Blackberries and Peaches

We recently enjoyed a morning at Eckerts picking blackberries and peaches. It was fun, the weather was cool and cloudy...perfect! We had fun riding the wagon and picking the fruits! Can't wait till apple and pumpkin season!

MMM, blackberry! Keira just kept stuffing the berries into her mouth...as fast as we picked, she ate!

James was very good at only picking the balck ones!

I love this pic of James and Ben. James also loves eating the peaches. Wow these kids were a stained, sticky mess, but it was so worth it! Also, they were in crappy clothes so who cares!

Keira argued back and forth with us the entire time we were picking peaches. She insisted that the peaches were "apples". If we said they are peaches she would say "no, apples".

"Tractor". The kids loved riding the tractor into the orchards.

Surf and Turf

This week we experienced much surf and turf (sprinklers and parks...not lobster and steak). I do like this combo, the kids love water! We discovered two new parks this week. We met Grammy and her doggie, Tina for a walk at a really nice park in Town and Country (not sure of the name). We loved it! There were great trails that were shaded, a stream with turtles on rocks, and a pasture with horses! These animals were....spoiled!! Also, there was a nice playground geared for the under 5 group. We also discovered Kirkwood park, which we loved! Umm, there was sand, sprinklers, concessions, playgrounds....you name it!



Bring on the surf!

Chillin at Grammy's house!

Next time we bring carrots and apples....

Keira is "all done" with her walk....

James and Alex enjoying some water fun!

Fun at Gymboree!

We recently joined this gym and learning center for kids called Gymboree. We are lucky, Gymboree is very close to our house, a stroller ride away! Anyway, the kids love it here, it is so engaging! There are a ton of things to play on, and there are classes also! We currently take the family music class and are also eager to try the gym class as well as the family art class.

Citygarden

So, once again James is a "celebrity". He was on news channnel 5 (NBC) sitting and playing in the fountains. So cute! It was like a 5 sec clip focused on him! We went to St. louis's newest downtown attraction, Citygarden. It is a 35 mil sculpture park, complete with hundreds of light up water fountains, pools, waterfalls, beautiful landscaping, and more! Here are a few pics....


If you could turn this still shot into a live action clip, you would basically see what was on the news!

Awesome waterfall and pool

Umm, a giant head. What is cool is that there is a steady flowing wall of water surrounding the head. The kids loved playing in it.

Keira loves Mr. Birdman

This is an old time firetruck that has been turned into a snack store. Yum!

My Baby Dolls

James and Kiki love this old baby doll I found at my parent's house. They snuggle it and take it for stroller rides.

Grammy, this is my babay doll, don't let James take it away!

Kiki, give the baby a hug...

Let's go!

Wait, which one is the doll?

Big Cedar Lodge

We went to Big Cedar lodge located 10 miles outside of Branson, MO for a few days last week. We had a great time with the family. What did we do? We woke up (early), ate a yummy breakfast buffet overlooking the lake, fed turtles, paddle boats, played with James's (Ben's) new radio controlled boat, went swimming in some really nice zero entry pools, played putt putt, chilled on the lazy river, napped, walked on nature trails, pet the horses at the stables, and played games at the arcade to name a few. There was a ton to do and we had fun. The car ride was fine on the way there, not so awesome on the way back.....

Umm, near fatal incident? How did I get this awesome pic? I am super quick!

Mmmmm, Kiki loves dill pickles!

Nice horsie! The horses were so friendly. When we approached the stables, about two or three horses would always come over to see us.

James managed to draw attention from several girls while on vacation. We were even offered a timeshare in exchange for James. We declined, but I think Ben was jealous of all the female attention James was recieving. Umm, Uncle Blake, do you wanna borrow him for a day?

The kids loved the arcade!



Check out this adoraable video!

Kiki's swimsuit and new obsession

Keira is obsessed with flowers! Whenever she sees a flower she says "flower, flower" and points and smells and smiles! Oh, this is one of Kiki's many swimsuits, I just love babies in suits!

Keira's First Steps!

Kiki's first steps! Enjoy!

Monster Machines and Roses

This weekend we went to Des Peres park and the kids got to see monster machines! It was lots of fun and now James talks about it all of the time. The kids got to see, touch and sit inside an ambulence, firetruck, digger, dump truck, bobcat, and others.




Here we are inside an ambulence. The man was very nice and gave us a sticker and said he hopes to never see us in here in real life!

I am the fire chief! Keira and James each got a fire hat and a construction hat. They love to wear the hats at home and play pretend!

This is just like the backhoe digger in my favorite library book "I'm Dirty" James was so excited to sit in this, he just kept squeeling and laughing and smiling and pressing the buttons and turning the wheel...

Sweet tractor!

My roses, need mulch....still pretty!

Fun times!

Well, let's wrap up the past week. The weather was nice, so we loved being outside last week. Well, we did a ton so I will be as brief as possible.

We went on lots of stroller rides to the park, Starbucks, the farmers' market and the bookstore! We really love our neighborhood!

We got this really cool sand and water table. Good for hours of building, digging and exploration. We also like to get really wet so mom bought us each 2 swimsuits so we can play!

James's favorite hangout....the Museum of Transportation! Coolest place around for kids (big and little) who love trains.

We did plenty of eating outside. Our goal was to eat near the tracks so we could see a train pass by. We went to Dr. Jazz- no train....We went to Route 66 and as we were eating outside on the patio we heard choo choo. A train passed by and Ben walked across the street with James and the boys were maybe 5 feet from the train!

The Magic house is always fun. We especially like the new outside exhibits!

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