{ adventures in St. Louie }

After having fun with family at a wedding in St. Louis, the boys, my mom & I extended our stay to have a little fun - kids style.  We had a blast hanging out with Aunt Cass & Uncle Scott and taking day trips to both The Magic House and the St. Louis Zoo.  They boys just couldn't get enough of all the neat things to do and all of the animals to see and touch.  Needless to say, they both came home completely happy and exhausted from all the fun!  

{ start of summer fun }

Last week we kicked off our official summer by taking a mini-vacation to St. Louis to attend a fun family wedding, hang out with Aunt Cass & Uncle Scott and take the kids to the St. Louis Zoo and Magic House.  It was such a great, fun-filled trip!  Here's a sneak peek of our adventures in STL.

DOING CARTWHEELS

I have been in a major blog funk lately. I have lots & lots of things that I could blog about (including hundreds of vacation pics), but I have been seriously distracted by all of the disorganization in my house (my closet, the boy's rooms, my office space, my filing boxes, my black hole storage room) and have decided to tackle just a little bit so it won't drive me completely insane. I definitely have the Spring Cleaning bug!

Anyways, back to our vacation pics. J & I took a day trip with the boys to a picturesque beach community called Watercolor. This ultra-cute community had everything you ever dream of...modern, coastal cottages that all had wrap-around porches, amazing hiking trails, top-of-the line tennis center & pool house, kids fishing pond, communal BoatHouse, cute green squares, a full-time "Camp Watercolor" for kids...the list goes on & on. Everyone was smiling & happy and we couldn't help but get sucked into its essence and want to immediately move there. These pics are of us taking a break at one of the many little green squares that they had nestled everywhere. It seem like a good space to do cartwheels so we decided to have a Cartwheel Contest. I think it is obvious who the winner is, don't you...definitely not me?? I thought I was doing a pretty good cartwheel until I saw this picture...haha!

LET'S GO FLY A KITE

For Valentine's Day we got the boys this cute, little, indestructible kite which seemed like it was made for the beach.  We had fun taking turns flying the colorful kite up & down the shore.  It seems like the weather was perfect for kite flying on this day, as there were lots & lots of people flying kites all along the shoreline.  Baby CJ wasn't quite big enough to hold onto the kite, but had fun gazing at it floating in the sky.  T picked it up just like that, though he hated looking up at the kite and having the bright sun in his eyes therefore the need for Baby CJ's oh-so-cool wraparound sunglasses.   

FINALLY...SOME FLORIDA PICS

I am finally getting to all of our vacation pictures after getting all of the sand cleared out of our suitcases and getting us settled into our normal routines after a fabulous week away on the Gulf.  Many of the pictures are of us on the beach as that is where we spent the majority of our time.  Being that it was just steps away, we didn't have any excuses not to get out and play in the sand and sun.  The boys had so much fun building sandcastles, combing for seashells, chasing the seagulls and running amock.  This first round of pics was taken the first day we arrived.  A thick blanket of fog covered us the entire afternoon, but the temperature was just perfect.  

T took his sandcastles very serious

CJ loved dumping the sand in/out of various containers, including his mouth

We just couldn't resist burying T in the sand.  CJ loved dumping sand on his big brother.

CJ had fun playing on the beach with Grandpa

J & T tested out the water & waves...

and quickly came running back.  Not exactly bath water.  

FAMILY PHOTO OP AT THE BEACH

On our last night in Florida we headed down to the beach to take some quick pics during the beautiful sunset.  The sunset was blocked in the background but it created an amazing backlit light which is captured in this family photo. 

 

BACK FROM FLORIDA

We just arrived home after spending a fabulous week in sunny FLO-RID-A with Jason's parents.  All of us had so much fun spending hours at the beach, soaking up the sun and playing in the sand.  The boys are total beach bums!  Here are a few quick snapshots that I captured just steps from away from the condo...lots more to follow.  Oh, how nice it is to be by the beach!

Weekend Roadtrip

Checklist for a successful winter road trip with kids:

1. Diaper Bag, Small Cooler with Snacks/Beverages, Bag with Toys & Travel Games, Individual Blankets & Furry Friends, Swim Bag, Camera Bag, Suitcases with clothes/shoes, Toiletry Bag, Bag with Winter Gear, Purse, Coats...check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check.
2. Full-bellied, no-nap kids who you pray will pass out at the hum of the car...check
3. Hotel with indoor pool & extra-large rooms (comfy beds with down comforters are a double bonus)...check
4. Fun sites to see...check
5. Good humor & lots of patience...check

Our weekend wedding trip to IA was a success, despite the Artic cold temperatures and the foot of snow that awaited us upon our arrival.  Here are some of our favorite moments...

Enjoying "Happy Face" pancakes at Village Inn

Mr. Dapper

J & the boys outside the infamous Palace Clothiers - the family business of one of our good CO friends

T always enjoys being in the pool

Whoa Daddy!

Baby CJ prefers to relax in the pool

Baby CJ had fun exploring every inch/corner of the hotel room

Day Seven: Last Day on Tybee Island

Here is the last of our vacation pics...I swear. We decided to head to Hilton Head Island on our last full day on the coast for some more fun in the sun, but we were quickly chased off the beach by all of the jellyfish that were wading near the shore and the crowds of people everywhere. Since Tybee Island was more of our style we decided to head back to the island for the rest of the day and savor our last hours on the beach. We stumbled upon a large sandcastle & moat that someone had graciously left intact. It was definitely a lot better than our failed attempts.

Day Seven: Lil' Beach Bum

Here is lil' CJ on our last day on the beach - just before sunset. After seeing this pose in an ad for Baby Gap many years ago, I have always wanted to capture this precious bum shot.
What an adorable lil' beach bum!!!

Day Six: Another Day at Tybee

I am FINALLY getting to my last vacation pics. Here are some shots from our second day on Tybee Island. It was another beautiful day on the beach - with Sandra Bullock's beach house within eyesight (sorry, no pic). We had a very relaxed day - playing in the sand & waves and looking for sand dollars. T was quite the little womanizer, with ladies young and old, and had everybody laughing when he paraded around with his Buzz Lightyear sunglasses on backwards. He couldn't keep his eyes off adorable Ainsley (pictured) whom he met while playing in the sand.