Last Saturday was the annual PBS KidsFest.  This is the third year we have gone and it is always a lot of fun for the kids.  We didn't get all the character pictures we usually get (like with Clifford, Curious George, SuperWhy, etc.), but we had fun doing other things.  Right as we got there, Martha from "Martha Speaks" arrived for a storytime at the K-9 tent.  Lucy was in doggie heaven.  She fed them, pet them, held them, hugged them, and couldn't seem to stop smiling.  After walking through the rest of the festival, we came back by the K-9 tent again on our way out and she got to enjoy them some more.  Ella kept her distance - especially from the Saint Bernard that was one of the biggest dogs I have ever seen!  She had more fun on the tumblebus and playing the games to collect free (junk) prizes.  Thanks to our local PBS station once again for a fun afternoon outing!

As promised, we're excited to announce that our third child, expected in February 2010, is most definitely a GIRL!  We had our ultrasound on Monday and praise God, she is healthy and growing just like she should be.  She weighs 9 oz. already, which is the 71st percentile!  (I think average for this stage is about 5.5 oz.)  And even though she's a bit bigger for her age, she is still REALLY skinny.  The 3D images looked very skeletal and you could even see the two hemispheres of the brain through the very thin skin on her head.  The placenta was right up in her face most of the time, so it was hard for the ultrasound technician to get a good shot.  We will be having another ultrasound next month, so we're hoping for some better pictures then. 

 

You'll also see a handful of other events from the past 2 weeks pictured.  The captions should explain them.

 

Happy Fall!

I think I'm finally just about caught up now!  This last bunch of pictures was taken over Labor Day weekend.  Jeff and the girls kicked off a weekend with a movie and sleepover on the air mattress in the living room.  They stayed out there the whole night this time, but Jeff ended up on the couch after a while. 

 

Sunday afternoon, I was busy making and decorating the cheeseburger cake Troy had requested for his birthday.  Cake decorating is not a strength of mine, but I did my best to make what he wanted.  After all, he has decorated a LOT of cakes for me over the years!  He IS very good at it!

 

And Monday, we spent the day at my parents' house.  We had a yummy lasagna dinner and a birthday party to celebrate Troy's 41st birthday.  That afternoon, we went fishing in Mom and Dad's pond and the girls both had their first fishing experience.  Thankfully, everybody fishing caught a fish, so their were no bad feelings. :)  Dad cleaned the fish, but did not have time to get the bones out before dinner, so we didn't actually eat them.  He saved them for a meal after we left.

 

Hopefully, my blogging can get back on more of a regular schedule again now.  We have our ultrasound on Monday, so check back next week for some big news!

Here is an assortment of pictures showing some of the activities that filled the last few weeks of August.  The captions explain the pictures.

It took me a month to finally get our Disney trip blogged, but now that it's done, it's time to move on and update everyone on life over the past month!  One of the most exciting things that happened was Ella started kindergarten on August 12th.  She was SO excited and looked so cute in all her Hello, Kitty garb.  I handled it pretty well (just a few teary-eyed moments) until I left her classroom to come home.  That's when it all hit me and I cried all the way home!  I took her and picked her up the first three days and on the fourth day of school, she started riding the bus.  That was another big milestone for both of us and one that I don't think I could have handled the first day!  Now a month later, we have gotten into a routine and things are going well.  She REALLY doesn't like getting up in the morning (neither do I!), but does fine once she's up and around.  Her teacher told me she's "perfect" and doing very well academically and socially.  That was a relief to hear!  Lucy and I have started to get used to being home without her and I'm enjoying having some one-on-one time with my soon-to-be middle child.  I'm really trying to treasure this special time with her before life gets taken over by having a newborn in February!

 

Oh, and Jeff started school two days before Ella, but his school year beginning kind of got overlooked this year.  He's having a GREAT start to the year in his three choir classes, but his 2 freshman study skills classes have proven to be more challenging.  He has also been overloaded with paperwork and administrative tasks that have kept him at school til 5 most days (the kids finish at 2:20!)  When he's up before 6 and not home til 5:30ish, it makes for a long day for all of us.  He has two interns from the local university who start today, so hopefully they will help relieve some of his burden and allow him to come home a little earlier.

 

Check back soon for more pics and updates from the past month!

