The Belle Fair Parade

After our Florida excursion, we headed back to MO for a another week to enjoy the big Belle Fair. We spent the first part of the week just hanging out and catching up on some rest and then started the fair fun with the annual parade. I have to say, there's not a lot to the parade in the way of floats and such. It's mostly a lot of pick up trucks, tractors, etc. However, it is one parade in which the participants can still THROW candy, and when you are kid, it just doesn't get much better than that! Especially when you get to watch it with your distant cousins from Ohio which my children happen to adore. This is one of the few pictures I have of my nephew Malachi and Kesha. I thought he looked so cute in his little hat.

Lincoln cuddling with my mom during the parade.

The kids entertaining themselves with a little rock, paper, scissors before the festivities.

Waiting for the candy...

10 months

I'm severely behind on my blogging....I'm sure I'm the only person who notices, and it's primarily due to the fact that I have issues with posting things out of order or very long after the time that they occurred. I know it's stupid, but it's just the way I am, I can't help it. ANYWAY, since I haven't kept up with the remainder of our vacation posts very well, I thought I would take the time to post about the baby boy's 10 months of survival. I haven't done a very good job of having him professionally photographed at each milestone, but I do have lots of pictures of him. These are a few that I happened to snap one evening when we went to my parents farm so the girls and my dad could pick blackberries. I didn't want to stay home by myself and Lincoln wasn't cooperating as far as wanting to sleep, so we tagged along. My mom helped me lug him around and try to entertain him while my dad and the girls gathered the berries for some cobbler. He's really tired in these pictures and the epitome of white trash. He had nothing on but a saggy diaper, and I let him crawl around and do pretty much whatever his little heart desired, so he was filthy from head to toe. He did however remain happy for a long after the time he should have been in a deep slumber,so I won't even complain about the filth. Trying to get a good look at the steer that we will soon be eating.

Crawling around on the trailer

Driving the tractor

and standing in the back of the truck as we leave the farm.

All safe, sanitary activities for a ten month old, don't you think? So, at ten months, this baby is a wild man. Since he's been born, people have always asked me if it's different having a boy. Up until the last couple months, it was all about the same to me. Lately, I can definitely say there is a difference, at least from my girls. He is active all the time, always moving. He is persistent, he doesn't give in easily until he gets his way. He is aggressive. He attempts to throw things and plow through things. He isn't as cautious or careful. He's more curious. Other things about Mr. Lincoln at ten months is that he recently has discovered he loves giving big kisses to his family. he like to eat, but real food. He's never been a fan of baby food, but loves real people food. He is crawling everywhere, pulling up on everything, attempts to walk around furniture and stand on his own. He has two teeth all the way through, and his top two are about half way there. He likes to look at and read books and to be sang to. He still can't get enough of his sisters, he will play with them for hours. It's ridiculous actually, but quite convenient for me at times at other times not so much. He does still prefer a lot of attention, but has managed to maintain a fairly laid back personality, other than the typical boy stuff....I think. I can't believe his first birthday is just around the corner, crazy! Happy 10 Months Lincoln! We Love You!

Panama City

We spent one evening during our Florida vacation in Panama City. There were lots of cute shops and restaurants as well as rides for the kids in the center that we were in. The kids rode a few rides during our two hour wait for a table at Margaritaville.

Margaritaville was a fun place to eat. All the big kids had their own table so they could visit among themselves as they were entertained by a man on stilts making balloon hats. Really, what could be better? I was also highly impressed by our server. There was a whole slew of us, and she was super upbeat, nice and helpful. It seems like a rare occasion these days that I feel like we get great service. Anyway, it was a fun night out, and regretfully I have pretty much zero photos of the adults in our group, maybe next time...

Family Beach Pictures

While we were at the beach, we of course had to attempt some pictures. There were several families with us, so we took turns taking each other's family pictures. I was pleased with most of our pics. I don't think there is a more beautiful background than the ocean. It was a little bright, so Skylar is squinty in all of the pictures, and Lincoln wasn't interested in taking any pictures with his sisters in the sand that morning, but there were still several that I liked.

Seaside

While we were on vacation, we decided one afternoon to head to a small little area called Seaside to have a sno-cone and meander around a bit. It was a fun place to visit, and we ventured around checking out all the nooks and crannies of the beach community. The girls rarely ask that I take their picture, but this one with the large ice cream cone was at their request.

