The House of Magic

I am pretty sure this is not the most appropriate post to add to the blog after the last one, but I think I'll go with it anyway because it is so representative of my life and my little girl (and it still makes me laugh every time I think about it).

The other evening while driving home after a late night at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Amelia was quietly sitting in the back seat looking out of the window. We passed one of those seedy, adult novelty shops called Pure Pleasures. It is a stand alone building that is outlined all around the outside with a neon purple light. From the back seat came Amelia's excited voice asking, "Is that the Magic House?".

(For those of you who don't know the Magic House is an incredible children's museum in St. Louis full of hands-on fun. Obviously it is time to take her back there again!)

The Past, Present, and Future

September 29 was the due date of the baby that we lost earlier this year.

I had been dreading this day for awhile now. After the miscarriage, I kept wondering how I would get through September 29, especially if I wasn't pregnant again. I am so thankful for the baby growing in my stomach that is going to soon join us.

I wanted to remember the day, but didn't feel a need to dwell on the past. I really tried to keep things simple and enjoying the beautiful day. Amelia and I started the day with a Parents As Teachers activity centered around the book, "Have You Filled a Bucket Today?". It was really a neat concept about how everyone carries an imaginary bucket and by doing and saying nice things you fill it for them (and, in turn, fill your own). When your bucket is full, you feel happy. By contrast, you become a "bucket dipper" when you are mean or say something rude to another person. An empty bucket makes others feel sad. I was surprised at how quickly Amelia caught onto the concept and it seemed fitting for the day. We even made a plan on how we could fill someone's bucket the next day (which we did!).

On our way to have our buckets filled:

After the PAT activity, I thought we would spend the rest of the morning picking out and planting some mums around the mailbox and in pots for the front porch. The poor flowers I planted in the springtime were looking pretty dried up and crispy, so this was perfect. It was a small gesture that quickly made a huge difference. Plus, I had lots of help from a certain someone who never passes up a chance to get dirty! It affected my mood immediately and has every day since. I love seeing the fall flowers when I come home!

Lastly, (and I could not think of a better way to spend our afternoon on this day) Amelia and I headed to my 27 week appointment. I like having Amelia at my appointments because the doctor always listens to the baby's heartbeat much longer so that Amelia can get a good listen too. We heard a very healthy heartbeat and the doctor even commented to Amelia that "that is a VERY happy baby in there!". (Probably because I had just eaten a chocolate bar, but I didn't mention that to him). Regardless, that is exactly what I needed to hear!

It was really important to me to remember this loss that still seems so fresh to me, but I am glad this day is behind me. I am eagerly awaiting our baby's arrival and looking forward to seeing what else lies ahead!

Pickin' Some Apples!

Since we've already been peach and blueberry picking this year, it was only a matter of time before we added apple picking to the list.

We opted to visit Eckerts in Grafton again so that we could take the ferry (actually 2!) and stop by a farm on the way that sells enormous pumpkins for super cheap!

Lucky for us, Amelia's grandma and great grandma were along for the ride. Even though they aren't all from the same side of Jason's family, we still had 4 generations of apple pickers!

I didn't catch any shots, but we stopped by a small family farm in between ferries to pick out our pumpkins. I am amazed every year at the cheapness of these pumpkins. We got two HUGE pumpkins that were $2.50 each. Amelia also picked out a medium sized one for $1. Even the biggest pumpkins they had (the kind that you would need more than one person to lift), were marked at $5. There was, of course, also all kinds of jams and apple butters too! Yum!

After the second ferry, we were on to the apple orchard. Amelia thought that having her own little bag was pretty neat!

I am not sure these next few need much commentary....

From here on out, you may notice she has an apple in her hands at all times. I think she ate 3 apples during our visit!

Enjoying the wagon ride...

Apple still in hand...

Did you notice her apple shirt? I mention it only because I rarely am so coordinated to pair her outfit with the activity that we are doing. The shirt has really, really cute green corduroys that match it, but it was definitely too warm for those!

After picking our share, we stopped by a restaurant in Grafton for lunch. It was a beautiful day for sitting outside and enjoying the weather. I wish I would have gotten a picture of Amelia taking it upon herself to sit at the outside bar and order her drink separate from ours. She also asked the waiter (while he was behind the bar area) for a napkin. Does the entertainment ever end?

Rain, Rain Stick Around!

Map Quilt

Last year at MOPS (Mother of Preschoolers group for those of you who aren't familiar), one of the moms spoke about her love of traveling with her family. She gave all kinds of tips for traveling with little ones and brought some great ideas to share with the group.

One of the projects she shared with us was a quilt her mother made so that her children could follow along with the map during long road trips. Instantly, I knew I wanted one. Thus began the long search for a map of the USA fabric panel. I was specifically looking for a version that had cartoon-like pictures for certain characteristics of each state. I was unsuccessful with my ebay bids and could never snag one on etsy fast enough. I searched the web high and low without much luck. Much to my surprise during a trip to JoAnn's Fabric during our stay in Spokane, WA earlier in the summer we came across several of these panels! Needless to say, we bought them out!

