We always make the drive to St. Louis in 2 days. The first day we drive 9-10 hours and the second day we drive 4-5 hours. We have always stopped in Richmond, Indiana and this year was no exception. We found a lovely park and let the kids play for an hour. They had a lot of fun. Eden got the "Best Traveler" award. Over the 4 days that we drove on our trip she cried maybe 10 minutes the entire time in the car. She really is a dream come true!! The other kids had occasional outburst...think Annika..."I want out!" but we were able to distract them with movies and snacks.
Here is Edie's first time in a swing. She loved it!
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| Lincoln had fun on the phone in the hotel room. We always have to unplug the phones in our rooms so the kids won't make phone calls. |
Easter Sunday
I loved that we were visiting over Easter. My mom put together little baskets for the kids and they enjoyed hunting for them. It was wonderful sitting around the table as a big family...Mom, Heather, Chandra, Joe, Christian and then our family of 7. Holidays really are better with family.
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| Heather wanted a picture of our family. It was hard to get everyone looking and smiling all at the same time. |
The picture of Heather and me on my fridge at home is a few years old so we took some new pictures together.
Rebecah loves to visit my mom and Heather. She calls them her BFFs. I think it is just so sweet that her best friends are her Grandmother and Aunt!!
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| Rebecah with BFF Heather! |
I really wanted to take the kids to the zoo. It has been about 4 years since we last visited the zoo. It started to rain on the way to the zoo and I was so disappointed as the drops started getting bigger and falling faster. After consulting with everyone we decided to stick it out and outlast the rain. I'm so glad we did. After 30-45 minutes of rain the skies cleared and the weather was perfect. It was one of my best trips to the zoo that I can remember!
At the Zoo
Monkey House: Joseph promised Annika he would take her to see monkeys so we made sure to visit the Primate house. She liked watching them. We even saw a small red haired monkey. If Annika were a monkey she would look like this cute little guy!
I loved these pictures of Kimball, Rebecah and Christian!
Rebecah with her other BFF.
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| I don't remember seeing this huge statue display at the zoo. As you can see, my finger got in the way, but I liked the picture anyway. |
Here are two of Lincoln's silly moments hanging on a railing and walking through a hollow log.
I just love these sweet girls!!
Monday evening Joseph took the big kids to a St. Louis Cardinals game. The Cardinal were playing the Pirates and won 2-1. This year the Cards are celebrating 125 years so the kids were each given a little poster. I was happy I recognized 2 of the men on the poster....good ol' Ozzie Smith and Whitey Herzog.
Other memorable moments from our trip:
This picture needs an explanation. Lincoln is playing with my mom's heavy John Deere tractor. My mom tried to win Lincoln over with this little tractor. Lincoln LOVED it. He pretty much carried it around the entire time until we returned home. He also carried around a plastic knife. Lincoln loves swords and he carried the knife around calling it his sword. He developed his sword fascination from watching the end of Frozen where Anna saves Elsa from Hans' sword. Anytime I use a knife in the kitchen he says: "That a big sword?" or "That sword sharp?" I love his cuteness!
Here Edie is taking a nap on Heather's bed. My mom has this great climbing tree and the big kids enjoyed seeing how high they could go. I'm just glad they didn't fall!
The little ones didn't always get the naps they needed. Here is Lincoln conked out during a movie with his face on the hard floor! He still has his plastic knife-sword though!
Heather loved holding Edie--can't say that I blame her. Edie was very still and not too heavy so it worked out well for both of them!
Kimball did a lot of reading while we were gone. He set a goal to read all 22 remaining Value Tales that my mom owns and he finished them all. He is holding his favorite one that he read.
Group picture with the cousins.
One of Kimball's favorite parts of our drive was the 30 seconds he could see this building out the window. For those of you who don't know it is Lucas Oil Stadium. It is where the Indianapolis Colts play football and where the Combine is held every year. The Combine is some football skills showcase event in preparation for the NFL draft. I'm sure Kimball could explain it better than I can!
I love my family and I just wish I could see more family members each year!
