The Zoo (STL)

Two weeks ago, we took a little trip to St. Louis and visited the zoo; we had so much fun!

This was our first family-of-four vacation.  Of course, it was only two hours from home, but nonetheless, it was a great getaway for just the four of us.

Emmitt is finally getting a little easier and is walking and running, and over the past few weeks he has discovered dogs and other animals causing him to get extremely excited... we could hardly wait to see how he responded to the zoo animals...  I think this first picture says it all!

They let us pet the guinea pigs... how much better can you get for your first stop at the zoo?!

And just in case you can't tell... he LOVED it!

Daddy and Lawson petting the Burrow... (looked like a donkey to me)

-There were cool games to stop and play along the way-

This was probably my favorite stop of the day - the goats!

I am quite fond of goats as we had them when I was a little girl and for some reason I simply think they are cute.

We were able to get up close and personal with them and they were so very gentle.

Lawson thoroughly enjoyed himself and was able to brush them with the provided brushes... 

Emmitt so badly wanted to be brave and get down to play, but he comfortably hung out in dad's arms.

Here he is with a cute little kid; his little horns are just beginning to develop.

-Emmitt was enjoying his gentleness-

I like this picture of Lawson with the unofficially named "Calico Goat".

The aquarium area was neat... fish, otters, hippos, and more gliding effortlessly through the blue water seemed to be mesmerizing for some reason.

The elephant was a hit for the day. 

Baby Kinze was no where in sight, but seeing this mama elephant was really exciting!

I believe I forgot to mention that the weather man's prediction was about 7 degrees off and it was 93 degrees vs. the forecasted 86.  Some may think that 7 degrees is not that big of a deal, but let me tell ya... 93 degrees was HOT.  We were extremely thankful for the mature trees providing shade, as well as the mist fans, but I was certainly wishing for that 86 degrees!  

All of that to say that many animals were resting in the shade and weren't very visible to their guests.  Can't say that I blame them.  This was the only bear that we saw, and it is a Sloth Bear.  If you look closely you will see his claws are like a sloth's and so is the shape of face/nose.

He was entertaining us with his ball and believe it or not, Emmitt was more interested in the water shooting in the air. :)

I learned a little something that day... I had no clue that penguins live in hot conditions... like 93 degrees hot.  Did you?  Well, I suppose they are ok as they were swimming and flipping around without any obvious cares in the world.  I do like penguins, I must say.

-Emmitt particularly loved this fountain-

We rode the carousel, the lion to be exact.  The "conductor" came by to see if it was ok that he was riding an animal that didn't "go up and down"... I said, "absolutely, I specifically picked this one for that very reason!"

Russ and Lawson were ahead of me, and I was disappointed that I couldn't take their picture.  All of the sudden, I caught a glimpse of them in the mirror so I captured it to add to our memories!  :)

We also road the train... Here Lawson is saying "choo, choo!", as he pulls the imaginary string.  :)

Emmitt couldn't decide where or which direction to look... there were cool animals all around!

I didn't realize how much I liked these next few animals, they were so neat! 

The stripes on the zebra were so vibrant and beautiful!

This was the only cat we could see, but we could certainly hear many more.  (kind of scary)

She was hiding up high in the tree to stay cool, I'm guessing.

She finally looked right at me... isn't she beautiful?  She looks so peaceful to me.  I really like her... in her cage, that is.

The Zoo MAP was a big deal for Lawson.  He is all about them these days.  Russ has printed several off for him in the past few weeks and if we see them at the mall or a fire exit map in another store, etc. we have to stop and look at them. 

He was all about this zoo map!

These camels were also really cool to me.

And lastly, the giraffes... like the zebras, their colors and shapes were beautiful!  I was amazed at how beautiful they were.  And SO big!!! 

We saw much more, of course, but these were a few of our favorites.  We did not, however, make it to the reptile house.  Did I mention it was HOT?  It was too hot to trudge up the big hill with our strollers to wait in line to go into the reptile house, so we detoured that area on the map and Lawson helped lead us back to the Welcome Center.

