That Scary Cow

Apparently Natalie thinks the cow is pretty scary thing at Chick fil a.  She wants nothing to do with the cows.  If this is any indication of how Disney is going to go, we are in for it.  

My Little Readers

Our kids have always loved to read. They drag out books after books. The other night I was organizing and sorting books in Natalie's room and had pulled them into the floor to do so. I came back by and found this. 

Who's that girl?

When I see this...

**I think of this....

But really she's suppose to be this...

** Kim Zolciak from Real Housewives of Atlanta known for her wigs (putting this in for the future when I forget who this is, HA)

The Gateway to the Midwest

For some reason, I have said since graduating college, that I could live in St. Louis.  I had never been there but for some reason felt connected to it...strange I know.  Well, I finally got to make a trip there, and I still can say that.

Damien was in Illinois for 2 weeks and he wanted us to drive to St. Louis for the weekend to spend some family time. Driving in the car or 7 hours with 2 kids, didn't sound like much fun to me, but I knew it would be worth it.

Midway through our drive, we stopped for lunch in Kentucky at Chick fil a. I thought it would be perfect to let the kids run and play for a bit, but those plans got spoiled even before we had lunch. We went to the bathroom as soon as we got there to change diaper, potty and wash hands. I washed Natalie's hands, put her down and picked Dylan up to wash his.  Before I could stop it, I saw the door opening, and the bathroom was tiny and Natalie got whacked with the door.  I was so upset and shaken.  I felt so bad and all I could think was, we are 3 hours from home and 3 hours from our destination.  I am in the middle of nowhere as far as I am concerned. The customers were so nice to me, and one of the eating area servers was nice too. I am thankful that it happened where it did.  Many people told me they'd pray for us.  We got our food to go and we went to urgent care to make sure Natalie didn't have a concussion. She was given the all clear. whew. Thank you God.  Notice her boo boo and how she looks out of sorts here :(

When we finally made it to the hotel, we had some crazy kids on our hands.  We ate dinner and turned in early for a day at the zoo.

We had breakfast the following morning at this little cafe. The weather was perfect to enjoy our meal on the patio.

Next stop, the zoo. The zoo in St. Louis is awesome. Not only is it free but they have great animals. I wish our local zoo was half of what this zoo was.  Our first stop was the interactive kids area, because it was free until 10:00. The kids loved exploring all the things that was their size and seeing some animals up close.

We also did the carousel early because it was free until a certain time. Yes, I am thrifty. Natalie has carousel, so we took a spot on a stationery one. 

 The butterfly house was beautiful. There were so many different species. The kids weren't impressed so much, but Damien and I were.

 We discovered that the zoo had a build a bear but with their zoo animals.  Dylan has been asking for a penguin ever since Nana brought Natalie one home, so guess who got a penguin.

 Natalie was happy to have anything. i thought we could get by with getting her a small one that was just a little toy, but Damien insisted she get the elephant. Here she is picking out the heart to go inside of it. Damien named her Allie (much like Big Al, Roll Tide)

 I love the monkey/ape exhibits. They are by far my favorite. This little guy or girl was all the way up to the glass. Natalie didn't know what to think at first, but she gradually braved it.

 The next day, we would head back home but wanted to do something before we made the journey, so we went to a local kid's museum.  There were lots of things for the kids to do, just the right amount for a half day.

This cool exhibit spanned the entire 3 stories.  It was like an obstacle course. Natalie didn't make it very far, but Dylan did it a few times. He was just never still long enough for me to get a picture of him.

 We found this needle thing, you know the kind where you can put your hands and it outlines it.  This is our family on the top row.  Left to right, Damien, Dylan, Natalie, then me.

 They had this whole exhibit dedicated to the branches of government. It was kinda cool.  Dylan pretended to be a judge and

 the president...

The trip home went much better and we safely made it back.  Can't wait to go back.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Halloween - Super Hero Style

This year, we went with a family theme...super heroes.  Dylan was spider man. Natalie was a cute cat woman and I went as myself, wonder woman...hehehe.  Damien was Mr Invisible. He's so good, you can't even see him. 

 This year, we had a special Halloween gathering and invited several friends over for some dinner, games and trick or treating.  It was perfect.  I think it's going to be our new thing to do.  Have a party at home and a little lite trick or treating.

 The entry was extra spook with dry ice, skull and bones.  Not too spooky, our little spook liked it.

 The game we had out was a touch, feel and guess game.  The heart tricked everyone, as no one could guess what it was.  Of course, there were eyes, hair and worms.

 During dinner, I was thinking, man we haven't had any trick or treaters in a while.  Guess they are not out tonight like they usually are.  Little did I know, one of our guests was answering the door even before they knocked.  She was so excited to hand out candy.  I was thankful to have a little help. Thanks Ansley.

And yes, I did make my own costume, duck tape boots and all (had to get a little help with the boots, thanks Jill. After a certain point of wrapping, I couldn't bend over anymore.)