Sword and Shield

I just thought Charles looked like a knight ready to do some damage and had to document it. Also this shows my crazy trimming job on poor Lizzy ;)

Next we have Charles showing off his amazing self sitting skills and Lizzy just plain showing off. Enjoy:

The Florissant Flower Festival

This is the big shindig for Florissant. We went last year and came back to witness the festival. Also there was this awesome Mexican Bakery that came up last year and I have been craving their pastries since. Speaking of food, here is Lizzy holding our Potato Tornado. It looks better then it was, but it was so fun to watch them make it! The booth was run by four elderly gentlemen who were an absolute riot!

From 2011-05-07 Florissant flower fest

 We listened to some fine music and a ventriloquist who amazed me by simultaneously clucking his tongue and humming. It was crazy. There was an awesome band/tap dancing group that was amazing. Lizzy made a sand necklace, pained a snake, colored a penguin, made a flower and got her face painted. She was tuckered out by the end of the day. I was expecting to see some friends in the parade, but they didn't come. Alas. The floats were cute. And yes the bakery was there. Hooray! 

National Garden Day

On the 6th of May was National Garden day and in honor of that great occasion we went to the Missouri  Botanical Garden. I had been wanting to go for some time and this just seemed to perfect to pass up. I had no idea how large the garden actually is. It is divided up into smaller gardens each with some sort of water feature and a piece of Chihuly blown glass. http://www.chihuly.com/home.aspx I recognized his work right away and declared to Lizzy, "Look there's a Chihuly!" to which I got a few odd looks. I guess he is not so well known or maybe I just sounded odd. Who knows. Anyway, We had a wonderful time looking at all the plants and fountains. We had a lovely lunch at a tiny cafe in one of the gardens, but sadly we had to leave after 2 hours and there was so much more to see. We will have to go back. They had a lot of "tree houses" on display. Lizzy liked exploring in them. Henry Shaw, who started the garden and donated the land to the state, has a house still on the property that is a museum. His grave is also there. I liked our tour guide, she was funny and quite informative. It was a splendid day.

Out and About

As Daniel is working nights now I find myself in the unique position of both having the car all day and needing to be out all day. Hmm, whats a girl to do? Well I have been dragging the kids to all the ST. Louis destinations I have wanted to visit and have thus far not seen. First we stopped off at the Jewel Box. Conveniently free on Mondays. It is a grand garden inside a Jewel boxed shaped green house. I did not expect the fountains in the middle though. It was quite beautiful, then we had lunch at the famous Crown Candy Kitchen. http://crowncandykitchen.net/ A St. Louis tradition since 1913. It is a fourth gen family run outfit that sells home made ice cream sundaes the same way they sold them at the 1904 worlds fair. The food was good and the ice cream HUGE. Then as we headed back home we past the Bellefontaine Cemetery. http://www.bellefontainecemetery.org/ Established in 1849 there are many notables buried here, including St. Louis’ notable residents such as William Clark, James Buchanan Eads, Susan Blow, and Adolphus Busch. I was intrigued by the sculptures of which there are many, and the beauty of the grounds. We didn't spend too much time there due to the lateness of the hour, but they are hosting an event in a few weeks and we will attend. It was a great day!
Another day we visited the Little Creek Nature area. We had to dodge a lot of 2nd. graders, but it was quite peaceful.
Another park we visited was the Sioux passage park, here in Florissant. It was quite large. Luckily Daniel got to go with us. I love the boat play area. We decided on doing a pirate birthday party for Lizzy this year and I want to reserve this pavilion for it.

Where the Wild Things Are

By now you know of my love for the zoo. We go quite a bit, but this time Lizzy got to pet a stingray and see sharks! YAHOO! Also it was the last time my friend and zoo going buddy Karina could go. They are moving to Texas on the 13. Boo. Any way,

From 2011-04-30 zoo

here we are enjoying the Zoo! Lizzy got a little Puma at the build a bear station in the zoo.

The Great Graduation

My little brother graduated on the 9th of April so in honor of that great occasion I packed up the kids and away we went! Ahh I love a good adventure (which is good since I tend to run into them a lot. As if being a Mom of two wasn't adventure enough!) So Daniel dropped us off at the airport and we started our journey. I'll not bore you with the details, needless to say it was adventurous. I was so glad to be back in good old WA. It was a relief to see Mom. We made quite an exit with all our gear.

From 2011-04-22 Sal's graduation

After a little sleep we caught the ferry and headed East. Due to an avalanche we had to turn around and go South. We arrived in Pendleton around 11pm. We slept and headed East again. We stopped in Eagle to see Grandma, Uncle Matt and Uncle Duwayne's family. It was a nice visit. I'm so glad that Charles got to meet everyone. Then on to Idaho Falls. Tabitha and her family were already there. The next day we went to see Sal and Caitlin. We had her try on her wedding dress.

From 2011-04-22 Sal's graduation

She is so adorable. We met Sal's roommates and I did some laundry. (On the last day of our trip Lizzy went through 4 pares of pants.) Later we went to the church and set up for dinner. Luckily Uncle Armin and Aunt Cheryl came prepared with games. Dad set up the Karaoke and we had a fun time playing around. Sal and Caitlin danced to a song. They are so cute together. Still in that constant communication phase. I finally got to see Rexburg. I thought it would be greener. It snowed. Oh well. Then Tabitha and co. and my crew went exploring in Id. Falls. We went to the temple visitor center and dodged 4 wedding groups. Then it was back to the West. Are you getting dizzy yet?
We arrived in Baker City around 11pm. I sense a pattern... We had breakfast at the Geiser Grand Hotel. I love baker City! It is a perfect halfway point between SLC and Seattle. It has loads of charm and many family friendly things to do. And the Geiser Grand is one of the best things in my humble opinion. The breakfasts are amazing and the ambiance wonderful. Some day I will stay there! Anyway. Check it out: http://www.geisergrand.com/
The rest of the week we just relaxed. We played with Jessica and the girls. I saw the elusive Rex twice! Quite a feat I might add. We did Zumba, played at the park, ate Sal's wonderful fajitas and went to the Blodel Reserve. A beautiful members only garden on Bainbridge Island. Mom and I have wanted to go for years and on this day it was free and open to the public. It was amazing. I took too many pictures, but it was so beautiful.
We ended our visit with an Easter egg hunt. It was great fun, but I heard later that the eggs were still quite raw, so no one ate them. Still it was good to be home. Yet, I was glad to be going back to MO. I missed Daniel something fierce; and there are still quite a few things I need to do here before I am ready to move on. Here then are all those pictures: