Nan Comes to St. Louis

Penny went to Mexico on a missions trip a couple weeks ago, so my mom came for a few days to help hold down the fort.

The kids and I loved seeing her and going on adventures with her.

Glad I remembered to take several pictures of us together!

Trip to the Zoo

Nan came to visit last week while Penny was out of town, and we did several fun activities around town.

First day trip was to the zoo - we got there in time to ride the carousel and pet the sting rays for free.  Mead had a good time on the carousel, despite the zoned out face above.

We also got to see the new polar bear exhibit - it opened earlier this summer.  Super cool to watch him swimming and playing in the water with his red ball.

On our way out we stopped to climb on some rocks and take a few pictures.  So glad Nan got to be with us last week!

Art Camp - Laine

Laine went to art camp the week after Mead, and she also brought home some neat creations.

A paper mache bunny and some thread woven nests.

A stuffed paper cat, and a gumball machine showing lines of depth.

So proud of Laine and all her creativity!

Oh, and at some point that week we all dressed up like cows and went to Chick-fil-A for Cow Appreciation Day.  This has been a fun annual tradition since Mead was a little baby!

Art Camp - Mead

Both Mead and Laine got to go to Art Camp this year - Mead went first with other kids her age.

She had a great time making all kinds of different things at camp, including the box animal (a pink striped polar bear) and tie-dyed shirt above.

Mead added braces and a missing tooth to her sunshine smile.

Cole clearly enjoyed himself and the cookies at the art show!

The other projects were a textured mermaid and a woven iguana.

Mead had a great week and is already looking forward to going again next year.

Face painting and flowers

Summer seems like the time of year to go to activities and get your face painted - at least for the kids, that is!

We went to grand opening of the children's area in the Missouri History Museum, and the kids came away with these great face (and arm) paintings, along with a few other prizes.

They came off quickly in the pool later that afternoon though!

And the school garden next to us is full of zinnias.  We clipped a handful to make this pretty bouquet when we had guests over.  Just wanted to share the happy flowers :-)

4th of July Celebration

The last several years we've gone to Daily Bread (a local sandwich/bakery shop) for their Fourth of July Kids' festival.

They have all kinds of great activities and treats for the kids, including snow cones, face painting, and cookie decorating.

They also bring in the Bubble Bus and a mobile Magic House van to provide crafts, music, and bubbles (lots of them!) to play with.

The kids had a good time - and came home looking good and sugared up!

Love all the fun (and free!) things to do in St. Louis.

Tim Horton's Comes to St. Louis

Tim Horton's is a Canadian donut/coffee shop that has slowly made it's way down to the States ("Like thick maple syrup...").  And most recently they opened a franchise in St. Louis.

The morning they opened Penny drove 20 minutes across town and came back with fresh donuts for the family and Timbits for the office.

And most recently our whole family took a trip to Tim's to celebrate Canada Day.  Also, there's a chance that a Tim Horton's will soon be built only a mile from our house - dangerous but very exciting!