a mini-trip

Back in September (I'm still catching up!) we met my parents in St. Louis for a quick weekend trip.  Rowan's immune system apparently sensed a fun trip away and she got pretty ill on the Friday we were supposed to go.  We waited it out, and were able to meet up with my parents the next morning, where she was back to her own cheeky self.

Although we've lived an hour and a half away from St. Louis for over 2 years now, we've never done the touristy stuff with my parents!  We all decided an Anheuser-Busch tour was in order.   So a brewery tour might seem strange for an outing with kiddos.  But the littles loved seeing the stables and the Clydesdales.  And the grownups all loved the free beer!  Win win.  We also went to the arch and took the tiny little capsule elevators to the top to enjoy a perfect-day view.  

And we took them to our favorite place in St. Louis, the botanic gardens!  I can't get enough of the gardens, and we literally stayed until closing.  Pretty sure my parents loved it, too.

 But really, those fish mouths?  Hilarious and only slightly creepy.

It was a perfect little trip away, or almost perfect!  We could have used a couple more days.  But isn't that always the case?

favorite places

 While the kiddos and I were back home we visited one of my favorite childhood places.  It's a farm and settlement from the early 1800s.  It's a beautiful place frozen in time, and up until just a few years ago, it was still a working farm.  I always try squeezing in a trip there when we're back home to enjoy it and feel like I'm reliving a part of my childhood again.

And it's one of those places that doesn't tarnish from memory.  It really is just the same as my child's mind remembers it.

 What I didn't remember was that some summers the mosquitos are ridiculous.  And so my littles didn't find it *quite* so magical, maybe.

Here's hoping for a trip back in the Fall when the colors are glorious, the mosquitos are gone, and these grumpy face turn upside down!

back home again

So I took a very long break from blogging.  I didn't even think about it.  But then I realized I have no idea what's going on with my favorite bloggers, too, and I miss you guys.  So I'll be catching up here and there this week.  But it was good to unplug a little.  Not counting Instagram because that's pretty much an addiction at this point.  

The littles and I had a trip back to my hometown planned since the summer is Brian's busy time at work.  We were planning on staying a couple of weeks, lounging on the beach, and seeing lots of friends and family.  And we did all that!  But a few days before we had planned on leaving, my grandmother passed away.  So Brian took off from work, and helped me throw luggage in the car, and we caravanned it up together.  He took the kiddos to his parent's house and my parents and I headed to North Carolina for my Grandmother's memorial service.  It was a bit of a whirlwind, and although it was a sad reason to be there, it was so good seeing Uncles, Aunts, and cousins- some that I hadn't seen in decades.  

 When I got back, Brian was already on his way back to Missouri.  So the littles and I resumed our trip as planned.  We had cousin time, grandparent time, friend time, and a load of beach time.  My parent's home is just down the road from the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.  We spent more time at the beach than anywhere else, and it was lovely.  All these pictures are from one evening, since I didn't want to drag my camera bag every time we went.

 Can you see Chicago there in the pink light?  I love looking across the edge of Lake Michigan and seeing that skyline.  We took the train in one day and did the Field Museum, which is a wonderful natural history museum.  I HIGHLY recommend it for families with kiddos older than 3.

 On this particular night, we weren't planning on getting into the water since we had been to the beach earlier in the day.  We had planned on watching the sun sink, and then head home.  But my kids are water babies.  So shirts were stripped, and pants were soaked, and we all loved it.

 It started on a such a sad note, but this trip turned out to be so good for my soul.  I saw many old friends, a few dear friends, and I got lots of extra time with a best friend that came all the way from Colorado!  My parents were wonderful as usual, letting us run rampant through their home (while it's being remodeled!) with my friends and their littles.  And every time I go back "home" to Indiana and Chicago, I realize just how lucky I was to  have grown up in such a magical place.

