The Zoo

I've been having trouble with my mac - specifically getting my photo management software to not freeze up and crash.  So I haven't been able to do much with my photos for the past couple weeks...and I also haven't had much free time to sit down and try to figure out what the problem was. But I finally got it figured out.  Hooray!  So now I am hastily trying to catch up on things I wanted to blog about.  So forgive me if my posts are a bit terse.

 Here are a few pictures from our big family outing to the zoo.

Scott with Emma in the baby carrier - her first trip to the zoo

Olivia and John in the stroller.  Everyone had a turn in the stroller.

 So much to see

Matthew checking the map for us 

Everyone also wanted to sit on the gorilla statue 

 See Olivia waiting patiently for her turn

 We saw lots of animals and had a great time

And some SUPER men!!

Cody, Matthew, Pa2 (Grandpa Guptill) and Owen

And extra points for spotting super Olivia in this picture too.

Family Trip to the Arch

 After Matthew's baptism we went to Fitz's for lunch.  Here's Anna watching the soda being bottled.  On the way to Fitz's Anna suddenly had to go to the bathroom REAL BAD!!  We ended up stopping at a gas station in scary downtown St. Louis where I ran her into a disgusting men's bathroom (the women's was out of order and we were desperate).

And then immediately after leaving the restaurant Anna announced she had to go again REALLY BAD!!  We had two other cars following us and the traffic was bad so I thought we could try to make it to the arch.  Unfortunately the whole area around the arch was under construction, we had a hard time finding a place to park and had to park super far away from the arch or any public restrooms.   After Anna agreed to it I put one of the boys diapers on her so she could just go while we looked for parking, but she couldn't do it. The last few minutes Anna was screaming that she couldn't go but had to go SO BAD and Matthew was screaming and telling her to "just go in the diaper" and stop screaming.  By the time we got there Scott and I were both in a bad place.  Grandma ran Anna into a bathroom and talked Matthew down and all was well again.  Thank goodness for Grandparents.

We had to walk a really long way to the arch.  Stupid construction.  The cool museum at the bottom of the arch was closed, the arch itself was no longer free and the close parking structure we usually go in was being torn down.  So we may not go to the arch again while we live here.  So much trouble!

By the time we got there not everyone wanted to go up in the arch.  Here are the kids with with my dad going up in the arch.  Grandpa Keeler, John, Matthew and me.

 And Anna and Grant

 Up on top Matthew!

That window behind him is one of the tiny lookout windows.

 View from the arch looking toward Illinois

 Top of the arch selfie

 And Anna looking back up toward the arch

 Matthew holding up the arch

Anna and Olivia (her cousin/our niece).

Anna was very excited to spend time with her cousins!!  In spite of some rough patches during our outing, we had a fun time visiting the arch.  And I think that might be our last visit since we will be moving in a few months.

Matthew's Baptism

Matthew got baptized a few weeks ago.   We had lots of family come into town to be with us for his baptism.  It was lots of fun.   Here are Scott and Matthew before the baptism.  The only baptism clothes that fit Scott was this awesome 70s suit.  It looked great!!

We also blessed Emma after the baptism.  Here she is with Scott, all dressed up and cute.

She was well behaved during the blessing too.

It was a special day and glad we got to share it with family.

Matthew's Birthday Continued

We did some other Matthew birthday activities throughout the weekend due to snow and just a very busy Saturday to begin with.  We did a pretend Jedi Training Academy where the kids had to complete different training tasks.  A lot of it had to do with lightsabers.

 Pin the lightsaber on Yoda

 We fought the storm troopers a lot

 Here's Anna trying to clear the room of storm troopers

 Grant would sometime volley them back in the room.

He may have turned to the dark side.

 After a long battle some of the storm troopers started sticking on the ceiling from the static

 They also had to battle Darth Vader

The Darth Vader mask was a kids size, so it was not quite the right proportion - my head looks really small.  But we still had fun with it.  They loved trying to kill me with their lightsabers.

 Here's Matthew's training checklist

 On Monday we finally made it to Steak and Shake for Matthew's special birthday dinner

Here's John drinking my milkshake

 Emma fussed a little bit at the restaurant
Grant is her new best buddy.  He seems to be able to make her laugh when she is sad.

And here are the kids trying to destroy the death star.

We made an old school paper mache pinata.

 Everyone took a swing at it

 Matthew finally put it out of its misery

And the candy scramble!  Destroying the death star was our last activity.  I asked Matthew if he was happy with his birthday and he said he was.  Later he said he was happy because he got (for his birthday) "scriptures, a nerf gun and a football - everything an eight year old boy needs."  And he is super excited to start cub scouts.

Snow Day

We got another snow storm this weekend on Matthew's birthday.  Everything was canceled.  The kids played outside most of the day on Sunday.  Here's Anna riding her sled down the snow hill made by the snow plows.

Matthew making snowballs.  One of the neighborhood kids let Matthew borrow their snowball maker.  All the neighborhood kids were out playing together.  That's a nice thing about living in base housing.   He got his new football out to play catch with some boys across the street.  That made me smile.

Anna and her little sled.  The kids got lots of good outdoor exercise that day.  When they came in around dinner time Anna was pink cheeked and tired out and Matthew just fell asleep on the couch.

And I always like to see Anna happy.  She, Emma and I took a girl selfie.  I look weird, but I like how happy Anna looked.  Glad we got to have a fun snow day.

Matthew is Eight!!

Matthew turned eight years old this weekend.

I know this picture looks like he only turned seven.

Here's a different angle.  See.  Eight candles.  :)

 He took some goodies to school for his birthday.  We made robots from juice boxes and candy.  Thirty juice box robots are pretty heavy as it turns out, but he made it.

His birthday was on Saturday and we had to clean the church that morning.  Then we went to a late-ish Chick Fil A breakfast and off to the St. Louis Science Center.  Matthew wanted to go there for a special birthday outing.

Despite what it looks like in these pictures, we all had a lot of fun at the museum.  In honor of Engineers Week they had a lot of engineering tables and displays set up (manned by actual and aspiring engineers).  So that was fun. 

As we were leaving the science center it was starting to snow.  The snow canceled some meetings I was supposed to go to that night, so I was happy I got to stay at home with everyone for some good birthday time.

Matthew requested a cheesecake.  Usually Scott makes cheesecakes for special occasions, but we ended up buying one this time.  It was tasty.  Not as tasty as Scott's, but still good.  :)  In the evening we watched Attack of the Clones and played a few Star Wars themed games.  

And Matthew opened presents after a Star Wars themed treasure hunt.  Treasure hunts have become a standard birthday and holiday activity at our house.

I went out on a limb and bought Matthew a football for his birthday.  He loves any ball sport in general but I wasn't sure if he would like it since he hadn't asked for one.  

He was very happy with all his gifts.  He also has a blueberry mustache here.  Scott made his famous blueberry sauce topping for the cheesecake.  Delicious!

Some of our birthday activities got postponed because of snow and time.  We're still planning a birthday outing to Steak and Shake once the weather gets a little better.  We ended up getting quite a bit of snow.  After the kids went to bed I found this guy hiding in the book bin.  A storm trooper balloon.  He is/was part of one of our Jedi Training Academy birthday activities in which the kids battle storm troopers with their (pool noodle) lightsabers.  The kids loved it.  Happy birthday Matthew!  Next weekend we will have his baptism with lots of family in town.