Monday Madness

Today our Mom&Me group planned to go to The Game for some morning playtime. For some reason, they never opened. While we were sitting in the parking lot thinking of "Plan B" (MacDonald's playland), our friend Tarra offered that we go to her gym and let the kids all run around in there. What a GREAT idea she had. They LOVED it!!

Julia has fun swinging in this cushion!

Ry is a ball of laughter...

...a rolling ball of laughter that is, thanks to Aunt Krista and Tyler!

Ty is ready to hit the trampoline with me! =)

Monkey Joe's

Today our Mom&Me group went to a fun new indoor playground in Fairview Heights called Monkey Joe's.

Julia learned how to jump with both feet off the ground a month or so ago, and the "newness" still has not worn off. I'll often catch her saying "Jump, jump!" as she goes up and down. Naturally, she thought today's activity was SUPER.

Ry decides that maybe the slide is just too high and he comes running down the ladder.

We met Danielle there, a photographer who noticed my camera. She shot a few shots to test out our lens. Julia was not cooperating (and that is an understatement!) for this photo opp, but she still got a few cute ones!

Gym Time!

Friday our Mom&Me group rented the gymnastics room at the YMCA. This is probably one of our favorite outings. The kids get to run and run and bounce without hearing "be careful!" or "we do not jump on the furniture!" It is usually a great time for all. This day was no exception.

Julia enjoys climbing in and out of the foam block pit. Humm..how could I recreate this at home?! Ryan has already discovered if he takes all the pillows from the bedrooms upstairs he can pile them up nearly as high as the doorway goes in our bedroom and then crash through...sorta similiar..just more danger! Augh! =)

I am "behind" in blogging some..we have had a fun weekend. I am not quite sure what happened to me..I left the house most of the weekend without the camera (gasp!). It was one of those weekends where we had so much happening that in order to "simplify" I thought leaving one thing at home (the camera) would make life easier..but I missed it, for sure! So thanks to Taran, Krista and Trina for sending me pics from this event!

Friday night Jeff and I had "date night" at Theresa and Mike's wedding. (Thanks Uncle Jeff and Aunt Amy for babysitting!) It was nice to get out and see some friends we don't get to see too often...and I particularly enjoyed not filling up a single sippy cup during dinnertime. HA.

Mom and Me Fall Festival

Tonight our Mom&Me group held their annual Fall Family Festival. Here we are on the tractor ride. When I asked Ry if he liked it as we were riding, he told me: "This tractor is cool!"

One of Ry's favorite activities is the bounce house!

Julia has fun with Daddy!

Ryan does the "bobbing for marshmallow" game.

Julia telling us she wants to go in one of the bounce houses as well. (Which she did!)

Mom&Me Dance Class

Today our Mom&Me group had a dance class for the kids at The Jam Dance Studio. The kids had a BLAST. Julia didn't catch on until it was almost over, but Ryan was super excited to have an excuse to run around and act crazy with Tyler, Charlie and Gavin. Those four boys all had Mom's Day Out together last year but are split up this year.

Julia and Lexi looking sweet as ever! Julia says, "Hi, X-E!"

From bottom left: Adelle Stanko, Lexi Vetter, Christopher Karribean, Allison Toma, AddyLampe, Ryan, Gavin, Tyler Dacus, Charlie Pfund, Sophie Rankin.

And the four boys have a ball together again: Tyler, Gavin, Ryan and Charlie.

My little angel spins around and makes sure I was watching her "performance".
"Up, Momma! I want up, eeesse!" I can hardly believe she is speaking complete sentences!! When did she grow up!?! And how do you say "no" to "eeesse?!"

Dino Dig

Julia LOVES the sand and watching her shadow.

Ry is trying to bust open a "dino" egg he dug up.

Friday night I headed out with the girls to Drunken Fish in CWE and then The Chocolate Bar in Lafayette Square for Mary's Bachelorette Party...will have to try and get a pic from Em to post... 2 more weeks! =)

Monday

Today we went to Drost Park with our Mom&Me group. Ry had a great time running around on the playground with his friend Michael Carribean, and Julia on the swings watching all the kids play. We came home to have some lunch, and Grandma and Grandpa Schuette stopped in to visit. Ryan had a complete meltdown when Julia took one of his trains off the table, and I thought for SURE he'd take a nap, but I just couldn't get him to sleep after they left. Think those golden naptimes are a thing of our past for Ry-guy! I am still unable to accept this new reality...Grrrr!Julia and Grandma bond over a bowl of watermelon. They look a bit alike, don't they!?

And the princess keeps a close eye on our dinner!

Riding Horses and Visiting Greats!

Today our Mom&Me group went to a farm right outside of Marine. The kids had a fun morning learning about horses.Ry wasn't shy about wanting to pet the horse.

Julia wasn't so trusting of the horses - check out that face!
Haven't seen that expression since she saw Santa
or the Gateway Grizzlies mascot!

Ryan and Adelle Stanko concentrate on coloring photos of horses.

What a natural! The guy helping walk the horse around with the kids told Ry to give the horse a little kick and Ry looked at me like "huh? we aren't supposed to kick!!" He ended up just giving the horse more of a little pat with his heels. Then, as he was on his ride he was saying "Choo, choo!" like that would get horsey moving like it does his trains. Somehow, no matter the activity, our train-crazed boy always works the locomotives in. =)

On the way home we stopped by to see Great grandma and papa Schuette. The kids had fun playing with their "antique" cars and the pool table, of course!

Messy Park Day

This morning our Mom&Me group had a "Messy Park Day" organized for the kids.

This is my cousin Jessica's son Devin playing with a shaving cream/food coloring mix.

This is my cousin Jenn's son Connor playing with a messy mix!

Here is my cousin Jenn and her sweet 6 mth old Jaden. I had to laugh, because it looks like they are both observing a moment of silence or something, and this morning was ANYTHING but silent! =)

For some reason, Ryan preferred to splash around in the puddles instead of the messy games!

Here is some of our group making red slime!

Ryan and Julia enjoying a little snack out at the park.

Ryan wasn't obeying this morning, so we had to leave messy park day early. I was totally bummed to head home with the kids instead of staying out at the park to chat with the other moms! I literally had to carry him to the car kicking and screaming. Good times. But as Jeff said just the other night, "There is a NEW sheriff in town!" With all the sick going around here, we've been kinda lax on the discipline, and it is catching up with us!!!
By the time we got home, Ry was "over" his tantrum of leaving his friends and then he had ANOTHER one when I told him we weren't having Cheez-its for lunch. After serving a very sad time-out, he changed his attitude and helped me make some mac n'cheese/hot dog lunch. Yumm.