The joy of little ones

It's been a while since I've had a little one around. I'm talking a really little one, not Preston (although he is still little). Today was my first day watching Gracie, who is 2, and it was a really fun day. She really could not have been any better, especially for a two year old! We played, inside and out, and watched the road crew go by, tearing up the shoulder and laying down asphalt. The tv didn't come on, something I don't think she's used to, but we were enjoying ourselves so much that we didn't need to use the tv to occupy us. She did have a bird poop on her head, but that didn't even phase her! The kids loved having her there after school to play with, and they can't wait until she comes back!

My sister-in-law is still hanging in there with the babies and doing well. In fact, the perinatologist sent her home today, and he had said just a few days ago that she was going to have to stay until the babies were born since she lives 2 hours away. Please continue to pray for them! They are 30 weeks now, and every day/week counts!

Loving OPI

I love OPI nail polish. Yeah, you can go pick up a cheap bottle at Wal-Mart, but in 2 days, it's chipping, while OPI is still going strong a week later. IMO, it's well worth the extra money! Plus, they just seem to have nicer colors. So last night when I saw the ad for their new fall collection- Coleccion De Espana, I was hooked! I've already ordered No Spain No Gain and can't wait for it to come! Others on my list: Can You Tapas This? and Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow. Time to finally retire my hot pink I'm India Mood for Love!

Is it May yet?

School hasn't even been in session for a full week yet, and already, homework is unbearable. And Kate though last year was bad! I am dead serious when I say that she has had 5-7 sheets of homework each day this week. Today, it took her from 2:30 to 7:00 to finish. That's 4 1/2 hours. There were many tense moments, she spent a good deal of time bawling out of frustration, hyperventilating, just flat out panicking. Nothing I said calmed her. This is really a big deal for her. Part of what took so long is that she wanted my "help", i.e. wanted me to tell her the answers, which I wouldn't do. I gave her hints, but made her figure out the answers on her own. She just would not try. I'd say, "Kate, read this paragraph and see what it says." She'd read it, "It doesn't say anything about a census," when the answer was word for word. Arrrrgh! I don't know how much more of this we can take!

And when I picked Preston up from school today, he walks up to me and immediately I notice that his cheek is bright red and swollen. He had a run-in with another girl on the playground while running, and he smacked his cheek on her. He's got a pretty nice black eye as well. I will be extremely surprised if he makes it all year without an ER trip resulting from a school accident. The first day, he fell and bruised his ribs. Another day he got "slide burn" and it took the skin off his knee. Then today, he comes home with a black eye. I don't even want to think of what's next.

Add that on top of the fact that my ear has been getting increasingly more painful each day since Monday. I am so glad I'm getting my tube next week. I can only pray that it works wonders for me like it did for Preston. I'm just sick of my ears. Preston offered a sollution the other day- just cut them off and they won't hurt anymore. If it were that easy, he wouldn't have any ears, either!

So what have I been up to?

UPDATE: Jess and the babies are still holding tight, and we're all thankful for that! Jess will remain in the hospital, though, until they do come. Hopefully they can wait a few more weeks. That will be a LONG stay for Jess, and being 2 hours away from everyone will probably be rough on her. Please continue to pray for her, Abigail, and Isabela!

OK. So what have I been up to with all of this free time that I have now that both kids are in school? Actually, I've been pretty busy and have gotten a lot done! I've hemmed, washed, and iron curtains, cleaned windows, cleared out toys to go in the attic, and lots of other stuff! I don't even sit down or turn on the tv until lunch. It's just too quiet without the kids talking to me! Right now, I'm running on the excitement of accomplishing my to-do list, and really haven't had much time to relax. I'm still going strong all day and then resting after the kids are in bed. I'm sure once I dwindle down my list, I'll get bored and sit. That is, until I find some other grand scheme- like re-doing the sunroom. ;)

Seriously, though, I do miss having the kids home, but it's really opened up a new norm for us. Now, I have all day to get housework done, prep dinner, whatever, and give them 100% of my attention when they're home. That's opposed to doing a bit here and there while they would play by themselves. I'm more relaxed. We all are, really.

Please pray

My sister-in-law, Jessica, who is 29 weeks pregnant with twins, went into labor yesterday. Despite mag sulfate, they were unable to stop contractions last night and they airlifted her to Carle hospital in Champaign so that the girls will be able to go to the NICU if they arrive now. I haven't heard an update this morning. Last night, she wasn't dilated, but the contractions were coming regularly. PLEASE pray that these little girls stay put for a few more weeks. They're still way too early to be born.

