A visit to St. Louis

This weekend, we took a family trip to St. Louis to visit Mom and Dad's friends Debbie and Clay and my new friend Teagan (their daughter).

Here's Teagan:

And here she is again.

A pretty happy girl!

On Saturday morning, Mom, Dad, me, Clay and Teagan all went to the St. Louis zoo.

It was way fun.

Dad and I climbed through a tunnel by the monkeys.

We saw some fish in the rhino cage.

We watched the baby elephants splash around.

And we found this funny pair of animals.

They look like good friends.

I'm not sure what animals they are.

The whole family...

Then, some dark clouds rolled in.

There was some lightning and thunder and then, whoosh!

It rained. A lot.

We hid under an awning and waited for it to pass.

Teagan had a little snack.

When it was all over, we walked around a bit to dry off.

The zoo was great!

I loved all the "aminals."

That night, Teagan had cereal for the first time.

Mmm, tasty!

The next morning, Clay made us breakfast.

Teagan played in her exersaucer.

I had to show her how a few of the toys worked.

Here I am wrestling with Monti and Teagan's dog, London.

I thought 1 dog was fun, but 2 is even better!

It was a really fun trip.

Thanks for having us, Deb and Clay!

Paint!

I'm getting pretty good with my fingerpaints, but Grandma got me a new type of paints today...

watercolors!

See, you dip your "pain-bruss" in the water, pick up some paint, then put it on the dinos.

Fun!

Jackisms

DISCLAIMER: Non-parents may be grossed out, but I think everyone will laugh...

Tonight, as we were finishing dinner, Jack, as he often does, decided it was time for a poop. (Have diaper, will poop. Who cares where you are or who is around?).

Jack: Poopin'

Mom: Ok, we'll go change your pants when you are done.

Jack: (lots of grunting and straining, red faced) Poopin'

Mom: Ok. (Takes the last bite of food).

Jack: (grunt) Mama (grunt) all done (grunt) yummy!

Mom: Yep, all done. Are you done poopin'?

Jack: (grunting, turning purple, stomping his foot, holding on to the sides of the booster seat) Poopin' (grunt, strain, stomp, leans to the right) Hard! (more grunting, still red, 2 more stomps, then quiet) Done!

Aaron and I were laughing so hard, there were tears rolling down our faces.

Happy #2 Austin!

Sunday was cousin Austin's 2nd birthday.

I was really excited to go and sign "happy bird-day" to Austin.

And eat cake.

And did I mention it was at a park???

Doesn't get much better than that.

I'm getting really good at climbing (much to Mom and Dad's dismay).

Austin and I had to check out these chimes.

And Dad and I raced down the slide.

After dinner and presents, it was time for cake.

I took notes while Austin blew out the candles. My turn is coming up, you know.

And he had "Lightneen Mc-Keen" on his cake!

Austin, enjoying the treats.

There weren't any pictures capturing me eating cake, mostly because it took Mom and Dad to keep it coming fast enough.

Hopefully on my birthday, someone will have a free hand for a camera.

Did I mention I love CAKE??!?!

Lions and Tigers and Bears?

Today, Mom and Dad said we were going to do something really fun after nap.

Something we had never done before...

We went to "Donald's" for dinner!

I had my very first Happy Meal.

Delicious.

But then, it got even better...

We went to the CIRCUS!!!

For the first 30 minutes to an hour, I was totally mesmerized.

I didn't talk. I didn't move.

I just watched.

AWESOME!

We saw "bicycles" (motorcycles riding around in the globe cage), "Bubbas" (horses with trick riders), "doogs" (dogs doing tricks), "baboos" (clowns blowing bubbles), and "cannels on TB" (candles on TV that we pretended to blow out).

At intermission, we had to get some snacks.

Mom and I shared my first snow cone.

And even better, it was in a clown mug.

In the second half, we saw "linens with stripes" (lions with stripes, otherwise known as tigers), "elfants" (elephants), and "danners" (dancers).

It was so fun. Even Dad is already looking forward to next year!

On Dad's Tummy...

...is there a better way to read a book?

The Deck

This summer, Mom and Dad decided to build a deck.

Dad drew out the plans himself, bought all the material...and then decided that was waaay too much work. So they hired someone to build it.

But, Mom and Dad painted and stained the deck themselves. And Dad put in a paver-stone platform at the bottom of the steps. And they did all the landscaping.

So after hours of painting and staining (often in the dark, with flashlights, while I was in bed), digging and mulching and planting...it's done!

BEFORE:

And AFTER:

It turned out pretty cool.

The Garden

Back in March, Mom and Dad planted a bunch of seeds in dirt pellets.

Those grew up pretty well and in May, we planted them in a garden.

The plants EXPLODED over the summer, and now, even in September, we have more tomatoes, peppers, and jalopenos then we can eat.

