staycation Archives - Page 2 of 2

Blog, city garden, Family, kids, pregnancy, st. louis, vacation

summer nights in the city

This summer I have been avoiding the heat as much as possible. While it’s nice to stay indoors, it’s not so nice to stay indoors with 5 kids who have suctioned out every bit of my energy. My body is really starting to feel like I’m 5 weeks away from having a baby. Meanwhile, the kids are building up more energy by the day. If I could bottle up even an ounce of their energy, I think that would last me for the rest of my pregnancy and beyond.

My favorite compromise continues to be an evening trip to the Citygarden. We tried to go a couple of weeks ago on Don’s weekend. We had made it all the way up to the city and then we saw the multitudes of people in their Cardinal’s attire, heading to the game. All those fans decided to fill up every single parking space within a few blocks of the Citygarden. Let’s just say I wasn’t too happy with Cardinal’s fans at that moment. We ended up hitting up a park by our house instead.

We learned our lesson the next time around and checked the Cardinal’s schedule before heading up. Instead of parking issues, this time ended up being a cooler evening–in the 70s. So instead of herding 5 kids down multiple blocks in downtown St. Louis at night, we just had shivering kids with blue lips. I’d still say that’s a better outcome. The best part is that we had the place to ourselves pretty soon after we got there!

I’ve mentioned it before but we always go in the evening because 1) you don’t melt from the heat, 2) less crowds, 3) better lighting for pictures, and 4) the colored fountains at sunset. And nothing is better than to take your kids somewhere and be able to sit down and relax while they all play (without any fighting!!) If we can make it up there again before the baby is here, I will so take that chance.

Although, there was this small incident when Kai sprayed Liam and you can see that he wasn’t too thrilled. Does it make me a bad mom if I was cracking up at this moment? Especially at the fact that I caught his reaction on camera?

Desmond wasn’t so sure of the fountains at first. He sat on his daddy’s lap and in the stroller for a good chunk of time before he got down and experienced the joy of running close to the fountains. But if even a drop of water touched him (or he thought it was going to) he would run back to us.

We spent a solid 10-15 minutes watching big swarms of birds flying above us and around the buildings. Evangeline was positive that they were all “looking for their mommy.”

Liam wanted me to go with him to check out the “sunflowers,” as he called them. Liam’s photography skills definitely surpass anything I was able to do at 8 years old (and even still at 28!)

Those lights, though! Pictures don’t do it justice, especially with me behind the camera. Maybe with another trip and some more practice.

P.S. Because it’s worth mentioning again–5(ish) more weeks until we meet our precious baby girl!

August 31, 2016

Blog, Family, kids, park

Exploring STL–Grant’s Farm and a picnic

The past few days have been pretty wonderful because Don took off work for the entire week! He has been on the night shift for over 6 years now (and stays on that schedule for his nights off) and it feels like we’re always feeling the stress of that schedule. So I suggested having him take a week off to have a staycation so I could sleep in (which I really never, ever get to do!) and we could just enjoy time together as a family on a normal schedule. It’s amazing how much we’ve been able to accomplish already. Everyone is so relaxed and happy–which really goes to show how much this was needed for all of us.

Anyway, I have, surprisingly, been feeling pretty great lately (I’ll post more about that soon!) Or, I guess I was, until after a full day yesterday haha. Don had never been to Grant’s Farm and the kids and I haven’t been in a while so we wanted to work that into our week somewhere.

I am honestly not an animal fan but I love watching the kids light up when they see/interact with animals. Kingston and Evangeline were too terrified to go in with all the goats (I don’t blame them–the goats kept biting my dress!) but Liam and Kai loved brushing them.

Kai has a major obsession with pigs. If he sees a pig, even a picture of one, he goes crazy. I’m serious, the obsession is probably more than my obsession with ice cream–and that’s a lot! So I had to include this picture of him with the 3 little pigs (and a picture of Kingston because after he saw Kai getting his picture taken, he wanted one too.)

I love when my kids unintentionally match (they both picked out their own outfits without knowing what the other was wearing.) These two in their mint outfits were just too cute together.

We picked a really good day to be there. Kids are starting back at school so it wasn’t too crowded and it wasn’t too hot. But we were sweaty at this point so the boys couldn’t resist getting soaked in these sprinklers.

When we’re at a place like Grant’s Farm or the zoo, I usually end up with a memory card full of pictures of the backs of their heads. I don’t know why, but I still love these pictures. I guess it’s because I love to step back and watch their friendship. There has been much less fighting this week since we’ve been able to just spend this relaxed week together.

It’s even better when all 5 make it into the shot!! (along with our outdated double stroller that could REALLY use a replacement.)

We packed a picnic lunch to eat at the park after we were done with Grant’s Farm and it was the cutest scene that I ever did see!

Complete with a napping baby in his carseat! The ducks were really bold and came over to get some of the crumbs that the kids dropped. (And may have stolen bites of a sandwich from Evangeline, who wasn’t guarding it as well as she should have haha)

This little headband is from the juice shoppe. I won it in a giveaway and it was supposed to be for her baby sister, but she wanted to wear it as soon as I opened it. I can’t blame her because it is absolutely adorable!

And this one of Desmond had to be included—that little fistful of food and his chubby little baby body. It won’t be long before his baby fat will starting coming off and I’ll just be left with memories of the baby pudge.

I asked them to line up really quick for a picture. The hand holding was all their idea. I barely was able to snap a few pictures before they started play ring around the rosie and it was the cutest thing in the world. I love that Desmond is started to be included with all of their playing. Having lots of little ones isn’t always easy..but when things like this happen, I seem to forget the hard parts.

And now my body is paying for our long day out yesterday (along with spray painting 8 shelves for the kids’ rooms during the hottest part of the day!) So today is a day for rest, finishing some more house projects, and maybe some mini golf and dinner out tonight!

August 18, 2016