New phone

Mr. Fed-Ex delivered my new phone today. Christopher picked it out, and all I had seen was a picture online, so I really didn't know what to expect. It's an LG Vu. So far, I like it. The touch screen is taking some time to get used to, but considering I haven't really played around with it yet, I'm sure it will be easier.

Poor Mr. P didn't have a very good first full day of kindergarten. He was quite ticked when I picked him up. He was upset because all the other kids got to eat M&M's at snack time, and he didn't get to eat his Skittles. Then later on, he tells us that he got in trouble at school. He swears he has no idea why, so I have to talk to Mrs. T tomorrow to make sure he knows so that it doesn't happen again. Poor guy. I hate to see him not enjoying school. I know it's a huge adjustment. He had a similar incident his first year of preschool and got in trouble a few times, but once school was more routine, he was fine. I'm sure that's what's going on now. At least I hope...

Kate had a really good day, and I'm glad to see her really enjoying her new school and teacher. She had been worrying all summer long, and now she's starting to realize that she'd worried for nothing. Let's hope the rest of the year goes just as well!

Clean it up, clean it up

Bright and early at 8:30 Saturday morning, Keith arrived with his small tractor and the flatbed trailer to help us clean up the yard. It was a massive effort and surprisingly, it was completed in one day! It did take the entire day, though, and we had plenty of help. Three extremely overloaded trailer loads full of branches later, the yard was clear.
At one point, we had Keith (on the tractor), my dad, Christopher, and my grandpa all helping out. The kids pitched in, too (well, Preston did), and took wheelbarrow loads of sticks and threw them on the trailer.

Since we can't do anything without a little excitement, this was no surprise! Christopher was standing in the bucket of the tractor trying to get a caught limb out of the sycamore so that it wouldn't fall later on. We also caught Keith up a tree, but didn't get a picture of that! They're like a bunch of kids! Thanks to everyone for their help! Our yard is now all back to normal! The fence is repaired, and no damage to the house. We are extremely fortunate that we survived with very little damage (other than the tree issues, that is).

First day of school

Just look at these two, all ready for school! Our little first-day tradition is to take a picture before school. Preston was all up for photos and I got a ton of different poses from him. Kate wasn't too into the idea. You know, because she's in jr. high now, and posing for pictures on the first day just isn't cool anymore. Seriously, where have the past 5 years gone? I remember taking her to kindergarten!

Preston's first day was just a meet and greet deal. We went in and "met" Mr.s Tedrick- we already know her very well! Preston had a great time playing with all the toys and was excited to see some familiar preschool friends in his class- Gweneth, Emalie, and Macie. No boys, but he and Macie played a lot last year. We ventured out to check out the playground, and had an incident. He fell off the moneky bars. And this wasn't just a straight down fall, he fell FLAT on his chest. I have seriously, NEVER heard a thud like that, and I hope to never again. I was certain he was seriously injured, but once he stopped screaming bloody murder, I was able to see that he escaped major injury. His knee was scraped up, and later on, we saw that his ribs are bruised from falling flat on the rocks. He now knows to stay far away from the monkey bars, something he firmly agrees with! He doesn't want a repeat!

Kate had a good day, too, even though she had to stay until 11:45. To her, this was way too long! Her friend Bailey is in her class, but her other friends have different teachers this year (they we all together last year). She's a little disappointed about it, but she's just fine.

Both kiddos said that their first day was great, something I was surprised to hear Preston say! Tomorrow is their first full day. I'm going to cry. I just know it. I bawled like a baby the entire morning of Preston's graduation. I expect nothing different for tomorrow. I have no clue what I'll do with my free time. Wow. Free time. It's been a LONG time!

Storm damage

After I posted last night, it continued to be a stormy night. Power went off again around 10:45 for an unknown reason, but luckily came back on 45 minutes later. I was woken up around 2:30 to the sound of thunder and pouring rain. It woke Preston, too, so after I got him settled, I had to go check and make sure there wasn't water rushing in under the door again (there wasn't). I decided to sit and watch tv while I waited for the storm to pass before heading back to bed. In all, 4 inches of rain fell yesterday.
Once we were up and ready, we headed out back to see the damage. This is what part of our backyard looks. The storm snapped the tops off of our trees and flung them over 30 feet. Mind boggling. Christopher called to say that there was in fact a tornado that went over our area but didn't touch down, so that may be what really tore into our yard.

