Family Adventures: Car Show Part One

Remember how I told you that we go on family adventures most Saturdays?  Well, today we went on a BIG one.  Where did we go?

The Saint Louis Auto Show at the Edward Jones Dome.

Nice.

Okay, I admit that I didn't used to care that much about cars.  And I still don't care THAT much about cars.  But this is my eighth year in a row to go to the annual auto show downtown, and I actually now think it's kind of fun.  Most of the fun involves watching James climb into car after truck after van after convertible, getting more and more excited with each one.

 James loved this Dodge Ram 1500.

  This was Ella's first trip, and she enjoyed taking in all the sights, too!

 I think this was a Camaro?

...and back to the trucks...

We took a break to get a snack, and Ella was fascinated by James's pretzel.
First, she studied it....

Then she licked it...

Then she decided to commit to a real bite...out of the piece that James already had in his mouth!

 I think she liked it, because she didn't spit it out!

She also wanted to try out some of the trucks herself.  Here's a Ford F150!  (Shout out to Matt Murphy!!)

Randomly, I took some pictures of the big Econoline vans, since I spent thousands of hours in these babies when I was a kid...

If Ella had been a bit older, we might have tried the rock climbing wall...

...and maybe the moonbounce...

 It was a fun morning!  I can't wait until the day when we can afford to buy James a truck. 

Family Adventures: Barnes and Noble

Our family survives the long midwestern winter by going on adventures.  On a typical Saturday morning, we wake up, have breakfast, and then sit on the couch trying to figure out what to do with ourselves for the rest of the day.  Inevitably, we decide to get out of the house and have an "adventure."

What does this mean?

Well, it depends.  Sometimes we shoot guns.  Real guns.  Sometimes we go fishing (in the summer.)  Sometimes we go shopping (not often b/c we don't have much moolah...)  Very often, we go to Barnes and Noble and read magazines.  Lately, this one has been a favorite because Ella loves to crawl around on the floor in their kids' section and play.

Then I realized something...she was learning more than how to read.  She was learning how to CLIMB.

(Insert alarmed facial expression here.)

Wanna see?  Watch this...

At least she's having fun!  She did also discover that they have books, but that was more of an afterthought...

The Cold Wet Stuff

This year, I've seen a lot of cold wet stuff fall out of the sky.

A LOT of it.

Sometimes it's pretty, like when it makes cool patterns on our front door mat...





















 ...but it can make getting into the car a bit difficult...

 

It can also make the house pretty...

...and pretty hard to leave...

At least we don't have drunk kickball players across the street in the park this month!

All in all, I'll be glad for the spring thaw and the crocuses this year.

Dr. Meyer's Office

We love our pediatrician!  She came highly recommended before Ella was born, and she has lived up to her reputation.  When Ella had jaundice for two weeks after her birth, Dr. Meyer spent lots of time each day on the phone with the home health nurse, checking on the baby's progress...even on her days off!  She's also very sweet and patient with me as a new mom...and with all my questions =)

I thought that I would document a trip to the doctor's office, so on Ella's 9 month appointment, I took the camera along...

First, we always check out the baby in the mirror...

Here's a picture to prove that I was there!

Hey, what's this funny thing on the wall?

 getting Ella's height measured...

 big head?

 Ella loves the scale because she thinks it's some kind of ride!

Dr. Meyer checks out that tiny heartbeat =)

 So much fun, even when we end up having to get shots!!

Covington Christmas

For the past three years, James had to work on Christmas, so we had to stay in St. Louis.  I guess I could have gone home, but I didn't want to leave him here all alone, so I decided to stay. 

Not this year!

We headed to Georgia for a good old fashioned family Christmas, and it was GREAT!  Everyone came, and we had so much fun hanging out with the gang.


Miss Belle wore her Christmas pyjamas and spent lots of time playing with her Papa!

 She also loved her Uncle Jonathan, who knows a lot about making little girls giggle!

The cousins waiting to go down the stairs on Christmas morning to see all the presents!

Lisa almost got lost sitting in the middle of the pile!

 James got a shotgun!!  Mossberg 500 home and field combo!!

 Of course, we made a trip to Mamie's with Tommy and Patty McFarlin...yum!!

Ella loves her cousin, Madeline, who helped a lot with diapers and bottles!
 

Sweet picture with GG.

Tom reveals his true identity...

Meghan got a KitchenAid Mixer!!!

AK47 got a new bike, as did all the big kids.

 relaxing in a warm kitchen sink bath...

Jordan, Sarah and Raph hanging out amid their stash!