) our new, leather-clad recliners; (3) the view from our new, leather-clad recliners; (4) our public appearance with Fredbird; (5) What a night!

Six Flags Again!??

Today I sold my huge inflatable haunted house so Asja and I took the opportunity to play in it one last time.

Later, guess where we went... that's right: Six Flags for the fourth... fifth (?) time this summer! In addition to rides, ice cream, and the glow-in-dark parade, we also played one of the carnival games. Asja won a cool blue frog!

Uncle Bro's Visit

My brother (Bro) visited Asja and me for about 4 days this past week and we all had such a good time together. While Asja was at camp during much of the day, Bro and I spent time hanging out and just being brothers. When Asja was with us, the shutter was clickin' non-stop!

Patty's Photos of Asja

Here is a link to the photos that Asja's aunt, Patty Young took while she and Asja's cousins were in town for Fourth of July ('09). Most of the photos are of Patty's family, but the shots of Asja are worth seeing.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modkid/sets/72157620912896707

TENT CITY, BOWLING, ZOO & DAY CAMP!

Asja and I built a tent city last week in her room out of sheets, blankets and LOTS of tape! This tent city was similar to the kind my brother and I used to build together when we were kids. Asja loved it and part of it remains in her room as a memorial to our fun together.

In addition to the Tent City, Asja and I have been up to all kinds of other stuff. We went bowling, to the zoo with Asja's friend Kenzie and today she started her first day of camp. She wanted to go so bad because she has never been to a day camp and because she knew her friend Isabelle would be there. They were so cute together.

Tomorrow my brother Brent comes into town and we'll hang out at the City Museum for a while before heading to a percussion concert downtown. I'll upload some pictures of that later.

Finally, I want to put everyone on notice that in about a month, Asja will be returning to Florida. Before she does, I will be creating a book of the summer's best photos. If there is a picture or pictures you would like to make sure I include in the book, maybe something that stands out in your mind, please let me know.

If you'd like a link to all the pictures on Sam's Club.com or Wallgreens.com, just let me know. Thanks in advance.

Christian

Asja and her good friend Isabelle spend the day together. We started by going to see the movie "Marly and Me"...a movie I DO NOT RECOMMEND to my fellow parents of children out there! What a tear-jerker! I mean seriously! It was intentionally sad, sad, sad! Asja bawled in memory of her beloved hamster.

After the movie, however, we went to a local store and I bought the girls Webkinz. Asja got a puppy who looked just like the dog in the movie who she named "Applebutter" and Izzy got a Chimpanzee who she named "Bananas".

We then came home for lunch where we caught the ice cream truck! Some things never change, eh?

The toughest part of the day was Asja's dentist appointment when she had two teeth removed. She was SO brave and did such a great job staying still. She says it feels weird when she pokes her tongue through the empty spaces! Too cute!

It is 12:38AM... I have been drinking some delightful brew from Trader Joe's. My only complaint about the stuff is that it came all the way from California... that took too much gas!

Anyway, I informed my Indian neighbors today about my move at the end of August. They are one of the big reasons it will be tough to leave here. They are such a great family. They might end up buying my refrigerator though... :)

Check out this fun video of the City Museum owner in an interview here in STL...

http://videos.stltoday.com/p/video?id=4823946

C

Science Center & Lunch

Yesterday and today are magic show-free, so we are taking it easy. Besides working on organizing my basement in preparation for the impending move, Asja, Jun and I went to St. Louis Science Center, shopped at Trader Joe's and lunched at Red Robin. We saw "Wild Ocean" at the Science Center http://www.wildoceanfilm.com/. Enjoy the pix!

Asja just went across the street to drop off an apology note at Mina's house. It is really sweet and I told her that she is the sweetest girl ever and that if they do not accept this note, they do not deserve her as a friend. I also assured her that she is a good person and not to take it personally if it does not work.

It has been a very crazy past few days so I have not posted. My dad was rear-ended by a huge SUV creating a potentially deadly neck injury that required emergency surgery and the removal of his spleen. Fortunately, the news has been good since the surgery and his recovery could take as long as a year.

On a lighter note, Asja and I are still having fun. Asja discovered the wonders of the Slinky and she is a true fan.

This week, Asja was also involved in some scandalous neighborhood drama. It seems she accused her good friend, Mina, of stealing a piece of candy and then lying about it. Well, Mina cried to her father, Amir, and he and Mina came over to confront Asja. While I tried to intervene on behalf of truth and justice, Amir threw up his arms, said that the girls are not to play together anymore and walked away. That seems like a rather harsh consequence to a typical childhood drama. So much for an opportunity for Mina to learn about life and how to handle conflict. It was, however, a lesson for Asja that (a) sometimes people do not behave rationally when their feelings are hurt and (b) it is not always important to be "right".

That is it for now. We are off to the Science Center today to check out an IMAX movie.

More City Museum Fun with Grace

Quickly becoming Asja's #1 friend, Grace joined Asja in some serious City Museum frolicking yesterday. The pictures are amazingly beautiful thanks to the unique setting and the natural glow from these two sweet girls!

4th of July Weekend

This weekend has been great. On the 4th, Asja and I went downtown to Fair St. Louis. I performed on the street while Asja hung out with her cousins from Bloomington, IL. Later, we all terrorized the City Museum and then headed back to the Arch for the fireworks display. There were literally many tens of thousands of people on the Arch grounds!

Today Asja and her friend Lily from China and I saw a live performance of some of Aesop's Fables starring our dear friend, Jun, from S. Korea. We had Mexican for lunch. It was quite an International Day!

Later, Asja and her neighborhood friend, Mina (and her friend), got the maximum value out of our new Slip 'N Slide! You'll love this video!

Fair St. Louis - Day 1

Citygarden in STL...

Yesterday we had some major fun. I took Asja to get a Princess Manicure & Pedicure and then it was off to the Wild Bird Sanctuary. (Alright... in between those, I took her to the dentist :(... she's okay, but she's going to need some "serial extraction". That is, she needs a couple of baby teeth pulled in order to make room for her permanent teeth.) Plus, check out the news below the pix...

Looks like we'll be headed back to Trout Lodge at the end of the month. Circus Harmony invited us to tag along and Asja just loves the girls from the circus!

Last Day at Trout Lodge

Today was our last day at Trout Lodge. Although it was sad to leave, we certainly made the most of our day. We slept in, rode bikes, played Uno, had root beer floats on a 45-minute private pontoon boat tour, played on the playground and took canoes to a campfire to roast S'mores while listening to Pablo from Brazil sing campfire songs! What a day!