On our last morning in Florida, we upheld our promise to the girls to let them swim in the guitar pool at our hotel.  Jeff and Uncle Troy swam with them, giving me some time to get everything in our hotel room packed into our suitcases (no small job!).  The top end of the guitar (where the frets would be) was actually a shallow baby pool, which the girls thought was pretty fun.  What you see pictured was a fun surprise that happened not long after we got to the pool (I only stayed long enough to get a few pictures before going back to the room).  One of the lifeguards came over to us and asked if the girls would be his special helpers for the morning and "wake up" the three sleeping caballeros in the center of the pool.  They were pretty hesitant at first, not knowing exactly what was being asked of them, but we talked them into going with the lifeguard to the center of the pool.  He gave them each an instrument and a sombrero and said that at the count of three they were to play their instruments and yell "wake up!" as loudly as they could!  They did it and immediately the three cabablleros "woke up" and started spraying water.  The girls got to keep their sombreros and each also got a pair of souvenir maracas, plus a certificate thanking them for the help, signed by Mickey Mouse himself.  It was a fun little tag on the end of our week, courtesy of Walt Disney World.

 

After swimming, the girls had baths, got dressed and went on a walk with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Troy around the neighboring All-Star Movies resort to see the big doggies (from 101 Dalmations) and other larger-than-life famous movie icons.  Then we did a lot of waiting and lot of riding - from the hotel to the bus to the airport through security to the gate to the airplane to the luggage carousels to the van to the restaurant to drop off Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Troy and then finally home!  We got home late Saturday night after a very full, exciting, memorable week.  I don't know if we'll ever be fortunate enough to go again, but we thank God for the blessing this trip was to our family.  I hope you've enjoyed reliving it with me through all the pictures!

 

Instead of buying a souvenir for myself at Disney, I chose to use the money to create and order a photo book through Picaboo and had a great experience!  I can share it with friends through e-mail for free, so if you're interested in seeing it, send me a message and I'll be happy to send it your way!

Our last day at Walt Disney World, Friday, was designated as our "Make-Up Day."  We made no plans for that day at the beginning of the week, other than to have a day to finish up whatever we didn't get accomplished during the first part of the week.  We began the day at the Magic Kingdom with the goal of taking some good group shots in front of the Mickey at the entrance (just like we did when I was 9 and my family went) and in front of the castle.  We didn't get any pictures like that when we were there on Tuesday morning, and by the time we left the sky was dark and cloudy - not ideal picture weather!  Thankfully, Friday morning was as sunny and beautiful as ever and we got some great photos for our frames, computer wallpaper, cell phones, souvenir magnets, albums, etc.  We also happned upon a live stage show in front of the castle featuring all the princesses, Mickey and Minnie, Peter Pan, Goofy, and many others.  What a great accident!  After that, we headed to Tomorrow Land, the only area we ran out of time for on Tuesday.  We went to the "Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor" and the Walt Disney "Carousel of Progress." 

 

After that, we rode the monorail over to Epcot center and spent the afternoon touring the World Showcase.  My favorite countries were Mexico and Germany, which happened to be the two countries I have actually visited in real life!  We also enjoyed some time in "Club Cool."  It was sticky and messy, but we were able to drink unlimited samples of Coca-Cola brand beverages from around the world.

 

We finished the evening (and our week in the parks) with a ferry ride back to the Magic Kingdom for the Spectromagic Parade and Fireworks.  It was very late, hot and muggy, and extremely crowded (the worst of the whole week!), but definitely worth going and worth letting the girls stay up late.  The light parade was so much more elaborate than I had ever imagined and the fireworks display was set to music and a storyline better than any display I've seen before.  The highlight was when Tinkerbell (an actual person!) "flew" by cable from the top of the castle, over our head, and landed on top of a building next to us.  Troy, having worked at WDW for 3 months several years ago, knew it was coming and made sure we knew where to sit to see it well.  Even now, 4 weeks later, Ella and Lucy are still talking about seeing Tinkberbell fly over us that night.  We were all totally exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel, but it was a wonderful, memorable, and yes, even "magical" final evening.

Thursday was spent partially in Future World at Epcot Center at partially at Downtown Disney.  Our first stop was to get the one and only fast pass of the week for me, which was to ride "Soarin'."  Then we toured The Seas.  That was a very cool place and the girls really enjoyed all the live fish and sea creatures.  Talking to Crush was pretty neat, too!  We saw "Imagination" and toured Innoventions, followed by lunch at The Land and then finally got to experience "Soarin'!"  This was definitely one of the neatest rides of the week!  Ella was a little overwhelmed by it (and said her tummy felt funny afterwards) but still thought it was really cool.  You really do feel like you are flying and even smelling the sights around you.  Amazing.  We squeezed in a quick ride through Spaceship Earth (everybody's gotta do it!) before catching our bus to Downtown Disney for EARLY dinner reservations.

