Adelie's Perspective

 As we were driving by the arch in St. Louis this past week-end, Adelie looked out the window and said contemplatively to herself, "I don't think I could climb that."

That statement provided some interesting insight into how Adelie views the world.  We assume she must look at most things in the world and ask herself, "Could I climb that?"  And for most things, I think her answer is yes.

St. Louis

Last week-end was our annual fall trip to St. Louis with Zach's parents.  We always try to mix in some new activities with some old favorites each time we visit.  We kicked off our trip with one of our new activities:  a trip to the top of the arch!

The kids were all excited about the prospect of going up in the arch since it's the iconic landmark that always lets them know when we have made it to St. Louis.

Staley was a little nervous about the tiny elevator and being up in the arch.  She took a few glances out the windows, but was ready to head back to ground level within a few minutes of getting to the top.

It definitely provided a new view of the city, although I wasn't crazy about riding in the tiny elevator either.

We followed up our first new activity of the trip with another one the very next day.  We headed out to visit Purina Farms.  What a fun way to spend a morning!!

There were games and hands-on learning activities to explore, farm animals to pet, dogs and cats to visit, and a barn to play in.

The highlight for Briggs was the corn tables filled with tractors and trailers to play with.

The girls loved the rope swing in the hay loft.

We all enjoyed the dog show, where dogs showed off skills by catching Frisbees, completing agility courses, and jumping into a pool.

After our fun morning, the girls enjoyed an afternoon swim while Briggs napped.  We topped off our fun day with a scrumptious dinner and a trip to the Disney store.

We finished our little get-away on the last day with my all-time favorite:  the St. Louis zoo!!

Briggs was so excited about riding the train.  It is always a favorite, so we made sure to ride it as soon as we got to the zoo.

And even though we enjoyed seeing the polar bear and the grizzly cubs and the penguins and the baby rhino, the girls couldn't wait to ride the carousel...again and again and again.

We fit in some new activities along with some old favorites and ended up with another fun St. Louis get-away.  

Bedtime Prayer

This was Adelie's bedtime prayer tonight:

"Dear Jesus.  Please help me to have no bad dreams.  Help there to be no tornadoes.  Help there to be no bugs in my room and help there be nothing with lots of legs or wings or things that can be squished in the whole house.  And please help there not to be monsters anywhere in the world.  Amen."

"Let's Just Not" Day

I declared today "Let's Just Not" Day.

As in...
let's just not cry
let's just not argue
let's just not whine
let's just not throw fits
let's just not tattle
let's just not yell
let's just not complain
let's just not!

Unfortunately, my kids are not embracing it like I had hoped they would.  But happy "Let's Just Not" Day to the rest of you.

Easing my Mind

Today when I got Briggs up from his nap, his right thumb was all wet.  I said, "Briggs, were you sucking your thumb?"  He replied, "Yes, but I didn't crooked my teeth."

Well that takes a load off.  Guess I can stop trying to break him of the habit.  Apparently he engages in the type of thumb-sucking that is not bad for your teeth.

Love this boy and his very straight teeth!

Soccer

Adelie just finished up her first season of playing soccer.  Although she was disappointed that she didn't score a goal, she really enjoyed herself and was always excited about playing.  And she's quick to point out that she almost scored a goal.

Adelie improved with her skills as the season progressed.  She was not the fastest or most aggressive kid on the field, but she played hard and had a good time.

Her league did not have enough parents volunteer to coach, so I offered to help.  I have never played soccer and don't really know the right technique or the rules.  Luckily, the kids on our team were 4 and 5.  I reminded them not to use their hands and tried to help them remember which goal we were going to, so I feel like I did my job.

Adelie was very sad when her season was over.  She enjoyed playing, made some new friends, and it was a good outlet for some of her energy.  We are already looking forward to next season!!

New Perspective

I was in a little fender bender yesterday in a parking lot.  Everyone was fine, but Adelie was very interested in all the proceedings, asking lots of questions as I exchanged information with the other woman.  Last night at dinner, Adelie said, "You exchanged phone numbers with that other woman.  What's your number now?"

Her interpretation of exchanging numbers is probably truer to it's actual definition, but it's so amusing to think about the confusion in the world if everyone was truly exchanging numbers all the time. 

I love how this girl always gives me a new perspective...and a good laugh.