The St. Louis Zoo

We had heard a lot about the St. Louis Zoo. Everyone makes a big deal about how it's free, but I think we spent more money going to this zoo then we have at any other zoo we've been to. Everything "extra" you want to do cost money and the food was ridiculously expensive. Between parking, drinks, lunch and the train ride we spent about $100. Not exactly what we were expecting with the hype of it being free. Despite the unexpected expense we had a great time. The kids were also little troopers because there was a lot of walking and they didn't complain once.

Boo Boo's

All three of the kids got boo boo's from falling on their bikes. Audrey got hers a few days earlier and today Jacob and Ethan fell within 30 minutes of each other.

No More Training Wheels for Ethan

This was by far the easiest transition from training wheels to no training wheels. Ethan's training wheels started to break a few months ago and I told him to try and ride his bike without using them. I knew he wasn't ready to take them off and I wasn't ready for them to come off. So, with the confidence of the training wheels still being attached he figured out how to ride without using them. Its taken him a couple of months to build up his confidence to take them off and today he was finally ready!

With Training Wheels

(notice that they aren't touching the ground)

Without Training Wheels

(look at that smile on his face)

AWANA Ceremony

Another year of AWANA has come to an end. The kids had so much fun going again this year and did such a great job learning their scripture verses. Audrey and Ethan were Cubbies and Jacob was a Spark. I volunteered in Audrey's class this year and I plan on volunteering again next year. Ethan is very excited because he will be a Spark just like Jacob in the fall and Audrey has one more year as a Cubbie.

Even though they weren't in the same class, Audrey and Ethan were on stage together to sing the Cubbie Song and recite a scripture verse!

The Sparks were on stage after the Cubbies. Jacob was so cute doing the hand motions to the song they sang. I wish I had my video camera to capture it.

Also, check out all the stuff on Jacob's vest. He has finished his Spark book and Extra Credit book two years in a row. I really need to count up how many scripture verses that is. It will blow your mind away. He also finished his Extra Credit book two weeks early this year! We are very proud of him.

His teacher was Mr. Chris Lanier. Jacob loved having him for a teacher and Chris always commented on how well Jacob was doing.

Mother's Day

Today was the last day of my mom's visit. It was really nice that she was with us on Mother's Day. I realized when she was here that it's been at least 12 years since I've been with her on Mother's Day. Oh, how those little things are lost when you live so far from home. We had a nice relaxing day together. Doug made us an early dinner, then I had to take her to the airport. We were very sad to see her go, but look forward to when we get to see her again in July. 

Baseball

This picture was taken at their practice on Wednesday night. It was a much nicer day then their games on Saturday. My mom, Audrey and I almost froze Saturday morning. It was in the 60's and the wind was blowing pretty hard and the sun was often behind the clouds which meant the wind chill was much colder than 60. The tips of my fingers were actually numb when we got in the car.

This is Jacob's first year playing baseball and he is doing really well for having never played before.

Doug is coaching Ethan's team. This picture was actually taken at their Sunday night game and it was a much nicer day as you can see from the lack of cold weather attire.

I love this picture!! Doesn't it make you giggle?

Lincoln's Tomb

This statue of Lincoln was the first thing we saw when we entered the tomb and it was done by the same artist as Lincoln's Monument in Washington DC.

Lincoln's nose has been kept polished by thousands of people who have rubbed it when they come to see his tomb. When I stepped back to look at his face, I was surprised to see how sad he looked. It was one of those moments that took my breath away.

Lincoln Home Tour

After we visited the Illinois State Capitol we headed over to Lincoln's home. It was facinating touring his home and seeing the last place he lived before he became our 16th president. We learned so much about Lincoln on the tour, and the movie we watched at the Visitor Center was outstanding.  

Springfield, Illinois State Capitol

One more state capitol checked off our list! I think this makes the 10th we've toured and the 12th we've seen. The tour of this capitol was a bit different because the legislature was in session and there were a lot of school tours. Our tour was with fifty 4th graders, which actually went quite well.