Why is it that when plan to get a picture and I try to get my kids dressed nice and fix their hair I can't get them to cooperate for a picture at all, but when they jump out of the ocean and we head out for an impromtu outing, I can get them all smiling and looking. Oh well, I'll take what I can get, messy hair and all!

Quite possibly my favorite picture of the three to date

My four favorite people!

Fun in the Sun

As I briefly posted earlier, we spent the week of the 4th around the Destin area. We were worried we wouldn't be able to enjoy the beach due to the oil spill, but we lucked out, and didn't see any oil at all. We got to spend every day at the beach hanging out, or at least the girls did. Most days Kevin and I took turns due to Lincoln's napping, but we still managed to get a little sun and enjoy the ocean. The first few days the waters were a little rough, but that didn't seem to bother the kids much. The final day the water was quite calm and Lincoln took an unusually long nap, so we all got to float around for a long time which was heavenly. Thanks to those of you that let us tag along on your vacation. We had a great time!

Lincoln generally lasted less than an hour and was covered in sand from head to toe and lathered in suncscreen at each of his beach outings

Breaking News!!

I interrupt the regular scheduled blogging to inform you that Miss Skylar has FINALLY LOST HER FIRST TOOTH!! She has been anticipating this day for quite some time now as her 7th birthday approaches as well as first grade and many of her friends have already lost several teeth. I think she was beginning to think that they were never coming out. She was quite a trooper about the whole ordeal. From the time she noticed it was loose, she worked at getting it out, and when we arrived back in Missouri from our Florida vacation she got a little help from Papa Kevin. I'm pretty sure that of all the things we've done or will do this summer, the losing of her first tooth will be her favorite. I haven't seen her so excited in quite some time!

Grammy Tammy's Tea

Well, we had one day of no specific plans, and we finally got to spend the day with Anastyn, so my mom decided we should have a tea party. Skylar really got into it, wanting to dress up and look "dazzling"! The other girls weren't so thrilled about dressing up, but they humored us a little. The girls all had a fun time snacking on their lunch and drinking tea and lemonade outside in the yard. Anastyn even cooperated for me to take a few pictures of her, giving me her best "cheese" with the wrinkly nose and all. Following the luncheon, the girls (primarily Skylar) put on a fashion show. It was quite an entertaining afternoon. It's so much fun to see the girls get to play together as our opportunities seem few and far between.

Wicked

One of our other fun outings while in Missouri was an afternoon at the FOX Theatre to see Wicked! I wanted to see Wicked when it came to Tulsa, but didn't, so I was thrilled when my grandma mentioned that she was going during the time we would be visiting. I had never been to the FOX theatre, and I was highly impressed! I loved it! The show was awesome as well! Thanks grandma for a great day!

Grant's Farm

On another day trip to St. Louis, my mom and I took the kids to Grant's Farm. Grant's Farm is the home of Ulysses S. Grant, or something that has to do with him anyway. I was actually interested in hearing some of the history of the place, but as we rode around the grounds on the courtesy tram, there were some very verbal individuals sitting near us. Therefore, I was unable to hear much of anything. In addition, it is the location that the beautiful Budweiser Clydesdales abide and many commercials were filmed. (too bad part of it is associated with beer, but it is a nice family place to visit) We had a swell time wandering around the park. As I said, we rode the tram around checking out some animals that were roaming, and then the girls were able to get up close and personal to many of the animals around the park. The most anticipated activity was the feeding of the goats, but if you'll notice, they remained outside the fence. As I started to take Londyn in, the goats were jumping all over her, so I had to lift her out. Their favorite part of the day ended up being a bird show. The saw several birds perform a variety of tricks including math and dancing. They were highly impressed and entertained. Please excuse the excess collage pics, it's just much easier this way as I have a very difficult time narrowing down the pictures I want to post. It was another great Missouri adventure.

Meramec Springs

My blog sequence is slightly out of order, but I wanted to get the 4th of July pics up before too much time passed. So, now I'm back to our week at my parents house. One of my favorite places to visit in Missouri is Meramec Springs Park in St. James. It is such a beautiful little place that is relaxing and perfect for keeping the kids busy for quite some time. We grilled out and had a little picnic and then ventured around the park to see the springs, waterfalls and of course, feed the fish which is the girls' favorite thing to do. As we wound down our afternoon, the kids played on the playground, and Lincoln got to swing for the first time. I think he's a fan.