Grown-up trip!!

I just realized that I had worked on this but never posted it!! So, here it is! Stephen scored some tickets to a home game of the St. Louis Cardinals (whoo-hoo) so back in mid-April, mom and dad took the kiddos and the hubby and I headed west!! We made the trip early on Monday and stayed 2 nights in a hotel. We splurged and got a MUCH nicer hotel room than we usually do. It was worth it! We walked everywhere and had a great view of the arch - I'm talking it was literally a football field from our window!

The game was scheduled for Tuesday night but unfortunately (we thought) this was back during hurricane season in St. Louis (I know there aren't hurricanes in St. Louis, but that's what it looked like). Remember when the St. Louis airport was beat up on by some serious storms...we had the pre-show. Anyway, the game got rained out and we were bummed - just for a minute. We were told that they would play the game Wednesday afternoon and anyone with tickets for the rained out game would be given a seat the next day. So, we made a quick call to my mom to ask if it was ok that we return at a later time on Wednesday (she said it was fine, of course) and we made plans to come back to the stadium the next afternoon after we checked out of the hotel.

OK, here's the super sweet part...when we returned the next day and tried to get to our seats (way up high) there was an usher standing there blocking the way. He told us that that section was closed and that we could sit ANYWHERE WE WANTED!!! Needless to say, we were giddy! We marched ourselves WAAAAAY down to the row right above the season ticket section (the $14,000 per year section)!! It was incredible! Unless we happen upon another situation like this, I don't think I'll ever get to sit in seats like that at a ball game again! I loved it so much and we had a blast!! Sadly, the Cards lost, but I think that would've been the only thing that would've made the day better. (Well, unless I would've fought the guy behind us for the foul ball that he literally dove to snag after it landed under the seat next to me...I was totally bummed, but I got over it!)

Well, I've rambled on enough. We did so much other cool stuff in the city too, but I'll just let the pics with some short captions speak for themselves! (Mind you, the pictures are in no particular order, definitely not the right order chronologically because blogspot always beats me!)

A couple of shots of us at the game; it was a beautiful day!



We went to the Science Center in St. Louis and got a picture of the T-Rex for Charlie!


We were this close (ok I zoomed a little, but just a little) to one of our faves, Albert Pujols! AND...he hit a home run this time, the first time I've seen a Pujols homerun in person!!



This building was amazing. It is the courthouse where ex-slave Dred Scott's freedom was bought by his former owner. Also, some of the famous Dred Scott trials were held in this building. It was so interesting and also, very beautiful!




And of course, the St. Louis arch.


I took a picture of this building as we were walking through the city, just because I thought it was so cool. Later, we found out it used to be a post office. Fancy!


We ate dinner one night at Ozzie Smith's restaurant. Here's Stephen with all 13 of Ozzie's Gold Gloves. He was lovin' it!


On our first day in St. Louis, we took a tour of the Stadium. It was so great...very interesting to see behind the scenes. Stephen was proud that he could answer all of the guide's trivia questions, but upset that there wasn't a prize! Here we are in the Cardinals dugout!





Right on the field!


Here's a shot of the arch and our hotel (the round building) from the field...nice digs, huh?!?!


A great city!

We had so much fun on our trip, but of course were thrilled to get home to the little ones once again! Hopefully, this won't be a once in a lifetime experience. We treasure the times we get to be away together, no matter how few or far between they are. Also, we're looking forward to the day when Charlie and then Charlie and Piper can come with us and last through a whole game and maybe one day appreciate it as much as we do!

There are moments...

...that make it all worthwhile.

Smile for the camera!

We got Charlie's 4 year and Piper's 2 year pictures made this week in Louisville and I couldn't wait to get back here and post them! I think they turned out so well! The pictures I've posted are a little rough because they put the unedited versions on the cd that came with our package...but you still get the idea. I put some of the "outtakes" on here too because I thought they were funny. Enjoy!

You MUST read this...

Ok, parents, I just read this article (thanks to my husband posting it on facebook), and I just had to pass it on! I don't know about you, but I put A LOT of pressure on myself as a parent; especially in the area of my children's growth toward salvation and relationship with Jesus Christ. I've been convinced that there has to be a "right" way and that I have the potential to ruin any chance that they will grow up to be good people. This article was a godsend in the way that it reminds me that I don't have that much power!! Really, you've got to read it! It didn't give me freedom to make excuses, but it has given me the freedom to be the parent God made me to be! Whew!



Parenting 001 – Kevin DeYoung: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Oops!

Here's a few pictures that I forgot in that last post. The first is just a cute one of Piper in a new dress she got for her birthday and the rest are from Easter...You can tell how well it went trying to get a good picture of both of the kids!

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...blog

So again, I hang my head in shame over the length of time that has passed since my last blog. Even worse, I will admit that I've gotten a new camera, so I have pictures to post. The truth is, I've just been too lazy to pick through all the cords in our drawer and find the right one to put the pictures on the computer! BUT...ta da! Today I have done it! I finally put our pictures on the computer so that I can post them here! I'll stick to the kids on this post, but soon, I will post my fun "vacation" to St. Louis with my husband...fun fun!! There's gonna be a bunch of pictures, and goodness knows I don't know how to get them in any logical order, so I'll just "narrate" as they show up! Here goes...


Daddy and Piper on Easter. We eat at a local mexican restaurant after church every Sunday and Easter was no different! (It's not that I'm THAT horrible of a mom and didn't cook Easter Sunday lunch, it's just that we had planned to go to Louisville, but changed our plans last minute and it was too late for me to plan/shop/cook!)

Charlie eagerly awaiting his "burrito" (It's actually an enchilada)...


Piper always just sticks to her snacks...this child won't eat ANYTHING!!!


Our church had an Easter egg hunt on Saturday before Easter. Piper LOVED it! I don't have any shots of Charlie because he was with the bigger kids on the other side of the property. But don't worry, he loved it too!


Here's Charlie with some friends before the hunt started.

Piper before church one Sunday morning recently...I just thought she looked so cute! (Something about our new camera makes her close her eyes almost every time I take a picture!)

Breakfast for dinner...this is how Piper eats a cinnamon roll!

Charlie loves his eggs...or should we say "see food"!!! (Wah wah wah)

Piper is TWO years old now! We just had a little family party with our fab 4 at home. Piper got a new little people doll house and she loves it! (This made Momma very happy!)

And...she loved the cake!

McDonald's happy meals for supper!

My sweet girl with her little cake. I can't believe she's two!


Piper wearing a tiger mask someone gave her.

Piper got a Tinkerbell balloon and we have a birthday hat, but it's too big for her little head, so Charlie spent the most time with it on! (Notice the closed eyes again!)


Piper loves my grandma's house...Grannie made a little "playhouse" for Piper and Charlie in her front closet. They think it's so cool and they really do spend a lot of time in there, just playing away. So cute!


Well, that gets us about caught up. Like I said, I'll post pictures later of our trip to St. Louis. And, now that I've finally got our new camera squared away, I'll post more often. I hope everyone is staying safe and dry and that you're loving the days of sunshine the Lord graciously slips in every now and then for us to enjoy! Can't wait for some more regular dry days so we can get out of the house more...my kids need to play!!! Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all you momma's out there...get some extra squeezes and kisses from your little ones, and not-so-little ones, this weekend!!