 

We all spent the late afternoon/early evening at Downtown Disney.  Troy, Jeff, and I had really good coupons for Planet Hollywood, so we ate there while Grandma and Grandpa took the girls to McDonald's.  Our time at DD was short, but very interesting!  I kind of wish we would have had more time there to explore all the different shops.  I wasn't sure if DD was going to be worth taking our time from the parks, but it was definitely worthwhile!

 

That evening, Grandma and Grandpa once again got the girls to bed back at the hotel while Jeff, Troy, and I got to stay out a little longer.  We arrived back at Epcot about 5 minutes late for their "Illuminations" show out on the lake in the middle of the World Showcase.  It was really a sight to see, but unfortunately we couldn't see much!  Having arrived there so late, the crowds were thick in front of us and we had a hard time seeing it all.  Afterwards, Jeff and I went to see "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" while Troy went in search of - can you guess - another hat.  This time, a tri-cornered, colonial America-type hat.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that one!  We also spent some time in one of their larger gift shops trying to narrow down our souvenir choices - only one day left to decide and make our purchases!

Wednesday, Day 4, was the day slated for the Animal Kingdom.  We got a late start (we were really needing to catch up on some sleep by this point!), but had a fun, full day once we got there.  We have LOTS of pictures from this day, as you can see, so most everything we did had at least some part of it captured on film.  The highlights included Finding Nemo - The Musical, The Festival of the Lion King, and the Kilimanjaro Safaris.  Everything there was such high quality.  I know a Disney vacation is expensive, but you really get your money's worth in every way!  Even the food is worth the outrageous price tag.  Speaking of which, we ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which is always a special treat.  The day's big rain came while were in the restaurant that day, which worked out nicely for us except for that we didn't have the stroller prepared, so it wasn't very usable the rest of that day.

 

At the end of the day, we rode the bus back to our hotel, had dinner at the cafe there (which was rare!), and got the kids to bed ourselves.  That evening, Troy, Jeff, and I made use of the "free 30-minutes of play" coupons for the hotel arcade that came with our trip package.  It was fun, but I can't understand how people can throw their money away at that stuff.  It's over so quickly!  We got to bed a little earlier that night to recharge for another full day ahead!

Tuesday morning, we got up bright and early for the big day we had been looking forward to for so long!  My mom treated the four girls on our trip to breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table.  Most of the little girls there wore princess costumes, as did Lucy (Ariel), but Ella really wanted to wear her nightgown, which I have to say is very pretty.    It was such a special moment, rounding the corner onto Main Street USA and suddenly there in front of you (with no crowds in front of it since we were there before the park opened) was Cinderella's castle!  You have never seen two more bright-eyed little girls!  We got to walk right up inside the castle.  It was beautiful and elegant and everything we could have dreamed of.  The food was fantastic (and unlimited!) and we were visited by 5 princesses.  Each girl was given a souvenir star wand and wishing star, plus five professional photos with Cinderella and one of the castle in a special frame to keep.  Lucy was a little disappointed that Cinderella didn't sit down at our table and actually eat with us, but had another idea..."Maybe if I ask her, Cinderella will take me to the potty!"  Disappointed again, we had to go without her, but there was nothing about our time in the castle that was anything less than "magical."  Thanks so much, Grandma, for giving us that opportunity!

 

The rest of the day was special, too, as we spent the majority of our time in the Magic Kingdom.  We stood in line a LONG time to get our pictures with Ariel and with Mickey and Minnie, but other than that, the lines were fairly short and we got to do and see a lot.  In addition to the things pictured, we also saw Mickey's Philharmagic, A Dream Come True Parade, It's a Small World, the Country Bears Jamboree, a street party by the castle, and Troy and Ella rode the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.  The boys fit in a few more attractions while we were in the castle, and Troy, Jeff, and I rushed over to Hollywood Studios that night after the girls were in bed in time to see "Fantasmic."  What an amazing show!  Then we ended the night with "The Great Movie Ride" - with no line!  Another great day, more rain, and another late night!  We were getting the hang of this...and wishing it would never have to end!

