A couple of Friday's ago I got to take Maddox to school for 'Mornings with Moms'. The event is a fundraiser for the 6th grade class at her grade school, Pleasant View. They sell Krispy Cream donuts ( which were bought in Peoria early Friday morning and shuttled up to Bettendorf…..the Quad Cities no longer has a Krispy Cream shop…what people will do for a fundraiser??!! holy cow!!) coffee, juice, milk, mums from a local garden shop and the 6th grade orchestra plays during the event. We got to visit with some of her classmates and their mamas and I got to walk Maddox to her classroom and chat with Mrs. Gaspelin a bit. It was a fun morning. Don't worry Eric will get his turn with Maddox in February…Donuts with Dads!!
Maddox got an adorable Disney Princess Cookbook for her birthday from the Knowles family. All the recipes have a little story with them and are related to a Disney Princess. We went to an Oktoberfest neighborhood party a couple of weeks ago and Maddox picked these Sea Turtle cupcakes to take as one of our dishes. They are a recipe from sweet Ariel. I thought they turned out pretty cute and the kiddos at the party loved them. They looked so adorable on their 'log' ……a wooden serving dish Brooke had given me for my birthday.
Last Wednesday Maddox bounded off the bus and couldn't wait to pull this book out from her backpack to show me. It is a book Mrs. Gaspelin put together with help from the children. It gets to go home for one night with each child in the class. Each child got to draw a picture of themselves and fill in the blanks 'I see Maddox looking at me…Maddox, Maddox, what do you see?' It is absolutely adorable and is so helpful for us parents at home hearing all these names and actually getting to put a face with each of them. Of course Mrs. Gaspelin is on the next to the last page and then she 'sees Mrs. Gaspelin's Kindergarten Class looking at her' on the last page and there is a picture of the entire class. So cute!! Maddox was sad to have to bring it back to school the next day to pass on to one of her classmates.
Maddox and Kennon finished up BSA soccer last week with their last night of scrimmages. Kennon went to town and really got in there scoring, blocking, doing scissors, pullbacks and just having a grand time. You can tell by his face in the below pictures. The little boy his is playing against in the white shirt is named Liam and lives on our street and is quite the soccer player.
Kennon (bottom left) and his U5 BSA teammates and coaches.
U5……and their silly faces.
Kennon receiving his trophy from Coach Corbin. Kenonn really loved Coach Corbin and the two of them seemed to sort of jive. Coach really brought out the best in Kennon and seemed to help him understand that booting the ball as hard as you can across the field towards the goal really just increases the odds that your opponent is going to steal it!! 'Keep it close Kennon!!' was his phrasing to Kennon..and he'd use his hands to make a gesture explaining his wishes. It really seemed to help Kennon understand a little bit more about playing as a team.
So the kids have received medals, ribbons and paper awards but NEVER a trophy. Kennon was so excited…and Maddox too!! In fact Kennon was a bit smitten by his trophy as you'll see in the pictures below.
I could barely see this plane up in the sky but Kennon managed to grab my iPhone, find it in the screen and snap a picture of it….!! What?? I couldn't believe it. Good eyes buddy.
Kennon discovered that he could make faces at himself in the back of the trophy if the sun shone on it just right!! Hah…too cute!!
Maddox and her U6 teammates. You can see there was a fair amount more kiddos in this division which required a fair amount more volunteer coaches. Maddox is in the bottom row on the right side….ball in her lap.
'Make your silly faces U6 kiddos!!' Despite being a larger group Maddox really did well this season, improving her skills, confidence, coordination, endurance and learning to work as a team. She was, at times, not quite as interested in playing as Kennon so we'll see if she says "YES" when we ask her if she'd like to play again in the Spring.
Happy kiddos with their trophies in the glow of the sunset.
Kennon played his little heart out the last night of soccer….he fell asleep in his carseat on the way back to town.
This past weekend most of you know we took one of our biannual trips to St. Louis to run a 1/2 marathon and visit with the Gillaspies. We normally stay on the south side of the city nearer to where Diane and Brian live but this go around we opted to stay IN the city. It was super fun to wake up Saturday morning and see the beautiful arch out our hotel window.