So what have you all been up to this July?  I'm going to go catch up and find out!

treehouse living

This past weekend we packed our car to the gills with food, blankets, and books and took off for a treehouse in the woods!  We met our friends, Lacy and Dan, and their sweet baby at the campsite, which was heaven on earth for our kiddos.  There was of course the treehouse we stayed in, a big pool, a little lake with paddle boats, and tons of nature to dig around in.  And I was in heaven because there was air conditioning, hard cider, great conversation with friends, and a good book to read.

It was hot and humid, but it didn't matter.  There were cold drinks and a cool place to sleep at night.  All the time in and on the water really wore the kiddos out, and so there was a lot of rest time in Dan and Lacy's hammock, and Rowan even put herself down for a nap when she got sleepy.

The treehouse was actually built on a steep hill, so it wasn't in a tree.  We could walk straight onto the deck from a dirt path, but when we walked around the deck to the back, there was a long drop down to the ground.  We really were among the trees out on our little deck!  And our friend's treehouse was right in conversation distance from our deck.

We had a few cooking mishaps including blackened pizza crust one night, and forgetting about the oil bubbling on the fire.  So an oil fire gets really exciting in the woods!  Once the fire died down, Brian took the dutch oven off the fire, opened the lid, and a yellow cloud of smoke floated up from a now empty pot.  A quick trip into town for cooking oil and we were back in donut-making business.  Which are necessary for a successful camping trip, if you weren't aware.  

The little cried when we had to leave, and announced wishes to live in a treehouse all the time.  I may have fallen in love with the idea, too.

onondaga caves

I looked up from stitching for about 24 hours while my good friend, Kelly, and her son, Alex, came for a visit! Alex is the same age as Rowan, and although we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, we manage to get together with the kiddos at least once a year.  And our husbands take all the kids on a camping trip in the summer, while the mamas get an entire weekend to ourselves.  Which is a highlight of the summer for me!  I'm sure it is for Kelly, too.  But this visit will be a highlight of this summer, for certain, even though it was a quick one.

Missouri has a massive amount of caves, and there are quite a few around us.  We hadn't checked out the Onondaga Caves yet, so we thought that would be a fun little day trip with the littles.  It really was pretty great.  The caves were massively majestic, and the hour and a half walking tour was just the right amount of time for the kids.  I was really pleasantly surprised at how they listened to the tour guide, and asked questions.  And despite the tour guide sharply barking at me, "Don't touch the stalactite!" I really enjoyed the caves, too!  For the record, I was NOT touching the stalactite.  And although Rowan touched a couple before I could stop her, she never had the tour guide yell at her.  Not fair.

Kelly took all these pictures, and let me steal her sd card after our little cave trip.

Thank you so much, Kelly, for the great pictures, and the great visit!  Time with friends is just so good for the soul.

mini getaway

 Back in February, Brian and I had a weekend away planned for my birthday.  We had planned for a B&B stay in the Missouri wine country.  Which is certainly less inspiring than California wine country, but suitably close and convenient.  And if you know me at all, you know my favorite type of wine is suitably close and convenient!  But Rowan came down with a viral rash and was just feeling pretty yuck, so we postponed.  And it was probably a good idea since things look a bit more green and floral this time of year.

 The grounds of the wineries were lovelier than I expected, and the tours of the cellars was downright delightful.  At the risk of shocking you, my favorite part was the actual tasting.  Which is why I don't have any pictures of that part, besides a quick selfie from my phone.

 The cellars were covered in black spots where portabella mushrooms were grown in lieu of casks of wine during prohibition.

 The town was quaint and pretty, but it also felt empty, which was surprising for Memorial Day weekend.  But we enjoyed the quiet away from the kiddos for a couple of days.  Brian still managed to make friends everywhere we went, despite the thin crowds.  He's such a social guy, and is so friendly and curious about other people, while I tend to take a while to warm up to others.  He balances me out so well, and getting away together was a great reminder of just how much I need him around.

 We ate good food, drank decent wine, and reconnected on our quick trip away.  You can't really ask for more on a weekend trip.  Brian even found a dog or two to love on.

If you ever find yourself in the middle of Missouri, Hermann is a great little German town just to the west of St. Louis.  But if you're listening, Army, a duty station near Napa wouldn't go unappreciated.  Just saying.