Strawberry Patch

Friday we picked strawberries at a berry farm just south of town.


Buddy, who loves strawberries, helped me pick quite a few.
Princess Sparkley, who won't eat a strawberry, picked one
and spent the rest of the time on the playground.



Baby X hung out in the shade with his friends, M and A.

Train to St. Louis

One of the things Buddy got as a Christmas present was a folded piece of paper with a picture of him, a plus sign and a picture of a train. When the card was opened, there was an equals sign and a picture of the St. Louis arch. We finally got around to fulfilling this Christmas gift and he got to ride the train to St. Louis. B went with Buddy and Princess Sparkley. I drove Squeally McSqueal, aka Baby X in the car.


Baby X and I dropped them off at Union Station in Kansas City to catch the 7:30 AM train. While we drove straight east from Kansas City across the state of Missouri, their train headed southeast and went through Jefferson City instead of Columbia. The train ride was about $44 for the three of them (once we figured in discounted fares, student discounts and AAA discounts). It took 5 hours and 40 minutes. The drive from our home (about 40 minutes west of Kansas City) to Chesterfield (this side of St. Louis) takes 4 hours without stops.

Here's where I don't know the story anymore. B will have to fill it in but he's fallen asleep next to me. And just half an hour ago he was set to go rent a movie from Redbox. :)













PS has no idea what Hogwarts is. She just saw that I was making B take a picture and she wanted to be in it.


A fun caboose photo op in Union Station which isn't where the trains go anymore... it's all fancy restaurants and stores.


Union Station. Downtown St. Louis, MO.

Moving on...

Sorry about the lack of posts. B's decided on George Mason (in Fairfax, VA) as his PhD. program of choice, so my life has been taken over by moving truck reservations, trying to find somewhere to live, etc. Plus, it's like we're waiting for Christmas, something big is coming soon. As sad as I am to leave Kansas and our friends here, I'm excited to be somewhere new. I'm seeing things by big milestones... Buddy turns 5 at the end of this month and B and I celebrate our 8 year wedding anniversary. In May B graduates . In June is my birthday. At the end of June we leave for a family vacation to Utah where we'll get to see my family (whom we've seen very little since moving to Kansas). In July we pack up (ahh... I'm not looking forward to this part) and move.

Bath Time and more

I've just reached the point where every once in awhile I let Baby X get in the bath with one of the older kids. This time everyone wanted in so PS was in with Baby X, and just before she got out, Buddy got in as well. So they sort of time shared the Baby X bath time experience.

Also included is a picture of Buddy throwing a fit (what's with him lately???) while hugging tightly a deflated Valentine balloon refusing to let me throw it away.

And, Buddy and PS posing with a Jayhawk cookie I bought them at the store to celebrate the Jayhawks having a basketball game (which they ended up losing).

And that bottom, foggy picture... that's from the ice storm. It's a picture looking out our kitchen window, all the water (freezing rain) is frozen onto our screen.

Spring Break: Chicago

We went to St. Louis for part of Spring Break, left the kids there and B and I headed up to Chicago for two days to check out the city in case he ends up at University of Illinois at Chicago (where he's been admitted to the PhD program, still no word on funding).

We showed up Monday after lunch (having taken the long way from St. Louis to get counties for B). We visited UIC first.

We found Jane Addams's Hull-House on UIC's campus. I taught PS about this as part of her Kindergarten History lesson last year. I had no idea it was at UIC, nor did I even remember it was in Chicago.

Then we drove around neighborhoods marking up a map for safe looking areas, etc. B would like to ride his bike to school, or have a short commute by train/bus, and we want to live somewhere safe, but cheap.

In our travels, we passed Wrigley Field.

We checked into our hotel.

We stayed here. It's the one with the greenish roof.
The hotel was super fancy and has quite an exciting history.

