Grant's Farm....PART ONE!

On the first full day of our vacation (July 4th, 2013) in St. Louis we decided to visit Grant's Farm.    If you have never been to Grant's Farm and are planning a visit to STL, we definitely recommend it.

I remember visiting GF as a child, and I was excited to take my kiddos and my hubby there.  Taking the advice of my sister, we arrived early to beat the heat as well as the crowds.  We pulled into the park just a few minutes before 9:00.  While we were waiting for them to open we used the time to take a few photos.  In fact, I took so many photos of our day at Grant's Farm that I'm going to have to break it up into two blog posts....

 

Addison, Alexis, Grandma & Cousin Luke

 

Our course, you have to have a silly face photo every now and then!

 

 

Feeding the goats.  In hindsight we probably should of done this differently.  Because we were one of the first people into the park, the goats were REALLY hungry.  The almost attacked the girls to get to their bottles of milk.  You can pretty much see the horror in Alexis' face.  She clung to my sister like crazy.  Both of the girls refused to be put down while in the goat area.

 

If you ask the girls what their favorite part of GF was, they will tell you it was when the goats tried to eat Daddy's shorts.  These goats were starving.

 

The above two photos I just thought were cute.  The girls were very captivated by everything and their facial expressions were priceless to me!

 

Have you ever seen a tortoise smile??

 

 

And of course, a merry-go-round is always a huge hit with my kiddos!

 

And what could be more appropriate on the Fourth of July than a few bald eagles?  These birds were so beautiful.  The photos don't do them justice!!

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Stay tuned.....Part two coming soon!  I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things after vacation. Work, laundry and playing catch up is taking over my free time.

We're back!!!

If you have noticed my brief blogging absence....well that was because we were on a mini vacation in St. Louis.  My family still lives there and since our original vacation plans this year fell through, we decided to make a week long trip out to see them.

Stay tuned throughout the next week.  I have tons of pictures and stories to tell.  My kiddos have become quite the travelers!  They really do amazingly well in the car.  They love seeing new places and experiencing new things.  But one thing is always for sure.....they love stopping at Cracker Barrell for lunch!!!  If you ask Alexis what her favorite meal is, she will respond with "ducklings".  Also known by us grow ups as dumplings.

They loved that they had little rockers just their size to relax in while we waited for our table!

Can't wait to document all the fun things we did on our trip!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!!

My little firecrackers!!!!!

Cute Cardinal's Fans.......

Even just after rolling out of bed.....I gotta say these are probably the cutest Cardinal's fans I have ever seen!



 

Thanks to Aunt Sandy for keeping us in stylish STL clothing!!!

Pop Pop's 70th Birthday....

On Saturday, June 8th we celebrated my father-in-laws 70th birthday.  (blog posting better late than never right???)

 

Several of you may know that last year we thought that my FIL wasn't going to be with us much longer.  We were beyond excited to celebrate his 70th birthday this year, because a few months ago we weren't sure we would be able to.  We thank God that he has made a miraculous recovery!!!

 

My girlies absolutely adore their Pop Pop.  And so do their cousins, Amelia and Greta.

 

 

Funny face photo....

 

 

 

I wish these kiddos lived closer (they live in Chicago).  My kiddos love hanging with their cousins.

 

Happy Birthday Pop!  We all love you very much!!

Swimming Lessons....

The girls started swimming lessons on Sunday, June 16th, 2013.  (Another post, I'm slightly behind on)  They were super excited about this.  They will continue their lessons every Sunday for a few months.  I felt really bad when they split the 12 kids up into groups based on their ability.  They did a real quick assessment of their skills and my girls failed miserably.  They are in the lowest group with another girl.  I guess that is why they are taking lessons right?   Here are a few photos:

 

Playing a few "getting to know you" games.

 

Alexis volunteering for something?

 

Alexis practicing kicking.

 

Addison kicking.

 

Not the best photos from my phone.  I hope to remember the actual camera next time.

Father's Day 2013....

I'm obviously slightly behind in posting this but better late than never.  I couldn't think of a better man to raise my kiddos with.  My girl's are very fortunate to have Terry as their Dad.

 

Love Love Love this photo!  Very rarely can I capture a photo of both the girls smiling real (not forced) smiles.  Love it!