After a great first night of sleep, we woke up Monday for our first full day at Disney and our first time to take a bus to one of the parks.  One of our few "suggestions" (we won't call them complaints) for the week was that we thought Disney could stand to have some covered areas to wait for the buses.  That Florida sun is HOT!  Thankfully, though, we all made it through the whole week with no sunburn!

 

We spent the bulk of Day 2 at Hollywood Studios.  Most of the highlights are pictured.  Not pictured was the Muppet Vision 3-D show, The Voyage of the Little Mermaid show, and Playhouse Disney...Live!, plus the trip Troy, Jeff, and I made to the Animal Kingdom after the girls were in bed.  That night, we saw "It's Tough to Be a Bug" inside the Tree of Life and rode the "Dinosaur" ride.  Both were fun, but definitely too scary for the girls.  Grandma and Grandpa were gracious enough to stay at the hotel with them each night so we could do a few "non-kid" things.  It was very helpful that our hotel rooms were adjoining so the girls could go to sleep and Mom and Dad could be in their room right next door. 

 

It was also on Monday that we got our first taste of what a August day in Florida was like.  It was scorching hot in the morning and early afternoon, then the sky clouded over and we had a downpour.  After that, it was still muggy, though not quite as hot and sunny, for the remainder of the day.  Every day of the week was pretty much like this!  We were thankful to have our umbrellas with us, to have a stroller with a nice big umbrella top for the girls, and a poncho to cover the stroller with when we had to leave it outside.  It only got soaked beyond use one day when the poncho blew off.

 

We were all pretty tired by the time we went to bed that night, but so excited for Tuesday morning...the morning our girls had been anticipating for months!  And it turned out to be the best part of the whole week for them!

 

 

Since I am STILL not finished and unpacking, and since I have over 200 pictures from the trip (after going through them all and narrowing it down!), AND since I don't want to wait forever to get them posted, I decided to just do a little each day and post one day's worth of pictures at a time.

 

Let me start by saying we had a GREAT trip!  It was our four, my parents, and my oldest brother.   We are so thankful to have had the help and the opportunity to have been able to take this memorable vacation.  It truly was "magical."

 

On day 1, Sunday, we left my parents' house a little after 7 am and made the 2-hour trip to the airport.  Troy brought "Peter Pan" for the girls to watch in the van on the way.  They had never seen it before, so it was nice for them to have an understanding of the movie before going and riding the ride, seeing Tinkerbell, etc.  We had a smooth trip and when we got to St. Louis, Jeff dropped us off and drove the van to the "economy" parking.  We had some turbulence on the plane, but not too terrible.  The flight only took two hours.  Ella really got into looking out the window and pointing out all the "little" things she saw.  That was fun.  Lucy enjoyed playing with her new toys (we got them each a few new toys to play with on the plane), but didn't really get into looking out the window or anything.

 

After arriving in Orlando, we took "Disney's Magical Express" from the airport to our hotel.  We stayed at the All-Star Music resort, in the Broadway building.  They make it fun for the kids right from the beginning.  Before we even finished checking in, the girls had been given Music balloons with Mickey Mouse tags, Mickey Mouse stickers, and buttons to wear that said "1st Visit!"  The employees addressed the girls as "Princess" and everyone was super-friendly and helpful.  That first night we just ate dinner in the cafe there, went swimming in the piano pool, and walked around and looked at all the other hotels in the complex.  What a neat place!

This year's Vacation Bible School at our church finished up the night before we left for our Walt Disney World vacation, so I didn't have a chance to post the pictures!  And since I haven't had a chance to get the Disney pics ready yet anyway (laundry is done, but I'm STILL unpacking!), for now VBS pics will have to do.  

 

Ella was in the 5-year-old class this year, which averaged around 19 students each night.  Lucy (though not in any pictures ) was in the Birth-2 class.  I'm pretty sure she was the oldest one in there.  I'm so glad that next year she will finally be in a "real" class!  I led the music rotation for the 1st-5th graders and Jeff ran the sound board and media shout.  We had around 200 in attendance each night including kids from birth through 5th grade and workers.  This was our first year having our new facility, so we were actually able to have two full rotations.  One upstairs for Birth-Kindergarten, including their own music, crafts, and missions teachers.  Plus a second set downstairs for 1st-5th grade with its own set of music, crafts, and missions teachers.  Things seemed to run pretty smoothly and we never had to be crowded like last year.  The theme to remember - "It all comes back to Jesus!"