And then went to Little Italy, near the UIC campus, for dinner. We wandered into this great little restaurant called Tuscany (that B's since looked up online and usually requires reservations). It was super yummy, not too pricey, and our waiter was truly Italian. I had eggplant parmigian... mmmmm.

The next day B and I walked around downtown Chicago and I took tons of pictures for the kids.

The L Train (for Buddy)

The Chicago River, green for St. Patrick's Day.

I promised PS I'd take a picture since we were there on St. Patrick's Day and she'd just learned in school about them dying the river. Then we woke up that morning and B read that they'd dyed it March 14. Argh. It still looked a bit green, which a native Chicagoan friend tells me is just how it looks, algae and all. So it must have been greener when they dyed it, but this satisfied PS.

Skyscrapers. Our hotel had really cool black and white photos like this
(only a thousand times cooler) up in the hallways.

Me in front of Lake Michigan. I don't think I've ever seen a Lake this huge.

We stopped at a Fannie May candy shop downtown and I got some Mint Meltaways since I'd just heard about them and wanted to taste how yummy they were. Before we left town, we had lunch at Al's #1 Italian Beef... apparently a famous Italian Beef sandwich place (Kristi might be able to back me up on this). Then we headed back to St. Louis (the normal way, no new counties).

Cahokia Mounds

Today we went to the Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, Illinois just outside of St. Louis.

If you look closely in the center picture, or really closely in the two similar pictures of PS and Buddy posing, you can see the St. Louis Arch in the background.

Reasons to hate Kansas

Look of the size of this bug. It's body was the size of my thumb. And it looks like it is part dinosaur. Yuck. Apparently, thanks to a friend's previous research on this but, it's a Wheel bug. And it can sting. Ick.

Autumn

Saturday was our Super Saturday (or as B calls it Soup or Saturday) Relief Society craft day thingymabob, so, as tradition requires, B took the kids to the Prairie Park Nature Center in town and on a little picnic while I made some sock snowmen (not pictured). He drove past a park with all these beautiful autumn trees and stopped and took some pictures for me since he knows how much I love the leaves changing colors. What a sweet guy!

Atchison Rail Museum

B heard about this somewhere, and we planned on doing it last week on Labor Day but they were closed. So we made the trip to Atchison (about an hour away) to the Atchison Rail Museum today. For Buddy, who loves trains. For Baby X, who has gotten a new county every month he's been alive. And for B, who doesn't want that streak to end.

The museum is free. It's adjacent to the Chamber of Commerce which has a different museum in it. It's free, with boxes for donations all over to help with up keep.

Mainly the rail museum is a parked train yard. Some of the cars are open and you can walk around in them. Some are filled with train museumy stuff... but it's dark and dusty and filled with spider webs.

Buddy's favorite part may have been that we were next to a
working rail line and trains kept going past, right next to us.

Flatbed cargo.

This made the whole trip worthwhile for me. We got to ride in this cute little train. I barely fit, I'm amazed that B folded his legs into his little seat. Buddy and Princess Sparkley loved it. Baby X seemed to enjoy it. I think it was a bit too long of a ride for B and his long legs.

Here they are with the train.

Buddy was proud of himself because he could identify all of the Sante Fe trains based on his tremondous knowledge base of all things trains learned from I Love Toy Trains DVDs.

Buddy requested this picture, with this pose, from this angle.

Birthday Celebrations

On Princess Sparkley's birthday, Sunday, we had cake with grandma and grandpa, aunts and uncles and lots of cousins.

Then on Monday, the girls (plus our little family) went to Jilly's Cupcake Bar for cupcakes.

The Magic House: St. Louis Children's Museum

On Monday we went to The Magic House. Our kids have been a couple other times when we've visited Grandma in St. Louis. B had never been and was expecting some sort of lame, magic themed kid attraction. I think it proved him wrong... he just wants them to change their name now to downplay the magic part. The kids and the cousins had a blast. We could have spent all day there... a few hours doesn't cover everything you want to see. AND, they're adding on. It's going to be almost doubled in size in a few months.

