Other Fun Times

This post is just a collection of smaller activities we did over our two week stay.  

One day before Joseph arrived it was pretty warm so we filled the wading pool and let the kids play.  It was in the 90s and I didn't really relish sitting outside watching the kids, but they brought me a basin filled with water and I was actually quite comfortable soaking my feet and sitting in the shade.  Once Joseph arrived he took the kids to a local rec center to go swimming.  They all had a great time.  I stayed home with my mom and Heather.  It was in the mid 90s and it was too hot for me to sit outside in the sun.  

Another day we went to Bob's Drive In, a local ice cream place from my childhood, for ice cream cones.  We all ordered small twist cones and there was nothing small about them!

I love their ice cream mouths!

Our group, minus Chandra, who was behind the camera.

Kimball with my sister, Heather.

Rebecah with  Heather.

Rebecah has really grown up a lot in the last few years.  Two years ago she wouldn't go anywhere near Heather.  (I can't say I blame Rebecah for her reservations.  Let's be realistic, a paralyzed woman can be unnerving for a child who is accustomed to seeing able bodied people.) Last year if I was in Heather's room Rebecah wanted me to hold her as if Heather would suddenly leap up and grab her.  This year Rebecah got brave.  She would go visit Heather's room by herself and she even started holding Heather's hand and laid with Heather in her bed once.  Such progress!  They are good buddies now.  It probably helps that I skype with Heather almost every week so Rebecah has "seen" Heather on a regular basis over the last year.

Photo op after church one Sunday.

A close up of the hand holding!

Another picture of the "besties"

                           

For those inquiring minds.  Here is the latest picture of me.  I feel huge, compared to how I usually look when I'm not pregnant.  I did look at the picture I posted a month ago when we were in Vermont and I have grown a lot since then.  I feel like I'm just growing exponentially!  Joseph reminds me that I need to be growing because we don't want 3 pound babies, which is true, but it is still hard on me emotionally to be getting so big so fast.

These next pictures are all of Rebecah and her hair.  My sister, Chandra is great with hair.  She willing did two hair styles for Rebecah while we were visiting.  The first is a pseudo Elsa braid.  My version is a side ponytail with a regular braid.  Chandra's version looked MUCH better.

What a pretty girl!  I love her.

This next style is similar to Anna's hair for the coronation.  As you might have guessed, the Frozen princess hair styles are popular with Rebecah.

Gorgeous Girl! 

Chandra, Rebecah and me.  I had to get a pic with the stylist.

Kimball has found a new addiction...Monopoly.  He convinced Joseph to play Monopoly with him the first day Joseph arrived and that was the end of it.  They played every day until we left for home.  Kimball won some games and Joseph won some games.  Joseph was an EXCELLENT teacher/coach.  He would talk Kimball through buying properties and when to buy and when to wait even when it was a disadvantage to himself.  Kimball couldn't have asked for a better opponent.  Who else would be merciful and go easy on him instead of being cutthroat and ruthless.  The day we returned home Kimball insisted that we go to the store and buy Monopoly.  I just hope Kimball will learn to be as compassionate when playing as his siblings get older.  I think Monopoly can be a very traumatic game for siblings to play because it usually ends in tears!

Rebecah would play sporadically.  When she lost she would just join
ranks with the player who bought her out.

One activity that we did that we didn't get pictures of was to take a tour of Fisher Cave at Meramec State park.  The park does an excellent job preserving the natural state of the cave so no cameras were allowed inside and there weren't electric lights.  We were all given flashlights to carry.  I toured the cave with my family about 25 years ago and I remember really liking it.  If my memory holds true, the tour and cave seem pretty much the same.  It was a cool 57 degrees in the cave.  It was a very cool day anyway so the cave temperature wasn't quite as enjoyable as it would have been if it had been in the mid 90s outside.  I wasn't complaining about the 75 degrees outside though!  We could have gone to a more touristy cave...Meramec Caverns, but we wanted a more authentic feel and we all had a great time.

On our way home we decided to make a stop at Niagara Falls.  It costs about $15 in toll fees to go from our house to Niagara Falls, so we thought it was a perfect activity to do on the way to or from St. Louis when we have to pay those fees anyway so we stopped.  Unfortunately, it was sprinkling heavily so our stop was short.  The kids were a little disappointed in the waterfall.  Niagara Falls IS impressive when you consider the power behind all of the water and the width of the falls, but all of us agreed that our hiking to the water falls at Watkins Glen was more fun and exciting.  There are also a ton of people milling around so we were constantly dodging people.  Should you visit NF if you haven't?  I would say "yes" just because it is the most popular and best known waterfall in the country, not because it is the most beautiful. 

On the Observation desk.  We didn't think it was worth the money to ride the Maid of the Mist with the kids so we just went to the observation desk.  Joseph and I rode the Maid of the Mist 3 years ago when we visited and we both thought it wasn't worth the money.

