July

Where has it gone?! Here are some updates on our July adventures.

On July 9th, we went to Purina Farms with Crystal and Bennett Mueller. The boys had fun playing with the John Deere tractors in the corn boxes and petting the animals. Crystal and I can't wait until next year when the boys are a little older and can enjoy the rest of the farm a little better.
Then, the next day Nathan started swimming lessons. I was pretty nervous about them for one reason: there is an air conditioner ("eenie") on our way down to the pool from the clubhouse. I tried to plan other ways to get to the pool, but couldn't figure out how to get there without him seeing the a.c. SO, we walked down the path, he said hi to the eenie and then I told him if he was really good he could "play" with (aka stare at) the eenie after swimming lessons. He did really great at lessons and didn't take off for the eenie once! In fact, he was the only kid who didn't get out of the pool for one reason or another.

Nathan in the baby pool with his instructor Megan

That afternoon, Nathan and I met up with the Muellers at the Flamingo Festival at CityPark in downtown St. Louis. There were so many kids and Nathan had such a great time!

This is the funniest picture. I was helping Nathan get out of the pool and Bennett climbed between my legs and then looked up at me!

The next day was Sunday and I signed Nathan, Joe, and me up to go to an ice cream social at the Magic House. The problem was, Joe was behind on studying for the Bar so he couldn't go. Good thing Bapa likes ice cream and loves Nathan because he came along with us. We got to have some yummy ice cream and then play in the Magic House for about 1 1/2 hours. It was nice because they opened it after hours, so the daytime crowd was gone.

Look at that face-ha!

It's a good thing that Nathan loves the Magic House, because on Monday we had a playdate with Annika and her mom Laura. Nathan LOVED playing outside in the little stream area, he even went "swimming" in it. He was playing so well and then fell backwards into the water! It was funny, but it kind of cut our time short because it was pretty cold inside and he was soaking wet. He needed to get home for a nap anyway!

Playing with the food in the market
After falling into the water...oops!

On Friday the 16th we went to Suson Park with the Higgins' (Logan and Tyson). The boys loved playing on the playground equipment, looking at all of the animals, and feeding the ducks...until the mean goose came along. We were are scared because he came running at us hissing. It was pretty funny, but because we had an infant and two curious toddlers, we decided we better move on to other things. Nathan and Logan get along so well, so we look forward to many more play dates with them!
On Saturday we had swimming lessons again. Nathan did great again, but this time my parents came to watch. We had planned an entire day together, so they decided to come over and watch Nathan swim, too. He loved that they were there and said hi to them about 500 times during the 1 hour lesson!

KickingSinging songs and practicing our kicking

Jumping off the edge
Nathan, Bapa, and the beloved "eenie" at the pool

After lessons, we went back to our house and Nathan took a nap. While we was napping, my dad helped me move some of the doors down to the basement from the garage and we painted baseboards and doors for a couple of hours. (we are replacing our doors and baseboards in 2 weeks) After Nathan got up, we went downtown to the CityPark again to play in the water. Nathan LOVED it! Then, we went to Crown Candy for dinner.
I can't tell you how many times Nathan got shot in the face with water after playing with the hole where the water comes out. It was so funny to watch!

This is so funny. While at Crown Candy, Nathan found this picture of the founder of Crown Candy on the back of the menu. He totally thought it was Joe and would say "Hi, dadoe" (which is what he calls Joe...Dada + Joe = Dadoe), give the picture a kiss, hug it, and talk to it. It was so funny! What do you think, does he look like Joe?