This year we thought the kids might enjoy the City Museum….'enjoy' turned out to be a massive understatement. The place is fabulous for kids AND adults. It is this giant collage of tunnels, slides, climbing structures, ball pits, circus performances, craft stations, caves, all put together in an abandoned building in downtown St. Louis. It is 10 stories tall with activities on each floor ( I believe) and even has slides, tunnels, an old school bus, a giant metal praying mantis and a ferris wheel on the rooftop!! If you are interested to read more about the building the website is really cool and has this video that shows them building some of the structures…and they are still building more too. www.citymuseum.org/ We were all amazed at how extensive the design was. The kids climbed, ran, jumped, slid, and explored only a small portion of the museum Saturday morning and into the afternoon before fatigue set in. We are excited to go back to explore more of the fabulous building.
Aunt Diane and Eric waiting for Maddox and Kennon to make their way to the bottom of the 'tree house' portion of the museum.
This giant slide went from the 2nd or 3rd floor down to the main floor and was pretty fast!! I even got in on this one :)
Not only was the inside of the 10 story building a maze of slides, tunnels, and activities but the west side of the building outside had all sorts of activities for the kids ( and adults) too. Maddox and Kennon loved this giant ball pit. So so fun!! It wasn't too crowded in the morning so the kids really got to enjoy it.
'Flying' high ( at least 2 to 3 stories up) above the ball pit were two old airplanes. You could access them by a windy set of open floor stairs ( which I chose to do and even felt a bit scared with this lesser option) or you could crawl through an open air metal tunnel which everyone else chose to do!!! That allowed me to grab some great pictures. These tunnels were made of hard metal bars and were quite rough on the knees but luckily we had been told by a number of people to bring knee pads. Luckily Eric brought his dry walling knee pads which allowed him to keep up with the kids in the tunnels high above the ground.
Phew…they made it to the cockpit safely.
Making their way from the wing of one plane down to the next plane…again like 3 to 4 stories up at this point. I"m shooting the picture from the catwalk at like 2 stories up. Uncle Brian is in the red coat at the plane helping the kids to make the large step down into the plane. Eric hung in the tunnel ( with his knee pads ) to help the kids descend through the rather vertical small space.
'Almost there Kennon!'
Maddox's turn..!
Wait…is that Aunt Diane??!! Why yes it is! She was definitely more brave than I was. I even got a bit nervous just making my way back down the open circular stairs to the main level.
We made it to the plane Mom!
After the airplane open air tunnels Kennon was attracted to all the other open air tunnels…. That is Kennon and Eric making their way to the top of that big metal structure….they are probably 3 to 4 stories up. I'm shooting the picture from the 2nd floor.
Their final destination, and Kennon's desire, is to the left. At that platform to the left there was a huge giant slide that allowed him to slide from like the 4th or 5th floor down to the 2nd floor. FUN! Maddox decided she needed to do that too but decided she'd take the slightly less scary but more claustrophobic way and climb the windy metal ladders in the middle of that triangular structure. She coaxed Uncle Brian to go with her…. luckily Brian wasn't any bigger….it was super narrow and in fact at one point no one was moving anywhere because a larger gentleman had gotten stuck in the tunnel above Maddox and Brian so they had to wait until he got out!! Eric definitely had the advantage being a bit smaller than Brian. But a big thanks to Uncle Brian for being a team player and jumping in to the tunnels to help the kids.
In this picture you can see the windy open steps I took to access the plane on the left….. the 'easy' way….Kennon of course wanted to do it the HARD way!! Kennon and Eric in that tunnel making their way to the plane.
After all the outdoor fun we coaxed Kennon inside to the 2nd floor of the building, rounded the corner and his little eyes lit up….'the WALL mom!!'. We watch a lot of American Ninja Warrior in this house and one of the obstacles the men/women have to overcome is The Wall. Kennon was so excited to try his hand at a REAL WALL!!! It took him a few tries but he finally got it and was so proud of himself.
Maddox had gone with Aunt Diane to the craft room and decorated a little pumpkin but soon caught up with us and tried her hand at The WAll. She too soon learned the trick and both kids made it to the top.
It was a beautiful day to visit the rooftop of The City Museum. It is all open air activities with more tunnels and slides, an old school bus that is hanging over the edge of the building and a ferris wheel! Kennon loved the bus. You could actually open the door of the bus and look out to nothing….and see the drop 10 stories down to the ground! Super cool.
The kids enjoyed this fun slide….you had to use the rope at the far right to pull yourself up to the top and then you got to slide down the white side at the left. Maddox and Kennon are at the top of the rope in this picture.
