Mamma Mia

This weekend we packed up the family and made a quick trip to St. Louis. We haven't really been away since Lincoln was born which is very unusual for us. But wouldn't you know that the week before we were going to leave, everyone started getting sick. Andrew had a sore throat, I wasn't feeling too well, Ellie and Lincoln both had colds and then Jackson woke up Thursday morning saying his stomach hurt. He threw up just a tiny bit and was fine the rest of the day but I still kept him home. Lincoln's cold was pretty rough on him. He didn't eat much and the worst part was he wouldn't smile much like he usually does. He was taking a little cough medicine because he would be up quite a bit at night just coughing and coughing. I felt so sorry for him. But we think the medicine changed his behavior a little and I am happy to report that even though his cough is still lingering a little, the smiles are back.

So Friday morning we headed out and met Sara, Bella and Lissy at the Boat House restaurant in Forest Park for lunch. Then we went to the Science Center. One part that she thought the kids would have a lot of fun with was in the middle of being torn down so the could put a new exhibit in. But we still found other fun things to. They had a sensory center that included things like a musical hopscotch and a laser harp.

They also had a building area near the walkover the goes over the highway. Jackson and Lissy built an arch and Bella and Ellie checked out the cars going under the walkover.We checked out several other areas including the Build-a-Bear which Jackson was so excited about. Andrew and I gave in and let them get dinosaurs (they had a dinosaur exhibit there so in addition to the bears, people were able to stuff dinosaurs). They got to stuff them and give them a heart.And give them a bath.Then we let them each get a shirt. Ellie was insisting that her's needed some shoes though-such a girl. The last thing was making a birth certificate for them. Then Lissy felt bad for Lincoln and bought him small wooly mammoth without us knowing. Lincoln enjoyed chewing on it. I think everyone was tired by the end of it.So we headed home and unloaded the car and then Lissy, Jackson and I headed to Old Navy and Target and I got some spring/summer clothes for the kids. They have grown out of about everything from last year. Next it was back to Sara's for dinner and then Andrew and I headed out to our show. Andrew got me tickets for my birthday to see Mamma Mia at the Fox. It was a great show and Andrew even enjoyed it. I've heard the last part after the curtain call is fun because the cast comes back out to sing the songs and everyone dances but we were parked on the top level of a parking garage and knew we would be stuck in traffic for quite a while if we waited so we only stayed for one song and then ran to our car. We actually ran up the stairs of the parking garage to make sure we got out quickly and we did. It was some good exercise. Sara was waiting up for us at home and all the kids were asleep. The next morning we were all up kind of early. Lincoln and I were up in the guest bedroom and he woke up really early so I kept trying to keep him quiet so he wouldn't wake up Bella. His main noises right now are either lound grunts or high pitched squeals. Andrew ended up downstairs on the couch in the family room so he could watch some TV before he went to bed and also because the kids were in the next room on the fold-out couch. Well Ellie fell off the couch during the night and then Jackson got up at some point and Andrew had him go to the bathroom. Andrew kind of fell back to sleep and woke up a little later and the bathroom light was still on. He went to turn it off and Jackson was asleep on the bathroom floor! So we were all pretty tired the next day. We headed home around 10 so it was a quick trip, but still a fun one. Thank you so much Sedlak family and Lissy for watching our kids! We really, really appreciate it. Lissy has a pretty funny storyline of her viewpoint of our trip to St. Louis on her blog.

We decided to stop in Columbia on our way home and look for some stuff for the office. We ended up going to Menards, Lowes and Sam's. I had to repack the car while Andrew was paying for stuff just so we could fit it all in.

We have been under a winter storm warning here today. It seems like the snow never ends. I think we had close to 9" last time I heard and it could be more. School has already been canceled for tomorrow. We have these huge icicles on our house.

Andrew had to yet again feed hay to his cows this morning and the tractor ended up breaking down on him. He did send me this picture from his phone and thought it should go on the blog.

After he came home he called me to the dining room window to watch Tiffany try to get up her driveway. After watching her try a few times, I thought he may want to see if he could help. So he ran over there and shoveled a little bit and got the van into the garage. Then he came home and shoveled my part of the driveway but it was all covered again a few hours later when we left to go to my parents for some pizza. We spent the day just playing around. Ellie put on her leotard and dress shoes and did a little tap dancing on the tileLincoln likes hanging out on the floor with everyone.Like I said, we went to my parents for dinner. We saw several stuck cars on our way over. This is what Molly's car looked like.

After dinner we stopped by Hastings to rent Karate Kid for Jackson. We have been meaning to get it for him for awhile. Lincoln fell asleep on the way home.

So after baths we settled in the watch the movie and I had the pleasure of finishing up all the billing Andrew has given me to do this week. I was able to get some of it done in the car during out trip and finally finished it tonight. We didn't get all the way through the movie though and are supposed to finish it tomorrow. So far I think Jackson likes it. He has said some funny things lately and I plan to add them to the sidebar soon but it is getting late and my battery is going down, so maybe tomorrow.

One last bit about Lincoln, he is really starting to get around now. He does a modified army crawl and ends up in some of the oddest places-mostly tight spots that I have no idea how he got in them. During our small group he kept moving over towards the couch to try to get one guy's toes who was setting on the couch. The guy took it very well because Lincoln was very determined to get his toes.

As I said, tomorrow is another snow day so we'll have to find something to do. Our week isn't too busy except for Thursday. Ellie starts tumbling and she is so excited. I'm anxious to see if she likes it. Well I'm off to bed.