Get On Board

Last weekend, Cary and Winnie went to make crafts as a mother-daughter team, so Rush and I decided to go on an adventure of our own. Braving the sub-zero temperatures, we headed to the Missouri Museum of Transportation. Although I haven't been in forever, I was looking forward to going because my Grandpa was very involved and a big part of the Museum before he passed away. Going there seemed like a neat way to connect my son with his great-grandpa.

Since it was freezing, the place was a ghost town, so Rush was given free reign to wander. He was almost as excited to be able to pick up and drop gravel as he was to see trains (each a high level of excitement).



One thing he really loved was running through the tanker car. We will be sure to return when it isn't so cold. There was a lot more to see!

Asheville

Asheville, North Carolina might be my favorite city. I love it! It's not too big, not too small. It's a bit of a hippy community, which is just my style...plenty of vintage clothing stores, antique stores, vegan/vegetarian restaurants, and cute little boutiques. The downtown is so fun and cute. The Biltmore Estate is beautiful. The scenery is amazing. My parents graciously shared their vacation, and the kids and I, and my little sister Tracy spent a few days there. We took Andy's Explorer, so we all were able to ride together. My parents refuse to eat at fast food restaurants (and I'm not complaining), so we stopped at sit-down restaurants in Memphis and Knoxville, so it took us a while to get there. It was a good ride, though, because of the company! We had a great time, despite the kids being in HORRIBLE moods because they were overly-tired from not sleeping well in the hotel.

Winnie and Googie (my momma) on the shuttle to the Biltmore

Winnie loves a man in uniform! She took a liking to this Winnie-sized soldier at a Christmas store

Winnie was the most attentive student learning to make butter. She got a chance to churn, but I missed the moment because I didn't have the camera yet. I think this was the highlight of the trip for her.

Papaw (my dad) teaching the kids to play some old school yard games

Not following the rules of the game and deciding to turn them into musical instruments

Rush took a liking to a dog statue

On the ride home, Tracy and Winnie and my suitcase rode in the back seat (it was a little cramped on the way home because of some Asheville purchases) and became best buddies. Winnie keeps saying that Tracy is her "Best Girl Buddy." Poor Tracy had to endure Winnie's constant demands of books being read to her and listening to "Pokerface" over and over and over again on my phone. By the end of the trip, Winnie's Best Girl Buddy knew all the words and was singing along! It's been a long time sinced I've vacationed with Tracy...I was so thankful for the time. We had a great trip...thanks Googie and Papaw! Thank you Aunt Tracy for coming, too.

We stayed in Conway for a couple of days after the trip because Andy was in Kansas City watching Duke basketball games. I was not looking forward to that drive home, so the days in Conway were just lazy days...watching TV, eating out, and hanging out with Tracy.

My dad made the kids pancakes in the shape of their first initial, like he used to do for us when we were little. They were buckwheat and I think the best pancake I've ever had. And check out that hair! Bed head in full-force.

Our waitress at U.S. Pizza let Winnie make her own cheese pizza. Another trip highlight for her.

Willow Springs

I love going to my Aunt Patsy and Uncle Chuck's house to visit. I might be their biggest fans...they are so fun and thoughtful and I feel like I might be a less-talented version of my Aunt Patsy some day (I hope). Their house and property are so beautiful, and there is so much for the kids to explore. My parents no longer live where I grew up, so I can't really go home to where I spent my childhood. Where Chuck and Patsy live and how they live reminds me a lot of my growing up, so it's nice that my kids have somewhere like Willow Springs to visit. It is really nostalgic for me and fun to share that with my family. They live about 3 hours from us, so the drive is perfect for a weekend in the country.

When we got there, Rush and Winnie spent about one hour staring at their chickens. Rush could've stood outside the coop (or inside, because he kept trying to get in) all day.

Rush's trip highlight was riding on Chuck's tractor. He was grinning ear to ear.

Winnie is still chatting on and on about collecting eggs from the "girl chickens." Chuck and Patsy just put an addition on to their home so there was plenty for the kids inside, too. Winnie's favorite thing was chasing their cat Squirt around, who was trying desperately to stay away from Winnie. We had dinner Saturday night at Rockbridge Trout Ranch, which was fun. The leaves are so beautiful down there, so the drive to the restaurant was so picturesque. Chuck and Patsy surprised me when I woke up Sunday morning with this article on the front page of the Springfield paper. My grandpa, my hero. Andy and Chuck spent the morning shooting guns. Andy was really excited about that. We gals and Rush drove into Willow Springs to play at their park. We gathered a bag of little pinecones for our house. I love those. When we got back, we packed up for a picnic.

