Fun Times with Grandma and Papa T

My parents came up to visit for a few days this week and the kids had a great time with them, as always. My Dad watched his fair share of "Paw Patrol" episodes.

He also rigged up a little water adventure for the kids using our backyard toys.

Brooke told him, "Grandpa, you make the best water parks!"

Being silly in Grandpa's house shoes.

My parents watched the kids while Matt and I went out with friends on Saturday night. On Sunday we went to church then to dinner as a family. Monday was a Costco adventure, then my Dad and Matt took the kids to Oberweis after dinner.

There was lots of book reading.

Tuesday was a beautiful day so we went to the Arboretum. We love that place.

Thanks for coming up! We love having you guys!

Fourth of July

Our fourth of July was very hectic and very fun. We started out with a visit to the pool, since we were going to be at Medinah, anyway.

Our friends, the Wendts, joined us for the carnival in the afternoon. These girls cannot get enough of each other.

Miles wanted to be in on the picture, too.

They enjoyed all the festivities. There were pony rides, as always.

I didn't get a picture of it, but Brooke and Kali went on a zip line ride that was about 20 feet high. Brooke got a little nervous at the top, but Kali jumped right off so Brooke followed.

Miles loved the train ride.

We headed straight from the carnival to a BBQ at Mike and Jane's. Again, no pictures. They hosted a really cute gender-reveal party where we found out that we're going to have another niece! I'm so excited. It'd be really great if she and Paige can be as close as Brooke and Lexi are. No pressure or anything. After the BBQ, we went straight back to Medinah for the fireworks display. This shot is horrible, but it's of Miles and Brooke running to Jamie when they saw her. It was incredibly sweet.

The gang (Mike and Jane got there later). During the display, Miles got really scared. Matt had to carry him away and he spent the whole thing with his head buried in Matt's shoulder. Of course, he's been talking about fireworks non-stop ever since. Brooke cuddled with Jamie and I held Paige, who just smiled and cooed the whole time.

Happy fourth of July, everyone!

  
*Special thanks to my friend, Laura, for the girls' adorable headbands!*

 

Ten Years!?!

Matt and I celebrated our ten year anniversary on July 3. I really can't believe it's been that long, which I think says a lot about what a great guy he is and how much fun we have together. That being said, the only pictures that I have to show of the day are of the kids, specifically Mr. Personality himself, Miles. We went out to breakfast as a family, which we rarely do, so that was fun. Until we got our bill for a $15 carafe of OJ. And no, this wasn't a celebratory brunch at the Ritz.

Then we went to the pool. Miles likes to spend a lot of his time there in the sand. I took this picture because he spent a fair amount of that visit trying to hang out with the big boys. Thankfully they were patient with him.

The pool's always more fun when Matt's there because they can play in the big pool.

Oh yeah, Brooke was there, too. There's no photographic evidence of Paige with us that day, unfortunately.

That evening, Matt's parents watched the kids while Matt and I went to dinner and to see a comedian that we'd never heard of, which is always a risk. He was okay. (Keep in mind that Daniel Tosh was our last comedy show, and we're kind of hooked on "Last Comic Standing," so he had large shoes to fill.) Regardless, we had a great time being out, just the two of us.

Ten years, three houses, three towns, one dog, and three kids later and I'm so thankful to God for giving me Matt as a husband. He's faithful, smart, supportive, funny, hard-working and loving. He's a great dad and most importantly, he loves God and others. My prayer for my kids every night is that God would provide them with mates who love them and God as faithfully. Happy Anniversary to us!

St. Louis Visit Number 134,000

A couple of weeks ago, we visited St. Louis for a few days. We got lots of cousin time in. Our first day there, we went to the pool that my parents belong to through my Dad's work. They had an impressively sized water slide that the girls were both brave enough to go on.

As you can see, the lifeguard caught them at the bottom and they both loved it! Matt and I agree that Brooke is far braver than either of us were at her age.

There was also a playground for the younger kids that had smaller water slides. This was the perfect activity for a pretty warm St. Louis day.

For the first week after we got back, anytime I put Miles in his swimming trunks, he would say, "Papa wawa?" ("Papa's water" = "Papa's pool") I think he liked it.

We went during Paige's morning nap and she was content to chill in the shade with Grandma most of the time.

When we were home, her cousins took every opportunity they could to love on her. Lexi is a great helper with babies.

This shot cracks me up.

Of course there was also some television/movie watching. Sometimes it's the only way to get the house quiet for a few minutes.

We also spent some time at Grandma and Papa T's house. The girls always have fun playing on the iPad.

And the kids got to make snow cones with Papa T. Side note: I'm realizing that snow cone stands seem to be a St. Louis thing, or at least not a Chicago thing, and it's making me kind of sad. Not that I'd go often, but it's nice to know they're there if I get a craving.

On our last night there, the Timmerman family and Brooke and I went to the Muny to see "Tarzan." It rained for a bit before we got there, but cleared up by showtime.

Brooke was a trooper and stayed alert and into it the whole show; although she did start asking me how many songs were left pretty quickly into the second act.

It was fun to be able to take her. I remember my Aunt Judy taking me to (the age-appropriate) shows every Monday when I was younger.

She asked if we could go back "the next time they have a show there" - I told her we'd make sure we get to go again next summer.

On our last day there, we went to City Garden. It's a really fun splash park in downtown St. Louis. Paige hung out with Aunt Krissi most of the time we were there.

There are several fun interactive art exhibits that the kids enjoyed, probably more than they enjoyed the water.

We were also able to get in some visits with family while we were down there. We had dinner at Gigi and Grandpa Charlie's one night.

And made a visit to Aunt Esther the next day.

As always, it was a fun time and was over much too quickly!