And believe it or not, we left the zoo with nothing more than the (free) zoo map and two St. Louis Zoo pressed pennies!  Since Russ and I have been dating/married, we always press our pennies when it is available.  We have several from the past 13 years, and now Lawson and Emmitt each have one from our first family-of-four vacation! :) 

It was a great day!  Lots of memories full of priceless smiles and two excited little boys!  And for the record... both boys did beautifully.  There was no crying, whining, fighting, none of the such.  I'm thinking they might have been afraid we would leave them there!

And lastly, I couldn't believe it, but this trip to the zoo cost us a grand total of $60. The zoo is actually free.  However,  you can get a pass to ride the train and the carousel, go through the petting zoo, see the sting rays, and watch a 3D movie all for $10 each, excluding Emmitt because he is under two, and then all four of us ate a hot and really good kid-friendly lunch in the air conditioned restaurant for $30!

We got in and out for $60 and had passes for anything and everything possible. 

We didn't get a souveineer other than the penny because number one, we don't need anything else at our house, and number two, because Lawson never saw the super big and nice gift shop, and we didn't mention it.   I don't think that makes us bad parents, but I will say it made me feel really bad until Russ said, "Hey Lawson, what was your favorite part of the zoo today?"  His response, in a very excited voice, "My favorite part was the train, dad!"

The train... not the animals, but the train.  :) 

It was a great day, and we look forward to more fun trips with our boys!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

~The sunshine!  Although yesterday was nice and cool, it was very gloomy.  Today is bright and encouraging!

~My clean house and van... keeping them both clean is such a challenge for me!!  Yesterday and last night, I got them both clean and it is a lovely feeling.

~Shopping for GOLD! 

Mizzou Tiger Gold, that is... we are attending our first Mizzou football game on Saturday and we are so excited; Lawson, especially!  The trick is finding GOLD for all of us to wear as that is the tradition, and we certainly don't want to look like fish out of water.  :)  A friend gave me a few ideas on where to shop... pics to come!

~My boys... What can I say?  They are definitely the ones I am TRULY LOVING on this Wednesday and every other day of the week, too.



Lots of loving today... and don't forget that God is loving us every day!

We love Him for He first loved us.  1 John 4:19

I hope you will feel His love today and that you will also share it!

I hope you will spend some time thinking of what you're loving today... it's kind of like counting your blessings.  :)

Wordless Wednesday {I totally HEART these pictures!!}

All in One Day {Emmitt}

One day last week, the Master of Disaster {Emmitt}, made his presence known.

All in ONE day, he accomplished the following:

First off was the Vanilla Wafers... 

Next the drawer full of hotel samples.  Russ travels often and always brings these little samples back.  We have great intentions of our "guests" using them, but guests have been few and far between here in Mid Mo.

He was having so much fun!

As I was returning the samples to their drawer, I rounded the corner to find him with this mess in his bedroom... he is fast, I tell ya.

Later that afternoon was the kitchen cabinet. It has a lock on it, mind you.

And in closing for the night, he demolished Lawson's art desk.  He got out of the tub first and as I was getting Lawson out and drying him off, I heard the mess occurring on the other side of the wall.  I knew immediately what was happening. 

This is the most frustrating of all of his messes.  I have started locking Lawson's bedroom door to prevent this mess.  And you can bet your bottom dollar that if the door is open, he will wipe the markers out like a tornado coming through.  Once he so happily has them scattered on the floor he then eats them, colors the carpet, walls, chair, desk, you name it.  Thank goodness they are washable.  I have no idea how he manages to do this so quickly before we even realize he's gone.  I know this will pass... soon, I hope.

Another blogging Tennessee friend mentioned that her older son didn't get into as much as her youngest simply because there wasn't as much to get into.  I totally agree.  :)

Lawson is so patiently waiting to be dried off...

All cleaned up and ready for bed... and yes, that is what he wore to bed.  Everything else was dirty and these two pieces were at the bottom of the drawer so this is what he wore to bed.  I'm sure that some of you understand.  :)  Whatever works when it comes to getting them to bed.

And I will also mention that this desk is probably his favorite and most used gift he received for Christmas last year; he uses it almost every day, and loves it!

Thanks for reading, and enjoy your weekend!

Tuggin' at my heart strings

August marks month number eleven of my stay-home-mom career.  I can't believe it.  Once again, I ask myself, "where has the time gone?" 