We had a great time in St. Louis but it is good to be home.  School starts in 6 weeks and then we will really be in baby mode as we get closer to their due date.

St. Louis Science Center

One of the activities that we did once Joseph joined us in St. Louis was visit the St.Louis Science Center.   I was actually really excited about a trip to the Science Center since it was in an air conditioned building and it was fairly hot the day we visited.  I haven't been to the Science Center for 25 years or so.  I didn't remember much about it.  I must confess that I found it rather boring.  Is it horrible to say I found science boring?  It could be that I felt just exhausted that day from staying up a little too late...10:15 and not sleeping well, but I was bored.  Maybe we just didn't visit the right exhibits.

Kimball really enjoyed our time at the Science Center so I was glad.  Really, we do activities like this so the kids can have an enjoyable time, not necessarily so the parents can.  I think the areas we visited were a little above Rebecah's level so she got bored easily.  So much of the Science Center involves reading a card to understand an activity or concept.  I was very surprised how many mothers were there with really small children.  Here are some pictures that we took while we were there.

Kimball standing next to Mars.  He has really been interested in space recently and he can
tell you the 3 necessary components in order for a planet to be considered a planet. 

This was Rebecah's favorite activity.  A laser activated harp.  When your fingers
 passed through the lasers the different notes would sound.

Making a city in the technology center.

Kimball playing a spacial placement game in the technology center.

Kimball was VERY excited to see these two dinosaurs.  His stance says it all.

Joseph pretending to protect Rebecah from the scary dinosaurs.  The dinos moved
and made some noises and Rebecah kept asking if they were real.

Kimball digging for fossils.

These next shots are all in the same area.  I can't remember exactly what the area was called, but it dealt with bridges, pullies, tension, and how backhoes work.

It took some convincing, but just before we left the kids were finally willing to
build an arch.  Their favorite part was knocking it down!

Next to a Blue Angels airplane.

We found more dinosaurs outside.  It was a little bright, but Rebecah enjoyed sitting between the horns.

Park Fun

The kids and I went to two different parks the first week we were in St. Louis.  I always love going to Suson Park.  It is a great park with a nice play ground, pond, and a little farm animal zoo.

Rebecah on the twisty seat.  I'm not actually sure how to describe it, but
you sit on it and it spins you around at an odd angle.

Kimball's turn on the seat.

Down the slide.

I love Rebecah's facial expression here.

Kimball and Rebecah on a climbing thing.

My camera battery died just as we headed over to the animals so I had to use the camera on my phone.  I only took a few pictures because the kids couldn't really pose with too many of the animals.

Kimball in front of the sheep and goat pen.

The kids wanted to pose in each face cut out so there are 3 pictures with the same background but the kids are in different spots.

The other park we visited was Mastodon State Park.  This has an average play ground and walking trails.  I didn't bother taking any pictures on the play ground, but we took a few on our walk.

In the doorway of a little stone building.

Posing by the creek.

Kimball wanted me to take a picture of him looking at the creek!

We saw some spotted fawns on our walk.  We were really still so we could watch them. When the second one emerged, Rebecah got so excited she started shouting:  "There's another one, there's another one.  It didn't take long for the white deer tail to go up and they bounded away.

The first fawn we saw.

We were lucky that both park days the weather was nice.  I guess I should say the kids were lucky...if it had been too hot, I would have just stayed home.  I have become spoiled with the nice weather in Syracuse and anything over 85 especially if it is humid is too much for me!

St. Louis Birthday Celebrations

We spent the last 2 weeks in St. Louis spending time with my family.  We had a great time.  The next few posts will be about our adventures.

Our first item of business was a little birthday celebration for Rebecah.  Her birthday is in January and she never gets to celebrate her birthday when we visit family over the summer and Kimball always does since he has an August birthday.  Earlier this year I decided to make an effort to celebrate half birthdays in our family.  It just so happened that Rebecah's half birthday...July 7...fell during our St. Louis trip.  My mom and I put our heads together to come up with something to help Rebecah feel special.  We had dark chocolate cake topped with hot fudge, caramel and cool whip.  It was yummy!  I didn't want to set a precedence for birthday presents on half birthdays so Joseph and I didn't give Rebecah anything, but my mom and Heather each gave Rebecah a small present.  I just told Rebecah that mom and dad don't do presents for half birthdays.

Sweet Smile with her cake.

Getting excited to blow out the candle!

A Frozen book from Heather.

A Dora dancing ribbon from my mom.

Rebecah loved her half birthday celebration and I was glad that we could finally celebrate her "birthday" with family.

Kimball's birthday is at the end of August so we decided to have a small celebration for him too.  Again, just my mom and Heather gave him presents and he had cake.  We'll do his regular birthday celebration on the actual day.

Voltix...a Hero Factory Villian from my mom.

The Snakes and Reptiles Magic Tree House Fact Tracker from Heather.  

He was very excited about both gifts.

Ready to turn 7!

Blowing out the candles with a little help from Rebecah!