My mom, the crafty lady that she is, was able to whip up one of these quilts in time for our road trip to Wisconsin. Amelia already has an interest in learning the states and can name quite a few. The quilt worked especially well since we drove through two state capitals on our way to visit my great Aunt, both of which were also marked on the map. Amelia could be heard asking from the back on several occasions, "Are we at the first star yet?".

After returning from our trip, I decided that I wanted to mark each state she has visited with a simple black button. I originally wanted to use pins that I had collected from each state, but decided that the fabric was already busy enough, so keeping the marker simple and solid colored would be for the best.

Amelia was excited to help me sew the buttons onto the quilt. She has been to a total of 8 states so far (Missouri, Illinois, California, Wisconsin, Florida, Washington, Idaho, and Virginia. I have decided to not count states where we've only been laid over). She lost interest after the 3rd button and I finished it up.

Evidence on the map quilt of our most recent journey to WI.

Florida, up close, I don't know why.

The map in its current state. I am eager to add more buttons. I asked Amelia where she would like to go next and she picked Mississippi.

Have I mentioned how much I love this project? I know it will be a special keepsake for Amelia for years to come, as well as a great learning tool!

The Land of Cows and Cheese

Nearly three and a half years ago, Amelia (a mere 11 weeks old), my mom, and I headed to Wisconsin to visit my great Aunt Elaine. She was married to my grandmother's brother and has been very special to our family. We used to visit my great aunt and uncle several times a year when they were residing in Chester, IL--home of Popeye.

Since that trip nearly 3.5 years ago, my aunt has been asking when we were coming back. We tried to go last year, but the night before we were scheduled to leave, my aunt took a nasty fall and wound up in the hospital. We promised that as soon as the weather turned warm in the spring we would plan a time to come up. That didn't quite happen, but we were able to head up last week for a visit instead.

Amelia's snapshot of my great Aunt.

It is a (gasp) 9 hour drive and I was pretty concerned about how Amelia would do. There is really no easy or quick way to get there by plane because she lives in a very small town. Luckily, Amelia did an incredible job. It helped that IL has gotten wise enough to install some great playgrounds at rest areas along the way. Its hard to believe, but she didn't even sleep at all on the way up North!

In fact, she arrived full of energy and ready to perform! She was told she could take ONE dress up costume with us on the trip (which was a 20 minute decision) and performed her rendition of Cinderella countless times during our visit.

The next morning we headed out to see Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. The first time Amelia visited these two, she was not very impressed. In fact, she slept almost the entire visit. Paul and Babe haven't changed much, but Amelia sure has!

She was much more a fan of Babe than Paul. She initially had it in her head that Paul was going to move when she got close to him.

After visiting with Paul and Babe outside, we decided to check out the Logging Camp Museum inside. We skipped this part last time and I'm sorry we did. It was really well done!

In the kids section, Amelia next to Paul's boot.

If you are at all familiar with the Tall Tales of Paul Bunyan, you will remember that at his logging camp there was a gigantic griddle for frying up enormous flapjacks. The griddle was so big that to grease it, people would have to strap pats of butter to their feet and skate around it.

With all the grace and agility she could muster, GG decided to give this a go.

Amelia gave it a try too, although she spent much of the time holding on to the side.

One of Amelia's favorite parts was catching this Disney Paul Bunyan flick in the children's section. The volunteers at the Logging Camp practically gave us a personal tour (apparently it isn't a HUGE attraction). They made sure Amelia was comfy and started the movie when she was ready.

The museum had different cabins set up to look like various parts of the logging camp. It was great hands on learning for Amelia.

I took this picture of the sign so I can make a version of it for OUR kitchen.

Amelia seemed to like the kitchen/dining area the best. So much to get into!

She was pretty taken with the dorms too! She especially liked the bear skin blanket on one of the beds.

Here she was asking if there were any girls that were loggers. When I told her I didn't think so, she asked why there was a flower blanket then. I wasn't sure how to answer that--museum budget constraints that didn't allow all items to be authentic?

The following day, we headed to a nearby town to check out a restaurant known for their delicious pies and Norwegian food. Last time we visited this restaurant, I bought a pie for Jason and transported it all the way back to Chicago. I decided to send him a picture (actually two) of the menu so he could pick out what he would like this time. He opted against getting an entire pie, but picked out two flavors he would like of just individual pieces.

Our waitress was kind enough to divide our three pie choices up and serve a little on each plate to us. We opted for Banana Cream, Pecan Fudge, and Chocolate Mousse. They were all delicious.

After filling up on pie, we walked around the area and did some shopping. Amelia spotted this guy outside an antique store and was instantly in love!

