So Proud!

This big kid is so excited and so proud of himself for good reason.  Thanks to him being so big, I have bought my last package of diapers.  Woo hoo!  After Emma potty trained, we took her to the toy store to pick out a special present.  Of course we had to do the same for Josh and he was a hoot in Toys R' Us.  I don't know how many toys he picked and then when he was asked if that was what he wanted would respond "maybe not" and put it back.  I really did not think we were ever going to leave and he had one of the women working there cracking up.  Josh finally ended up with an army jeep with some soldiers, a police car and a police riot squad truck with two police officers.  He did have some buyers remorse the next day and is really hoping for a helicopter for his birthday.  We are very proud of our big boy!

Dance Recital Part 2

After a great rehearsal on Saturday, it was time for the real deal on Sunday afternoon.  Emma's entire class did so well.  I think aside from just loving to dance for a crowd, Emma's favorite part of the recital was wearing make-up.  She could not stop looking at herself in the mirror.  Emma had a great second year of dance and loved having Miss Karsen and Miss Lindsay help teach Ms. Carrie.  One thing for sure, we are going to miss Libby next year!  After the recital, Brad got some cute photos of our little monkey and a few that make her look way too big for my liking!

Excited to dance!

Libby, Miss Karsen, Miss Lindsay, Emma

Cute Monkey

So grown up!

Love this!

Dance Recital

Emma 's spring dance recital was the weekend of Brad's birthday and also the Tour de Rock 100 mile bike ride.  Thankfully for Brad, the weather was much more conducive to 100 miles in the saddle than it was the year before and he managed to knock quite a bit of time off the previous year while still feeling like he had some pop left in his legs.  We did get to see him around mile 9 down at the River Market.  Emma and Josh loved watching all the cyclists fly past them.  After we caught Brad, the kids and Brad's parents walked around the Clinton Library grounds a bit while I raced home to get Emma's costume for her rehearsal. 

Yes, I managed to get everything into the car other than the costume.  After I returned, we all headed over to the rehearsal.  Brad's parents and Josh sat up in the audience and watched all the dances.  Josh did great and loved seeing the dancers.  Emma's class did a tap dance to "Talk to the Animals" and it was adorable!  I managed to get a few photos from the rehearsal.

Mammoth Springs

Mammoth Springs is located just south of West Plains across the Missouri border into Arkansas. We decided to make a quick pit stop on our way home on Memorial Day. Let's just say that Emma was tired and not so happy about much of anything. Josh, picking up on her attitude, was more than happy to pose with his sister for a photo. He is deifnitely a stinker. While we were hoping for naps from both kids on the way home, surprisingly the only one who napped was Emma. She was a tired girl after a long weekend of fun. Everybody did rally by the time we got home so we rounded out Memorial Day weekend with our first trip of the summer to the neighborhood pool.

Fun in West Plains

Both Emma and Josh were so excited to go to Libby's house on the way home from St. Louis. Don't know if it was the thought of different toys or what but they had a great time. I will say that all the kids got along so well the entire weekend. There were a few little moments of course but overall, they did great especially with a lot of late nights. I think Emma and Josh's favorite thing at Libby's house was her jeep. Josh was happy to be the passenger even when his crazy sister was driving. The big girls got to have a sleep over in Libby's room, which was just the best in Emma's mind. It was definitely a fun Memorial Day weekend and Emma did not want to leave Libby on Monday morning. We hope we didn't overstay our weekend since we'll definitely have to head back to West Plains some time.

Grants Farm

On Sunday morning, we headed to Grants Farm. All the kids loved the initial train ride around the park and feeding the goats although Emma was more than happy to stay on the other side of the fence. Emma and Josh loved feeding the llamas. After lunch and a visit with the Clydesdales, we packed up and hit Ted Drews before heading to West Plains to spend the night at Libby's house.

St. Louis Zoo

Over Memorial Day weekend, we headed up to St. Louis with the Welch family for some fun.  The trip all started with a conversation between Brad and Jeff about heading up there so they could hit a Cardinals game.  Once the idea was mentioned to Kacy and I, we were off and planning.  We made our way up to St. Louis after swim lesson the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and finally arrived after what seemed liked years.  Since the kids had been in the car all day, we got them changed and let them play in the hotel pool for a while.  The next day we were off and running to hit the zoo before it got too hot.  Earlier is definitely better especially with getting into the penguin and sting ray exhibits.  Emma wasn't entirely sure about touching the sting rays but finally worked up the nerve and tried to touch them.  The kids had tons of fun and were totally exhausted by the time we left.  I had forgotten how big the zoo there is; we didn't even get to one big section but thankfully the kids were unaware.