Creation Station

One of the places we visited this summer is Creation Station at the Museum of Transportation.

I took Mead and Cole one morning while Laine was at art camp, and they had a blast!

They were both in train heaven.

We also went to Grant's Farm that week, always a fun adventure.

They love carousels, despite the look on Cole's face.

A little of this and that

What have we been up to lately?

Cole and Campbell were surprised to see this giant cow sitting in the church parking lot one day.  It was being pulled across the country, headed to a county fair in Montana, and it stopped here to be passed off to the next driver.

We started potty training Cole this week.  Not instant success, but we're slowly making progress.

Our garden is going gangbusters!  Tons of potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, jalapeno peppers, and bell peppers.  Yum!

St. Louis Zoo

The kids love going to the zoo, and the fact that it is free means that we can go fairly regularly!

We have a few favorite spots we like to visit, like the children's zoo area.  This is a new fish tank filled with jelly fish - they look so cool reflecting the light.

On our most recent visit we bumped into friends...

And got to enjoy a train ride together!

Laine's Birthday Party

Laine's birthday party went through several different phases.  The first plan was to go to a local cupcake shop and then play at the park across the street.  But the cupcake shop closed the week of the party!

So then we switched to hosting the party at our house, planning on having a slip and slide, outdoor play time, and a craft.  Here are the kids practicing on the slip and slide a couple days ahead of time.

The day of the party turned out to be wet and cloudy.  So, again, the party changed.  We moved everything inside, though the kids still were able to jump on the trampoline without getting too wet.  I'm sure we broke several trampoline rules with the number of kids here, but they had fun anyway.

The kids had a good time painting over their names taped on canvas - a simple and fun craft that made a great "party favor."

Penny baked a delicious peanut butter, chocolate, and Reese's Pieces cake - so good!

Blowing out the candles and enjoying the first bite.

Finally, time to open the presents.

Laine had a great time, despite all the changes to the original plans.

Here's our kids' final canvas products - Laine chose to spell "love" instead of her name.  They turned out nicely!

Art Camp

Laine loves art.  And she's pretty good at it too!  She's very creative and not scared to try new things in the process.

Last week she went to art camp at a nearby school and had a wonderful time.

They worked on five projects throughout the week and had an art show on the final day.

I was amazed by what she created - different styles and mediums.  So outside of my comfort zone, but she absolutely loved the whole week!

The panda bear box animal and tie dye shirt were the fourth and fifth projects. So cool - she's already looking forward to going again next year.

Happy Birthday Laine!

Short post after a long day... celebrating Laine!

Laine turned 7 today, and she packed the day with fun.  First item on the agenda: presents and cinnamon rolls for breakfast (a birthday tradition)

Next up: take the new bike for a spin.  She loves it, and the bigger size fits her perfectly.  Can't wait to see what she starts carrying around in the basket she's so excited about.

After breakfast she headed out to the last day of art camp.  I'll post pictures about that soon...

Museum of Transportation

Each year we go to the Museum of Transportation at least once, sometimes more than that.  It costs a little bit of money to get in, and it involves a lot of walking, but we always have a good time.

The kids love the train ride and are glad to ride around the museum grounds a couple times.

Climbing on the old trains is a lot of fun.

And this year we got to ride on an old electric trolley car several times.

Sitting in the back of the bus!

Flipping levers, pulling the bell, "driving" the train engine.  Choo choo!