Spring is in full force around here!!!!
At the last minute a few weeks ago, we decided to go out to the Shelby Farms playground (which is AWESOME!!! - there are tons of slides, swings, climbing ropes and walls, sand and water... everything a kid could dream of in a playground!) with our friends the Mangusos and then pick strawberries when the dads got off work. Tim rode his bike from work downtown! Wow!! It was like 16 miles! The city has paved an old railroad bed and named it "The Green Line." It runs from midtown out to Shelby Farms. It's great to see runners, roller skaters, and bike riders out on a beautiful day! So Tim picked up the green line from midtown and rode out to meet us!
A few pics at the playground....
Picking Strawberries!
Who me????
Love these kids!
We are so thankful to have such good friends in Nate, Lindsey, Owen, Chris and Amy!
Sabrina's birthday party in St. Louis was so fun last weekend! We all had a great time visiting and playing with the kids!
Can you get any cuter than this??
Happy Birthday, big girl!!!
Before the party, Susanna took all her clothes off to play in Sabrina's new sand and water table.... she had a great time!
I finally wrestled her back into some clothes before the guests arrived!!
Eli having fun on the big ball he got for his first birthday. It stays at Mimi and Pop's house - they love to play with it on their deck. I remember how big it seemed when he was 1! He's growing way too fast!!!
Madeline with her popsicle - Mimi's favorite treat to share!
Sabrina was so funny while we sang Happy Birthday.... she put her face down on the table and covered her eyes! She had a little shy moment!
She definitely recovered to blow out her candles....
and taste her delicious Elmo cake!
mmmm.... good!
Non, Aunt Stephie, Mom and Uncle Barry ...
Eli was all about "helping" with the presents... Sabrina was all about blowing bubbles!!
Madeline loved helping with the bubbles...
A couple times, Eli and Madeline took a break from the party to sit on the front porch... pretty cute!
After the party, a good nap, and some dinner, we headed to the new American Girl store! This was a fun way to celebrate Madeline's birthday with our St. Louis family!
Mimi and Pop treated Madeline's dolls (Polly and Julie) to a hair do, ear piercing and a tent!
What great birthday surprises!
After Polly's hair do didn't really fix her frizzy hair, we decided to send her to the doll hospital for a fix it job! They put her in a hospital gown and Madeline got to say goodbye! The lady who helped us was so sweet and really made Madeline feel special - very much family centered care!
We will see Polly again in a couple weeks when she comes back to our house!
When we got home from St. Louis, Eli was still complaining about a hurt toe. (He had been running barefoot (he's always barefoot) in my parents' house and rammed his foot into a chair leg.) It was swollen and very tender to touch, so we didn't know what to do. We consulted his allergy shot nurse, his teacher who used to be a nurse and our good friends the Spences (David is an ortho fellow in Boston)... We decided to take him to the Campbell Clinic after hours. They can do an xray there and have everything he would need in one place if he did need a cast or boot. As you can see from the picture, he did have a broken toe! He was pretty excited! You may have noticed in our strawberry pictures that 2 weeks ago, his friend Nate also visited Campbell Clinic for a broken finger. So, Eli was excited to be in the same arena as Nate! It's funny how kids can be so proud of their injuries! The next day, after a couple hours, he was ready to be done with the boot! But, he has gotten used to it now and doesn't really complain anymore - thank goodness or else it would be a long 3 weeks for all of us!!!!
As I was looking through pictures for this post, I found these three of my favorite guy and my favorite kids! Love them and so happy to have them!
As my mom says, "that's what it's all about!"
