Driving to VA

Before we left for our trip we had heard all the stories about driving with our children. People laughed when we told them we were going to drive and said "good luck with that". So we decided to leave MO at 4:00 am to get some of the driving out of the way while the kids were still asleep. However, the kids were so excited that they didn't fall back to sleep and instead looked around at everything while the sun was coming up. Right before we entered St. Louis, Jodie asked if we were there yet, which we laughed at. This was the only time anyone asked this question. Jodie did say multiple times that she was ready to go home, but was easily swayed with suckers, or toys. We did bring our computer so we could play movies for the kids if that was needed, however, it didn't work. Lucky for us the kids didn't seem to mind!

So here are some good time killers for the car...

books on cd (or in our case, downloaded from the library). The kids loved listening to the books and I bet it allowed us 5 or more hours of quiet in the car.

Snacks: all kinds of snacks, from sweet to salty. Including suckers. Even Ryan loved sucking on suckers (it kept us awake on the way home!).

Lots of things to color, and doodle on. I brought coloring books, blank maps, road scavenger hunts, and the license plate game. I also brought their magnetic drawing boards.

Small games, and other car activities including pipe cleaners. The kids loved the pipe cleaners and were entertained for a couple hours with them.

Last but not least rest stops. We stopped at several rest stops some of which were very nice, most were very clean, and all had grass to play in. It gave us a chance to stretch our legs, clean out the car, and go potty.

The only rest stop that had a playground. The kids loved playing.

Fourth of July

We decided to shoot off some small fireworks last weekend. Here is Mason throwing snap pops at Ryley (don't worry Ryley got him back!).
Here is Jodie with her "snapper tings". She loves throwing them on the ground and stepping on them!Mason was holding Jodie back while Ryan tried to light the snakes. Ugh snakes...they are so gross.
Ryan has to light all the fireworks because I won't! Luckily he doesn't seem to mind.
Awwww Ryley!
Mason and Ryley love sparklers, those of you who know me well, know that I am terrified of sparklers and won't go near them. So the fact that my children love them is slightly annoying ha ha.
For the fourth of July weekend we traveled to the lake. Ryan and the kids went to his parents house on Friday night, but of course there are no pictures :( I hear that they ate, played outside, and we great kids (must have been some one else's children, because this doesn't sound like mine at all). On Saturday we spent the day with my sister Erin at her in-laws home. There was great food, horse back riding, cooling off in the creek, an amazing fireworks display, and great friends/family to hang out with. A fun time was had by all!
Here are all the kids waiting to have a turn on the horse.
Ryan and Jodie talking to Gus.
Hannah and Ryley with Goose, I was very afraid that Ryley was going to try to smuggle Goose home with her.
Here is Hannah on the horse, she loved riding and kept asking to go again and again.
Mason and Ryley wanted to ride together on their first ride, but after that the fear was gone and they rode again by themselves.
Jodie wanted to ride so Hannah volunteered to ride with her.

Ryley and I drew a huge American flag on the drive way when we came home from the lake.
We had a great time seeing all our family and friends this weekend. The fireworks were amazing, the food was wonderful, and the company was great! Now we have to rest up and get ready for our vacation.

Fishing at Bass Pro

We went on our annual fishing trip to Bass Pro. The kids have a great time and always catch at least one fish. This year they all caught one fish and Mason caught a big catfish, but it busted his line before he could get it reeled in.Mason loves his Uncle Tommy! They are best buddies.
Ryley really liked fishing this year.

Jodie loved the worms, and she also really liked to reel (waiting is not easy for a 2 year old!).

June

Here are some pictures of what we have been doing lately. Mason had football camp a few weeks ago. He had a great time!

I thought this was a funny picture of him!

Here we are at the Cardinals game. The kids were eating peanuts. They lasted much longer than I thought they would considering the game didn't start until after 7:00pm.
Here is Jodie at her first game.
Ryan didn't really want his picture taken.
Before the game we went to visit Ryan's grandparent's grave.
We had to stop at McD's for strawberry shakes.
Jodie with her "puke" bucket on her head. Glad she was playing with it and not actually needing to use it.
Sorry for the lack of posts. I have not been in the mood to blog lately.

Fun at the park

This is the first big bowl of strawberries that we picked from our garden. Last year we picked this many total for the entire season. Fresh strawberries are so yummy! I want a bigger strawberry garden next year!

It took the kids about 2 minutes to devour the entire bowl. You have to be quick if you want a strawberry at our house.
On Saturday we decided to go to the park, have a picnic, and take a hike. We had tons of fun, but didn't realize that the battery in the camera was low. Luckily we did get a few pictures.

This was Ryley's first time on the monkey bars and she made it all the way across with no help. Then she did it several more times.
Mason also can do the monkey bars and wanted to show off.
Jodie liked crawling through the tunnel and sliding down the slide.
Jodie also really loves to swing. She threw the biggest fit when it was time to leave. It's official we have hit the terrible two's!!!!!!!!
The big kids liked swinging too. Ryan and I tried it and discovered that the higher one swings the sicker one feels!!!

Gymnastics and more

Ryley has been taking gymnastics for a few months now and is signed up to go through the summer too. She love gymnastics and wants to go every day. She also loves to practice (sometimes more than she should!). I have tried to take pictures but with Jodie sometimes that is just not possible. So here are a couple pictures from a week ago.

This bar she swings from, flips over forward, and jumps off of.
This bar is lower to the ground so she can do her pull over, a back flip and swing on it without help.
Her hand stand is improving every week. She can now go from a handstand to a bridge (a back bend) with a mat. Very cool but also a little scary for Mommy!
Here is Ryley on the blue balance beam doing her "ice cream scoops". She is also learning to do a cartwheel on the balance beam on the floor. On this balance beam she does bunny hop, walks backwards, bear crawl, and her ice cream scoops.
Jodie wearing 3d chalk glasses.
She is too cute for her own good!!!!
Jodie had to wear her sunglasses to church, even though it was raining!

1st and 2nd Baseball Games

This week Mason's baseball season started. He had a game on Thursday and Friday. All of the pictures were taken at Thursday's game. Mason was very nervous for the first game! He played very well at shortstop the first game and played well again the next night at first base.

Ryley plays with her friends in the dirt, under the bleachers, and behind the stands.Jodie tries to keep up with the big kids. It is a full time job to keep her from taking off!

Mason was first up to bat on the first night. He was so nervous he didn't get a hit, but he made three outs at shortstop.