St. Louis Easter and Birthday(s)

Last weekend Matt was on a golf trip and Luke had his birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, so I took the kids down to St. Louis for a couple of days. I didn't get any pictures of that first night because I was alone at Chuck E. Cheese with three kids and I'm just happy I left with all three of them without injury.

Blake was on the same trip, so Amy also came in town. Because all the great-grandkids were together, my grandparents decided to do a belated Easter egg hunt for them.

In the above picture, the kids are waiting to go out on the hunt.

The Easter egg hunts that we would have at my grandparents' as I was growing up are some of my favorite holiday memories, and Gigi and Grandpa Charlie came through for my kids. I'm so glad that they had a chance to experience the fun.

Of course there were a few incidences of tears ("He got my egg!" "I don't have enough!""Uncle Tim pushed me into the bushes!"), but overall, they seemed to have a blast.

Special thanks to Uncle Joel for helping hide the eggs and making Miles laugh like this.

The kids also had fun on Luke and Lexi's playground. There was a bird's nest with two eggs on the top story. Then Luke got curious..and now there's one egg. This picture isn't super-clear, but Luke, Brooke and Miles are all riding the "roller coaster" as Miles called it.

This is our first trip since Miles has been out of the crib, so I had him and Brooke sleep lengthwise on the double bed. No one fell out of bed or ended up in bed with me, so that was a win.

Luke + Grace = Brooke + Miles. They look SO much alike. The girls had fun "playing" together.

Hopefully Paige didn't give Grace her runny nose...

We went out to eat one night. Always an adventure, but the kids did great despite grossly sub-par service (there are six kids at this table - please don't wait 15 minutes to bring our rolls out).

By the third day, Paige had warmed up a little and wasn't as clingy as she can typically be.

We ended Sunday with a joint birthday party for Miles, Luke, my cousin's daughter Charley, and Paige.

Paige loved having "Happy Birthday" sung to her, and after a little prompting literally dug into the cake.

Brooke and Lexi made cards and wrapped gifts for all the birthday kids.

She handled opening gifts like a one-year-old. Thankfully her sister and cousin were happy to assist.

I had to convince Miles to open his gifts midway through the afternoon. Starting the party shortly before he usually naps wasn't my best idea.

"Shooters" from Uncle Joel. They were a big hit.

As usual, things ended in a chaotic dog pile. I would like to say that my kids were exhausted and slept the whole way home. Alas, Miles and Brooke stayed up until 10 that night (45 minutes before we got back home). Oh well, we made it back safely with another busy and fun visit under our belts. Thanks for everything, family! We love you!