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big family

Blog, Family, park

playing at the creek


As I’ve mentioned before, we have been trying to take advantage of Don’s weekends to hit up places in our area to do something fun with the kids. We have been fortunate to have some pretty perfect weather on the days we go out. This past Monday was no exception.
 
We checked out the creek at Mastodon State Park. The boys had been there before and absolutely loved it. So we stopped by the dollar store to pick up some creek essentials. Because apparently the creek isn’t nearly as fun if you don’t have nets to catch fish or buckets to house the fish.
catching fish in the creek

 

It also isn’t nearly as easy to catch fish with a butterfly net as one would think.
But!! I did catch one for the boys and Don got a tadpole. So everyone was happy–until Liam realized that we were not taking them home as pets. 
dad and son in creek
Getting packed up and getting to our spot was a bit stressful. But I knew it would be worth it once we set up our chairs and the kids started playing. And I was so right!
helping little sister

 

little girl by stream

 

kids activities
kingston
  
Evangeline ended up tripping and, consequently, went slightly under water at one point. She was a little bit traumatized. She spent probably 30 minutes cuddled up next to me afterwards. Not a happy event for her but I’ll take all the cuddles I can get 🙂
mom and little girl

 

We found this fun donut inflatable at the dollar store! I’m not the only one in my family who was excited about it.
There may have been an incident with a certain 6 year old accidentally letting it float away. Followed by a big break down. Followed by his dad going downstream to see if it had gotten caught anywhere. Thankfully he was able to retrieve it and our family is still in possession of our very special $1 inflatable donut. 
riding inflatable donut in the water

 

boy playing with toys

 

happy boy
evangeline playing with rocks

 

boy eating watermelon

 

teaching the fine art of skipping rocks
dad showing kids how to skip rocks

 

young dad skipping rocks
evangeline at the stream

Days like this make it worth the hassle of loading up tons of stuff and lugging all of it (plus 4 children) to a creek. In the end, you forget about how much stress was involved in getting there and you can just enjoy the memories made. 

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend!! (Hopefully with more good weather!!)

Blog, city garden, Family, st. louis

St. Louis City Garden


This past week we were able to make it out to the City Garden on the perfect day. I have been wanting to cram all the fun St. Louis activities in before it starts getting too hot outside and I start getting too uncomfortable to do much walking. An added plus is that kids are not on summer break yet, giving us the chance to avoid the crowds.
 
Have you been to the City Garden before? I have decided, after this past visit, that this is one of my favorite things to do in the city. I only wish it was closer so we could visit more often! It is, quite literally, a garden that is tucked in the midst of a busy city. It is so much fun to see the city buildings and the Arch while playing in the park!
 
little girl at city garden

Of course the main attraction for us is the splash pad. All four of the kids love anything to do with water. And when the kids are happy, mommy is happy. 
I think we’re destined to live close by the beach/ocean. Our family is always happier when there is sand and water involved. Need proof?

girl running at water park

 

dad and boy playing in water
kids activities
We were there to celebrate Evangeline’s birthday and I think it’s safe to say that she enjoyed her birthday celebration. I mean, that face!! 
birthday girl

 

birthday girl

 

Part of the fun of the day was getting the chance to play around with the camera. “Freezing” the water with a high shutter speed made for some really neat pictures. And then there are all the genuine smiles that I caught that make me super happy.
big family

kids splashing water

family fun
boy at splash pad

 

cool water freeze frame

 

boy smacking water
city garden giant head statue

 

st louis city garden

 

boy and st louis arch in background

 

evangeline running by head statue

 

photo credit: Liam
married couple

 

photobomb: Kingston
married couple kissing
In case I haven’t talked it up enough, make sure you visit the City Garden! It’s a fun place to go, day or night. If you do happen to visit at night, all the fountains in the splash pad are all lit up different colors. There are also small pools for the kids to swim once they open after Memorial Day. 
 
We will be visiting again very soon 🙂