We went to a tree farm owned by one of Chuck's friends and drove through the groves and through some national forests and picnicked near a creek back on the tree farm.

We took Chuck's Wagoneer, and he let Winnie "drive."

Sidebar: Today, we were going to Wal-Mart, and Winnie wanted to drive. Of course, I said "no." She cried for about 10 minutes, saying, "My buddy Uncle Chuck let me drive!" Ha!

Sunday was a PERFECT day for a picnic...warm and not a cloud in the blue sky. And Patsy is one of my favorite cooks, so the food was delicious. The kids thought throwing rocks into the creek was magic, so we did that for awhile and let Andy and Chuck dazzle us with their skipping rocks abilities. We had a great visit...thanks Aunt Patsy and Uncle Chuck!

Winnie's Class Halloween Party

Winnie's school had a huge Halloween family celebration the Friday before Halloween. It was so much fun for the kids. It was at 3:30, so she got to go school twice that day. All of us parents were there...they started the afternoon in the classroom. They had spent all week making clown costumes. The teachers cut out the patterns, and the kids glued dots on. Then, the teachers laminated and finishing touches on the hats and collars. It was such a cute idea! The two year old classroom were all bananas made out of crumpled up butcher paper and little paper berets! The kids got in their costumes, and had a huge parade that all the classes marched in.

Miss Chrissy decorating Winnie's clown face

Winnie in costume

After the parade, we went back up to the purple room for the party--cupcakes, fruit, cookies, cheese and crackers, and juice boxes. It was really nice to meet a lot of the parents that I haven't yet met. Winnie has three teachers (one lead and two assistants), and they did a beautiful job hosting.

Her class and lots of camera-bearing moms and dads

After the class party, we headed downstairs for a concert by some local band who did fun kids songs. I don't remember the name of the band, but they were so good. Kinda like the Barenaked Ladies doing kids songs. Rush and Winnie were DANCING like wild animals.

Winnie showing Rush around her school. I love that school is her place that is all her own. She is really proud to take us around and talk about everything. We had a great time!

Halloween!

We have a million photos of the kids, so here's just a few...

Winifred and Rush outside the Magic House for the party there on Wednesday night

Posing tonight before heading out to Trick-or-Treat. W is actually saying "Cheese!" here. Intense.

The Cowboy that stole my heart

My wild little Indian

Winnie and her sweet friend Sonya (Yoda--awesome!) They held hands the ENTIRE time we were trick-or-treating. It was so sweet. We went with a huge group of our friends and all went at our own pace, so it was a perfect night. Winnie did a great job saying "Trick-or-Treat!" and saying thank you at each house. Rush had a great time, too! He would pick up a piece of candy, put it in his bag, then wave goodbye to the people. So fun! Andy and I are now eating all of the candy, because we went to a great neighborhood that was giving out full-size candy bars and none of the bad candy (like the weird little orange and black wrapped stuff I remember from my childhood). Sidenote to all my non-St. Louisian friends...people in St. Louis expect you to tell a joke to get candy. They think that that is the trick, I suppose? And the funny thing is, everyone here thinks that everyone in the world does it. No one else does the joke thing, clearly. Happy Halloween!

Funny Man

Rush is becoming quite the comedian. He cracks himself up a lot. His best stage is his high chair...he dances in there, makes funny faces, shakes it, and invents new noises. Love it! One of his favorite props is this pair of sunglasses that were leftover from W's birthday favor bags. He puts these on and thinks he's hilarious. I'm working on a video of his laughing. It's glorious.

Little Ones

Check put these little buddies. They've been all over each other today! These aren't the best photos, but you don't always have time to get out the real camera to catch such cuteness.

Holding hands in the hallway

Do you see W's little chubby fingers poking out around R? Loves.

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Family Fall Funfest at Forest Park

We had another great time at a family event at Forest Park this weekend. This one was amazing! We were a little early, so we went over to the zoo first...a quick carousel ride and a shout-out to the flamingos put us back on track.
When we arrived, there were hot dogs, lemonade, apples, and popcorn for lunch (PBJs for the kids and I).

After lunch, we headed out for pony rides. This was HUGE for Rush, because right now, he's really into horses.
My parents gave him three little Schleich ones that he carries around most of the day. He'll find horses in books and point and grunt, and he loves his new stick horse we bought at SDC. Winnie was just so-so about riding...maybe a little scared? Then we took a family carriage ride. It was the same company that does it downtown. We went on a nice long ride around the park.
After that, we split up...Rush and Daddy went back to the pony rides, and Winnie and I went and painted pumpkins. She was very thoughtful about the placement of its googly eyes and did a great job with the face.
Winnie also got to swing, which makes everything so fun in her book. We heart Forest Park.