The rest of our trip was pretty low key. We spent a lot of time talking and catching up. Amelia was completely taken with my aunt's angel collection as well as her cane selection (which she used as a dance prop for much of the visit). We visited a local park and even spent time outside with Amelia while she rode her bike (yes, we brought it all the way up to Wisconsin!). The ride home was pretty smooth. Amelia even slept for part of the trip. We are already trying to figure out the logistics of returning next year with a 4 year old and a 6 month old.....

Dying to get In

One of my Grandpa Fey's all time favorite jokes was told any time he spotted a cemetery or hearse. I guess it wasn't a joke really, more like a comment. He would always just point it out and say, "People are dying to get in there". On occasion, he might say, "Do you know why they put a fence around that cemetery?" and then deliver his line. Even if you groaned, rolled your eyes, sighed, or beat him to the punch, he would still make the comment as if you said nothing.

I think Amelia would have appreciated that joke. Last week, we drove by a cemetery and Amelia spotted it from the back seat.

Amelia: Mom! Look at all those pretty things over there!

Me: Yep, that is a cemetery and those are gravestones.

Amelia: They just look so pretty mommy! I wish I could live there with all of those gravestones.

As if that wasn't enough, we spotted yet another cemetery a few days later.

Amelia: Mom! Look at all of those pretty gravestones!

Me: Uh-huh.

Amelia: I wish we had a lot of pretty gravestones like that in our backyard! Then we could see them all of the time!

Grandparents Day!

Amelia's school invited all grandparents to attend class with them a few Thursdays ago. Amelia was so giddy with the thought of having both GG AND Grandma join her she could hardly stand it!

Both grandmas were such good sports and stayed the whole 3 hours. We met for lunch afterwards and chatted about their experience. I am scheduled to volunteer in Amelia's classroom in October and November, but have yet to witness how her school days go so I had to get the low down from them. I am pleased to announce that both GG and Grandma had nothing but positive things to report--even after I specifically asked them to tell me something (anything!) negative! Turns out there is WAY more academics going on in that room than I could have imagined. Of course, its all done through play, so that was all I was hearing about from Amelia.

Amelia is so blessed to have two Grandmas, two Grandpas, two Great Grandmas, Two Great Grandpas, and one Great-Great Grandma! She is constantly surrounded by wonderful people who love her and have helped to make her the amazing little girl she is today!

Andrew and Jacob Come for a Visit

Over the Labor Day weekend my brother and his family visited us in St. Louis! Its always so much fun for me to see my nephews and I especially enjoy watching all of the kiddies interact with each other.

Our first stop was none other than the Museum of Transportation because we really just cannot get enough of that place. It worked out perfectly since our membership expired at the end of September, I was able to use the exact necessary number of stamps and treat my entire family to admission into the museum, creation station, and unlimited train rides.

Can you tell Amelia is in playmate heaven? She absolutely ADORES Andrew! Still, nearly a month later, she cannot see an airplane without wondering if Andrew is aboard....on his way to visit her!

Checking out the streetcar!

It was great that GG and Papa joined us too. Papa even took off work which is quite a rarity!

And not to forget about poor baby Jake! Amelia loved "babying" him during their stay and seemed to especially enjoy his shrieking noises! He was such a trooper keeping up with the older two!

Amelia was beat after the Museum, Steak N Shake car in hand!

Our second stop was the Zoo. Since our Museum of Transportation membership was about expired, we had been talking about getting another membership at a different St. Louis hot spot. After learning about their corporate matching program AND learning that Jason's company was part of it, it was very clear that we would be Zoo Friends for the next year. Jason's company paid for half of our membership. It worked out well since we all decided to take a train ride (which was $40 alone for our group of 9).

We enjoyed a carousel ride:

and the children's zoo:

Can you tell Amelia's been working on her acting skills? I told her to look scared.

Trying to sweet talk the goat....

Goat Grooming...

And so ends the pictures I took from their trip. I misplaced my camera for part of the time of the visit and was just plain lazy the rest of the time. Aside from the Transportation Museum and the Zoo, we also visited my favorite New Town playground, took a trip to the Mills, and got our fill of Steak N Shake with not one, but two visits there!

Derek, Amy, Jason, and I even had a night out to ourselves while the kids had a sleepover at GG and Papa's house. Their night was filled with crafts, a movie and staying up WAY too late and we opted for dinner at Vivian's Vineyard and a trip to Jive and Wail. Unfortunately, because it was a Sunday night, there was no Jiving or Wailing going on when we arrived and hardly anything else was open. After much discussion we opted to go bowling (pretty much the only place open). Interestingly enough, though, none of us had socks on so we stopped at Walgreens and bought a 10 pack of ladies tube socks to share! It was packed when we got there and ended up shutting the place down.

All in all it was a great visit and we are already looking forward to their return trip in December!