I have so much to update on I am not sure where to start!!
First, Kiera turned 9 months old on July 14th. Where did the time go?! She is army crawling all over the place. She pulls herself up to a stand and has started to let go and attempt to balance on her own. A couple times she has crashed and burned when she thinks she can walk. She had her 9 month check up last week. She weighed 19lbs, 1.5oz. she was 60%tile for weight. The doctor said she looked perfect. She has been showing more and more of her personality lately... she has a TEMPER! Almost hilarious at times, especially when it is mixed with a little bit of attitude!
Carter had his first sleep over the other night. His friend Jack had come over on a Friday and the 2 just kept on about sleeping over at one house or the other. When it was time to take Jack home he kept joking about getting his jammies and staying here... or he would tell Carter "stick to the plan!"... They had conspired that when I brought Jack home that Carter would stay inside his house and not come out. Well, needless to say, I got the hint and talked to Lea about him staying over. So we had Jack stay over at our house the next Monday. They had a lot of fun and actually went to sleep very well. It was a little stressful keeping Caleb out of their hair and entertained.
We went to St. Louis over the 4th o July weekend. We drove down on Thursday (4th), we drove through Iowa City on the way down and ate lunch at Bluebird Diner and got to St, Louis in time to eat supper. We ate at a pizza place called Pi. That is about all we did that day, Friday we went to the Arch first thing and road the tram to the top. Caleb thought it was really cool being up that high, but Carter was a little nervous. When we got out of the Arch we watched an air show for a short time, then headed to The Hill. We ate at Anthonino's where Diners, Drive Ins and Dives visited once. I felt rushed while ordering appetizers and quickly opted for bruschetta. Mistake. I should have gotten the Toasted Ravioli (the reason fir them being on tv). oh well, I ordered the Carbonara and it was delicious! After we left there we headed for Grant's Farms. This huge area was free to visit, you just had to pay to park. The had you take a tram around the park for a quick tour, then dropped you off in this area that was basically like a zoo. The boys fed goats bottles of milk, we saw an elephant, a jumping kangaroo, monkeys, and so much more... It was really a cool place. Oh, did I mention the free beer samples? They had those, too. The Budweiser horses are stabled there. That night we ate at Fitz's where they bottle their own root beer and flavored sodas. The food was really good. Then we decided to lay low and hang out at the pool at the hotel. Oh, we stayed at the Homewood Suites in Richmond. Very nice, we really liked having a separate bedroom from the boys so that we can watch tv and the boys can sleep. This hotel room was bigger than our first apartment, if you can remember that... it even had a small kitchen! Plus, free hot breakfasts and suppers on weeknights. Okay, so on Saturday we left early for the zoo, which is also free, especially if you are early enough to park on the road a half mile down. It was fun, but since it was so hot the animals weren't doing much. Most of them weren't even out. We purchased Safari passes and we were able to pet the sting rays and ride the train. We were so very exhausted once we left there that we scrapped the idea of going to the science center and just ate at Fitz's again and hung out at the pool. Once we recouped we decided to brave the city and went to the Arch again where they had a free Counting Crows concert and fireworks. It was crazy with people, but was a great atmosphere and surprisingly enough wasn't too scary with the large crowds and 3 children. We left the next morning after breakfast. It was a fast trip and we could definitely stay a couple more days. Chris goes to St. Louis a lot for work now, so I think we will just try to tag along on a business trip sometime. :0)
Caleb has been going to the pool at least 2 times a week this summer. He passed Level 2 swim lessons and ended up passing his deep end test as well. The kid is a fish and is loving his newfound freedom at the pool. He especially loves going off the diving board,
Okay, that is all you get for now... It is late and I still have to clean and get ready for work in the morning.