This nice branch is responsible for taking out of fence. See the tree beside it? Use that as a reference as to how huge that fallen branch actually is.

And here's our broken fence. Luckily, it is repairable, fairly easily, so it should be OK. I tried to get a hold of our insurance co. today, and they're closed on Thursday- go figure. Keith brought over the chain saws, and is bringing the flatbed trailer tomorrow so that we can start clean-up Saturday. Luckily it's only supposed to be 78, so we won't have sweltering heat to deal with while we work.

We had a barrage of non-stop visitors this afternoon, all coming over to survey the damage first-hand. As soon as one left, another pulled in! So we were busy! We really didn't do too much on our last day of summer break. I wish we had, but it was too cool to swim, and we couldn't think of anything else. Tomorrow is the big day! Getting up at 6:30 after sleeping in all summer is going to be rough- probably the hardest part. Preston just has a meet and greet day, so I don't officially leave him until Monday, thank goodness! I'm looking forward to a few hours of just he and I while Kate is at school tomorrow. I'm really going to miss my baby.

Stormy night

Around here, when it rains, it doesn't just pour, it STORMS! Holy cow! I've got some doozy pictures to show you tomorrow, as soon as we venture out tomorrow to take them!

It started storming right after the kids left with Dee. Christopher went to get in the shower and I warned him, "You're not supposed to take a shower during a thunderstorm." Within a few minutes, it was blowing so hard that I couldn't see anything but leaves being plastered against the bay window, and the wind was roaring like a freight train. The tornado sirens weren't going off, but I should've been in the basement. I ran up to tell Christopher that it was really bad out, and within seconds, the power was out. He got out and we looked outside. OH MY WORD... The huge sycamore outside looked as if it had been shredded. Branches over 6 inches in diameter were thrown clear across the yard. Part of one tree fell and knocked out part of our fence. You'll just have to wait to see the pics. Speechless. I'm almost certain that a tornado passed over. I'm anxious to hear reports. Luckily, our power came back on a little over 2 hours later, but the neighbors across the street are still without. And remember this? Yep, it happened again (you'd think we'd be on top of it this time...). Actually, we caught the pump in time and bailed water, but the drain outside plugged up and water was coming under the basement door faster than we could sop it up. Luckily we got it taken care of in time!

Aside from the nasty weather, we had a pretty good day. We spent the day up in Ramsey with Granny and Pa. Lots of fishing, jumping, frog catching, junk eating, and row boating. It was a nice, relaxing day. I'm really going to miss just being able to go and do what we want, when we want with school starting. I can't believe tomorrow is the last day. SO SAD. We'll have to find something to do... the backyard is way too dangerous with all of those massive branches.

Feeling better

After last night's ranting post (which you may now notice I deleted), I took a shower, calmed down, and went to bed. Today was better. It's nice to clear your head.

I called and scheduled my tube placement. Christopher finally gave up on trying to get me to go to Wash. U., and told me to call Dr. S. I go in September 4. I could've gotten in sooner in Mattoon, but I opted for Effingham. Truthfully, I"m terrified. That was a main factor in why I chose Effingham- it gave me more time to process the whole situation rather than doing it next week. I know I will be OK. I've given birth twice, without medication, surely this can't be that bad... Or maybe it will be...

Last weekend

This was our last official weekend of summer break, and we kept pretty busy. We ran into Grandma and Ashley at Wal-Mart Friday and they invited us out to the lake where they were camping to go for a boat ride. I was a little undecided whether or not to go because Preston isn't too fond of boats, and I didn't want to just go and sit around in the heat while they rode the boat. So I told Preston that we'd go, only if he'd get on the boat. We went, and what do you know? He got ON the boat! Hallelujah! We hadn't been able to get him on a boat since he was 1 when we were in Florida, so this was a big accomplishment! Yeah!
Preston enjoyed the boat so much that we took them up on their invitation to come back Saturday afternoon. You can tell he really was enjoying himself!

Kaitlyn loves to go tubing, so she spent a lot of time on the tube with Ashley. The weather was perfect, and the lake was warm, so she had a great time! It's hard to tell, but she's the one with the orange hat.

This afternoon was Jessica's baby shower. She got so many cute things! I hadn't seen her in a month, and she's really gotten big! Her dr. is hoping she'll be able to make it 6 more weeks, which will put her at 34 weeks. Preston thinks they'll be born the day after his birthday because every new baby's birthday has been falling the day after someone else's birthday! So we'll see if she can make it to September 27!

