A Fun Weekend in St. Louis

Tuesday of last week was hot, so I told the kids we could go to the pool after they got their chores done and that included all of us cleaning up the basement. We were able to get it done pretty quickly and we headed over to my parents after lunch. The twins got to swim for a little bit. They both got right in and were little fish. Even Miles, who has been a little hesitant in the past. They had to put on their big goggles first though J. And Jackson worked with Lincoln more on his swimming, including jumping into the deep in and swimming longer under water to the shallow. He has been so good with Lincoln on the swimming part. I knew this would be the year for him to learn but I didn’t realize it was Jackson who would be doing it. I thought Andrew or I would, but with my accident plans changed a bit. So it is a good thing Lincoln has such an awesome big brother.

The twins were done sooner than I thought they would, so I went ahead and laid them down at my parents. But then the other kids were done not long after that so I asked my mom if it was okay if I ran home to switch out the laundry and put together the packages I had to send Jackson and Ellie while they were at camp. I wanted to get them done before we left because we can drop them off at the camp office when we drop the kids off with them labeled for the days we want them delivered and they take care of it. So I wrote some notes to go in them and packaged them up with fun washi tape and they are good to go. I also did a couple cards for each of them. Andrew came home while I was there and went out for a bike ride in the horrible heat. I went back to my parents and the twins were still asleep. And they weren’t crazy about heading home when I got them up. I let them watch one train video on my dad’s iPad and then told them it was time to go home. Andrew got home from his ride soon after we got home and we got to work on dinner. He grilled hamburgers while I did some potatoes and cut up some fruit and we were good to go. Then it was time to head outside to play. The kids had made a little ramp for their bikes out of a couple landscaping bricks and some plywood. They set it up in the LaBeth’s driveway and would ride in circles around it and us. I was sure someone would wreck or run into us. There were a couple small wrecks but thankfully no one was really hurt.

Jackson had baseball practice at 7:30 Wednesday morning. He was excited because we were going to let him take his bike so he could go over to my parents after he was done. But then they forgot his bike but he still wanted to walk over, so that is what he did. I tried to do some laundry and office work and then we went over to my parents for a swim date. I ordered pizza and it got there just a little after we did. Then everyone started showing up. It was a great afternoon. The weather was a little cooler than it had been which was great. The kids swam for several hours straight and ate us out of all our snacks during their quick breaks. And us moms got to actually visit a bit without it being super crazy. What a difference a year makes. Bennett decided he was done so I had to convince Miles to get out too so they could go down for a nap. Miles was not a happy boy. But they went down pretty well and I had to end up waking them up so we could go home. 

I didn’t have any dinner plans except a few leftovers so I picked up some McDonalds for the kids. Faith was with us too, so we got some for her too. It took forever though. But it was nice that when we got home, they all just sat out in the driveway and quickly ate their food and then started playing. We had some beef waiting for us at the meat locker in Brookfield so Andrew picked it up for us. He picked up Matthew and Kristin’s too and ran it by their house. Our was starting to thaw out a bit by the time he got it home so he just threw it in the freezer and I had to organize it the next day.

Thursday morning was busy. At least busier than we are used to in the summer. I worked on organizing our freezers. I had to pull out the older beef we had, organize the new stuff and put it in and then put the old stuff on top. Then I had to shower and quickly get ready to get Ellie to her hair appointment at 9. After that we went to Aldi and Walmart to do our grocery shopping. Jackson has really been wanting Subway so I gave him some money when we were checking out and he got to go order a sandwich himself. He ended up getting a footlong because they were just $5 and he ate the whole thing. After Walmart, we went by the bank and then headed home for lunch.  The day had started out with rain but then it was another hot day so I thought it would be good to let them swim again for a little bit. We just stayed a couple of hours and they weren’t ready to leave. But it was time to get the twins down for a nap and I had some stuff I needed to do. They had a good time though…in between the fighting. My dad blew up a couple of rafts I had for vacation that we never used. So those were prime property.

When we got home, I laid the twins down and let the others pick out a movie to watch. Ellie also helped me prepare the red pepper basil sauce for our pasta that night. Then I went downstairs to wrap Lincoln’s birthday presents. Andrew came home and got a bike ride in and then headed back to the office. He got done before the rain came.  We ate dinner a little later and by then it had cleared up so they all went outside to play when we were done. They got in on a intense game of four square with the LaBeths.

