Let's Go Royals!

We spent Father's Day weekend in St. Louis with some good friends. They just happen to be big Cardinals fans and the Cards were playing the Royals, so it was on. The kids had a lot of fun teasing each other about the game, and in the end, the Cardinals won. Maybe next year....

I've been waiting to do this post because most of the pictures we took are on our phones, but here's a few anyway:

A little bit of blue in the sea of red.



The cutest Royals fan at the game!



Waiting outside the stadium. I must brag on the Cardinals organization for a minute; a friend at Jason's work told him that military can get standing room only tickets for free. We were super excited for free tickets, but were completely shocked when they handed us the tickets and they were actually seats. Good seats. What a great way to give back Cards!



It was Sunday Funday, which meant free popcicles for kids and lots of fun activities before the game. Here's Jaxon and friend, Ali, under the "Arch". Just before the picture, they got to knock the arch down and then help build it back up. See the little guy to the right of the picture sneaking up? In about 5 seconds he's going to knock the arch down on top of Ali and Jax!



Ali and Jax waiting for the game to start!



Our little Royals family!



The whole group waiting for the game to start.


We actually got to the game early enough to watch the Royals take batting practice! They threw some balls up to us and each of my kiddos got to take one home. Their daddy still has never gotten a MLB ball to date. Don't bring it up to him anytime soon!

Special Visitors

Some good friends were headed up to Chicago for a week and stopped in to say hi! We were so excited to have Ryan and Karissa stay with us this past Monday night. Our kids fell in love with them and had them wrapped around their fingers within minutes. Jaxon kept saying, "Kwrissa and Ryan - come downstairs and play. Mom - send Kwrissa and Ryan downstairs to play with me ok?" They were so sweet to give them their time and attention!

We are praying for our sweet friends who received some grave news regarding Ryan's dad just after leaving our home Tuesday. Thanks for the visit and stop in anytime you are nearby! That goes for anyone! If you are planning a trip to Chicago (or anywhere near), please let us know. We LOVE visitors!


Ryan spoiled the kids by literally flying them around the house on their airplane.

Our Cute Kids

I just had a small collection of photos and videos that I needed to share, so here ya go:



At church on Sunday night, we had no sermon, just a concert by our church orchestra. Jaxon LOVES music and as soon as the concert started, he grabbed some pens out of the pew in front of him and started using them as drum sticks. He told us he was a drummer man. He was also singing along, as you can tell in the photo. He put on quite a show for the people seated behind us.



I rounded the corner the other day and found this! Sissy had climbed on to a toy, then on to a chair, then up on to the table. She was so proud of herself. I was in another room when she did it, but came looking for her because I could hear her clapping and saying, "Good Girl! Good Girl!" I figured I better come see what she was so proud of herself for. What a stinker.





A quick video of Jaxon playing with a remote control car around Sissy:




The kids seeing Daddy on the computer during one of his trips:





Dakota dancing at an outdoor Christian concert at ROC:




Jaxon and his friend, Ali, dancing at the concert:

Memaw Visits

Memaw came up to visit and watch Jaxon play T Ball. We haven't been able to venture out with the majority of her visits up here, so we decided to try and pack the weekend with as much activity as possible.




WILDLIFE PRAIRIE PARK


We went to the Wildlife Prairie Park and spent a hot afternoon walking the trails looking at the animals, but not before riding the train of course.


All Aboard!



Memaw and our two cuties ready for the train ride.


Look at that little train conductor.


58 foot sliding board.



Here comes my cutie!


And there's my biggest kid.



Another cute train conductor.



We found a great playground in the middle of the park. There wasn't much shade, so we didn't last long, but Jaxon enjoyed swinging and sliding. Sis slept the whole time we played at the park.


My cutie swinging on the tire swing.


And my biggest kid.




My boys looking for the bobcat.






T BALL











CHERRY FESTIVAL IN WASHINGTON, IL

We drove a short 20 minutes to Washington, IL to check out the Cherry Festival. There were a few arts/crafts vendors, some carnival rides and food and games cherry related. We all dined on some delicious Cherry Tacos.

Peoria Zoo

Jason had a four-day weekend over Memorial Day and we didn't do much Fri-Sun. By Monday, I had serious cabin fever, so we ventured in to Peoria and spent an afternoon at the Peoria Zoo. It's not the greatest, most unbelievable zoo in the world, but it's a nice, small, community zoo. And it is the perfect amount of entertainment on a day with nothing to do. Besides, I'm kind of glad it's not a huge zoo, those zoos take all day to walk through. It's nice to go up there for just a few hours.

Meerkat! Dakota was laughing so hard at these little guys running around.





Jax climbed the rock wall (with a little assistance).



Jason and I watched the giraffes for quite awhile. They are just an amazing animal to observe. Seeing them spread their legs to bend down to reach the ground was so interesting.



Cheetos!!




Feeding the donkey in the petting zoo section.

Technology Rocks!

We are so unbelievably lucky to live in 2011 and have the technological luxuries we do. Here's a simple example of my kids getting to see and talk to a few of their cousins back in Kansas. Seeing and hearing grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends on the computer help make the distance seem so much less than it is. And we recently bought a small laptop for Jason to travel with, so now the kids get to see their daddy when he's on a long trip!