September Shenanigans

We had some random fun this month! First we got to go with the Doellman's to their FIRST CARDINAL'S GAME! Chris had gone before but this was a rookie experience for Amanda and the kids! Sad part - 5 minutes before leaving for the game Braxton started feeling "gross" and then he puked and spiked a fever :( SO sad for my biggest Cards fan! Rich took one for the team and stayed home and took care of my pukey little boy. It was FRIGGIN FREEZING! We were all bundled up in blankets and then it started raining on us! Bitter cold drizzle fell basically without stop for SIX INNINGS! I was so proud of the kids, they were super hard core and stuck it out till the 8th inning! Frost bitten and WAY past bedtime! We had a blast though! I brought Rilea and Dylan back to our place for a sleepover so Amanda and Chris could have a night at a hotel to celebrate their anniversary a little late. SO fun! I just love these little goof balls!

Rich and I picked the kids up from school one day and he got a random amazing idea... "Hey, let's take the Metro Train and go downtown!" I love spontaneous family fun time! Even though we live in Illinois now we are still about the same distance from Down Town STL! We drove a few minutes to the Metro station and bought tickets for the kid's first Metro Train ride! They were SO EXCITED! We didn't have to fight traffic and we got to enjoy the scenery (and the people watching) on the 40 minute ride. We took a long walk around the Arch, had races up the HUGE stairs separating the Arch from the Mississippi River, and then got hot chocolate at Starbucks before heading back home. I just love this city and all it has to offer! LOVE IT! The Arch is so fun to take pictures of - it is just breathtaking!








































St. Louis started a cool art project called "Cakeway to the West." They placed 4 foot tall cakes in 250 significant locations throughout our region, part scavenger hunt, part history lesson. We have had fun finding some of them. The kids were excited to find one by the arch! Here is the website for these cool cake sculptures - http://www.stl250.org/cake.aspx

Random and weird - We bought a new hair detangler and Kenz used it on bug. It dripped onto her face and she had a terrible allergic reaction. It was so crazy! Her face swelled up and turned bright red where the spray had touched it. Thank goodness a quick run to Walgreens and a swig of Benadryl in the aisle took care of it. Hopefully that never happens again. Scary!

McKenzie's grade at school has been working on some patriotic songs for the birthday party/fair of the city of Belleville. It was a great excuse to go explore our new town and have a super fun day! Kenz sang her heart out! The kids got to try rock climbing for the first time ever. They LOVED it! They did so great. i was shocked! I, on the other hand, did not do so hot (I forgot to post that picture by pure accident)! It was fun though : )

Next we played at the petting zoo and went wild on the carnival rides. The girls were in heaven. B - not so much... his face was hilarious! He is his father's son! He looked like he was going to puke 20 seconds in! Sad but HILARIOUS! Nothing a snow cone can't fix!

One of the kid's favorite things we did was painting! An incredible artist was painting the town square and fountain and he let each of them have a turn at helping him! They were in shock that they got to help! They LOVED IT! How cool is that?!?!?!

We are now members of our local YMCA! We discovered that they do free rock climbing one night a week. The kids are JUNKIES! They cannot get enough! I am honestly so surprised and impressed at how brave they are and how fast they have learned it. It makes me a little (okay a LOT) nervous seeing them all up so high and being helpless down on the floor. Braxton can scale the hardest section super fast! Kenz fought her fear of heights and made it all the way to the top and so did BAILEY THE THREE-YEAR-OLD! Bug is like a little fearless spider monkey up there!They have the harnesses on the lowest possible settings and the staff was shocked at how well she did and how quick she picked up the technique. So fun! We love the Y!!!