I really like helping Dad pick the veggies.

I squeeze myself in...

...and love to show off my prize!

It's a pretty big garden!

But I'm not afraid to venture in!

A good day for a car wash

Dad decided it was a good day to wash his truck...

...so I thought it was a pretty good day to wash my car.

Yep, just a couple of guys, washing their rides.

Presents?!?!

Mom and Dad brought me back my first souvenirs!

There was a Lightning McQueen cup!

And a fork and spoon on wheels.

What else is in this bag?

And a placemat.

Too cool!!! I was soooo excited.

I'm still sleeping with the Lightning cup.

Jina and Tim's Big Day!

After more tasty eating in Chicago (this time at Portillo's Italian Steak--Dad's going to open one in Missouri), it was time to head off to the wedding.

The ceremony was a bit late getting going (about 30 minutes late!), but once it got going, it was beautiful. Tim and Jina even had a song in the ceremony written especially for them!

Jina and Tim, after saying "I do"

Then, it was time to head to the party.

Here's Dan, one of Mom's sorority sister's husband's (from Mexico, remember?) posing with the placecard holder...cool, huh?

Then, Mom said they had cocktails and appetizers and waited for the bride and groom.

When they finally got to go into the ballroom, Mom said it was BEAUTIFUL! Floor to ceiling windows that looked out on Chicago, white linen everywhere, and soft candlelight.

Check out their awesome cake (Tim is a drummer)

All Mom's sorority sisters had to pose for a picture...a "party pic"

Dad and Clay thought that was pretty hilarious.

Here's Mom, begging the DJ to play "Shout."

It was on the no play list. The DJ was instructed that even if a little blonde girl claiming to be a doctor came up and requested that song, he still couldn't play it.

And you know what? He stuck to his word.

The guys...isn't that a "party pic?"

And finally, what night would be complete without a visit from Clay's monkey impression?

He's really good.

Mom said it was a lot of fun.

They are already planning an ADPi reunion for next year.

I feel more party pics coming on...

Adventures in Chi-town

Over Labor Day weekend, Mom and Dad headed to Chicago for Mom's college roommate's wedding (remember Jina and Tim? That's them!). I stayed home with Grandma P and had my own fun...click here), so Mom and Dad could live it up like before I was a glimmer in their eyes...

They got into Chicago really early and maneuvered the train to the hotel. Then they hit Michigan Avenue for some shopping (including for me!), stopped in at Giordano's Pizza for lunch, and then headed to Navy Pier for some sightseeing.

Mom talked everyone into a ride on the ferris wheel...

waiting in line...

and worth the view!

Then, just when they thought their sightseeing was complete, a boat came by with a pole attached to the back.

Mom and Dad won't tell me exactly what these girls were doing, but they said the pictures speak for themselves...

Mom thought that was especially impressive.

After all that, Mom and Dad and their friends Andrea, Matt, Debbie, and Clay all went out to dinner. After some drinks with some old friends and the bride and groom at the hotel, it was off to bed to prepare for all the wedding fun the next day...

"Jackisms"

Mom gets to write this entry...

I love on our friends' blogs the stories about funny things their kids do, so I thought I'd try it out and share a few "Jackisms"...

We love to play this game where Jack hides his hands in something (a cup, his car seat) and then he says "uh-oh!" to which I reply, "Oh no! Where are your hands???" I use to then follow it up with "How will you eat? How will you play? How will you color? How will you clap?" However, now Jack has taken over the game and as soon as I say "Oh no!" He follows up with "Eat? Pa-lay? Color? Ca-lap?" Then he makes this hilariously sad face and then a moment later erupts into laughter and pulls out his hands. I laugh every time.

In the last few weeks, Jack's vocabulary has really taken off. He loves to repeat things Aaron and I say. Somehow, he knows which word out of a sentence is the most important too. So this was how a conversation went last Saturday (2 other things to know--#1 I was describing my very trying call night to Aaron in the conversation and #2 Jack LOVES breakfast--we were sitting in the Waffle House parking lot before breakfast)

Mom: "I worked with this baby all night. There just wasn't anything left to do."

Jack: "Left!" (with his hands outstretched like he was shrugging)

Mom: "It was really terrible."

Jack: "Terr-ble."

Mom (crying): "I just don't know how these parents do this!"

Jack: "Do!"

Mom and Dad stop talking and look at Jack...

Jack (after a thoughtful pause): "Pancake!"

That was the end of Mom's tears. It was too funny.

Most people have a variety of 4-letter swear words they use when frustrated: crap, darn, etc. Jack has his own: "E-O-E-O." I think it came from Old MacDonald Had a Farm. It's hilarious to hear him yell that from the other room when he can't get something out of his toybox or can't reach something on his shelf. I think I might start using it too...E-O-E-O!