Rarely do I think about the stress that my teacher friends, and other teachers for that matter, are enduring.  (Teaching school is not for the faint at heart.)  I am currently living the "in your sport shorts/t-shirt with socks and tennis shoes wardrobe, no make-up, hair in pony-tail, sleeping til 7:30ish because there is no schedule" stay-home-mom life style.  It isn't easy, I must say.  And as a matter of fact, there are days when I think that being at school, and the boys at daycare would be so much easier.  However, it has become the norm and the stresses of my day involve the never ending mess of the kitchen, as well as the living room floor, and the mountains of laundry (both clean and dirty), the fussy children in the afternoons who fight over every toy in the toy box, and the inability to completely clean my house in one day, amongst others.  Those things stress me.  My OCD tendencies are so far in the past that I can't even see them, but there are days when I really do miss them.  Sounds trivial to some I'm sure, but some days the continuous mess is annoyingly stressful. 

The rest of that is for another post; back to my heart strings...

A week or two ago, I was at Target browsing around, (which is why my buggy always ends up fuller than planned), when I turned the corner, and BAM! the school supply section slapped me square in the chest.  It took my breath away.  It made my stomach knot up.  I felt weak in my knees.  Tears were going to well up in my eyes if I didn't leave the area.  Where had I been?  Why hadn't I realized that the school supplies were on the shelves?  Was time passing so quickly that I had missed this exciting time of the year when I am usually working so hard preparing to meet my new students?  I L.O.V.E. this time of the year.  I couldn't bring myself to browse the aisles of supplies.  The smell of the crayons was enough.  I knew I needed to head to the shoes or jewelry or even the toys.  My heart was sad.  The school supply section tugged at my heart strings.  It tugged really hard as a matter of fact.

How thankful I am, however, for the opportunity to stay at home with our boys and for Russ' hard work that allows me to do so.  Our children are our most prized possessions in the whole wide world, and oh, my goodness, what others would do to stay home with their children.  I am so very thankful for the past 11 months.  I wouldn't change it for the world.  Our boys "know" each other, they "know" us, our expectations for them in certain areas is clearer than ever, we've been able to travel whenever we want, and when I doubt any of this or whether or not I'm doing a good job, I remember Mandy telling me that daycare is great, but there really is no better place for children than with their mama... (she lines up second best behind our family, however) and I trust her with my kids' lives.  So when things seem upsy-daisy with the chaos in our house, I always remember what she told me. 

And with all of that said, I do miss the classroom.  I miss the routine life style that goes with working outside the home.  This is the first August in eight years that I haven't prepared a classroom. Although it is a tiring and often a stressful way of life, it's what I believe I was "made" to do.  What God designed me to do.  I love the presence of school children and watching them learn and grow is extremely rewarding and satisfying.  Helping shape them into positive contributors in our society is exciting and heart-warming, too.  I believe I belong there, and believe that is why the school supplies at Target were tuggin' on my heart strings.  Loving what you do in life certainly holds a piece of your heart.  I hope to go back some day.  I hope for our boys to go back to school some day, too.  They need the interaction and educational pieces, as well. 

BUT... until then, when I see the school supplies, I will smile and remember the wonderful things about being at home with my calm boys and will look forward to those lovely school supplies when the time returns.  And I must say that I can't seem to get away from them... circulars in the mail, Michael's, Wal-Mart, Barnes & Noble, Hobby Lobby, T.V., the grocery... they are everywhere.  Some days I'm like, really?  Does everyone have to carry them?  Oh, well... it's really not about me.  It's about God and trusting that I am exactly where I need to be at this point in our life.  We will continue to pray that the daily chaos that goes on under our roof will not scar our boys for life. :)  And that God will guide us on a narrow path with His lamp beneath our feet as we move through each day.

------------------------------------------
My friend, Elizabeth, never posts an entry without a picture, I decided I kind of like that idea so here you go...



Did you notice how much they love Miss Jones?

They are throwing her a surprise party... that's how much they love her!

And what does this indicate?

She must love them because love is reciprocated, and when children know that their teacher loves them they will move mountains.

Hats off to the great teachers in this world... from daycare and preschool all the way through college. 
They really do shape our future!