This last week of summer break is going to be bittersweet. I'm not looking forward to leaving my baby. Friday is just a look and leave day for kindergarten, so we'll have a few hours to ourselves afterward to spend together one last time. I hope we can make this last week memorable.

Check!

School supplies- check! Backpacks- check! School starts next Friday, and we're almost 100% prepared. Preston still has his dental exam Tuesday, but other than that, everything is in order.
This is Kate's backpack. Well, not really, because hers is tie dyed, pink and monogrammed, but they sold out of the tie dye, so this was the closest example. It's cute! It came from Lands End.

And here's Preston's. I saw it and knew right away that it was the backpack for him! I'm glad he agreed! His says Preston instead of Jack (of course). He also has the matching monogrammed lunch box. With his allergies, it's very important for everything of his to have his name on it, especially the lunch box, that way there's no confusion! His came from Pottery Barn Kids.

We've got a very busy weekend ahead of us! This Sunday is my sister-in-law, Jessica's baby shower, and we're all pretty excited! I've never been to a twin shower before! I volunteered to bake cookies that will be monogrammed with Abigail and Isabela's initials, so that will keep me busy! I still haven't made up the dough, and I was wanting to have them baked today! That's on my list of must-dos for tomorrow. I also have to make punch. On top of that, right after the shower, Granny is having Diana's birthday dinner. Phew! Our last weekend of summer break. How in the world did it go by so fast?

Why you always pick up your toys

The kids found a set of jacks today that they'd forgotten they had, and got them out to play. Unfortunately, they didn't get picked up, despite being told that we'd go swimming as soon as they picked up their toys. So what happens? Preston steps on one, and it goes into his foot. OUCH! That was the end of the jacks, and the end of swimming today. It wasn't deep, but it did break the skin, so I plastered it with triple antibiotic cream, put a bandaid on it, and wrapped his foot in a bandage to keep the bandaid on. He screamed for a while, then whined, and about an hour later, he had forgotten about it, so I'd say that he's OK. I did take a picture, but I'm just not up to uploading it. Sorry!

I got the kids registered for school today. I took them up to Granny's so that it would be easier for me at registration. That proved to be such a great decision! It was by far, the least amount of time I've ever spent, and this year I had both to register! Kate got Mrs. Kelly for her teacher. Preston got Mrs. Tedrick. We are beyond thrilled with this! Kate had her for kindergarten, and she was awesome! She still says she was her favorite teacher! Most of you also know that we are living in Mrs. Tedrick's husband's childhood home. We bought it from them almost 2 years ago and have gotten to know them and their family quite well. They are such wonderful people! So hopefully this will be a fun and exciting year! Preston is also quite excited about having Mrs. Tedrick, and this is the first time he's shown any excitement about school! His medica alert necklace also came today, so he's set. He really likes it and says he's going to show everyone!

Busy weekend

Bright and early Saturday morning, we left for Fairview to go school shopping. We got a surprise and Grandma Lou went along, so it was a fun day, and for once, we made record time, and were back by 4:45! We're usually not home until 7:00! The kids are now stocked up with fall clothes thanks to Justice's 40% off sale, and Gymboree's 40% off sale, which I also sweetened with a 20% off coupon. Nice! I was also able to finish up shopping for Jessica's shower which is this Sunday. It was so much fun picking out 2 little outfits instead of just one! I can't wait to meet my little nieces!!! I have so bake 3 dozen cookies and make punch for the shower, plus pick up the 2 cakes, so there's a lot to do this week.

While the girls (plus Preston) shopped, Christopher and his dad sealed our driveway. It looks so good! They did end up running out and had to go buy more, so you can see where they stopped and started again, but still, it looks nice! Of course, the day we seal it, that's the day that all the neighborhood dogs come down and run across the newly sealed driveway. Any other day, you never see them! We all went to Los Amigos after we got home for Grandma Neva's birthday. It was a lot of fun!

Tomorrow is school registration. Yikes. School starts next Friday, and I am so NOT ready! Well, maybe I'm ready a little because Kate has been home too long, and it's to the point where all they do is fight, and it's starting to wear on my nerves! I'm excited to see who their teachers will be.

Should I admit that I was almost hit by a truck today? I walked right out in front of it at Wal-Mart because I didn't hear it. Yes, I should've been looking, too, but... Proof positive that I really need to get my ear fixed.

