Celebrating Granny's bday! Part 1

We recently celebrated my Granny's birthday with her and had a great day!


Here she is enjoying her pie and opening her presents. We ate at The Busy Corner for lunch, so we each got a slice of the pie of our choice to go. Later when we weren't so stuffed, we lit candles on each piece of pie. Holden was fascinated with the candles even though he doesn't get the concept of blowing them out yet. He was watching us very closely! =o) Isn't my Granny cute?

I just love these shots of Holden and my Dad, his "Papa" at the Busy Corner. They have so much fun together!

More bday pics!

I love these two shots of Holden, Morgan, and her neighbor friend, Tycee, eating their cake together.

This last collage is everything else...go-carts, pool fun, enjoying family...I wish everyday could be this fun! It's great to be surrounded by people you love who love you.

Happy bday, Morgan!!!

Holden's cousin, Morgan, turned 2 this month! It's hard to believe she's such a big girl already. Her parents, AJ and Jennifer, (Jay's uncle and aunt) had her bday bash in their backyard, and everyone had a blast. It was sunny but not too hot, and they had plenty of entertainment: their nice big patio with a pool, a track with go-carts, and enough riding and outdoor toys to make any toddler drool with delight. =o) Helping to celebrate were Morgan's baby sis, sweet Emma, her older sisters, Kelsey and Tiffany, her neighbor friends, and Holden's "Aunt Allie," along with lots of adult relatives. It was great to see everyone! As you can see, I got quite a few photo opportunities with all these stinkin' cute kiddos around.

Morgan was an adorable bday girl in her polka dot swimsuit. I love the shot of Holden pushing Emma around in the grocery cart! And yes, even Shaggy the dog got in on the party action. He wore that hat for seriously 20 minutes before biting it off! Holden, on the other hand, did not appreciate his hat too much. =o)

As you can see from the pics, Flavor Ice popsicles were the big hit with the kids, even baby Emma! Holden didn't quite understand the whole "it's not my birthday and these are not my presents" thing. See bottom two pictures...he was ready to head out of town with that pink mower! And he was delighted with her tee-ball set...I'll have to remember that one for Christmas! =o)

You can't have a kid's bday party without messy cake pictures! Morgan ate hers very daintily this year, much different from her 1 year old bday! Holden, on the other hand...well...you'll see!

"Meet Me in St. Louie" Part 2

On the second day of our trip, we went to the St. Louis Botanical Gardens. They are absolutely breathtaking. I wouldn't have thought of gardens as a place to take Holden, but my parents suggested it and I'm so glad they did! It is so spacious there, with all sorts of open land where he could just run and explore, which of course he loved. There was a solarium with birds, waterfalls, and exotic plant life, as well as a neat indoor exploration area for kids. He loved the giant birds' nest and Jay got in the action with a Cardinal bird hat. =o) New to the gardens is a big outdoor play area for kids. There was a tree house, park with water sprayers, music area, rocks to climb, etc. My little music man loved playing the big xylophone. He didn't want to leave! The Japanese gardens have giant colorful carp fish that you can feed, similar to Union Station. The gardens always have different artwork on display. This time there were lots of neat mosaic pieces. We really enjoyed our time there....except that it ended up being over 100 degrees with the heat index! You would have thought we'd all jumped in a pool, we were so wet and sweaty when we left! Yuck! I'd love to re-visit in the fall when it is cooler and the leaves are changing.

"Meet Me in St. Louie..." Part 1

At the beginning of August we headed back to St. Louis, this time with my parents in tow, for a short little overnight trip. We took Holden to his very first St. Louis Cardinals game, visited the arch museum, and stopped by the Botanical Gardens in the morning before heading home. It was a fun little "end of summer" trip and we enjoyed having Grammy and Papa along for the ride!

Playing cars at Bob Evans, fountain shots, fun at the hotel, and a peek at Abe Lincoln. =o)

Jay wanted to be sure that I included this shot of the lit up board.
He says Cubs fans should take note!

Holden's first game was absolutely perfect. It was a 7:00 game so the sun wasn't on us for long, the weather cooperated and was in the mid 80's, VERY reasonable for St. Louis in the summer, and they were giving away free Build-A-Bear Cardinals Bears at the gate! Holden really enjoyed all of the people and the music. He is a big people watcher and enjoyed watching the players warm up before the game with Daddy. He did not care for sitting so much (see the picture of him, Jay, and my parents!!!) but loved to stand right in front of us and bounce to the music. He was also fascinated with-of all things-the $5.00 water bottles. They are the kind that you squeeze to get the drink out. He thought it was great to squeeze it out all over our feet, his body, the people in front of us, etc. Needless to say we had to go ahead and confiscate the water bottles. Busch Stadium has a really neat playground area perfect for toddlers. It has giant bats, gloves, balls, etc. for them to climb on/in/under. Holden met a little curly-haired girl around his age wearing a Cardinals cheer leading outfit and it was love at first sight for both of them! They held hands, babbled at each other, and followed each other all around. Holden even tried to kiss her! She played hard to get but then kissed his hand, which I did get a picture of below. What can I say, he knows how to pick 'em! (Don't worry, Natalie, you're still his number one girl!) I also took him to make a Build-A-Bear Clydesdale horse for his Cardinals nursery. When you push its leg it plays the charge song, and it has a beating heart that you can feel. The Build-A-Bear store there has all kinds of neat Cardinals animals and is AIR CONDITIONED. Amen! Holden made it to the 7th inning before we headed back to the hotel to put him to bed. The Cardinals were winning when we left, but ended up losing.....I think we should have stayed! Oops!

More proof....

Tonight he ate two pieces of pizza at Monical's!!!! I think (cross fingers, knock on wood, and say a prayer!) that we are finally getting out of the picky eater phase. Just in time for the school year for the sake of his health and my sitter's sanity! =o) And yes, you know me, of COURSE I got a picture of him eating the pizza, but my camera is charging and I just logged 3 hours at school this evening and my brain is toast. Time to go watch Big Brother and not do anymore thinking for the evening! =o)

Proof that there is a God!

While there are many reasons that I believe the title is true, here is a simple one from this evening: Holden ATE FOOD!!!!! Real food, and lots of it! In case you live in a hole and don't get the importance of this statement, the kid is the pickiest eater this side of Mars. He can't stand to eat anything messy or squishy, does not appreciate the phrase "trying new things," and some days lives solely on Cheerios and fruit snacks. On Saturday he ate a big piece of his cousin's bday cake, complete with frosting, and got it everywhere. To see Jay and my reactions, you would have thought he won an Olympic medal. Today he ate 4 fish sticks for lunch. Tonight he ate 7 chicken nuggets AND over half of my macaroni and cheese! Which was messy! I am probably the only mom of a toddler who was actually making comments tonight like, "Way to get that cheese all over you face and hands, buddy!" "I am so proud of you for getting messy!" "Wow, you must really like that, you even got cheese on your booster seat and in your hair." "I'll wipe your hands in a minute, let me get a few more pictures of this mess." Milestone for Holden this week. I am sure his scrawny little body approves of the protein!