 

On a totally other note, Ella starts kindergarten tomorrow! *sniff*  She is super excited and I know she will be fine and do great, but I can't help but be nervous for her and saddened to see her exposed to so many negative sources she's never been around before.  (namely the other kids!)  I'm praying for her to be strong and hold to what she knows is right and that God will keep her safe and protect her physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.  What a huge journey we are about to begin!

 

Check back soon for an update on Ella and pics of all the Disney fun!

Okay, so I think I need to blog a little more often.  Too many things piled up this time!

 

The first set of pics is from our trip to the County Fair last Thursday.  We went with several families from our church and the kids had a ball.  It was during the day, so the rides weren't open yet, which was just fine with us!  Lucy, of course, had a wonderful time seeing and petting all the animals - cows, horses, pigs, chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, etc.  Ella thought they were stinky (which they were) and quickly swatted (her version of petting) a few of them, but for the most part was fine with just looking.  She had a fun time playing with her friends, though, and really seemed to like looking at all the indoor exhibits in the 4-H building.  We enjoyed eating some fair food for lunch, complete with ice cream from the dairy farmers.  Yummy!

 

On Friday evening, we had some excellent quality time at home just the four of us.  The girls ran around in the sprinkler, had homemade sno cones, ate dinner outside at the picnic table, entertained the neighbors with some backyard karaoke on our stage, and even found a bird's nest with eggs in it by our shed.  It was just one of those nights where you let out a big, smiling sigh and thank God for his many blessings.  I am so thankful for my family.  (Note:  This evening was sponsored by Uncle Troy, who over time has given us the sprinkler ring, the sno cone maker, the picnic table, the stage, and the karaoke machine!!  Thank you, Uncle Troy!)

 

The last two pics our from the ultrasound we had on Monday at my Dr.'s office.  We have never had an ultrasound before 20 weeks before, and especially not a 3D ultrasound, so this was pretty special!  To see a 3.5 cm baby so clearly, moving his/her little arms and legs around - at only 10 weeks!   Amazing.  The best news was that the baby is developing normally so far and appears to be very healthy!  He/she sure is growing, too!  I see maternity clothes in my near future!

 

This week is VBS at our church.  We're doing "Boomerang Express," and Australian-themed Bible School.  I am leading the music for the 1st-5th graders and Jeff is running the sound and powerpoints.  We have a big group this year - around 300 including kids and workers!  It seems to run a little more smoothly each night.  VBS is always exhausting, but so worth it.  Our kids our loving it.  All aboard!

Yes, you read that right...Our Family of Four is adding one more!  Jeff and I began announcing this weekend that we are expecting our 3rd child in February!  We told Ella and Lucy first on Friday morning.  Ella was very excited and told us she wants a baby sister.  Lucy didn't quite understand it yet, but she will.  She says it's a brother and that she has a brother in her belly, too.  Since Ella has really been into drawing family pictures lately, we asked her to draw an updated picture of our family with the baby in it to use to tell everyone about our new baby.  The finished product was so precious.  I scanned it and made 4X6 color copies on photo paper to give to our family members as a keepsake.

 

This weekend was performance weekend for "Oklahoma!", Jeff's summer job this year.  He was the rehearsal/performance accompanist.  It was a lot of long hours (and long evenings for us at home without him!), but it pays well and is a great experience for him.  He played for the same group last year when they did "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and his involvement with that show opened up so many other opportunities for him throughout the school year as well.  We were glad he was able to do it again this year, but we're also glad it's over now!

 

We announced we were expecting Ella at Thanksgiving, and Lucy over spring break, but we had no idea when we might find a time that we would see both sides of our families like that during the summer.  As it turned out, both families wanted to come see "Oklahoma!", so we got to tell my parents, brother, and nieces on Friday and Jeff's parents, grandmother, and sister on Saturday!  It worked out perfectly!  By Saturday night, news had spread via facebook and e-mail and the excited responses came rolling in.  We shared with our church family on Sunday, which was also very fun.

 

The baby was obviously our biggest news this past week, but I also wanted to report on the girls' trip to my parents' house.  They spent Saturday to Wednesday of last week there without us, attending VBS at my Mom and Dad's church.  On Wednesday, they had their annual play day in the park with their cousins, as you see pictured.  This was actually the 4th year for this tradition, but I don't seem to have a picture from the first year.  Next year, they'll have another little bundle to add into that train car!