Today

No creative title today. I have a splitting headache. I think I'll take a nice long bath after I post. Not much energy for anything else, especially when we're leaving at 8:30 to go shopping tomorrow...

I had my appt. with Dr. S. today and it went very well. I was terrified that I had a cholesteatoma (internet research can be so bad), but it turns out that I do not! I do have a eustachian tube disorder- basically they don't work properly and my ears don't drain. After telling him about the past 7 months, he said, "How would you feel about letting me slip a tube in there?" I was a little surprised! He looked in my ears after that and said my right eardrum is very thick and scarred from past infections, but he didn't think it would affect my hearing. We discussed a tube (just in the right ear) and he said in my case, it would only be temporary, and when it fell out, I'd be right where I am now. So now I'm supposed to try a nasal spray to see if it will do anything. I don't think it will since I know this isn't allergy/sinus related. So I wait. When I think it's time, I just let him know, and I'll get a tube- in office. Fun...

Off to my bath.

Up for a challenge?

Yesterday, I put the kids up to a challenge- to make it the rest of summer break with no tv or video games. Amazingly, they didn't really fuss about it! So today, not once did either of them attempt to turn the tv on! I was very surprised! Granted, it does come with it's drawbacks. Instead of snuggling with Preston first thing in the morning while he watched a show, we played Skip-Bo at 7:15, as soon as I was out of bed. I am NOT a morning person, so playing cards that early was a struggle. Maybe tomorrow he'll snuggle.

Tomorrow is my ENT appointment. I'm nervous. Scared. I just want to know why my ear has been giving me so much trouble. Please pray that my appointment goes well! I did get Annette and the girls to watch the kids, so at least I will be able to pay attention, epecially if they do a hearing test. We've never had a quiet visit with Dr. S. I'm not sure he'll know what to think!

To do

I've had many people ask me what I'm going to do with myself once school starts and I have all that time to myself. I think at first, I'll be too lost to really know what to do. Seriously. I've had my "little helper" (and he really is a great helper) with me for just short of 6 years. Of course I'm going to be lost! That will take some getting used to. I'm also going to be watching Gracie one day a week, so she'll keep me on my toes, for sure! I hope at some point to do some volunteer work. Not sure what exactly, though I've been wanting to do meals on wheels for some time, and regret that I didn't start that while I had Preston to help me. But I do have a big list of things I really need to do because they've been neglected...

1. Paint the front fence (I started it in May of 08...)
2. Organize and de-clutter the entire house.
3. Have another garage sale to get rid of said clutter.
4. Get up to date on the scrapbooks (Kate's, Preston's, vacation, old house, new house)
5. Organize unscrapped photos.
6. Frame new photos.
7. Finish crocheting the blanket I started in January.
8. Paint laundry room cabinets/ laundryroom make-over.
9. Make curtains for sunroom.

I'd say this should keep me pretty busy. I also have Preston's birthday party next month, and so far, all I have is a theme and menu. That alone will occupy a lot of time!

He survived

Preston had his shots today. All I can say is, that it was much more traumatic than either of his surgeries. I won't go into details, but it was not pretty, and I HATED putting him through that. You'd think with all the medical advances, they'd come up with an easier and better way to do that without putting kids through pain. Nope! It's not really any different than when ol' Jonas Saulk (or was it Pastuer?) came up with the smallpox vaccine. UGH! But no reactions, so that's an answered prayer. He's been in considerable pain all day, and it's been painful to walk, so I can't help but feel really bad for my boy.

I had Dee look in his ear today since he'd been complaining about it hurting. Coincidentally, it was the same ear that was so swollen yesterday- and still today- so I didn't know if the pain was from the infection, or the swelling. Looks like the ear still has some infection. Dee suggested we go back on the drops, and we did, but I still don't feel 100% that that's the sollution. At the same time, I really don't want to start him on the Biaxin in case it does clear up. Plus, he was just on Zithromax last month after his surgery when he developed bronchitis. I need to call Dr. S., but I feel like such a pest doing so. I wish I'd called today.

Speaking of Dr. S., Friday is my turn to see him. Mixed emotions, for sure. On one hand, I'm looking forward to seeing what he has to say about my ears- which are still giving me trouble (the right one, anyway). But on the other, I'm terrified of what he'll say. If he says I need tubes, I know it's the right decision, but surgery scares me. All I know is that it's been a long time since my right ear has felt "normal," or at least compared to my left, and it's driving me nuts.

