Yogi's Jellystone Park

Back in the spring I bought a Groupon for Yogi's Jellystone Park in St. Louis.  I had never heard of the place before, but it was a day pass that included a number of activities, so I figured we could try it out this summer.

Several months later we finally went, and we had a nice time.  It was nothing fancy, but it was a new experience for us, so the kids came home with lots of adventures to retell.

The kids especially loved the putt putt course - we played 3 or 4 games, though not necessarily by the rules!

They had a lot of fun climbing on all the sculptures too.

 We went on a tram ride around the park, which was really slow and mostly just showed us the cabins and parking spots for RVs, should we decide to come back and stay overnight sometime.

The little kids were excited to meet Yogi Bear.

And even got a nice picture with him.  

More putt putt interspersed throughout our day...

The arcade room was fun - mostly because the kids rarely, if ever, play any of those types of games.

And they had a swimming pool with a deep end that the kids loved swimming in, especially Laine.  She's gotten to be a really good independent swimmer this summer.

Mead and Cole "laid out" for a few brief minutes before getting back in the water.

Summer fun

Each day this summer has been a little different.  We've gone new places and tried new things.  Here's some glimpses:

Mead dressed up in accessories while hanging out at the mall.

The kids played in the water towers at several parks.

Sometimes in their bathing suits, sometimes in their clothes!

And they rode bikes a lot - for one very short season they are all on the same size bike!

Laine is about to outgrow her bike, and Cole can just barely reach the pedals on his.  They love riding up and down our driveway though.

And all along our garden has been booming - here's Laine with the first carrot we harvested.  She's gotten really good at peeling and cutting carrots his summer!

Happy 4th of July!

One week later... here's some shots from our Fourth.

I took the girls to see the fireworks for the first time ever.  They loved it!  We played cards and ate snacks in a field while we waited.  Simple, but very enjoyable.

On the morning of the Fourth we went to a festival near our house to help celebrate the day.

Snow cones, pinwheels, bubbles, and face painting.

Cole got a baseball painted on his face,

Mead got an ice cream cone on her hand,

And Laine got fireworks on her face.

Broken windows

Cole has now managed to break two windows on our house, within two months!  The first one happened when he "gently" tapped the window with his plastic bat.  I didn't get a picture of that one because we were literally on our way out the door to a wedding, and the brand new babysitter was just arriving.  Welcome to our family chaos!

The second one, pictured above, happened when he tried to stop the door from closing by putting his hand on the glass.  Needless to say, it didn't work, and his hand went right through the window pane.

Here's all the band-aids he ended up with.  Lots of crying, a little blood, and lots of hugs.  The band-aids make it look worse than it was.  Thankfully he healed quickly, and hopefully it won't happen again next month!

Life at home

Here are some random glimpses into our time at home...

Cole was looking out Laine's window, with his face smashed up against the screen: black marks all over to prove his whereabouts!

A new sign taped to Laine's bedroom door.  Her written communication is getting much more prevalent.  Now we just need to work on the spelling!

Butterfly observation

And watching (and dancing with) some interactive TV - Bo On the Go, in this instance.

Family time

While we traveled in the Carolinas we were able to meet up with various parts of my family.

We met my brother, Blair, and his family for a picnic in Blacksburg, SC.

The cousins rarely get to see each other but jump right into playing with one another whenever they get the chance.

The oldest is almost 7, and the youngest just turned 2, so they'll hopefully enjoy going through similar seasons of life as time goes on.

Everyone enjoyed time with Nan and Pop.

And good food makes for a great picnic!

Here's the whole gang!

The "little" kids - only 6 months apart.

The "big" kids.

While in Greenville we visited my aunt's house, though only 3 of her 6 kids were there.

Heidi let the kids help groom and feed the horse, which they loved doing.

Todd and Emily also drove down from Virginia to see us.

It was a treat to all be together, even though parts of each of our families were missing.  I hope to do this again before too many years go by.

Time in Greenville

After visiting my mom, we headed to Greenville, SC for General Assembly.  Throughout the course of the week we did many fun things:

Reconnected with old friends (from toddlerhood),

visited my alma mater,

rested and hung out in the hotel,

posed for pictures,

and made new friends

(while I hung out with old friends).

We even squeezed in a trip to Monkey Joe's - something we rarely do in St. Louis.

The kids had a great time letting out lots of energy that afternoon,

and Cole especially enjoyed trying new things and showing off his brute strength and athleticism!

Greenville will always hold a special place in our hearts.  So glad we got to spend some time there this summer.