City Museum St. Louis

While we were in St. Louis we had one day free to do something fun. After my surgery consult we all loaded up and went to the City Museum. Jeffrey & Amie had been here several times and they thought it would be a lot of fun for the whole family. They were right! This place was amazing. There were giant tunnels made of metal in the air that you could climb through and slides that were several stories tall. Caves with stalagmites, giant whales to climb inside. Aquariums, trains, art rooms and all kinds of places to explore and climb. We were there for hours and we still didn't get to see and do everything. Here are just a few pictures from the day of fun we had. 8.31.09

Corvette Ride

Isabella loves when my dad takes her for a drive in the Corvette because she gets to stick her head out the t-tops and wave to the neighbors like she is in a parade. I prefer that she be in a car seat buckled up but my grandparents seem to want to spoil their grandkids. 8.30.09

Happy Birthday Trista & Trinity

We celebrated Trista's 5th birthday and Trinity's 1st birthday at my parents house. The kids all had a lot of fun. 8.30.09

Lifecycle of a Butterfly

Since we started school a few weeks ago we have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of our caterpillars in the mail. They finally arrived a few days ago and within a 30 hour period all of our Painted Lady Caterpillars turned into chrysalis all 10 of them. Now we just had to move the little white paper disks to the butterfly pavilion and wait. Less than a week later the first butterfly emerged and we watched as his wings grew bigger and stronger. It was such a fast process to see them pop out of their cocoons. I always thought it took them a few minutes to get out but really it was seconds! All 10 of our butterflies hatched and a few days later we let them go. Another great science lesson on life. 8.28.09

My kids are the greatest

I had a great birthday weekend this year all though every year is pretty great (click on the links to flash back to birthdays past). Since my real birthday fell on the night that I normally teach we decided to celebrate it over the weekend so we could all enjoy the fun of my 32 year starting.
Isabella had a pretty original idea for wishing me a "happy birthday" with a crayon-bathtub greeting. That was a fun way to start off my birthday morning. Thank you Isabella.
Isabella also made me a scavenger hunt for my birthday which took me all over the house and yard in search of clues that finally led me to a yummy chocolate fudge birthday cake. Luckily I had Superman there with me to blow out the candles. It was a fun and relaxing day with the kids after cake we went for a walk in the park and Isabella got to show off her no-training wheels bike riding skills. All in all it has been a great year. 8.23.09

Look mom no training wheels

Isabella turned 6 this summer and she has done so many grown up things including learning to ride her bike without training wheels. The first time she did it we went to a walking track that was made of recycled tires...I was thinking this would be softer to fall on yet solid enough to learn to ride. She ran into a bush and an elderly lady (luckily she was fine) but in the end she mastered the art of two wheel riding. Here are some pictures a few days later at the park. 8.23.09

Remembering Grandma Bea

Grandma Bea died this week and her funeral was Sunday February 1st. It was a beautiful ceremony and all the family was together to remember her fun spirit. It was so good to see everyone. The kids had a great time playing with Michael's cousins: Kelly & Coleen. Dominic was very fascinated with the mail slot on Grandma Bea's house. Surprisingly the kids did good on the 9 hour ride home from Chicago.

Celebrating Dr. Suess

The library had a special presentation on Dr. Suess and the kids all made Lorax hats. Here are some pictures of my two little Loraxs. 8.20.09

The Wonderful World of Narnia

Union Station had the Narnia Exhibit this summer and we had the joy of getting to go. Our library gave us one free pass since we had read two of the books. Since they we have finished the whole series and the kids adore Narnia. The exhibit was based on the two movies: Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. We got to learn more about the lands of Narnia and how they made some of the creatures look so realistic. They had the great ice wall from the Ice Queen and her royal throne. The best part was when you entered Narnia you walked through a wardrobe past the fur coats and as you came out the other side you saw pine trees and snow fell down on your head. It was a pretty impressive entrance. The exit was pretty impressive too since they had a huge shadow of Aslan that lit up and roared (unfortunately that didn't photograph well) and two lines of centaurs. We had a great time. 8.19.09

Feast of St. Dominic

In honor of Dominic's patron Saint we had some pancake crosses for breakfast today. Today also happens to be my dad's birthday...happy birthday dad. The kids actually spent the 8th with my parents but we couldn't go a year without celebrating St. Dominic so we had a make up feast day with our family today. 8.13.09

Adventures in Babysitting

The girl that babysits for us, Kelsie, brought shirts and fabric paints so the kids could make their own creations. They had a great time and now they have some original designed shirts. Now anytime we do painting at the house the kids wear their "painting" shirts. We like to think of Kelsie as our little Mary Poppins because she always has fun things for the kids to do. 8.11.09

One Goofy Girl

Isabella turned her blue scarf into a blue wig. She seemed to think she looked good with blue hair. 8.11.09

Family get together for my Dad's birthday

We all met at Watkin's Mill State Park for a picnic, birthday party, and bike ride. The kids had a wonderful time riding bikes on the bike path. It was a fun day and the kids were so worn out after wards they fell asleep on the way home. 8.9.09