More summer in St Louis...

There is a fun little splash park by the Arch in St Louis. Our 3rd attempt to do the Zoo was again crazy busy so instead we hit this little spot. No regrets. It was pretty hot and such a great place to be that day. Not very crowded and so much to do. We had a wonderful relaxing outdoor day and no heat exhaustion.

Grant's Farm, run by Anheuser-Busch, is like a little wildlife reserve right in St. Louis. Ulysses S Grant owned a portion of the land, thus the name. I was excited about this place and heard such great things. In fact it was named the 7th best family friendly attraction in the nation. And the only fee is parking.

We took a beautiful Tram ride through the conservation part, with animals roaming about.

Grant's cabin. He built much of it himself. I was impressed.

The ride ended at the farm where the kids could bottle feed baby goats and pet animals. They were most excited for this but we arrived after a huge group of people and all the animals were full and not eating and we barely missed the elephant show. Elli was extremely tired and unhappy by the time we got to the farm. Definitely would have endured a lot less whining and complaining had we brought a stroller. Everyone was getting hot, tired and hungry so we took off early just sneaking a glance at all the beautiful Clydesdales.

This was a brilliant idea. Kids kept running through until they were soaked.

Maybe we'll try this one again earlier in the morning and enjoy it a bit more. It was beautiful.

Summer Outings

When Tyson arrived we sat down as a family and made a long list of all the things we'd like to do together throughout the summer. We had a pretty tight budget to consider so we took advantage of our awesome location for fun affordable entertainment. It was a good budgeting lesson for the kiddos.
With a little research we found some new cool local attractions. And of coarse the kids wanted to hit a few old favorites...

The St. Louis Science Center: Free, close, and always a few new exhibits.

A class in street safety. Do you know what to do when vicious barking dogs approach you? I didn't. You drop down and cover your head. The girls always talk about this cause they are terrified of dogs. We obviously need to dog sit for someone.

Which structure is more stable during an earthquake?

At the St Louis Zoo there was a new Stingray and shark exhibit that the kids loved. Tyson touched a few sharks and fed the stingrays. Heath is not a big fan of fish in general, but braved feeding the stingrays. Unfortunately, he missed the how-to spill and instead of sucking up the minnow it sucked in Heath's thumb. Freaked him out and he was done with that experience.

The girls were fascinated but content to look.

Another favorite spot at the Zoo

So fun until it was time to go without seeing the Elephants. We never attempt to see everything.

Warm summer days

Let's not sugar coat this, it was hot. Luckily water dampens heat and the kids still loved going outside.

Elli's Happy Birthday!

Elliana turned 3 in June. We have some dear friends with a daughter who turned 2 around the same time. They're buds and we threw them a joint birthday party at the park. It was so fun and very relaxed. No gifts, just some yummy food and lots of friends and fun. One of our friends brought a huge water balloon launcher and some other toys. He even learned to make balloon animals for the event. Anyway, the party was a big hit. And like always I forgot to take any pictures or even bring my camera. Friend Megan got a shot of the cupcakes I made. I didn't have a cupcake stand, so I took a trip to the dollar store and viola! Tutorials for this all over the web.



We also held a small family party for the birthday girl. Tyson and Grandma Nese arrived just in time. We also invited our friends the Critchlow crew. These kids were pretty much inseparable this past year and we sooo miss their family. They moved a week or two later. This is also the only proof I have that Grandma Nese came for a visit. Any time family comes I forget to take pictures in all our excitement. Elliana had a terrific birthday! And I can't believe our little baby has been 3 since June. Way too fast.

The gap

So, I don't know if anyone who follows this little blog noticed a bit of lapse in time. I am very aware as this blog serves as our family memory book. I definitely can't leave these months out. Tyson was here, birthdays missed, events and reunions left out. So here we go... (and by the way this is the very reason for such a long blog break. It was a wonderful busy time, but I dread backtracking especially this much.) Has this year flown by faster than any other for you? Crazy fast I think.
Back to summer... actually before summer, before Tyson's arrival, we worked on some projects for his room. Storage is a huge problem in our house, especially his room, tiny and with no closet. Heath made a cubby.

The girls always beg to help on projects. They were so happy to dust off the boards we had sanded down. A few little neighbor friends asked to to join our child labor team. And all to happy to be paid in lemonade and cookies.

Some personalized nail art for Tyson's room.

I love the concept, but it needs a different finish. Chunkier or more rustic? I don't know, we let it go for now or back then. Tyson loved it anyway.

The cubby turned out great. This fish was a planter given to us by Heath's co-worker. We spray painted it silver and Tyson thinks it is one of the coolest things in his room. He's a bit of a fish enthusiast and uses it for a piggy bank.

There is still so much on the to do list for his room. Window treatment, refinish his desk and bed, age his storage pails. And I'd love to reupholster the ottoman for his reading nook. Again, like with the girls room who knows what will get done when. Oh well, improvements have been made and Tyson approves.

Collections

Our daughters are little collectors. And like most kids, especially during the warmer months, much of their collecting is done outside. Flowers and leaves and sticks. The rocks border on obsession. Fortunately, they shy away from things that move. A sweet sister in our church helped them make little jewelry boxes to keep their outdoor collections at bay. Works like a charm, usually.