Growing Up

Maybe it's because I have watched too many episodes of "The Wonder Years" in my life, but I'm very sentimental about my kids growing up. I always think, each day, that it's a day in our lives that will be over when we go to bed and we'll never get it back again. I get all weepy just thinking about how fast time flies. I picked Winnie up from school on Friday, and she had made this little fire truck with her class out of a graham cracker. It struck me how big she is getting. She made a craft. Without me. (That's what's in the photo, if you can't tell. She, of course, didn't eat it) Then we were walking down the stairs and she proudly said, "Mommy, let's wait here and let the green room go first." I immediately thought, "How does she know this is the green room? Who is the green room? My little baby knows information that I do not know!" I have thought ever since then that my purpose in her life is to love her and protect her and teach her, but it is ultimately for me to train her to live without me. To do things on her own, to handle her own emotions, to succeed outside of our home. That's a big responsibility! I don't always know if I'm up for the challenge. I want them to stay little forever. Sigh.

Us Girls

Winnie and I were lucky to be able to spend the morning together while Rush was visiting with Grandma and Nana last week. A little "Mommy and Winnie's Day of Fun," said all Janice from Friends-style. First, we headed over to the zoo to catch the 3D Diego and Dora movie. It was amazing! But, I haven't seen a 3D movie since I was Winnie's age, so it didn't take a lot to impress me. I was reaching out trying to grab things just like she was.

Then, we had a little snack at the Painted Giraffe (at the zoo)...pumpkin pie and juice boxes! We gals are loving pumpkin pie right now.

Then we spent some time at the Zoomagination Station, which I love.
One of Winnie's favorites....binoculars.

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Last Weekend

Tracy and Winnie- they were buddies last weekend.

We went to Branson last weekend for an extra-long weekend getaway. Andy was at the farm with his man friends, so the kids (and Puddy) and I headed southwest to join my entire family. We had a great time! My favorite part of the weekend was that Tracy was able to come...she works a lot of weekends, so I don't get to see her as much as I would like (that would be all the time!) Friday afternoon, Matt and I flew solo with the four littlest ones and had fun watching Winnie and Clara reacquaint with one another. Clara brings out the wild in Winifred, which I love! When everyone else arrived, Mom, Tracy, and I went on this epic late-night trip to Wal-Mart. I really have so much fun with my family...who else can have a great time at the Branson Wal-Mart?

This is partly why I didn't take enough photos...here are the cousins, minus Owen. Looks like Dad stole his seat. Things get a little chaotic when we are all together.

On Saturday, we went to Crane, the town I grew up in for a visit with the Keithleys. They were our best friends growing up, so it was a blast seeing them.

Winnie loved this gun. She kept calling it a vacuum cleaner and would point it at you and say, "I'm going to vacuum you!"

After that, we drove over to my grandparent's house in Hurley to visit with "Grandpa Edwin" and "Big Winnie," as my little Winnie calls them.
Rush loves Grandpa

Winnie loves her cousins

And because it's hard to be around Springfield and NOT go, my parents, Tracy, and I (with W & R) ate supper at Mexican Villa. MMMmmmm! We went to Silver Dollar City on Sunday. I really wanted to go so that I could buy some pieces for the kiddos Halloween costumes. I bought the stick horses way too early. Getting two stick horses and a double stroller around The City is no easy task. Rush loved his, though...Pawpaw had to carry him around because he insisted on holding his horse's head and was banging people in the knees with the stick when he was in the stroller.

Rush LOVED the goats at Silver Dollar City. He kissed a brown one named Jethro later.

I spent the night again on Sunday because I'm really not supposed to be driving at night. It was a blessing because I got to spend a bunch of extra time with my sweet little nieces and nephews. I didn't have my camera with me all day on Saturday, but Jenny did...so, if you want to see more photos, you can do so at her blog. She has two different posts on the weekend!

Zoo Day

We went to the zoo this morning with the Reinbergs. It was the PERFECT day to be there. The weather was wonderful, so we got to see so many animals out and about and up close. The penguins were extra active this morning, so our day got off to a good start. Winnie was following them around their pool saying, "Get back here penguins!" We also got to see a big gorilla closer than I ever have before. It was a little spooky, because those things freak me out.

Al and Winnie. They had a great time this morning. These two are trouble. I mean, could they be any cuter? They are best friends, but I'm hoping they will fall in love someday.

We never ride the carousel, so this was a special treat.

Rush's first carousel ride! He was thrilled and so cute. I LOVE the carousel at the zoo here. The animals are so beautifully done.

We finished the morning with a little train ride. I love my little babies!