Little House Vacation: Day 3

DeSmet, South Dakota

the Ingalls Homestead

This was by far the highlight of our trip. Walnut Grove was seriously lacking other than getting to play in Plum Creek just like Mary and Laura. Our trip would have been a bit disappointing had it not been for DeSmet, mainly the Ingalls Homestead.

First, aren't these scenes beautiful? These are pictures I took of the 160 acres that Pa homesteaded outside of DeSmet, SD.

If you've ever been to Nauvoo, this was a bit like this but instead of focusing on the pioneers of the Mormon church, it focused on Laura from Little House on the Prairie and her family, a different type of pioneer.

Here we are when we first arrived and climbed a giant "tree house" to see the prairie. And here's Princess Sparkley doing the wash with help from Buddy. And Baby X discovering grass for the first time ever in his little life.

Princess Sparkley sewing on Ma's sewing machine. Buddy playing "Mary's organ." Pumping water from a well. Visiting a 3 week old baby pony. Riding a pony. Roping a "calf." Etc. Our kids were so brave about riding the ponies, petting horses and kittens. Princess Sparkley even held the reigns and drove the wagon to the school house.

DeSmet was all like a dream come true for Princess Sparkley. She was giddy with happiness and running around with so much energy. It was like Christmas morning waiting to open presents. She was also very brave wanting to do everything, even if it involved talking to or getting helped by the workers. Buddy also enjoyed it all, but not on the same scale as Princess Sparkley. Baby X was a trooper. He was really really great on this whole trip.

Here are pictures of Princess Sparkley and Buddy making rope. They also made a corn cob doll/corn cob superhero and twisted hay into a hay log as kindling for a fire. The pictures of them pulling on the rope is ringing the bell at school. Buddy in the straw hat, and Princess Sparkley at the desk in the pink pioneer girl outfit are at school. The bottom right corner picture is Princess Sparkley driving the wagon to school.

The sign for the city of DeSmet says "Little Town on the Prairie."
Princess Sparkley with the graves of Ma, Pa, Mary, and Carrie.
Princess Sparkley disembarking from driving the horses before the pageant.
Before the pageant started.



Our family riding the wagon to school.

Little House Vacation

Day 1: Family Vacation

Friday morning Jed had finals to finish of his semester of summer school. Then we packed up the car and started on our little road trip.

Our first sort of official stop was at the Winter Quarters Temple Visitor's Center to use the bathroom and feed Baby X a bottle.

This picture is last time we were at this temple - Oct. 2005

Statue in front of the Visitor's Center - July 2008

Haven't they grown!?!

Our destination for Friday was Sioux City, Iowa to visit our good friends who moved there last year. We spent the afternoon and evening with them. They even took us a an Palmer's Candy store since Sioux City is home of the Twin Bing (which I've read all about in Candyfreak). Here are some pictures from before we left this morning:

the big girls playing dress-up

the girls

the boys (not as happy)

Then in the car for hours and hours of fields of corn and soy beans, and wind turbines. Oh and counties, my husband collects counties. Today we drove through Iowa, South Dakota (new state for me) and Minnesota (also a new state for me).

Day 2 Destination: Walnut Grove, MN

Walnut Grove, MN

For $4 a car some farmer allows us to drive through his field and get to the site of the dugout on Plum Creek. This was probably the most exciting part for Princess Sparkley, so well worth the $4.


Here are the kids and Jed frolicking in Plum Creek just as Laura and Mary did years ago.





Crossing Plum Creek to the Ma and Pa's dugout.


Field my the dugout site.


Princess Sparkley trying to look like a pioneer girl. She's placed her feet so it looks like she's walking.


Site of the Ingallses' dugout.


My cute family crossing back over Plum Creek.


Back in the town of Walnut Creek.


Princess Sparkley as Laura.


Walnut Grove's very own water tower. I'm sure this wasn't around in Laura's day, but it was an interesting shape so I took its picture.