Fun on Mimi's Birthday

We went to Shaw Park in Clayton for Mimi's birthday on Sunday. The weather was BEAUTIFUL!!



Kate absolutely loved running around everywhere.

And, she had a blast on the playground.

Can't you tell by the dramatic tear rolling down her face? I can't even remember why she was crying.

She didn't even mind when she took a few tumbles. (Enjoy the next three pictures!)







How crazy was THAT? Mark just happened to snap the photo at the right time.

And, for the record... we are retiring these overalls. They are too short and the buttons pop open all the time (I won't say anything about the size of her thighs!)



Besides, she looks like she belongs in an Arkansas Wal-Mart in that last picture.

Yep, those things are headed to the basement.

The Trampoline

Little or big, Kate loves the trampoline. Her Great Uncle Scott has both at his house.









She especially loves when her second cousin, Maddie, gets on there with her.

Kate, say cheese!! This is what we got.

Now, the little trampoline? We need one of those at OUR house. Like right before bedtime.

She hops right up there and just goes to town until she's out of breath.

See? She's gotta take a little breather.

Cooking with Our Girl Part II

Remember how much Kate loves to help cook? Well, she does. She loves to be up on the counter joining in on all the action.

On this occasion, she was just watching me make some grilled cheeses for lunch and enjoying some raisins.







And, on this occasion, she was helping me whip up some stuffed peppers for the Crockpot.

Hey, Kate! You're supposed to be helping!

Ok, fine... just sit there and look cute.

'Cause you're awfully good at that sorta thing.

See?? Told you so.

But, I must say, you are a dang good mixer. Very persistent. When your stirring gets a little crazy, and stuff goes flying all over the countertop, you make sure to stick your foot in it.



And then, put it right back in the mix.

I apologize to anyone that indulged in these stuffed peppers. They may have had toddler foot cooties on them.

Weekend Adventures

I'm about a week behind in blogging. I meant to blog last weekend's adventures before this weekend hit, but I didn't make it.

Oh well. Last weekend (the weekend before St. Patty's Day) was so pretty, we just had to get out. We thought about going to the zoo, but it was just a little on the chilly side. So, we ended up at the St. Louis Science Center.


Kate and Daddy were looking at the BIG dinosaur!

We took the stroller in, but I'm not sure why. Kate ended up running around THE WHOLE TIME!





There were games to play, buttons to push, videos to watch, rooms to run into, but guess where she ended up?





Reading books. I'm not lying when I say I think she went through every book on those shelves. She screamed when we had to take her away. But, there was more to see that we knew she would enjoy.

Like these crazy things.



And Legos!



And this little pretend construction site.



After the Science Center, we headed to Ted Drewes for some ice cream.

Kate got a quick diaper change in the trunk. Please refrain from asking why there are tons of plastic cups and Christmas bows in the trunk. Besides, I really don't know WHY they are in there. All I know is... it's time to clean the car!





After that, we went to Old Navy, where Kate wreaked havoc on the store. Mark made a video of it on his iphone, but I have to figure out how to get it on here.

We later went to use one of our restaurant.com gift certificates at a swanky place called Wapango's. Although we didn't know it was swanky.

So, in we come, with the only kid in the place. They brought out a high chair and I swear Kate was the first kid to have ever sat in that thing.

We begged her to be quiet (like she really understood) and moments later, she proceeded to beat the table with my spoon. So much for that idea.

Luckily, most people thought it was cute. We kept her occupied by letting her munch on ice (her favorite), which she kept spitting out on the table. Beautiful.

Note to self: leave the kid at home next time.

After dinner, we went into the mall and let Kate play at the little kid place. We walked through the pet store and let her see all the little puppies, kittens, and bunnies in the window. We stopped by The Children's Place, where I found her a cute little shirt for $3!

When we got in the car, we were pooped!! Kate was out like a light in minutes. We brought her in the house and she and I both fell asleep in the big living room chair for awhile.



We were exhausted! But, it was a good exhaustion.

Photo Shoot

We took Kate to Shaw Nature Reserve last Sunday to do her one year pictures that we have been meaning to do for, oh... about 4 months!!! It was her 16 month birthday and we were LONG overdue!

It started a little rocky. Before one photo was snapped, she took a spill on the concrete walkway, skinned her knee, and hit her little forehead. She screamed LIKE CRAZY!!!

We went on to this house they have on the premises there, skinned knee and all. It adds character to the pictures, right??

Then, we played with some rocks and sticks. I use the term "we" very lightly. More like Kate brought us sticks and rocks.

We went inside the house and it was a really neat "museum" like place. Lots of photos and information. The kicker was that at each little station, there was a telephone that you picked up, pressed a little button, and it told you about the pictures you were looking at. Could that be ANY more up my little girl's alley? A phone?? Buttons to push?? Someone actually talking to you on the other end?? She was in toddler heaven!

That picture makes my stomach do flip flops... she is getting so big!







After all the indoor fun, we headed out to the back porch.



That sign will eventually be edited out...

... kinda like her skinned knee was in this picture.

She got a little silly when Daddy was asking her to look at the camera.

I just LOVE the look of this porch in the pictures. Very classic.

























We brought along her little rocking chair. We weren't exactly sure what we were going to do with it, but at any rate, it lasted all of about 2 seconds. With all the room to roam, she was NOT going to sit still in a chair for any amount of time.

After another tumble on the concrete, we put her shoes on and held hands just in case.

And, of course, we had to stop and investigate everything.

Hey Mom and Dad, I found a rock!!



Wanna see what I can do with it???



JUST KIDDING!



And, she really was! It's a fun new game she made up... I call it Fake Out. She pretends to put stuff in her mouth, watches me go crazy, and then runs away as fast as she can, squealing all the way. I'm sure that was a run- on sentence, by the way.

After all of the exploration, we took her down to the water.





















If you are still looking, WOW! You must really love us... that was a lot of pictures!