Memorial Weekend

To celebrate Memorial Day, we went to GG and Grandad's boat in Louisiana. On Saturday, we spent the day in New Orleans at the aquarium. Emerson loved seeing all of the fish- even touching a stingray and baby shark!
We spent Sunday just relaxing on the boat. Emmy even got to help grandad drive! The weather was wonderful despite an ominous forecast and Emerson had a lot of fun hanging out with her grandparents, Uncle P and Aunt Bobo!

Go Cards!

For our anniversary, Jeff and I decided to go to a Cardinals game while Emerson spent the night with her grandparents. After only an inning, a terrible storm came through. We stuck it out, but they canceled the game anyway. So, for the makeup game, we decided to take Emerson along. We later discovered that she wasn't feeling too well, but we still had fun playing in the kids area!

Mother's Day weekend

We had a fun Mother's Day weekend! On Friday night, we saw the preview of the stingrays at the zoo. Emerson stuck her hand in the pool, but I think she splashed a little much for them to come up to her. She also loved watching a sea lion show and riding the carousel.
On Saturday night, we took grandma and grandpa out for dinner to celebrate their 40th anniversary. It's such a blessing to have been raised by parents with such a strong marriage. We had a delicious dinner on the Hill and finished with grandpa's (and Emerson's) favorite - Ted Drewe's!
For Mother's Day, we went to a tiger sanctuary and some wineries down in southern Missouri. Emerson loved hearing the white tiger roar and doing it back. I just enjoyed spending time with my daughter and my mother and realizing how lucky I am!

Mother's Day Pictures

We took the cousins to have pictures taken for grandma for Mother's Day again this year. I would like to say that it was a little more difficult due to the fact the Ben and Emmy can now run. But, really, it was just Emerson that ran around the studio like a crazy child. The last picture is a perfect example of how the kids behaved that night. Notice that Emerson is about to be up and running, Ben is calmly sitting, but not smiling, and Kenzie is excitedly trying to make the little ones laugh. We ended up with a few cute ones, and no matter what, Grandma Peaches would love them!

Another Sunday afternoon at the zoo

Daddy went to the baseball game yesterday, so Em and I spent some time at the zoo. We have discovered that if we can't get there early in the morning, waiting until late afternoon is the best time to go! This trip, we spent most of the time in the Children's Zoo where Em loved the "kitty". The animals were all out and playing though, so she got to see apes, hippos, and elephants up close which was also very exciting!

Easter

We spent Easter down in Louisiana this year. It was great to see all of the family and also to celebrate GG's birthday and Grandad's retirement! On Saturday, we had a crawfish boil and Easter egg hunt. Emmy and Kaleb did a great job finding all of the eggs!
The Easter Bunny brought Emerson a basket full of treats on Sunday morning and then we went to church and had brunch with the rest of the family. Emerson was sad to see Kaleb and Nya and her aunts and uncles leave, but we were fortunate to stay until Monday morning and had a yummy barbecue at Steph and Prentice's.
We had a slow trip back, letting Emmy get out multiple times to run and play. One of our stops was at a fish hatchery where her daddy tried to teach her some fancy fishing skills!

Happy Easter!

Okay, so I'm a little late with the Easter posts. We had a great time with dual celebrations. First, we had a mini Easter on my birthday at Emerson's grandparents' in Illinois. The weather didn't start out too great, so Emmy and Ben had an Easter egg hunt inside. By later in the afternoon, they were able to play outside with their new bubble machines from Uncle Dan. It was the perfect end to my birthday weekend!

Mommy's Birthday

We had perfect weather today, so my wonderful husband and daughter let me celebrate my birthday a day early with anything I wanted to do. We had a fabulous (and very full) day! We started with gymnastics class and then went to the Botanical Gardens where we saw beautiful flowers and the Easter bunny! They have a wonderful kids area there where Em was able to run around and explore. After the Gardens, we had lunch at Pappy's Barbecue. It was recently featured on Man vs. Food, so we have been wanting to try it. Jeff still hasn't stopped talking about the brisket he had! It was all rather yummy. After lunch, we decided to drive out to Purina Farms to see the Easter village. Emerson was able to pet all sorts of animals, but dogs are still her favorite with horses and donkeys as close runner-ups, thanks to daddy's imitations. She loved to cheer for the dogs after they made it through the obstacle course. We couldn't help but laugh when we thought of Jackson trying out the course! On our way back into the city, we finished the afternoon with our favorite - Ted Drewe's! As we expected, Em was sound asleep by 7 pm and we are relaxing with a movie, some Boulevard and junk food! What a wonderful birthday!

Seriously, peas?

Em's favorite food right now is peas - she eats them cooked, dry, frozen - however she can get them. These pictures are from the other night when she was sitting in the big chair watching basketball. She was eating her bowl of peas like a normal kid would eat popcorn. If I wasn't so sure she was mine, this would cast some serious doubt!

Trip to the Zoo

We made a quick trip to the zoo on Sunday afternoon. It was our first time this year, and now Emerson is old enough to really see the animals and react to them. She liked watching the tigers play and really enjoyed being so close to the penguins. We finished off the afternoon with frozen custard from Ted Drewes. Of course, Emerson loved that!