 

I always find a way to make them look directly into the sunlight when I take a picture.  I think I have more squinty photos than anyone!  :-)

 

Our cheap Father's Day Card!

 

On a side note:  The girls love painting on the driveway.....I just mix equal parts cornstarch and water and then add a few drops of food coloring.  I typically mix up 1/2 cup

Day out with Thomas....

 

This past Saturday we took the girls to see Thomas the Train in Connersville, Indiana.  (You can find info here.....)

 

To say that they were excited is an understatement!  The girls could not believe that we were going to be able to ride the "real" Thomas.  When we told them Friday night that we were going to see Thomas, they both ran into the basement to grab their conductor hats.  For as long as I can remember, both of my girls have LOVED trains. 

 

 

When we pulled up to the event and were looking for a place to park....Alexis kept saying "OH, MY GOSH!, IT'S REALLY HIM!"  She just kept repeating "Oh, My Gosh".  It was probably one of the cutest things ever.

 

 

 

Squinty picture, since the sun was out in full force.

 

 

 

 

Family photo taken by the Thomas People.

 

 

 

Playing on a train.

 

Alexis waiting for the conductor to take her ticket.

 

Their smiles during our train ride were infectious.  Worth every penny I paid for the tickets!!

 

 

Luckily we were able to get a seat with an open window, as Thomas was NOT air conditioned.

 

 

Meeting Sir Topham Hatt.  AKA: The top hat man, as my girls call him.

 

Alexis was excited to give him a high five.

 

 

 

 

After a warm train ride we stopped for snow cones.  The girls were excited to pick their own flavors. 

 

 

 

In the future, I will try to persuade them to steer clear from blue.  As of Sunday evening, Alexis still had a hint of blue on her face.

 

And of course, before we left the girls wanted to ride the "little train".

 

 

What an incredible day.  It was just one of those great family days that you don't want to end.  Minus the fact that we were stuck in traffic for almost two hours on the way home, it was a perfect day!!!

Sprinkler fun!!

Lowe's Build and Grow....Monsters University

In the past few weeks my munchkins have become OBSESSED with Monsters, Inc.  I'm not really sure why by they can not wait until the opening of the new movie....  Monsters University.

 

I randomly ran across an advertisement in a magazine for a "build and grow" event at Lowe's.  Probably due to the fact that I don't have boys, I was unaware that Lowe's hosted such things for kids.  I signed the kids up without hesitation.  They were excited to build something by themselves. 

 

 

Somehow wearing protective glasses and holding a child size hammer made this super exciting for them.  I'm not sure the glasses were necessary, probably just some type of liability formality. 

 

Apparently this was the first build and grow event that our local store has hosted.  The leadership was definitely lacking.  We were basically handed our kits and hammers and told to have fun.  I'm glad that I didn't send Terry by himself with the girls, as originally planned.  This definitely required adult help.  I struggled to put it together, I'm not sure how a four year old was ever supposed to figure it out.  Regardless, the girls had a great time hammering a random nail here and there and helping to build their "scarers". 

 

She was so intense it was actually comical.  So focused on making sure everything was perfect.  Not sure where she gets that from....

 

Alexis posing with her scarers....that they now refer to as Monster Puppets.

 

Addison so proud of her creations.

 

My munchkins.

 

Regardless, all and all it was a pretty cute little free event for kids.  We plan on attending the next one in a couple of weeks.  The girls just can't get enough of Mike Wazowski! 

The little things....

This morning the girls awoke unusually early.  Most days I am finished getting ready before they wake up.  As I finished getting ready they were sitting at the kitchen table drawing pictures.  Addison handed me a piece of paper and told me that she drew a picture of me and her.  She told me to take it to work with me so that I didn't forget what she looked like while I was working.  As I finished packing my lunch, she told me that I could no longer take the picture to work with me.  She said she wanted to keep it so that she didn't forget what I looked like during the day.  She instructed me to take a picture with my phone so we both could look at it.  This little lady truly melts my heart.  While I'm grateful to have a job when so many are looking right now....this just adds another reason I hate being a working Mom...I feel like I miss out on so much.

 

I'm on the left because my eyes are darker than hers.  Love the logic of a four year old!!