From trips to camps and days spent enjoying the sunshine, summer is the best time of year for kids. We asked the third-graders at Reed Elementary in Ladue what they’re doing this summer, and here are some of their responses. Good times ahead!

Imagine this life if you will: You are a senior in high school. You can throw a fastball 90-plus miles per hour. You are a starter on a very good basketball team. And you also happen to be one of the better quarterbacks in the Midwest.

TAYLOR ROBINSON, a senior at Ladue Horton-Watkins High School, is one of 814 high school athletes nationwide who have been nominated to play in the 2013 McDonald’s All American Games. The 2013 nominees include high school basketball players from across the country who have been selected by coaches, athletic directors, principals and members of the McDonald’s All American Games Selection Committee. Pictured: Taylor Robinson with Colleen Schoendienst, local McDonald's owner/operator

For the past few days, it was hard to ignore the world of sports—even if you’re not a sports fan. Whether you like basketball or baseball, it was good to be a Cardinals fan this week: The Louisville Cardinals claimed the NCAA Men’s Basketball title, a game that became the most watched in 19 years. And of course, this week also brought us Opening Day at Busch Stadium, which, for Cardinal Nation, is an event in itself—and that’s a good thing because…well, you know what happened there.

If the good Lord were to give me one perfect day, it would be to have my father back, and the two of us would head to Busch Stadium for Opening Day. Alzheimers took him from us six years ago. The disease may destroy memories, but it won't erase a single second of the time the two of us spent at the ballpark together.

It’s a common sentiment: You want to be healthy and you want your children to be healthy. Exercising with your children provides benefits outside the realm of fitness.

Ryan Robertson arguably posted the best career stats of any high school player in our town's history. Now that he's returned home, Robertson is coaching his children's basketball teams.

Congratulations to Villa Duchesne senior Sarah Sutherlin, who has been selected as one of Missouri’s top youth volunteers of 2013.

Surprise! That was the word of the day at Clay Elementary School in North St. Louis, the site of KIDSMART’s 11th birthday party. The organization, which equips underserved students and their classrooms with basic school items, surprised 200 students last week with backpacks filled with supplies, balloons, cupcakes, and appearances by Rampage the Ram and Louie of the St. Louis Blues.

Story: Ten-year-old Joe Shostak has a problem with anger management. His Little League baseball manager tells him so after seeing him get in a fight with a loud-mouthed player from another team. There are problems at home, too, as Joe’s parents have separated over money issues.

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Sports today has become specialized—too specialized. Because of the popularity of select sports, kids are forced to quit sports they are proficient in so they can make that fifth select hockey, soccer or basketball practice of the week. That's why stories like Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders don't happen much anymore. In high school, it's tough to be really good at two sports. In college, the two-sport athlete is almost non-existent.

Story: Jewish accountant Matt Friedman met Sally Talley, a nurse and member of a prominent Protestant family in Lebanon, Missouri, in her home town while vacationing in the Ozarks region in 1943. A year later, Matt returns from his home in St. Louis determined to ask Sally to marry him.

The date was July 10, 1999. The event was the final of the Women's World Cup between the United States and China. The audience of 40 million made it the most-watched soccer game ever on U.S. network television.

In the history of St. Louis basketball players in the NBA, David Lee takes a backseat to very few. Ed Macauley, Bill Bradley and Jo Jo White are the only players from our area who have accomplished more than Lee.

The Kirkwood School District and Kirkwood School District Foundation dedicated the new Alvin Miller Track, named in honor of Alvin Miller, a 1983 KHS graduate regarded as the best athlete in the school’s history. He earned four varsity letters in basketball, three in football and two in track and field. He captured four individual track and field state championships in 1983 and still holds the three school track and field records. Pictured: Julie Beattie, Romona Miller, Alvin Miller, Lauryn Miller, Ariel Miller and Kevin Beattie.

It happened at almost every Westminster Christian Academy baseball game in 2009: Scouts--sometimes as many as 25 of them, all behind home plate--pointing their radar guns at the pitcher. He stood 6 feet, five inches tall. He rarely changed expression. He never smiled. He was 17 going on 27. Jacob Turner was locked in. He knew Major League Baseball would be timing and watching almost every pitch he would throw his senior season.

Walter Knoll Florist’s Chuck Knoll and Press Club board members gathered to create centerpieces for the Press Club’s Media Person of the Year gala? The Oct. 4 event, to be held at the St. Louis Hilton at the Ballpark, will honor KSDK-TV’s Leisa Zigman. It also will recognize photojournalists Jim Forbes and Robert Cohen of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for extraordinary coverage of the 2011 Joplin tornado. St. Louis’ own Fleishman-Hillard will receive an award for its worldwide contributions to journalistic excellence. Proceeds benefit journalism/communications scholarships, as well as enterprise investigative journalism fellowships, and the St. Louis Library Media Archives. Pictured: Chuck Knoll with Press Club board members Alice Handelman and Ellen Soule.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Cranky, 14, Whiny, 13, and Punch, 11, are back in school. But somehow, this year, things are a little bit different. It’s been brewing like a storm on the horizon, so I wasn’t shocked at the occurrence. I was, however, shocked by the enormity of it all. Suddenly, all three of them have cultivated a social life. A social life—I might add—that is much more time-consuming and entertaining than my own. There are limitless options for a tween/teen weekend: sports, movies, hanging out. Occasionally, a kid will have parents brave enough to host a party—I think brave is the word I’m looking for—but in the end, things are as they have always been: The nucleus of young-teen socializing continues to be ‘the dance.’

Anationally renowned scientist, a superior court judge and a professional WNBA player are among past graduates of Ladue Horton Watkins High School. These accomplished professionals and others will be honored at the school’s 60th Anniversary Distinguished Alumni Recognition Ceremony on Sept. 21.

C.J. Jones is the top youth 800-meter runner in the nation. And he has the medals to prove it. Jones, a soon-to-be junior at Cardinal Ritter, spent his summer collecting national championships. He brought home four—count ‘em, four—national titles between the last week of July and the first week of August. He even set a new national record.

It happened almost every night: The family would have dinner, then Dad would load the kids into the car and drive to a grade school gym. There, they would play wall-to-wall basketball. The father, Rusty Lisch, was a former NFL quarterback. He drove the two boys and two girls hard. However, they didn’t seem to mind. They loved their dad, loved competition and loved becoming the best players on their teams. All four Lisch kids went to college on basketball scholarships, including Kevin Lisch, who became a star player at Saint Louis University.