Summertime

Once again, summer flew by so quickly.  It seems when it begins that you have so much time to do all that you have planned, and then it is over and only half of your plans were accomplished (I really wanted to spend a day in Hannibal this year, but I guess that will have to wait).  In addition to all of the pictures below, the kids also participated in numerous camps, went to Knights Action Park, spent many afternoons swimming, and much more.  Here is a long post giving you a glimpse into other ways we stayed busy.  

Fourth of July brings a lot of fun for our family at the Illini Fourth of July party.  This year Olivia participated in the team inner tube race with 3 friends.  She had a great time and they placed second.

Ethan and his good friend Andrew after the Simon Says game.  

Waiting for the fireworks to begin.  It is so much fun to watch the dynamics between the various age groups. The adults all sit on the hill with their drinks, laughing and talking.  The teens stand talking in large groups at the base of the hill.  And the younger kids run around like crazy (never mind that they had been swimming for 6 hours!) playing tag or rolling down the hill, or searching for stray golf balls, etc.

We went to Chicago for a quick weekend getaway in late July.  We went to the Shedd Aquarium, a Taylor Swift concert, and the Museum of Science and Industry and ate at the Original Pancake House (YUM).

The main reason for the trip - the Taylor Swift concert in Soldier Field.  I will admit that it was a very entertaining concert, with multiple outfit changes and a fun audience "gift" of bracelets that had wifi to make them glow in unison with the music.

Ethan's excitement for the concert - Vance Joy was one of her three opening acts (the others were Sean Mendez and Haim - both very good).  "Riptide" is Ethan's favorite song at the moment.

Olivia's favorite picture that I took of Taylor Swift.  This was right after her unexpected duet with Andy Grammar to "Honey I'm Good".  

The kids in the Museum of Science and Industry while waiting to enter the robotics exhibit.  

More summertime fun with friends - they were preparing for an original skit on bullying.  

We went to the Springfield Muni to see Seussical.

We went to many Cardinals baseball games.  Here Ethan was lucky enough to get Fredbird to sign his hat.

Ethan and Olivia completing the Busch Stadium Run the Bases.

Family picture on the field.

The Missouri Botanical Gardens hosted a Japanese Lantern Festival that we attended.  I took so many pictures there, but narrowed it down to just a few.  It was so big that it took about an hour to walk through.

This picture perfectly captures my kids - Olivia posing nice and calm with Ethan in the background running through the water while fully dressed.  

We finally made a stop at the "pink elephant ice cream shop" in Livingston.  We drive by it every time we go to St. Louis and have always meant to stop.  Their ice cream was surprisingly good, and the menu was much larger than expected.

Ethan with Daisy (grandma's dog).  This was after a long day of swimming in grandma's pool.

Olivia with her cat Enid.  They have been together since Olivia was 15 months and Enid was 6 months.  We do not know if Enid thinks she is Olivia's mother or if Olivia acts as Enid's mother.  They still sleep together almost every night.

Olivia still in love with her phone.

We went to the Springfield Drive In to see two terrible movies (Fantastic Four and Minions), but we still had fun.  

Ethan enjoying a classic summer meal - pork steak and corn on the cob.

One of the more exciting events of the summer - meeting their newest cousin Michael.

For our last hurrah of summer, we spent a day in St. Louis.  First stop was at the Crown Candy Kitchen to try their BLTs and milkshakes.  I won't rave about either of those, but it was still fun.

Our second St. Louis stop was at the City Museum.  We had never been to their rooftop activities - a bus tipped over the edge of the building, giant slide, ferris wheel, and water fun.  Here Ethan braved his fear of heights to climb this structure - the picture does not show how far off of the ground it is.

Ethan and Joe in this climbing structure.

Kate and Olivia on the ferris wheel - so much fun and a great view of the city.

Inside the City Museum it is next to impossible to get pictures.  For those of you who have been before, you understand this issue.  For those of you who have not been before, it is a maze of tunnels, caves, random holes to explore, elevated tubes to crawl through, and so much more.  

Our third stop in our St. Louis day was to the top of the Arch.  Due to the current construction to the Arch museum, we bought our tickets in the old courthouse, another first for us.  We had no idea how pretty it was inside the courthouse or that there was a museum.  Worth a quick look!

Ethan ended his summer by being thrown a ball from Carlos Martinez.