Summer celebrations in St. Louis

We celebrated the 4th this year in St. Louis! Derek was able to get an extra day off so we opted to visit his brother and family for the holiday weekend. We had a super fun time and have some awesome pics to prove it! 

We enjoyed a parade in the morning in downtown St. Charles.

We traveled to the St. Louis fair -- first stop: air show!

Michael's had a fun trailer with crafts for the kiddos. The boys made a pop tab necklace.

And Belle made a crown! She said, "I look like Repunzel!!" :)

Belle and Uncle Brad

We set out our blankets and hung out by the arch!

 We ran into KC friends! Brian, a family friend, married Derek and I seven years ago and here he is loving our little girl! 

All of the cousins!

We enjoyed the fireworks that night and then we had an interesting journey home on the city metro, which proved to be a cultural experience at the least for our kiddos. As much as we think our kids don't listen at times, all of the kids did a GREAT job of listening when it was really, really important in the giant swarms of people!

We spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out and spending time with family! Uncle Brad cooked breakfast and read books to the kiddos.

The kids played in the pool

 And we did a few fireworks ourselves!

We ended the weekend with a trip to the arcade- the kids (and dads) had fun!! 

It was a wonderful little trip away. I'm glad I got to experience the fourth at the arch-- it was something I've been wanting to do for years!!! Spending time with Brad and Mary is always enjoyable and I'm glad to provide opportunities for the cousins to play together! 

We're making it!

I have survived one full week now at my internship. As with the start of most new jobs, it started off pretty slow. But, it's picking up and I'm finding myself right at home among some of society's frowned-upon and ignored members.

The kids have transitioned smoothly into their new routine. Last week, they enjoyed time with their grandparents and this week was their first official time week with Miss Beth. Jackson loves his new lunchbox and he is a great helper in packing it and getting it ready.

We're still settling into a routine during the evening, but we're finding ourselves so productive and efficient with our time. Our time together has been shorter than usual, but it's been enjoyable and sweet.

One thing is for sure-- everything has been coming together so perfectly and smoothly. I'm such a different person than I was even just last week in terms of being anxious, stressed, and tearful. I know I've been covered in prayer by so many wonderful, supportive people and it's obvious in my life and how everything has just come into place. It's been great to have received so many emails, facebook posts, and text messages letting me know I've been prayed for and checking to see how we're doing. I have the greatest friends. :)

And a HUGE thanks to my the hubby-- could go on and on, but people don't tend to enjoy a lot of mushiness. Basically, he's amazing and he complements be perfectly. {And he compliments me too. Especially lately! He's surprised after work almost everyday when he comes home and I actually look like a lady... aka- not in yoga pants, sweatshirt, and ponytail!}

I'll end with saying that my one of the biggest downers about leaving the kiddos in daycare is missing out on some of their firsts-- especially Belle because I was always home with Jackson at his age. Well, it only took a day and a half for that to happen. Belle threw up for the first time and it was with Miss Beth. Poor Miss Beth, but I'm not all that sad about not having to clean it up! Thankfully, my sister is still on Christmas break and watched Belle pottied today since she couldn't go back to daycare. Turns out, another "first" happened at my parents-- she in the tub... {the gross kind}. Can't say I'm bummed about missing that either! I guess there are some "firsts" worth missing!! :)

It’s the small things

Tonight wasn’t a super special night and it barely even seems “blog-worthy.” But tonight was one of those nights that I just want to remember. Nothing super cool was on the agenda, but just an enjoyable evening with several “small things” to make it great.

We started out taking Jackson to Wal-mart to pick out some Super Hero Squad action figures for no other reason than because we knew he’d love them. We were right. We bought them around 6 tonight and they haven’t left his side yet {and they are currently in bed with him and I even had to tuck them in and kiss each good night, as well}.

Waiting while Daddy gets a hair cut, “Time to hero up, Squaddies!” {Jackson got a much needed hair cut too. You can see it in the pictures below.}

This girl entertained herself by crawling {!?!} around the hair place. As long as she was happy—I wasn’t about to stop her.

Then we went out for ice cream {50¢ cones at BK for the summer… yes please!!}. It was Belle’s first ice cream cone—all to herself. This girl loves ice cream, is it obvious?!

She wasn’t a fan when Daddy had to take it away to help “reshape” the cone… She had a mini fit, like, every time.  