 

This week, the girls are at Jeff's parents' house until Wednesday and Ella is attending VBS there.  And NEXT week is VBS here at our church! 

 

I will have an ultrasound at my doctor's appointment next week, so hopefully I'll have some pictures to post!  It's hard to believe we're really doing all this again.  Praise God for His many blessings!

Just a few events to blog about this week.  On Friday, we took advantage of "Family Night" (cheap prices) at a local water park.  It was our first time there and we were so impressed with all they had to offer!  You can only see one small part of it in the pictures, but it was a big place!  The girls loved it.  We would like to go again during hotter weather.  It did get a bit cool after the sun went behind the trees.

 

On the 4th, we had some friends from our Sunday School class over.  Jeff made hamburgers, brats, and hot dogs on his new grill from Father's Day and the kids enjoyed playing with sparklers and poppers.  After our company left, we drove downtown for the big fireworks display.  It is the first one we have been to since we've had kids.  Ella loved it.  Lucy held her hands over the ears the whole time and said she didn't like it, but she never whined, fussed, complained, or asked to go home.  They were both very good, especially for how late it was.  And after all the hype everyone gave us about how terrible the traffic was, we pulled right into a spot with no hassle, and it only took 15 minutes in slow-moving traffic before we were on the expressway and moving quickly again.  (Of course, that 15 minutes seemed like an eternity to Lucy because she needed to go potty and there was nothing open anywhere around us!  That was a little scary!  She made it, though.)  Overall, it was a very good experience and I think we'll try it again next year!

On Friday night, we had the opportunity to see my niece, Brooke, in a performance of "Snoopy!"  She was one of a cast of 7, so we got to see her on stage a lot this time!  She did a fantastic job and I'm so happy we were able to go.  She played the role of "Lucy," so you can imagine the fun we've had with that over the past several weeks. (Anyone see any resemblance between Brooke and me?  It's harder to tell with the black wig, but Brooke has been accused of looking like her Aunt Tanya all her life.  )

 

The rest of the weekend was fun as well, with a surprise 31st birthday party for a friend from our Sunday School class on Saturday and a Little Mermaid party for a 3-year-old in Lucy's class on Sunday.  (Sorry, no pics!)  Both were outside parties, but thankfully there was shade!  This week is turning out to be much cooler than last week, so we are taking advantage of the nice weather and getting outside as much as we can.

 

Have a Happy Independence Day, everyone!

The first set of pictures were taken at a birthday swimming party for one of the little boys from church.  They live on a farm.  I didn't take any pictures of the birthday party or of the girls swimming, but when they got to be around the animals, I had to break out the camera!  They had a ball, especially Lucy.

 

On Father's Day, we got up early and gave Jeff his gifts before church.  After church, we drove to my parents' house for lunch with my side of the family.  It was fun having all of us together, seeing the girls play with their cousins, and getting to go swimming with Uncle Troy the next day.

 

The summer is flying by, as it always does.  Hope you are enjoying it as much as we are!

Last weekend, Jeff and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary by going to a wedding in St. Louis!  We left the girls with Jeff's parents and attended the wedding of one of Jeff's friends from high school, Tim, on Friday afternoon.  We had some time between the wedding and reception, so we checked into our hotel room and then walked down the street to Union Station.  It's not what it used to be, but still worth seeing.

 

The reception was held at Windows Off Washington, on the 10th floor of the St. Louis City Museum.  It was very fancy and we enjoyed being all dressed up and for an elegant meal without kids around!  It was also really nice for Jeff to get to catch up with three of his best friends from high school.  It is rare for them to ever all be together in the same place like that these days!

 

Saturday morning, we enjoyed swimming in the warm hotel pool and then headed down by the river for our anniversary lunch at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  Yum!  It is very close to the arch, so we walked down the river to the arch area and back, just enjoying the beautiful weather and the sights.  Then we drove to the St. Louis Mills Mall for the afternoon (never been there before...very cool!) and back to Jeff's parents' house in the evening.  It was a nice time away, but we were excited to see our girls again.  In some ways, it didn't seem right to be taking a trip and enjoying all that stuff without them.  As Jeff said, "They're part of us now!"

