Houseguests...Yes!

Monday, June 11, 2012

We were so excited to have Amber, Ross, and their boys staying with us while the kids were here. Monday morning we packed up and disconnected at the WM Campground then headed home very early in the morning, before the kids were even up...yet another benefit of RVing. There were chores to be done before they arrived later in the day.

A few years ago, we added a large front room to our home with the original one at the back of the house still serving as a family room. It was a perfect place to set up two huge air mattresses for the kids. In addition to providing much needed extra sleeping space, they also made great trampolines and, when stacked, a great place to practice high jumps! Before selecting photos and posting about our fabulous week exploring Chicago with them, I wanted to post this photo of the six cousins...they did eventually sleep.

Of course, the trike is always here too, for speeding around the circular track through the family room, junction, hall, kitchen, dining room and back to the family room. Wait just a minute...how can Tanner ride through with that raucous game of musical chairs taking place in the family room!!!!

I LOVE having this level of activity in our home!!! If only it were like this more often...sigh

Lovin' Life ~~ In a Wild and Noisy House!

A Favorite Ride!

Sunday, June 10, 2012

After the others left early Sunday evening, I took Mom one of Kathy's creations, a strawberry and cream filled pastry concoction. She loved it so I didn't point out how lucky she was that I don't like strawberries! giggle

An aside...I don't know why, but  it seems that Mom has stopped wearing her glasses. We had to insist she put them on for pictures the other day so that she would look like we are used to seeing her.

When we all got back to the WM Campground, Shelby asked if they could ride the quads. My brother has three.

The smallest can be DRIVEN BY THE KIDS themselves, which makes it a favorite.

The bigger quad has to be driven by Uncle Wayne but it goes SO MUCH FASTER. which makes it a favorite.

And the granddaddy of them all, the Ranger, has room for all of the kids to ZOOM AROUND the property TOGETHER, which makes it a favorite.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Uncle Wayne's Cool Rides!

A Family Weekend

The Evening of June 8th through Sunday, June 10, 2012

When we got back to C'ville Friday evening we were all so excited to see that my niece, her husband, and their three young sons had arrived at my brother and SIL's place only moments before we did.  This was the beginning of an entire week of fun, fun, fun for our grands and their three cousins. They were all so excited to see each other.

Our son and DIL were already there too! Greg and Jenny had spent much of the afternoon visiting with Mom and were getting ready to set up their ladder toss game, which was a big hit with all ages throughout the weekend.

Early Saturday morning, my cousin Kathy arrived to drop off homemade cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, coffee cake, fudge ribbon cake, cookies, apple pie...are you on a sweets high just from reading this? She is an amazing baker and we all overindulged the rest of the weekend. She, her folks, and her sisters, niece, and nephew all came down to visit in the afternoon. Mary made all the great food to balance out all those delicious treats.

I had made these "Cousins" t-shirts for the kids. There are so many great backdrops at the WM Campground and Amber and I took advantage of the setting to get some great shots of the six cousins.

That evening my group got to the nursing home first. When the kids walked into her room and she saw their shirts, Mom said "They're not cousins!" Then when Amber's kids walked in, she thought it was all so cute. There were fourteen of us and she kept counting us over and over, recalling the time years ago when her dad looked over at her mom and said, "Just look what we started!" at a gathering when we were all together. It was an amazing evening...the end of an amazing day.

Here is Mom with all of her great-grandkids.

This is a favorite of mine. At the end of the day Saturday, after so many photo shots, lying on the floor of the nursing home family room, the kids were all still smiling and cooperating...what an amazing group of kids!

Sunday was more of the same fun...

Ladder Toss competitions...

and cousin time...

and Grandpas visiting under the shade tree...

before Amber's family left to spend the night with Ross' folks on their way up to our place, 

and Greg and Jenny headed back up home.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Lazy Family Weekends

City Museum

Friday, June 8, 2012

We drove to St. Louis again on Friday to return to the massive playground called City Museum. Located in an eleven story former shoe factory downtown, we had lots of fun memories of our first visit there a couple of years ago.

Notice on the roof in this photo of the building, the school bus extending off the edge, the giant praying mantis, and the bird cage looking structure.

"Welcome to City Museum, where the imagination runs wild!
Housed in the 600,000 square-foot former International Shoe Company, the museum is an eclectic mixture of children’s playground, funhouse, surrealistic pavilion, and architectural marvel made out of unique, found objects. The brainchild of internationally acclaimed artist Bob Cassilly, a classically trained sculptor and serial entrepreneur, the museum opened for visitors in 1997 to the riotous approval of young and old alike.
Cassilly and his longtime crew of 20 artisans have constructed the museum from the very stuff of the city; and, as a result, it has urban roots deeper than any other institutions’. Reaching no farther than municipal borders for its reclaimed building materials, City Museum boasts features such as old chimneys, salvaged bridges, construction cranes, miles of tile, and even two abandoned planes!"  This was copied from the museum's website because I would not know how to begin to describe this fabulous place myself.

As soon as we were inside, the kids remembered the three story slide that ends at the entrance. Here are the kids coming off the first of several runs down this slide.

After this first slide, we went up to the roof since it wasn't open when we were here before. In this next photo we are all inside the bus that you saw hanging off the top of the building. Shelby is in the driver's seat!

About that giant praying mantis overlooking the city far below...

Here is Dylan taking off on the white metal slide that begins in front of the praying mantis.

And that bird cage? Dylan, Shelby, Jackson, and G'pa had all climbed up into it. Look down to see how tiny the patio furniture looks on the roof far below them...yikes!

Jackson is standing on the bridge that leads back from the bird cage.

G'pa is watching all three on this slide. You use a knotted rope to walk up the slide to the top; they came down this one many times too.

Everywhere you look, materials are used in fun, unexpected, and unique ways.

There's so much to do inside that we finally decided to go back in. Can you find Shelby inside the coil in this next photo? Look closely at all of them to see if you can find the kids...and sometimes G'pa.

The next three photos were taken in the area at the bottom of an enclosed seven story slide. There is an enormous pipe organ in this area too. You look up at what appears to be a series of curved balconies but is actually the slide. During its shoe factory days, boxes were transported down this "slide."  You have to walk through the "caves," shown in the photo that follows, to get to this slide.

But wait...around every corner, on several floors, there is more and more and more...

Oh but you haven't seen any of the funtastic climbing structures attached to the outside of the building yet, including two airplanes!!!

In the photo above, the kids are climbing up to join G'pa on the catwalk in the photo below. To the right of this airplane, you can see a portion of the skeleton that is the second airplane body.

Look closely or click to enlarge the next three photos. Here are Dylan and Shelby as they exit the airplane onto the roof of this architectural tower.

G'pa was next out onto the roof, then Jackson is the last to exit the airplane.

Our intrepid explorers on the balcony of the tower!

Were we exhausted by now? Not a chance! We went back inside for more fun and back up to the roof for more climbing and sliding, ending the day with our surely-by-now-famous, G'pa-choreographed hood ornament pose.

I do hope we get to go to this place again and again! Please include this on your itinerary if you are ever visiting St. Louis.

Lovin' Life ~~ And Unique, Exciting Places!