Jackson enjoyed his cone… and he shared with Captain America and Wolverine, too.

 

He shared with Belle, just out of the blue… I’m so glad I was able to snap a picture. He said, “I shared with Belle because I love her. I’ll always love her like I’ll always love you guys, Mommy and Daddy!” Seriously, I was speechless… I just couldn’t stop smiling. What a precious moment!

By the time we got home, it was already past bedtime. And while it’s normally a countdown until cranky kids go to bed, tonight I just wasn’t ready to be done hanging out with them! What a wonderful night!

…especially because I got to eat the very last bite on all four cones tonight! Derek shared just because he’s an awesome hubby. I, of course, had dibs on mine, and then both kids were done with their cones before completion. No wonder tonight was such a good night!!!! :)

Happy 4th

Our Fourth of July was jammed packed full of family, fun, and fireworks. In fact, i'm pooped so i'm gonna try out my mobile app for blogging! We'll see how it goes!

I can't caption each picture, do here's the rundown. We had an indoor picnic (with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles) because it was a bazillion degrees outside. Afterwards, we went outside to shoot of some kid friendly fireworks. Jackson was a fan of the poppers, snakes, and sparklers, but so much anything else. In fact, many tears were shed our of sheer terror. (he "watched" part of the city fireworks underneath his blanket.) It only snapped one quick pic of me and Belle today... I spent my day trying to capture her cuteness instead. We ended the night at the Raymore city fireworks and they were wonderful! The lit up the sky for 25 minutes.

Our day was wonderful. We are so fortunate to live in this wonderful country and we are forever grateful for every sacrifice people have made of their time, family, and lives in order for us to enjoy living in the land of the free. Good bless America!

Now, here's hoping my kids sleep in an extra two hours to make up staying up past bed time! Ha, yeah right. :)

Me! {linking up: Annual Commenting Challenge}

Doing blog challenges/link-ups normally isn’t my thing! But this one {by Jenna at Jenna’s Journey} seems like a fun way to meet new bloggers, so I thought I’d give it a try. It started yesterday, so in true Amy-fashion… I’m just a little bit late. :)

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Tell us about YOU! What's your name? Where do you live? Who lives with you? Do you work outside the home? Have kids? Pets?
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For those of you who don’t already know, my name is Amy and I am married to
my college sweetheart. I’m an Army wife, stay-at-home-mom, and grad student. We have two kids, Jackson {3} and Belle {1}. I am admittedly biased, but they’re pretty cute. They keep me pretty busy, but I love being their Mama!

 
We live in a Kansas City suburb on the better Missouri side. Most people don’t even realize that KC is actually in Missouri. I know, we’re just “fly-over-country” to most, but I really enjoy this city and I have fun exploring and enjoying the things that KC has to offer… especially the BBQ.

I’m getting my Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and my passion is military psychology. Someday I’ll finish. I’m only taking a class or two at a time. One, because it’s expensive. And two, my biggest priority is my family. Sometimes I just really want to be done and take a million classes, but then I know I don’t want to miss out on these short years at home with my little ones. There’s time for a career after they grow up, right?

So this is me in a nutshell! If you’re a regular, thanks for continually reading! And if you’re new—thanks for stopping by! Hope to see you around! :)

Cousin Time

Last week, we had a cute little addition to our family—my nephew, Eli Christian!

{He’s dreaming of cuddle time with Aunt Amy!!}

I can’t wait for him to come visit this weekend so I can just hold and snuggle this little guy. In the meantime, Eli’s big brother Gabe has been staying with us since Wednesday. It works out great— my brother/sister-in-law get to enjoy baby Eli all by himself for a few days while my kids get to spend some special time with Gabe.

It’s been fun! The first night was a little crazy, as expected. Lots of giggles and squeals of excitement.

But the boys looked like this by the time 10:30 rolled around, so it wasn’t too crazy. They’ve gone to bed perfectly every night since then!

We’ve gone on walks, played at the park, visited Grandma Linda & Papa Forrest. It’s been a little crazy with three kiddos, but it doesn’t feel like it’s all that different from two kids really. It’s just been really fun!

    
We even conquered the grocery store with three kiddos in tow tonight! I am sort of disappointed we didn’t get a trophy as we exited. Even without a trophy, I’m still feeling proud. Not only did we get what we needed—the boys had SO much fun. They giggled nearly the entire time, thanks to Derek’s crazy driving.

