Just one
I've gotten to the point where I try to sit back and not worry so much about getting all the cute pictures, but I was almost giddy to have someone with me who not only would help me (try to) get a cute shot of all the kids, but I think she was the one to first suggest it.... which became our goal of our day: a cute shot of all the kids together. Did we accomplish our goal? Sort of. We didn't actually get everyone smiling, or looking for that matter. But the day was fun and each attempt is just cute :)
Visiting with the Palmers
Spending a day with these awesome friends the Palmers was a highlight of our trip! They moved away from us in July, and I had been planning to stop and visit them on our road trip since Nat first told me they were moving. Our plans got even more interesting when they finally found a house to buy and were getting closer to finalizing everything. It ended up that they closed on their new house the DAY BEFORE we got there. I kept asking, are you sure? Are you sure it's okay that we come? And of course, Nat (being Nat) was more concerned that WE wouldn't be comfortable because they'd be a mess of boxes! So we kept our plans and got there on a Friday night and stayed to play until Sunday morning, when we took forever leaving and probably made them late for church!
The first night, the girls were so excited to see our boys. They wanted to read them bedtime stories, and the boys just ate it up! They love all of the Palmer kids, and were so excited to go and visit. Chris is so fun to watch with them. Usually he's pretty much in his own little world around other kids, but Brielle and Brooklyn are always so sweet to him, he loves them.
The Magic House
We started Saturday bright and early (well as bright and early as it gets for the Izatts and the Palmers ;) Even though they were just beginning to unpack, I came upstairs from our lovely and comfortable guest suite to find John making a great breakfast! Actually, I came upstairs to find two pans of unattended scrambled eggs about to burn with no one in sight... Luckily I was there ;) Natalie was over at their old apartment trying to get a few last things done and moved over, and John was interrupted by some appliance guy at the door. He couldn't find the cord for the griddle.... or the toaster.... but it was a great breakfast anyway. It was pretty much hilarious and chaotic the whole time.
Anyway, we started the day off at the Magic House, which is the Children's Museum there. The kids, of course, loved every minute of it. So many fun things to do! These musical displays are always a hit with our boys.
The construction area was lots of fun for all the kids...
Jon got right in there, literally! He was diggin' up rocks in the quarry! He loves shovels.
First attempt at a picture of all the kids. You can't even see Braden, but he's back there! And Jon, this was his reaction every single time. In fact, this was his reaction to everyone during the vacation who tried to hold him or get too close!
Chris was so excited to get his turn on the "tractor".
I wish I had gotten better pictures of this crazy air-tube contraption. The kids thought it was awesome, sticking the stuff in the tubes and rerouting the air to blow it out different ways. Too much fun!
Attempt #2 at a cute pic of all the kids.... this time Nat even brought out the big guns... well, dum-dums (suckers) as a bribe... still didn't work. I just got a bunch of shots of them looking at her expectantly!
Actually, just this one- they were so darn cute the whole time. I missed it, but I hear that they were kissing while we were on this train. And earlier that morning they were running around holding hands at the house. So cute!
We watched a cool animal show complete with an eagle (I think it was?) and rats.
Saw giant turtles...
And fed baby goats! This was hilarious. Nat and and I stood back and positioned ourselves outside of the fence, with a good vantage point for cute pictures, and let the men take the kids in to feed bottles of milk to the baby goats. They took the kids over to the milk house for bottles, then into the barnyard where there were a LOT of baby goats running around trying to get milk. So, here's Farmer John trying to help Braden, and he's holding up the bottle and laughing hysterically at the goats in mid-air...
Then finally stops and is able to help Blaire and Braden not get eaten...
Then along comes Dave through the gate with Ben and Chris, and as soon as he gets through the little turnstile thing, he ends up with his arms full of bottles and boys and John runs over to try to help him get through since he's being climbed by all manner of "kids".
Dave ends up putting Chris back out to come and feed the goats outside of the fence, and he and Ben brave the barnyard...
I was really proud of Ben, this kind of stuff usually scares the pants off of him...
And speaking of pants, the goats liked John's... and mine at one point, through the fence!! You gotta watch your shorts there...
These girls were content to feed on the outside, and Brooklyn was so funny- she would jump around from goat to goat, giving each about 1 second before she would pull the bottle away and move on.
Then it was handwashing time, I just though this picture was so cute...
I mentioned we saw elephants, but this was the only view we really got...
It is really a beautiful place, I'm so glad we got to see it.
Where were we? Oh yes, picture attempt #4?
The architecture was pretty cool. There was a courtyard inside here, I think it was the "beer garden". We heard lots of talk of beer throughout our visit.
Such a fun day!
Gateway Arch
Before heading back for dinner, we made a quick stop at the Arch, how could we visit St. Louis without stopping there?
This was not an official attempt at a picture of all of them because Braden was done with us at that point, and I didn't make Jon sit for us, but the other kids sure were cute up on the steps...
Then Nat had the great idea to get a shot of our family, and I'm so glad she did! We got a few pictures of us throughout the trip, but this was my favorite!
We thought we might go down to see the museum, but we were too late in the day.
Which ended up being okay because it was getting late anyway!
Birthday cake!
We had to get home to celebrate Blaire's birthday, which was actually the next day, but how fun that they included us in the cake and ice cream festivities! The boys were in heaven, nothin' better than cake!
The next morning we had to say "so long" to our friends for now, but we will have to go back soon for a real visit! We had such a great time, even though it was short- as you can see from this novel of a post (sorry) we fit a lot in!
Last attempt at a group picture- not bad!
Bye friends!
