No poops on...

No poops on Boo-Boo, Blankie, pillows, airplanes, cars, and Concordes, too!

Just in case you were wondering where you shouldn't poop.

St. Louis

Just returned from a little vacation to St. Louis. When I was little, we used to meet the Salzmanns there-- with our parents, of course. So we have decided to bring the tradition back with our kids! Marcus,Tanya, Natalie, and Julia met us there, as well as Karen, Erik, Karsen, and Jack.

Unfortunately, we left a little late Friday morning. SOMEone decided to take off his diaper and stomp/smash poo everywhere in his crib. And I mean everywhere. I ALMOST took a picture of it, but decided against it. I know only a few people read this blog, and I didn't want to lose my faithful audience by posting something so gross and disturbing, but definitely funny. Now every night before bed Preston says,"No poop on Blankie. No poop on Boo Boo. No poop on bed" and so on and so on. So HOPEfully that was the first and last time he gets artistic with his feces.

Finally on the road-after cleaning Blankie and Boo Boo. Yippee!

(Click on this first picture to see the whole album)We stayed at the same Holidome we used to stay at when we were little. PERFECT for this sort of get-together. Indoor and outdoor pools, games for kids, and tables right outside of our rooms for when kids go to bed and we want to enjoy some beverages.

Karsen and Jack- too cute!!

Daredevil Julia ridin' her hog.


Is Jack gorgeous or what? Preston calls him Special Jack because we have a friend Jack (Nelson) here that we see all the time. So this is Special Jack.

Weeeeeee!
Went on an adventure to go up the Arch. I think time moves slower sometimes- especially when you have small kids and have to wait almost 2 hours to get to the top. BUT they all loved it.

Clint had to teach the kids how to be geeks...I mean how to get crushed pennies while we waited. Sigh.

Waiting in line with Uncle Rico.

What a view from the top! No fear for this kid- he probably would have dangled his feet out the windows if they would open.

That's the moon in the lower right-hand corner. Pretty cool! Dinner at 9pm? Why not?

Saturday night we went to my friend Andrea's house for some excellent ribs and wings. They were kind enough to take on our clan, and everyone had a great time.

Marcus and Tanya

With Andrea

With Karen- my BFF Dinner madness- Karen's face cracks me up in this one. The kids actually did VERY well and nobody broke anything! Well, Preston broke a plastic fork, but they didn't make me pay for it.

Little Abi- isn't she just the cutest?!
This was the last picture I took there- these two old dudes were playing pinball for hours. A glimpse into the future perhaps? I can see Marcus, Clint, and Erik all taking turns while sipping their delicious Holiday Inn coffee...

And some video of it all...

Can't wait to do it again!!!!

Dinosaurs!

We took a little field trip with Uncle Rico, Natalie, and Julia today. Dinosaurs at Union Station! It was pretty cool, and I probably could have learned a lot if I wasn't chasing P around trying to contain the damage he was creating.

Walking in...

BIG dino outside...

I'm ALMOST as big as this one...
(Sorry, more red-eye in these that I still can't get out.)

The girls were taller than some!

Hmmmmmmm. I bet I can break this barrier and get to the T-Rex. (Yes, he broke it. But he did NOT get to the dino as I have super human speed and strength so I stopped him. My superpowers could NOT fix the little fence, though. Sorry, Union Station.)

What was THAT noise?!

"A BIIIIIIG ONE!"

Not very good footage, but it will have to do. You'll notice that there were tears and lots of running/trying to break the rules. Good times.

Thanks for taking us, Uncle Rico and cousins!!

Wonderscope

We took a little field trip to Wonderscope today with some friends. It is a fantastic place to go when it is 110 degrees outside!

Playing with golf balls on tracks... Riding a horse...can't get the red-eye out of this pic for some reason. Boo.

Feeding a cow...( I'm pretty sure cows drink water, but didn't want to tell P they don't drink milk!)

Loading up a bucket with veggies- not for Preston to eat, though. We all know he doesn't do that.

Being a scuba diver is hard work!

More flipper fun. About 2 seconds later he said, "Mommy! Take OFF!" Guess they were too hard to walk in.

Water tables= wet fun. I think we will be avoiding the water room next trip.

Space helmet! (Notice the WET shirt and pants.)

Putting together a skeleton- or, really, tearing it apart.

Live footage of the fun.

Thanks for a fun day, RS ladies! We will definitely be going back there again!

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (and bananas, too)

Georgia On My Mind

We returned today from a trip to Georgia to see Preston's Mimi and Papa. He had a wonderful time - so much fun, in fact, that he is now sick with a fever of 101. Too much excitement, me thinks.

Here are some highlights from the trip. Click this first pic to see it all...

Waiting to get on his first plane. "JUMBO JET! RIDE CONCORDE!" He ended up waiting until the next day, though, because our flight got canceled. BOO! Let's go, people!

Goldfish and a DVD player made for smooth flying.

"Helping" Mimi water her flowers - this was so fun that we did it again the next day!
The dudes - Preston, Will, and Kevin. Headed to Aunt Sara's house and then out for Pizza.

Cuties Marjorie and Natalie. Preston loved ALL of his cousins, but he is still talking about Natalie and how he misses her.

Photo shoot- Papa with all of the grandchildren.

The Pruitts, Senior Hookers, us, and the Hutchins family. It was quite difficult to get a good picture, mainly because Preston was crying.

We tried to cheer him up by pointing out the helicopter that flew overhead as we were getting pictures taken. I think this picture is pretty funny...

Tree huggin.

Playing at an AWESOME park in Suwanee. I wish we had one like it here!

And little Marjorie - is this the best picture of the week? I think so!

Video highlights. 9 minutes long because I am too lazy/tired to edit anything - this is all of the footage I shot while we were there. Get some popcorn and enjoy!

We enjoyed our time with the family - especially Saturday night when we had our photo shoot. We devoured some BBQ and were able to relax and catch up with everyone. A big thanks to Mimi and Papa for hosting and putting up with us all week!

Math and Airplanes

The best part about having your mom be a teacher is that you get to spend ALL summer with her. The WORST part is that she tries to teach you stuff. Like MATH. Blech. Clint is working on improving the curb appeal of our porch and was putting in new front steps yesterday, so I turned it into a teaching moment. Bravo, Teach, bravo. But I think my mini mathematician is coming along nicely, if I do say so myself! Maybe he can do our taxes next year.

We are taking a little family vacation to see The Hooker clan, so we have been doing lots of prep with the little man. Clint was smart enough to get him a book about airplanes, so he is now OBSESSED with them. Seriously, last night he was talking about Jumbo Jets and Concordes in his sleep. I'm not making that up. Here he is showing you some of his airplane knowledge...Should be fun to see his face when we get on one! Although he REALLY wants to ride a Concorde, not a Jumbo Jet. Sorry, kid.

Happy Birthday, America & June Recap

Happy 234th Birthday, America!

June recap- We spent lots of time at the pool, went pee on the potty for the first time-and continue to do it almost every night before bath time, spent time with Rising Star kids, had a surprise party for Papa Rod, spent time with Kosi and went to the splash park each week, went to Deanna Rose Farmstead again, played in a tent, and went to the Zoo for the first time. Phew! Gotta love summer!!

Click the picture below to see the whole month.

PS--Dinner last night= FAIL. Deceptively Delicious? I think not. These beet chicken nuggets were GROSS. Live and learn.