Belle has been having fun and playing too, but it’s just really, REALLY hard to get a picture of all three kids. But here’s a picture of her from tonight… she couldn’t find her sucker.

Hahaha. We’re all looking forward to a super fun week! Hoping yours will be too!

We had “worlds” of fun!

Jackson has been asking to go to the roller coasters for months. We pass by Worlds of Fun on the way to my parent’s house {and remember, last semester I drove up every Monday evening} and he asked every single time. I knew a visit to Worlds of Fun would be necessary for this summer and as soon as we realized that Derek would get in for free on Memorial Day—we jumped at the opportunity to take the family. 

While from the highway, Jackson always had his eye on The Mamba and The Patriot, we told him those roller coasters were for adults and he didn’t put up any fight. But we had fun spending our time in Planet Snoopy.

First things first, Derek and Jackson rode the Rocket Express, which was like a sky rail across the kid section.

Here they come!

This little girl was not happy to not be invited up the stairs.

Meanwhile, Jackson was loving having the time of his life.

I didn’t get as many pictures as I would have liked—ones from every ride and to capture every smile. But I decided I wanted to just experience the moment and not be caught up with getting pictures. We enjoyed most every ride in Planet Snoopy. Jackson was the right height for all of the rides. Some had a height minimum that Belle wasn’t tall enough for and others had height maximums, so we couldn’t ride with Jackson. And most were perfect for the whole family to ride together. Here are a few of our favorites from the day.

The race cars. {I should note, this was Derek’s least favorite, but it got the most smiles out of Belle and Jackson loved it!} 

I wish Belle’s smile wasn’t covered here! She was having lots of fun.

I took this while we were riding. He was just having so much fun!

After we rode it once, Jackson ran back through the line to ride again!  

The all time favorite was the kid roller coaster. It used to be called the Wacky Worm, but it got a new name when the Planet Snoopy got remodeled. Either way—it was an actual coaster. We rode it several times to finally get Jackson a seat in the very front.

 

Belle getting ready for her very first roller coaster ride!

Jackson rode the whole ride with his arms up in the air! Even on the “big descent!” He’s gonna love the big roller coasters some day!

Belle enjoyed making music with the tiles, though she barely weighed enough to make them work.

Jackson on the swings
 

Belle had fun in the ball arena.

And Jackson got to meet Snoopy. {Belle just burst into tears the moment Snoopy touched Jackson. She wasn’t a fan.} 

And the very best way to get your money’s worth out of your Worlds of Fun ticket is to plan for your mom to pick up the kiddos after a couple of hours {and they get all tired and cranky} so that you and your hubby can have fun doing the real roller coasters! And then if you’re really lucky, she’ll bring you dinner which will save you a kazillion dollars on park food.

Derek and I rode The Mamba, The Prowler, The Patriot (x2), and a few rides. It was perfect! It reminded us of the first summer we were married and had season tickets to the park! We lived right across the highway {you can see our old place from the top of the Mamba!} and so we went several times that year! 

I’m so glad we were able to take Jackson to Worlds of Fun this year! We checked out a book from the library about roller coasters and he get so excited when looking at our pictures from the park. It’s so cool that he’s old enough now to really enjoy things and learn—but that also means we have to pay for him at most places now. Ugh! Stay little! Belle didn’t seem to have quite as much fun as Jackson did when we first took him, but he was a few months older, which I think makes a difference. And to be honest, the whole atmosphere and the rides and stuff is pretty overwhelming! We all still had a great time!


Destination: Worlds of Fun
Location: Kansas City, MO
Cost: $35 adult {price chopper tickets} $19.99 children; We went after 4pm and so my ticket was $25. Parking $12. Military get in free on Memorial day and the Sunday before.
Pros: Lots to do and lots {worlds!} of fun. Variety of rides, coasters, water attractions, shows, and a big kid area.
Cons: It’s expensive to take the family! Especially younger kids who can’t handle more than a few hours, so it’s a lot of money for not a lot of time.
Time: We spent about 2.5 hours in the park with the kiddos. They were very tired at this point. But the kid area is really large for several hours of entertainment if you’re kids are up to it! Derek and I spent another 2.5 hours in the park after kids.
Bring with you: Stroller, water!, sunscreen, food/snacks {can’t bring cooler inside, but there are picnic spaces in the parking lot}, walking shoes, camera