Vacation-Day 3

On Day #3, we checked out the Transportation Museum. Jackson was pretty worn out by today, so he was a little grumpy. It took us a while to find an engine that he could actually climb in and "drive". Unfortunately, it was a little rainy so the miniature train rides were not running. For lunch, we went to the Incredible Pizza Company. It was a lot of fun!

Vacation-Day 2

Day #2 started with Jackson jumping up on his bed and signing all of the animals that he wanted to see at the Zoo. He has a "Signing Time" DVD (Zoo Train) that teaches you all the signs for zoo animals and he LOVES it! (Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Jarrett). I think that has made him all the more excited about going to visit the animals at the zoo.

The weather was perfect on Wednesday and all the animals were out. A few of our favorite animal encounters . . . . the chimps sitting right next to the glass (I think Kinsey thought she could actually touch him), the giraffe licking the sign, the penguin splashing us, the hippos swimming right up next to the glass, the baby tigers (adorable), the baby elephant and the sea lion show.

We also visited the Magic House (Children's Museum) on Wednesday. Everything is so interactive and kid friendly, it was great! Both Jackson and Kinsey got to play in the water table. And he could have played for hours ringing people up in the grocery store and serving pizza at the restaurant.

Vacation-Day 1

We had a great time in St. Louis. This is our first day . . . supper at the Old Spaghetti Factory and a walk along the riverfront to the Arch. As you can see, Kinsey had a great time at supper and Jackson not so much! We had to wake him up from his nap and that never goes well.

Last Pool Day

Our pool days are over for this summer. Unfortunately, our pool closed on Sunday. So we had to squeeze in one more morning at the pool on Saturday. We will certainly miss it!!!

We are heading to St. Louis for a few days for a little family vacation. Jackson has been ready to go back to the "BIG" zoo for weeks. Every time we leave to go somewhere, he thinks that is where we are going. We are going to go to the Magic House, Transportation Museum, Zoo & Grant's Farm. Check back this weekend for pictures of our adventures : )

BalloonFest

We went to Centralia for their annual BalloonFest tonight. It was a lot of fun and they had some very unique balloons (Noah's Ark, Pepsi Can, Humpty Dumpty, Dragon). Jackson was really interested in watching all of it. We got there in time to see them setting up the balloons and taking off for the "Balloon Race" and then stayed for the "Glow" and Fireworks.

Silly Boy

Jackson has been SO excited for David to put together our swingset. A family from our church gave us a wooden swingset, but it all needs to be put together. The big tunnel slide is laying in our backyard and it has taken everything within him, not to go ahead and climb through it. He can't wait!! Here are some fun pictures from last night . . . he is quite the ham!

Spaghetti Face

Kinsey has been feeding herself all kinds of new foods. To my surprise, she has eaten everything I have given her. Maybe feeding herself is what she has been wanting all along! Here she is enjoying some spaghetti : ) As my niece Claire would say, "Do you like it? You got it all over your face!"

Enjoying the Weather

The weather this week has been fantastic (upper 70's, low 80's) and we have been taking advantage of it! Turning off the AC, opening the windows, playing in the backyard, going on walks, enjoying the park . . . .

More Wedding Pics

Caleb & Christina's Wedding

David's cousin, Caleb, was married on Saturday (August 9th) in Athens. Just wanted to share a few pictures from our day.

Mommy, I dance with her!

At the reception, I asked Jackson, "Do you want to dance with Mommy?" He says to me, "No Mommy, I dance with her!" and pointed to the bride, Christina. So he went over and danced with her : ) Of course, he was SO exhausted that he just held her hands and stood there. But it was pretty cute!

Dancing . . . .

The boys enjoyed dancing together at the reception. Here are a few shots . . . . and yes, they did the "locomotion". Jackson loved watching everyone dance and even picked up a few new moves from cousin Josiah, who taught him to "break dance" and do the "robot".

Kinsey Grace-9 Month Stats

I took Kinsey to the dr. yesterday (8/8) for her well-baby check up. She is 17 lbs. 3 oz. (25%) and 29 inches long (90%). He said she was doing well and to start letting her experience a variety of new foods. So we'll see how that goes : ) She has already proven to be a little more particular than Jackson at this early age. HMMMM, I wonder where she gets that from : )

Congratulations Jacci & Josh!

My best friend from high school had her 1st baby on Monday (August 4th). Introducing Maggie Leigh . Isn't she cute? : )

Steven Curtis Chapman Interview

If you missed Good Morning America on Tuesday, I just wanted to share the link to see the interview they did with Steven Curtis Chapman's family about the loss of Maria. Chapman Interview on GMA

Kinsey Grace-9 Month Pics

We took Kinsey this afternoon to have her 9 month pictures taken. Hard to believe she is 9 months tomorrow! CRAZY : ) She keeps herself pretty busy crawling and pulling up. She just recently got her 2nd bottom tooth and is working on more. And somehow she still has those big beautiful BLUE eyes : ) Yes, I confess I was sure they would eventually turn brown, but I was wrong!

Birthday Weekend

We had another birthday this evening at the Mann's house. Jackson loves his little friend Nathan so much! They had a great time at his Cars birthday party!

Ritchie Birthdays

We celebrated our nephews, Josiah & Nathanael's, birthdays on Friday night. It is hard to believe that Josiah is already 8 and Nathanael is 3!! Karen, of course, made a very creative and wonderful cake. Nathanael and Jackson got into it a little early too : ) They couldn't resist sampling the M&M that were inside the second car of the train. Kinsey liked giving Luke some kisses too : )