Leaving Maymont

The creek at Maymont.

See, she really doesn't like it.


Cute Boy.

Maymont

After feeding twigs to deer, petting baby goats, trying to climb a tree, and whining and complaining about having to walk so far, we stopped to play at this little creek.

The girls.

The boys on a bridge.


Boy being pensive.


The three older cousins in the creek. Boy was happier throwing rocks in and staying dry.


So was Princess Sparkley for the most part. She didn't really enjoy so much the mud and water, just the idea of it.

Maymont

Maymont is a super cool huge old plantation turned park with all sorts of exciting animals, beautiful parks, etc. We had lots of fun.

The three older cousins... tired out at the very beginning of our walk. Boy had just fallen and was sad and clingy.

Boy being brave feeding a deer a small twig.
Cousins and statues.

Ahh.

The cousins made cookie with this prepackaged, play doh colored, cookie dough called Play and Bake. Boy's color was yellow, and thus, his tongue looks normal. Princess Sparkley's was dark blue and she shared a cookie with her cousin. Superman's was green. Look at those mouths!!

Children's Museum in Richmond

The Children's Museum of Richmond.

So this museum is totally awesome.

These butterflies land on your shadows. I can't explain it. It's pretty cool.


Race girls.

B got eaten... and thrown back up. Or is he on his way down? He was the only one brave enough to venture into the human digestive exhibit. Apparently it smelled like a human digestive track as well. And it made burping noises which totally freaked Princess Sparkley out.

Our little racer.


The boy cousins.

Amish

I get so excited every time we're on a trip and we see the caution sign warning you of horse drawn carriages. But I never actually see any. Driving through those windy mountain roads in Virginia we came across some signs, and I actually glimpsed a carriage that had just turned off the main road but could barely see it. So B, on his little county gathering trip by himself saw this one up near Maryland and took a picture for me.

Cousins in a swing revisited

This is Princess Sparkley and cousin right after Boy was born sharing a swing in California... July 2004. Princess Sparkley is almost two, so her cousin must be just over 18 months old.

Here they are now, March 2007 sharing a swing. Princess Sparkley is approximately 4 1/2 and cousin is just over three years.

Crump Farm with the cousins

B with Boy at the park.


Princess Sparkley chasing Geese.


Princess Sparkley with cousin.


The four cousins running off... notice, mine are the slowest.


Cousins and flowers.

the windy windy roads

This is what the windy roads did to our kids.

Princess Sparkley threw up twice, poor thing. Once into that little cup she's holding. And once, well, everywhere.

Boy, our resident non-puker, slept through it all. He refuses to puke. I think he's only done it once, has figured out what's going on and refuses to do it anymore. If only he'd figure that out about going potty somewhere other than his diaper or the bathtub.

Take me home, Country roads... Western Virginia

We drove through some absolutely beautiful hills and valleys of western Virginia (note: not West Virginia). Here are some pictures that don't involve any appliances, cars, couches or other types of huge household items thrown out the front door and down the small hill that makes their front yard. It was beautiful, but a huge majority of these people used their own front yards like the rural canyons where you see a "no dumping" sign.

Spring Break 2007: Richmond, VA here we come

B's sister's family lives in Richmond, Virginia so we decided to make the trek this Spring Break. Now that his parents live in St. Louis that cuts four hours off the eighteen or so hour drive (not counting extra hours for county hunting).

We started Friday, March 16th arriving in St. Louis that night and leaving early St. Paddy's Day morning. We then proceeded to drive through Illinois at what I believe to be a Southeasterly direction into Kentucky. We spent the night in a hotel in Corbin, KY, near London, KY. According to B, our county totals for this first leg of the trip are as follows:

B - 30
N - 32
Princess Sparkley - 32
Boy - 32

The kids giggled some (see Boy in picture), slept some, (see future posted pictures), and puked some (again, see future posted pictures).

Lick Lick

Is it all kids who look hilarious licking an ice cream cone, or just mine? I must have taken ten pictures trying to capture perfectly how silly they looked while they licked and this is the best I got. These pictures don't nearly give their licking justice.

Queen of Massage

Princess Sparkley decorated herself with the rolling massagers she was rolling on Daddy's back and named herself the Queen of Massage.

Lincoln, NE trip

The Capitol in Lincoln.

Boy in Wilber.

Princess Sparkley and Boy in Wilbur.

Famous Marysville Black Squirrel.

B had to go to New Mexico for work about a month ago on a Sunday night to Monday night quick little trip. That being so, he had too many work hours for his week and had to take Friday off. So he decided we should go to Lincoln, NE for the weekend, mainly so he could get counties. It had to be quick trip since I had to chaperone a stake dance Saturday night in Topeka. So we left Friday morning and came home Saturday around dinner spending the night in Lincoln and getting to explore just a little bit more of the midwest we now call home.

We visited the Homestead National Monument in Beatrice, NE, the Czech capital of Nebraska in Wilber, the State Capitol in Lincoln, (where I was also able to hunt down the fabric I wanted for a baby blanket at Hancock Fabric in Lincoln when all of the KC area Hancock Fabrics were out), and the famous black squirrels of Marysville, KS.

Clouds

I became obsessed with Kansas clouds a few weeks ago when I saw the fluffiest cumulus clouds filling the entire sky. Boy told me they looked like ice cream. I didn't have my camera with me then and regretted it. So since they I've carried my camera with me trying to capture how truly amazing the clouds here look. And everything is flat so they take up the entire expanse of sky. It's beautiful.

Excavator out our window

Have I mentioned that Boy loves tractors?? This was his dream come true. For about a week we had a giant excavator digging a hole right across our parking space, in front of our door, and next to the side of our townhome. Something to do with a sewer line, I think. Boy loved it. Was even offered a ride on a bulldozer but was too scared. And to top it all off, a green John Deere tractor came and sprinkled new grass seed and hay once the hole was all filled in and a roller came and paved our parking spot.

Bunk Beds

Since Princess Sparkley was 2 or 3 she's been bugging us for bunk beds... apparently she got the idea from Brother Bear and Sister Bear in the Berenstein Bears books. Now they are finally old enough. So way back in January while I was still in California with the kids, Daddy built bunk beds for them and they moved into one room. It's had it's ups and downs and there is still a lot of late nights and giggling, but for the most part it's worked out okay.

Skiing

Okay, so it only took about a billion years to finally get the rest of these snow pictures loaded. And now I have about a billion more pictures from Spring Break to post... so stay tuned.

This is B "skiing" at his parents' house. Having just recently moved in, they knew exactly where his old skis were, so he took them for a test run.