Madeleine's 4th Birthday Party

We had Madeleine's birthday party a little early this year since the baby is due so close to her actual birthday. The Kirkwood pool has this great birthday party package where you get the family pool to yourself for an hour before the pool opens. They even supply the cake. I booked the party back in February to make sure we could get the weekend we wanted. It was going to be the easiest birthday party since we didn't have to do a thing other than send out invitations. It was the easiest birthday party until the night before when the chance of thunderstorms increased significantly and until we woke up to those thunderstorms that seemed like they were never going to end. Pool party canceled. Time to come up with a good back up plan. The weather looked like it would clear in time for a late morning party at the park. Lots of phone calls, a quick trip to the bakery and grocery store and off to the park we went. It turned out to be a great birthday party. The kids had a blast and Madeleine really took the whole pool party being canceled well. Now she is looking forward to having another party with the family on her actual birthday! Hopefully Baby Krewet won't decide to arrive that day.

Madeleine and her friends playing in the sprinkler at the park

Hadley splashing in the water
Madeleine and her friends
Running towards the cupcakes
Enjoying everyone singing Happy Birthday to her
Time for presents
The kids were all excited to be up close to the present opening
The fitness equipment also makes a great train with the birthday girl as the conductor

Best Craigslist Purchase Yet

Last year after much searching we bought a playset off of Craigslist. It was a big project for Jim to get it stained and up in our yard but totally worth it. When we were shopping for one, Jim kept insisting we needed to go bigger so we ended up with the "King Kong". Now I know why he was so insistent.

Wait, who is the playset for?

Everyone going down the slide
Hadley swinging on her belly... I love when they do this because then I don't have to push the swings
More belly swinging
Climbing up to the slide
Sliding down

Lots of Visitors

May has been a busy month and we enjoyed having lots of visitors. Aunt Amy came first but unfortunately her visit was also the same weekend the stomach bug came to visit our house so we didn't get to see her much (and I don't have any pictures). It was also the weekend we moved out of our house to get our floors redone. We spent the week at Jim's parents and Uncle Dave came to visit. The highlight of his visit was a camping trip with the cousins. Madeleine had been asking almost daily when we could go camping with them. We had a very rainy night but everyone had fun. Someday we will actually have good camping weather. This weekend brought my friend and Hadley's godmother, Tara. We hit all the St. Louis highlights. It was a really fun weekend. Tara left yesterday and today we took the girls to the Cardinals game. It was extremely hot but we made it to the 7th inning stretch to hear Take Me Out to the Ballgame... the girls know all the words! Now we need to get ready for the arrival of Krewet #3... only a few weeks to go!

Camping in the rain

The shelter that saved the trip. The kids didn't mind the rain but it sure was nice to have a big tent to be under.
Hadley loves camping
She also loves playing with headlamps.
Dinner with Butch and D
Hadley and Tara
At Grant's Farm
Waiting for the best part of Grant's Farm... a soft pretzel and cheese
Madeleine at the Cardinals Game... she said it was the best day. Jim and I weren't so sure at first when we sat down in the hot hot hot sun!
Hadley's first Cardinals game

Easter Weekend

We had a fun but rainy Easter weekend. I attempted to take the girls to Purina Farms with my mom on Friday but a storm came in right after we got there. Saturday, we went to an Easter Egg hunt at a nearby park. A benefit of hunting eggs in the rain is there is not as many people there. That was good for our kids... see the video in the previous post. On Easter, we went to church, then Jim's parents and then my parent's. Lots of yummy food and lots of candy.

Before leaving for the Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday... they refuse to actually look at me and smile.
Easter Bunny at the hunt, Hadley was not so excited to be on his lap. Can't say I blame her. Madeleine had lots of questions about if he was the real Easter Bunny and if he would be wearing shoes when he came to our house.
Madeleine dyeing Easter eggs
Very excited to see their Easter baskets... Madeleine woke up an hour and a half before Hadley so she had a long wait
Smiling about the candy in the Easter egg
The girls in the beautiful dresses my mom made them
Again it is impossible to get a good picture of them together
Getting ready to dig in to all the Easter baskets at D and Butch's house
Hadley decided she wanted to move up to the kids table instead of her high chair
Hunting eggs in the basement

Hadley got distracted and decided the train was more fun than hunting eggs
Madeleine was very proud that she found an egg under the couch before her cousins.
Jim's Family
Hadley actually posing for a picture at my parents

Hunting Eggs at Des Peres Park

Turns out our kids may not be the best at this... yet. Still, pretty funny.

Camping

Last weekend we had our first camping trip of the year to a place in Illinois called Lake Glendale. All week we (or I) worried about the forecast. It was not looking good. Jim left a day a early to reserve a spot and sneak in a trip to ride at Land Between the Lakes. The girls and I arrived on Thursday and we met up with our friends Holly, Nathan and Abby. The weather was absolutely amazing on Thursday. I think the highlight for the girls was roasting marshmallows... or it might have been blowing bubbles with Abby. The campground was nice although we did have an annoying neighbor who seemed to be living there instead of vacationing and kept coming over. Friday morning started off stormy but it cleared up and we enjoyed hiking around the lake. After all the worrying about the weather it turned out to be a great day minus the 10 minute hail storm after dinner. Hail in a pop up camper is very loud. Luckily, no people, cars or campers were harmed. Madeleine just kept eating her dinner like nothing was happening. The trip took a turn for the worse when Hadley woke up with a high fever Friday night. Jim left with her and the camper early Saturday. Madeleine and I spent the day with Holly, Nathan and Abby going to Garden of the Gods (some neat rock formations) and Cave in the Rock. Cave in the Rock turned out to be a bust... the cave was under the flooded Ohio River. All in all it was a great trip and really good to spend time with our friends before they move back east.

Enjoying the spill-proof bubbles that Holly brought... wish I had seen those before!At the playground
Roasting marshmallows for Smores
This is how the girls started off going to sleep. They actually did fall asleep like this the second night. The first night bedtime didn't go so well.
Hadley asleep in our sleeping bag
Hadley and Abby on a hike... we were really impressed with Abby's hiking abilities!
Madeleine and I at Garden of the Gods...from shorts on Thursday to winter coats on Saturday
Madeleine and Abby

Botanical Gardens

This spring has had some crazy weather so far. Last Sunday morning we had snow on the ground and this sunday it was almost 90! I was very happy about the warm, sunny weather. So while Jim was busy landscaping our backyard, I took the girls to the opening weekend for the Children's Garden at the Botanical Gardens. It was a great day to be outside.

The beautiful tulips... unfortunately ours at home are not doing so well. It is nearly impossible to get them both to look at the camera.

Madeleine on the big slide... Hadley is a little scared of slides right now so I actually went down with her a few times.
Steering the big boat wheel
This was a big hit... there are boats and you open and close the gates to let them through
Swinging from the vines
I think this is Madeleine's favorite part of the Botanical Gardens.