Happy Birthday Nat!

Today Natalie turns 14 years old and it is also her first day of High School. I think I've posted before how much Natalie DOES NOT like school. So, to have her first day in High School, in a new area, on her birthday... well... let's just say she was less than thrilled to be waking up at 6 a.m. to catch the bus at 6:40. We had a little celebration for her over the weekend with some of her friends that she knows from the Ohio camp who live nearby. Tonight, we will take her out for dinner for a family celebration. Happy Birthday Nat! We love you!

Grandparents come for a Visit

Jeff's parents came for a visit this weekend from Kansas City. The trip to come see us has gone from a 10 hour drive to about a 3 1/2 hour drive so that is nice. We spent most of the day on Saturday doing jobs around the house and got quite a bit done with their help. Saturday night we went downtown for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory and it was delicious. Then, we headed over to the City Museum for an hour of fun for Maggie & Jake. Although from what I heard (we split up into 2 groups), Granddaddy Jack seemed to have as much fun if not more than the kids did. This is definitely a place we want to go back to when we have more time. Very cool!

First Arch Visit

Fitz's on the Loop

Jake and a funny clown at the street market.


Museum that is underground at the Arch


At the base of the Arch



Well... technically it's not our first visit to the arch, but it is our first one as residents of the St. Louis area. Tim, Krysta's boyfriend came to town for the weekend so on Saturday we headed over to Fitz's on the Loop for an early dinner and some root beer. Then we met up with Krysta & Tim at the arch... we took the metro link and they drove. It was an hour wait to go up into the arch so we decided just to walk around the little free museum and go back at a later date with Elijah & Mason the next time they come for a visit. Natalie spent the weekend in New Albany, IN for a youth lectureship and got to be with her best friend Kaily Steele. Unfortunately, the camera she took was dead so there are no pictures to post from that.

Planet Fun

Every day I have been unpacking boxes, helping the girls figure out what they should keep, what they shouldn't keep, entertaining Jake, etc. etc. Needless to say, it has gotten old. I feel like I'm kind of at a stand still until we get empty boxes broken down and out into the garage which I did some of that last night just to feel like I accomplished something. But before that, I decided there would be no unpacking yesterday and we would find a place for Jake so he could run around and get some energy off. With it raining, we opted for an indoor playground and went to Planet Fun...which has all kinds of climbing and crawling tubes and some arcade games. Jake had a blast just running and playing while the girls and I played games...mostly skee ball. Also, taking silly pictures which Jake wanted nothing to do with.

This excites me!!

We discovered that about 10-15 minutes away from our house, we have a Target Greatland. We have a couple of Target's closer than that, but if you know me and how much I enjoy Target... you know that this makes me happy. ;) And even better... not too far from it is a Mimi's Cafe. Mmmmmm!!!!

An evening at a Cardinals Game

Last night we headed to downtown St. Louis to take in a Cardinals game. We parked and then rode the train which took us right to the ballpark. Busch Stadium is nice...but some of us are partial to the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati. Krysta even sported her Josh Hamilton Reds t-shirt (who now plays for the Texas Rangers) to the game. We overheard several remarks about the Cincinnati Reds in passing but nothing too bad. It was actually a good game and in the end the Cards pulled it out with a victory over the Padres. The kids seemed to enjoy it...except for Natalie who is not a big fan of baseball and still having a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings. Hopefully, in time, things for her will get better. Here are a few pics. from the game and one of the kids waiting for the train.





Enjoying the game






Krysta not impressed with Jake's t-shirt

Maggie back to school

Maggie's first day of 4th grade started yesterday. Bless her little heart. Actually, she was very excited after buying her school supplies and going to her open house. She had a good first day and said that the playground is "amazing". When she got home from school, it wasn't too long before Uncle JJ & Aunt Angie, Elijah and Mason came pulling in for a quick visit on their way to Nashville. The kids are looking forward to living closer to their Missouri cousins.