day 3, sea world

On Tuesday we went to sea world!! I loved sea world! loved the animals, the shamu show, all of it!

Darrin rode the Manta roller coaster and loved it. He actually rode/flew over us at the beginning. I wish i had known so i could have been more prepared to snap a picture! the kids met shamu, we learned about beach safety "don't trash were you splash!".

We got to pet the stingray, watch the dolphin's play and splash

we saw the dolphin's from underground too. very cool! Extreme Mia also got buckled up and did some high flying on the trampoline. she loved it. no fear in that girl!!

we also fed the sea lions! love, love, love! it was so much fun!

Mia got to experience the sea gulls snatching the food from her hand too. She hesitated one second too long and the bird swooped down and snatched it from her!

After lunch we made a pit stop at the pearl diving station. They divers retrieve a oyster and it is opened to see what pearl is inside! I have one from sea world and one from Hawaii. Amelia now has a cream pearl, ready for setting in the future! We also took the kids to the shamu harbor to let them play. too bad Lucas fell asleep. Amelia loved the kids rides, especially her first roller coaster!!!

My all time favorite was the shamu show. it was so fun! I could have watched it all day! They have a baby whale that they were training too. Lucas was mesmerized by the show. His eyes were glued to the whales. And sadly we sat in the splash zone and didn't get one drop of water splashed our way. not one!!! it was super hot too! the side splash zones got it all!

After the Shamu show, we did some shopping and headed back to the hotel It was a great day and we can't wait to go back!

disney, day 2

Monday started off with a stop at the sihloutte station. I have one of these from when i was a child, and was looking forward to having one of my kids! then, we went on buzz lightyear's space ranger spin. Nana was the first one to discover it was a game/ride. you were supposed to shoot the targets to get the highest score. Amelia and myseff - well, we were just having fun spinning around i circles!! Our score was not the highest :)

We then headed over to secure a spot in line to see Rapunzel. We were advised that if we did not have a spot in line at least an hour before Rapunzel arrived, you would not make it. And they were right. Nana got in line at 12 noon while we fed the kids, Rapunzel was scheduled to arrive at 1:00pm. She finally at 130. It was a very long. hot wait, but just look at the pictures. This is Amelia and I's favorite movie to watch together. Amelia was so nervous and so excited, she was wringing her hands at one point. Then Rapunzel invited her to Cinderella's castle for breakfast!! What a great girl! It was a memory we will not soon forget.

we also met ariel and prince eric, and took a boat safari ride!

Towards the end of the day, we got Lucas this super cool hat! the letter's are a all Disney character's! We went on the pirate's of the Caribbean ride and saw this awesome balloon guy! I love the outfit!

up next - sea world!

The happiest place on earth

Our fist day of disney was Sunday, father's day!! and what a great day it was!! I will try my best to break it down day by day. This was day #1.

We were all dressed in our disney finery and so excited to get there! My mom made Amelia's dress and I "made" lucas' shirt if you can call it that. It was an iron on that i applied -nothing too fancy for me!

Lots of firsts here - we took the boat over (should have monorailed over - oh well!).

Loved seeing the signs saying we were there, the first castle sighting was also fun! Mia was uber excited to see it, she knew it meant cinderella was near!! loved the let the memories begin sign

too!!

We made it in, and ran into the fairy god mother. She was super sweet to the kids, although lucas was not very fond of her. we saw a dance show on main, and mia caught the dancer's eye. he came over to talk to her and called her princess. she was so bashful - it was very cute! our first ride - the carousal.

After the carousal, we rode snow white's scary adventure, then we made our way over to it's a small world. Lucas and amelia loved the snow white ride, lucas told me he did not like it's a small world. he was quite funny about what he liked and what he didn't!! we saw the noon show with mickey and friends too! even included some fireworks!

After the show we went on a boat ride, Amelia, her pop and nana went to the haunted mansion. Since Lou wasn't old enough for that and was sleeping, I took him with me to the Christmas store nearby. i could look, he could sleep and there was AC!! sold! I happened to see the sign that told me Princess Tiana would be coming soon! Our very first princess meeting! I waited in line and everyone made it back in time to see her! One of my favorite things the big D promotes is having one person wait and the rest of the group exploring! very nice! After Tiana, we went on a train ride around the park. Lucas loved it, he is a huge train fan right now.

We were able to see where the new attractions were going to be while riding the train, and it gave us a chance to relax! We decided to leave the park after that for some r&r. The kids needed a nap and so did we! On the way out we ran across a street show in frontier land. Amelia was picked to go out and dance with the cast members! how fun! she did a great job and it was a wonderful memory!

Up next, we came back for the fireworks and the light the night parade!

day 1, part 2 - fireworks

After a much needed nap for everyone, we went back to WDW for the night time light show and the fireworks! I loved the fireworks, so did the kids and Darrin. Here are some pics of the light show on the castle. They put guests pictures from that day on the castle exterior. it was so fun to see and I am almost positive that we were on there. Ok, maybe not, but it was hard to see where we were sitting, so there was always a chance, right?

here are the fireworks - the little light in the corner is tinkerbell - she kicked off the festivities! It was just like I remembered from when I came as a child!

summer fun

does it get any cuter?