Kennon getting a little help from a friendly bystander to crest over the edge.
This was a cool tunnel that went from the rooftop UP another 1 to 2 stories to the top of this large cupola that sat a top the roof of the building. So first you scaled the tunnel and then you got to slide back down to the rooftop in the slide that is running just under the tunnel where the kids and Eric are climbing. So hard to describe but loads of fun. There was also a 10 story slide you could access from the rooftop that I presume dumped you out at ground level but you had to be 48 inches tall to ride the 10 story slide…..Maddox is there I believe but not Kennon. Maybe next time.
The kids making their way to the end of the tunnel….mind you this is probably 12 stories up in the air…..
A picture taken from the top of the cupola that sits on the rooftop of the building. You can just see a bit of the arch between the two buildings in the middle of the picture.
This praying mantis sits at the top of the cupola. Uncle Brian, Aunt Diane and Kennon with a smile on his face after his ascent to the summit! :)
At the top of the 'mountain' with the praying mantis. Getting ready to take the 2 story slide back to the rooftop which both kids thought was one of their favorite slides of the day. I was able to 'summit' with a nice, less adventurous, windy set of steps that circled the cupola.
Back in the ball pit for round two. You can see the sun has made its way towards the west side of the building which made for nicer pictures…
This slide…which I did go down….was SUPER STEEP!! Maddox was brave enough to go by herself numerous times but Kennon would only sit on either Eric or I's laps. But of course he couldn't let his big sister one him up so he was insistent on trying to go down it by himself. He sat at the top so scared for the longest time and ultimately ended up going down on Eric's lap again. It was so steep….just a short slide from the 4th floor to the 3rd floor but it was basically vertical at the very top and super intimidating but fun once you realized it and overcome your fear.
I took this picture from the parking lot on the ground floor. You can see the bus going over the rooftop and one of the two planes that were high up in the air. Such a fun time!
We didn't get to explore it much but inside the museum there is a huge old organ and it is entangled ( purposely) by a set of windy slides and creaky metal stairs.
Early Sunday morning Eric and I got up to get ready for the 1/2 marathon. Aunt Diane and Uncle Brian drove into the city so we could hand the kids off to them and hit the pavement for a few miles. Luckily our hotel sat right on mile 1 so they were able to see us right at the start of the race and then several other times during the race AND at the finish. I'm pretty sure by the pictures….they had a bit more fun during the race than Eric and I did!
Selfies!!
Making their way towards the finish the kids got to enjoy some of the sights of downtown St. Louis.
Post race shot….
Union Station was just down the block from our hotel so Diane and Brian took the kids in for a tour. It is a beautiful old building that has been renovated and has a shopping mall, several restaurants, and even a hotel attached to it now. And the depot is still in operation as well.
Checking out the trains.
Maddox and Kennon in Union Station.
Standing in The Whispering Arch.
Maddox and Kennon standing at the starting line.
A big thanks to Aunt Diane, Uncle Brian and Hannah ( who didn't seem to get in to any of the pictures but we did get to visit with her Saturday night at the house) for such great hospitality. We are so thankful to keep this St. Louis biannual family tradition alive.
Let's see what else is going on. We are still chugging along in a good routine with Awana and Ballet as weekly activities and church on the weekends. We'll start with our new small group through church this weekend which I'm excited about….a new set of Christian friends for the kids and some new adults for Eric and I to interact with, learn from and grow closer to Christ with. Our new software at VNA goes live tomorrow so I've been working a lot!! ( I feel like I write that every post!) I've about got my current trainee out on her own but will pick up a new PT to train at the end of this month. The new software is going to make my training and auditing position a bit trickier and lengthier in the coming months but it should be good on the back end once all the kinks are worked out and I assume my new auditing role within the software. I've also been 'working' on our Spring trip…it's back to Siesta Key for the Kies family and throw in a day at Magic Kingdom. I am so excited! We are going to stay at the same beach but longer this go around which will allow us to take a day or two to drive up to Magic Kingdom to visit with the Mouse. We are keeping the Mouse part a surprise for the kids but will likely let them in on the beach excitement after the new year. Kennon routinely asks to go back to Disney ( like every week at the minimum) so I know they are going to be so excited. I've been researching flights, condos, and hotel and Disney tickets and am ready to make some final decisions in the coming week. It will be here before we know it.
Kennon attempting the Warp Wall. He didn't make it this go around…but soon learned the trick.