Below is a picture of the House of Representatives. We weren't able to see the Senate on the tour because they were in session. However, after the tour we went back to sit in on the debate over a bill and got to see it voted on. It was very interesting and it was definitely the highlight of our visit to the capitol.

I thought it was very interesting seeing the governors office after the scandal and impeachment of Rod Blagojevich. They didn't say much about the scandal, except that he has to pay to have his picture put on the wall with the portriats of the other governors. They are trying to pass a law so that any governor who has been impeached cannot have their picture on the wall, so there is a possibility that his will never be hung. Also, Patrick Quinn is the new governor of Illinois and was sworn in on January 29, 2009. 

Ulysses S. Grant's Home

My mom loves history, so we thought we would treat her to a little bit of American history during her visit. We went to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis, Missouri. The visit ended up being a treat for Doug and I as much as my mom. We learned that he met his wife Julia Dent at this house. Ulysses later purchased the home from her father and they lived there off and on during the 1850's. The information we learned about his life before his presidency was very interesting and really brought to life who he was.

Gymnastics

The boys started gymnastics a couple months ago through the homeschool group we're involved in. However, Audrey wasn't able to start taking classes until she turned four. It's been a really big deal for her to wait. So, I decided to make her big day more special by getting her a gymnastics outfit for her birthday. She couldn't wait to wear it to her class and she looked adorable in it. (P.S. The peace sign is something they picked up from the neighborhood kids, which is something I was unaware of until they flashed them for the picture.)

The funny thing about Audrey's first day is that she got right in there and tried to do everything. It was impossible to tell that it was her first day. We also gave Ethan the responsibility of showing her the ropes because they are in the same class. However, during group warm-up it was Jacob who was by her side and he asked Ethan why he didn't do the same when we were in the car on our way home. Ethan's response was "You were taking care of it."

Audrey and Cal (pictured below) are in the same Cubbies class on Thursday nights at AWANA, so they were happy hanging out together at gymnastics.

Ethan and Jacob have improved so much since their gymnastics classes in Olympia, WA. Ethan loves the trampoline, but I think he was even more happy to have me out there taking pictures of him.

Its been exciting to see Jacob do more difficult stuff at gymnastics. He was very proud of himself when he was able to climb the rope all the way to the top of the building. Both Doug and I were there the first time he did it and we were very proud of him too! We treated him to ice cream for that one!!

He's been working on doing handstands at home. He's getting much better and enjoys working on his new skill.

Audrey and Grandma Rapp

Audrey got nail polish for her birthday and asked Grandma to paint her nails. I thought their "girl" time together was so cute.

Storm Clouds

On our way home from swim lessons we noticed a large, dark, ominous cloud that seemed to hovering over our development. We kind of joked about why we didn't see any rain falling from the clouds. As soon as we pulled into the garage, I got out of the car and heard a crack on the ground outside. Then, I heard a few more cracks and realized it was starting to hail. My mom and the kids got out of the car and we stood in the garage as the hail came down. The kids had fun picking up the ice chunks that ricocheted into the garage. After it was over there was blue skies, which is typical of an isolated, Midwest storm cloud.

The hail was the size of a very large grape!!

Swim Lessons

The kids have been taking swim lessons through Scott AFB's Homeschooling group at the YMCA since January, but this is the first time I've taken the camera with me to take some pictures. The kids love going. Jacob has really improved since last year. It's hard to believe that a little over a year and a half ago he had never put his head under water before. Audrey and Ethan are in a class together and have a lot of fun. Ethan is doing much better, but he still needs a little more time before he moves up to the next class. Audrey has been working on overcoming her fear of the water and she is starting to enjoy herself more and more each time.

Ethan and Audrey waiting for their turn!!

Ethan wasn't happy that his turn was already over.

Audrey's happy doing whatever!!

Jacob swimming laps in his Guppies class!!

Grandma Rapp enjoyed watching them swim today and I know they loved having her there. 

It started to rain as we were leaving. The raindrops were big fat drops which I found oddly different. However, the interesting part is what happen when we got home which will be in the next blog.

Here's a clue. Look at the clouds reflected in the window.