The next morning I got a walk in on the treadmill. It is still so tempting to run but I guess I will wait a little longer. Lissy called later that morning because she was in town and wanted to see the kids. So she came over a little later and ended up ordering Mexican to take to my parents so they could eat out by the pool and swim. Ellie and I were leaving later that day to go to St. Louis for Christa’s wedding and Charlotte’s first birthday so I needed to get us packed. I also wanted to tie up some loose ends and make sure laundry was caught up before I left. I also made sure the house was clean even though I know it won’t be when I get back J. Lissy brought all the kids back later so the twins could lay down for a nap. Andrew came home a little later and then my parents showed up a little after that.

Our ride to St. Louis was uneventful. I was able to get some billing done for Andrew and worked on the blog. We picked up some ChickFilA when we got into town and took it to the hotel. Sara and her family met us there and then Molly showed up soon afterwards from Kanakuk.  They had a large eating area there that had just cleared out from happy hour, so we found a couple semi-clean tables and had dinner. Then it was time to hit the pool. There were several ball teams staying there so it was pretty busy but the kids eventually got in and had fun. Then the Bobziens showed up later that night and joined in for a bit before they kicked us out because the pool was closing. And since I wasn’t planning on coming until Saturday, I didn’t have a room for that night. So Sara let us stay at her house. The next day Andy and Kaitlin and their families got into town. The kids got busy playing all throughout the house while a few of us did a quick shopping trip. I had a return to Target and we also stopped by Home Goods. I found a cute quilt for Ellie’s bed. I wasn’t 100% sure about it, but I figured I can return it if I need to. Then it was a rush to get ready for the wedding. Since my room still wasn’t ready, Amanda let me get ready in her room and then we were off. There were only three of the daughters at the hotel, but my mom still wanted pictures.

Since kids weren’t able to go to the wedding or reception, just us siblings went to the wedding and then Sara set up a couple sitters to watch the kids for the reception so all the adults could go. The wedding was very sweet and you could tell Christa was very happy which was awesome. We had a little time in between the wedding and reception so I got to check in then. I was surprised when they informed me that I had been upgraded to the Presidential Suite. So I hurried up there to drop my stuff off but didn’t really get to enjoy it too much. I went down to my parents’ room because they had picked up some food from the happy hour and I was starving. I ended up not getting lunch and knew it would still be a while, so I was grateful for the hot dog and chips J. The reception was fun. Again, it was neat to see Christa so happy. And it was great to get to visit for a bit with her, Sara, Mark and Cheryl.  And I think it was close to 11 that we headed out. We picked up Ellie at Sara’s because I knew she wouldn’t want to miss out on the Presidential Suite. And I was correct. Even though she was very tired she couldn't resist a bubble bath. She was very impressed that it had stairs up to it J.

I let her enjoy her bath while I got ready for bed and then we got to share the king bed while she watched Disney Channel and I read until we went to sleep. 

She wasn’t quite ready to wake up the next morning. But we got up, ate some breakfast downstairs and then headed over to Sara’s for Charlotte’s first birthday party. Sara did a great job with the Charlotte’s Web theme. We had a good lunch followed by the always chaotic opening of presents and cake time. Then pretty soon it was time to tell all the cousins goodbye and head home.

I think Andrew was ready for us to get home. It rained quite a bit while we were gone so they were stuck inside. They went out to the ranch Friday evening which was good since it was raining Saturday morning. Andrew said they were able to get out and play catch Saturday morning before the rain came and then spent most of the day inside. He did treat them to Dairy Queen for dinner though J. It also rained quite a bit on Sunday so I think Andrew was ready for me to come home after being cooped up inside a lot. They got outside to play a bit before nap time and he was out playing catch with Jackson and Lincoln when we got home. He gave us all a quick hi and then he was off to get ready to go out on a ride. He hadn’t been in several days and just had a few hours before the sun went down. So he was off and I unpacked, started laundry and ordered some pizza for dinner. We ended the evening with the kids playing four square until dark and then it was time to head in and get ready for a new week.