My new obsession

Maybe it's not really an obsession, but it certainly is fun! I'm talking about Etsy. I've been going crazy and having fun finding all sorts of super-cute things for my 2 nieces-to-be. Jessica's shower is next weekend, and I'm so excited! I really want to start selling some stuff on Etsy. I love making crafty things, and I could so do that! Mom is wanting me to set her up an Etsy account so she can sell her jewelry. FUN!!!

Recycling Day

Today was recycling day at our house. We hadn't been since early June, and all of our containers were overflowing. Since we live in the middle of nowhere, we have to drive to recycle. We take our paper to Fairview, and drive to Coffeen to recycle plastic and steel. The kids weren't too thrilled to go, because they hate the 20 minute drive, but it was getting ready to rain, so we headed out. Got all of that dropped off and start to get into the car. As I was getting Preston buckled in, I noticed that his ear was really red. I look, and it's swollen. VERY swollen.
Not only was his ear swollen to the width of my finger, but it was also protruding away from his head. The culprit- a mosquito. Poor kid swells up like crazy when they bite. A few weeks ago it looked like someone put a chicken egg under the skin on his arm because it was that swollen!

This was taken after his bath and he wasn't in the mood for a picture thanks to the Benadryl. But look how far it's sticking out from his head! It's usually as nice and flat as the other! Poor guy! He says it doesn't hurt, but it does itch. Today was his first day off the Floxin drops from his infection last week, and now he says it hurts again on the inside, but it could be that his ear canal is swollen as well. I'm going to have Dee look in it tomorrow morning when we go for his shots. Let me tell you, I am NOT looking forward to that! Luckily, it's only 2, but with a severely allergic child, 2 is still way too many. Please pray for him!

Back to recycling... since we were in a recycling kick, I decided to finally take the trashcan full of aluminum cans to the place in town that pays for them. It's a scary place. Christopher joked that you'd get tetanus just walking in the place. Yeah, it was that bad! So we load the cans and go. A guy runs up and says, "We don't have any more money." I ask when he'll have more and he says around 1:30, so we go back a little later. We go back, get the kids out, unload the trash can, and walk through the gate. Here I am, amidst a mountain of scrap big enough that it had several cars in it, which the kids got all excited over. I"m sure the guy driving the forklift, smoking his cigarette, thought I was a little priss. I'm sure he doesn't get too many women walking in wearing Ann Taylor Loft and cute flip flops, dodging every piece of metal lying haphazardly on the ground. He weighs our cans, goes inside and comes back out with $3.60! A year's worth of soda cans and all we got was $3.60! So we went to the DQ with our new-found money. We left laughing, as we all doused our hands with Germ-X, and hope that we won't have to go back to the junk yard until next year!

A little bit of magic!

Granny had been wanting to go to the Magic House in St. Louis for a long time, and now that she's retired, she has plenty of time. Of course, no trip to St. Louis with Granny is ever uneventful. The last time, we nearly didn't make it alive, and then on the way back, we went the wrong way down a one-way street, passed a cop in doing so, and headed way west before we realized we were headed in the opposite direction. This time, a fuse in Pa's van blew and we had no dashboard guages. No gas, spedometer, engine temp, turn signals, nothing. We tried to get to Pa, but he'd already left for Ramsey. Went to FS and they sent us to Hosick's. They put in a new fuse, which blew before we even left their parking lot. So off we went to St. Louis with no spedometer, praying we didn't get pulled over!

Our first stop wasn't the Magic House, but Lambert International airport to pick up Aunt Sharon. Preston and I spied her first while riding the escalators, so we took her to everyone else. After picking her up, we all went to the Magi House. It was a lot of fun, and the kids enjoyed it. Right before we left, we went to the outdoor part where they had a wading area with little boats to pull. Of course, my son sat in the water, and was soaked to the bone. I really wish I'd taken a picture of that one!
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. The replica of the Oval Office was neat- or at least I thought so. The kids did actually like it, too. Doesn't Kate look official? My little Republican hard at work making a very important phone call

The kids really liked the bubble area, complete with this neat contraption that let you see what it was like to be in a bubble!

This was probably their favorite thing of all (expect for the wading area...). It was a big electrostatic ball that made your hair stand on end. Kate wouldn't shake her head, or her hair would've been standing out much more, but Preston's shot right up!

All in all, we had a pretty fun day! We didn't get pulled over, and we survived St. Louis traffic with no turn signals, so I guess that's a huge plus! We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the day, but it was worth it!