 

We stayed there two more days before coming back home.  Jeff and I sang with the praise team at their church and also did the special music.  We ate lunch Sunday at a little restaurant in a park all about Abe Lincoln, hence the pictures.  We took the girls swimming at the city pool that afternoon, but it was COLD, so we didn't stay long.

 

This week, however, has been far from cold!  It's been in the 90's and very humid!  So yesterday we blew up the pool and the girls had a blast outside for over an hour.  I'm looking forward to many more opportunities for them to use it this summer.  They're both at such a great age to enjoy it together.

On Friday, we took our semi-annual trip back to Louisville for professional pictures at Portrait Innovations.  Our appointment was for Saturday, but we went a day early to enjoy a mini-get-away and some time with friends.  We took a picnic lunch and spent the afternoon along the riverfront.  The weather was perfect - sunny, but not hot - and we had such a nice time.  We even decided to spend the money and rent a "surry" for an hour, which we rode up and down the riverfront from the Belle of Louisville all the way to the splash park.  It was great.  That was one thing we always wanted to do when we lived there, but never did.  Next time we go during warm weather, we need to remember to bring the girls' swimsuits so they can play in the splash park.  That was always a fun thing to do in the summer and we don't have anything like that here.

 

Later in the afternoon, we spent some time at Mall St. Matthews and drove by our old apartment and the hospital where the girls were born.  Then we ventured over to Simpsonville, where our dear friends from our church here, Kris and Jwain, just moved!  I mean literally, they just moved there 11 days before we came!  But they seemed to be pretty much all moved in and were such gracious hosts.  We had a yummy dinner and enjoyed spending the evening with their family.  I'm so sad they moved away, but so thankful they moved close to Louisville so we can continue to visit them from time to time.

 

I wish we could say we had a good night's sleep there, but Lucy kept us up most of the night.  She was fussing, crying, in our bed, having nightmares, thinking something was crawling on her, thinking there were scary turtles on the wall, on the couch with Jeff, and occasionally even screaming at the top of her lungs until about 3:30 when she finally settled down and fell asleep in the bed with me, with Jeff out on the couch.  We all slept soundly after that...until 6:50.  Then she was wide awake and that was it.  Ella slept in a twin bed with her good friend, Annali, and they both slept great, though they were awake even earlier than us the next morning!  (And remember, we were in a different time zone, so it was an hour earlier for our bodies!)

 

Jwain made us a wonderful waffle breakfast Saturday morning, we all got our showers, and  we headed out the door around 11:30 for our 12:00 appointment.  To say I was concerned how the pictures were going to go after the night we all had would be an understatement!  Especially when one child is a 2-year-old!  So we made good use of a questionable technique...the bribe.  We stopped at Walgreens before the pictures and let the girls each pick out some candy.  Ella chose Dots and Lucy chose Gummi Bears.  We took the candy in with us and told them they could only have it if they smiled pretty and did whatever the photographer asked them to do and let me tell you, they were ready to go!!  We had to wait when we got in, so I asked Lucy, "Would you like to sit on my lap and wait or play legos with Ella?" and she said, "I want to take pictures!"  Unfortunately, it turned into a 45-minute wait (!), but Ella and Lucy were amazingly patient and very well-behaved.  When it was our turn, they behaved like angels and did exactly what we asked.  I couldn't be happier with the pictures!  You better believe they got their tummies full of candy when we were done!  Does that make us bad parents?  Oh, well!

 

That afternoon, we spent a few hours with my good friend, Heather, and her 3 precious children.  We used to have weekly play dates with them when we lived there, so it is always fun to catch up, see how the kids have grown, and give them all a chance to play together.

 

When we got home Saturday evening, we were anxious to try out the new buggy Kris and Jwain gave to us.  Their youngest child is a year and a half older than Ella, and they have been SO generous to pass things on to us when they are finished with them.  This buggy is so great for us to have because now Jeff and I can both ride bikes together (and Ella rides hers along with us sometimes, too)!  Before the buggy, we had nothing for Lucy to do on a bike ride, so we just had to walk and use the stroller.  We're so happy to have it.

 

You'll also notice pictures of Ella at her swimming lessons.  It's a two-week class (8 lessons in all) and this Thursday is the last one.  She has already come a long way.  The first night she refused to get her head wet at all and pretty much stayed to the side the whole time.  And last night, she put her whole head under for the first time!  I was so proud of her!  Hopefully this experience will help her be less timid around the water now for the rest of the summer.