On the Road Again

We had such fun in St. Louis this past weekend with Peggy and the Hwangs.  We visited the City Museum, which was pretty cool.  The City Museum is created from salvaged items from all over the city of St. Louis.  There was so much to do and look at, it couldn't possibly be done all in one day.   

 

The rooftop was very neat.  We went inside the bus (pictured in the above photo), and everyone but me went up in the mesh-thingy (you can see in the top picture also). 

Here is a picture of Kyle and Evangeline at the top of the mesh-thingy. 

 

This sign was very appropriate since Kyle deals with the "giant rats from the sewers of Paris" each week.  It was located in the odditorium.   

This was a collection of pieces taken from old buildings from around the city.  It was neat to see that there is a place where these pieces are preserved. 

 

 

There was a huge arts and crafts wings where the girls got to paint, make very intricate paper snowflakes, and get a lesson on how to make an Amish rag doll.  The girls had to fill out a "dollcument" after finishing their dolls to give them an official name.  Evangeline named her doll Twinkle. 

The next day we took a little trip over to Grant's Farm.  We decided this place was a tad random, but it was a nice day to walk around on the Busch family property. 

We got a good chuckle out of Evangeline's animal choice on the carousel after we remembered what dress she had on that day....so very fitting. 

 

There is no rhyme or reason to what this girl is scared to do.  She had a total panic attack and had to be lifted out of the goat area after she entered it to feed the baby goats a bottle of milk, but then hopped on the back of a camel like she was a regular Arabian princess ready to make her way across the desert.  

 

And feeding the camels was very amusing.  The camels opened up their mouths and waited for you to toss them little pellets.  

Before leaving we stopped at the Clydesdale stables.  They were sure gorgeous...and huge!!

 

Speaking of huge.... here's me at 35 weeks.  

 

Thanks Peggy, for a very fun weekend!  

A Piece of Work

Creative, quirky, one-of-a-kind.  If we are at home, my girl is in dress-up clothes.  If we are out, she can be found in one or all of the following: a skirt, dress, hat and accessories (and yes, sometimes a skirt and a dress at the same time).  She will never be found in pants unless required.  She also usually has a purse of some kind packed with random knick-knacks.  She's always wanting to decorate her room.  I never know what I'll find in there.   She's also into making hide-outs.

 

 

She's really coming along nicely with the piano, although, sometimes we have to bribe her to do her best at practice.

 

She's definitely the most lively and entertaining babysitter.  

 

Yep, she's a total piece of work.  Life was definitely dull before she hit the scene.  

Reunited and It Feels So Good

We traveled to White House, TN last weekend for the Parsons family reunion.  It's always so fun to visit with the family and see how much everyone has grown and changed over the course of two years.  Evangeline had so much fun playing with her cousins. 

 

A group of mostly ladies (with the exception of Michael and Cale) went to lunch at the Chocolate Covered Strawberry. 

 

Evangeline is just so attentive to Mr. Cale.  She is the biggest help.  She is also so proud of him.   

 

White House is right outside of Nashville so while we were all out to lunch, Kyle, Zach, Candice and several others went into Nashville for BBQ and a visit to a tap room.  That evening we all enjoyed dinner together and time to visit and relax at the hotel.  I love my family.  I'm related to some pretty great people. 

Independance Day

Oh, how the summer is just flying by.  I can't believe the 4th has already come and gone.  We had a very nice cookout at Peggy's house with the Hwangs, Granny and Roy.  It actually didn't rain.  The girls enjoyed s'mores and games in the yard before we left to watch the fireworks. 



 

There was more lightning bug catching before the fireworks.  Evangeline had a name for each firework.  All we heard was, "flower, shooting star, flower, flower".  I can't remember the other names she had, but she was getting pretty creative.  

 

The next morning the three girls sang Jesus Loves Me at church as the special music.  They did such a wonderful job.  

So. Much. Rain.

We've had SO much rain the past few weeks.  It's really cut in to our summer plans.   We've had to be creative.  One rainy day a few weeks ago we went with Ammie and the cousins to SJ Meadows' Folk Art Gallery in Palestine, IL.  We bought some clothes pins, went home and the girls made some creations of their own.  

 

Softball award night was last week and all the girls got a trophy.  The trophy was a huge smile inducer!! 

 

 

Here's the official team and individual photo. 

 

Now that softball is over it's back to gymnastics.  



Learning To Be Bored

We usually have something to do each day, whether an appointment, another obligation, or something fun we have planned.  Evangeline was determined to spend the whole day at home today.  I realize that I am someone who has the hardest time being idle.  Lots of times our outings are something I plan for us.  Kyle is always pointing out to me that it's important to have a day here and there where we do nothing, so we had one of those days.  It wasn't easy.  There was a craft to make at the library,  there were groceries we needed at the store....  It actually wasn't raining so we could have taken the tricycle into town for a ride!  So many options.  But not this day.  This was a day to do nothing in particular.  I have to admit it was hard for me.  We watched a little too much morning TV, and I actually sat and watched too instead of using that time to run around the house trying to catch up on things.  I finished a sweater I've been knitting.  Evangeline wrote a letter to her cousins and spent the whole day in dress up clothes and makeup.  At one point I asked Evangeline if she was bored and she said yes.  I immediately asked her if she was sure she wanted to pass on the craft at the library and she said, "I like being bored.  It means we have nothing to do."

 

I told Evangeline she could have my old camera and she's been so excited to try it out.  We took a walk today and I taught her about some of the features.  I'm looking forward to looking at her shots.  She was having lots of fun.   Oh, and yes, she is wearing her nightgown and bonnet, and yes, it was about 3 o'clock in the afternoon.  Hey, why not? 

 

My egg lady brought me fresh eggs.  I felt inspired to finally use the crepe pan I got for my birthday.  Oh my goodness, crepe pan, where have you been all of my life?!  I made some Swedish pancakes and they were an absolute thing of beauty.  Then I remembered that I had a few cups of blueberries in the fridge so I heated them up the stove with a teaspoon of sugar and made a filling.  After a few delicious bites I thought about the ricotta I had and, WOW.  My pancake life was forever changed.