I am not sure!! this is his mad face!! It makes me laugh every time.

the newest member of our family

Welcome Ferdinand Bartholomew!!

Ferdinand found us June 11th, he was only about 2 weeks old. We have been loving
and nuturing him back to health, so far so good! Welcome to the family ferdie!

splash plad

We were invited to go to one of the many local splash pads with out friends Olivia and Robbie. We had a lot of fun, got really wet and afterwards, took a great nap!! I don't know how we didn't even get one picture of Olivia! Sorry Olivia! We had fun with you guys!

the 844

Union Pacific had a contest and the STL route won. We were excited to see the Steam engine and headed to Dupo, IL as t came through. Too bad it wasn't disclosed that it would not actually stop for us to climb on it that day. It honestly came into Dupo, stopped for 2 minutes, and then left. Lucas was excited to see it but wanted to get closer and touch it. We will have to take a trip to the Museum of Transportation so he can see some trains up close.

The History of LIVING LEGEND NO. 844

THE LAST OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVES

Many people know the engine as the No. 8444, since an extra '4' was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel numbered in the 800 series. The steam engine regained its rightful number in June 1989, after the diesel was retired.

Steam Locomotive No. 844 is the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad. It was delivered in 1944. A high-speed passenger engine, it pulled such widely known trains as theOverland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose andChallenger.

When diesels took over all of the passenger train duties, No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. It was saved from being scrapped in 1960 and held for special service.

The engine has run hundreds of thousands of miles as Union Pacific's ambassador of goodwill. It has made appearances at Expo '74 in Spokane, the 1981 opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans and the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Los Angeles Union Station in 1989.

Hailed as Union Pacific's "Living Legend," the engine is widely known among railroad enthusiasts for its excursion runs, especially over Union Pacific's fabled crossing of Sherman Hill between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming.

the 13 year cicada's

quite possibly the only person is STL that is happy they are here. Amelia loved them, was namimg them and holding them all day. umm....yuk?!?!

congrats Ally!

Class of 2011 Fox High School
We are so pround of you!!

zoo, first trip of the year

We love, love our STL Zoo. It has a ton of great animals, tons of things to see and learn and it is free! Plus we are zoo members so we get ea few extra perks - free parking, free train rides and free carousel rides. Every year the kids pick a *new* favorite animal. Some fav's of the past are: giraffe, giraffe, hippo, hippo, lion/big cats. This year it is the elephant. We had to stay and watch them for an extended amount of time. There were 2 babies this year, and they were playing by spraying water on each other. In a brief admission of my nerdiness - i always dress the kids in an animal shirt when we go. i can't help myself!! this year is a monkey for amelia and a elephant for lucas! We has a few challenges while trying to get to the zoo (car mysteriously broke down, AC in house wouldn't come on. etc) but we made it and had a grand time! Maybe next time you can join us :)

Lucas is all about trains right now, so we had to ride the train! he loved it!

Lovely Words for Lou

a day to celebrate

on 5/15/2011 we reached a milestone. Lucas had been seizure free for one year!! We were so excited to reach this first for him. While we will never forget the week spent trying to diagnosis him and control the seizures, we are thankful they are controllable, the medicine works and Lucas is growing and thriving. We had a little celebration for him with our family and friends. congratulations sweet boy, we love you!!!

Surrounded by family*surrounded by friends*surrounded by love

We had everyone that came sign the guest book with their thumbprint, turned out super cute!!

Thanks Pam Q for designing this for me!

Lucas with his biggest fans!

the thumbprint guestbook and all the kids!

robbie, tyler, madison, amelia, lucas, bella and avani

Pre-K graduation

Amelia graduated from Pre-K. we are so proud of her and all she has accomplished. I hope she loves kindergarten next year! I hate admitting my baby is growing up, but she is!

need a hug?

Lucas is your man! He wakes up so happy and gives the best hugs!! love him so!

Friday fun and PSA

Lucas has tumbling on Friday mornings. I take the back roads through the "country" part of our town to get to his classes. Usually the cows are out by the road grazing. if we have time we stop and open the van doors and talk to them. That entails Amelia saying "mooo, moo, mooooooo, moooo" etc. She thinks she speaks cow i guess. Lucas then starts up with "mooo cow, moooooo cow, moo cow" etc. That makes Amelia continuously tell Lucas that it is not "moo cow" just "moo" and to stop saying "moo cow". Lucas ignores her and continues to say "moo cow", which makes me giggle! they are so funny! here are the cows/moo cows in action!

move it now mister!

my favorite baby! how cute is he?!?!

a cow college

On to the PSA part. How sad that these cows are subjected to your litter. Amelia was quite upset that these momma cows and their babies had to eat around your water bottle and Gatorade bottle. She kept asking me to get out of the van and go pick this up! if a four yr old can find the trash can, so can you! otherwise,

Please Keep your trash in your car!

love these three!

Our new neighbors!

we have received SO much rain lately that these 2 guys have taken up residence down the street from us. There is no real pond by us, just the rain made ones. From what the weather man says, they should be able to file for a change of address!