Fun at Gran and Poppi's

While Matt stayed in St. Louis to work and oversee some of our home renovations, the kids and I headed East and spent some time with each of our parents. The following pictures are some of my favorites from our time with Matt's parents. Maia, Caden and I had a great time hanging out with their Seilback cousins, Jonathon, Victoria, and Ethan and of course Gran and Poppi. Another highlight were the turtles that Maia and Gran found on a walk in the woods. When I asked Maia their names, she said without missing a beat that their names were Audrey and Samsy. . .as if they really had told her these were their names. Unfortunately Audrey decided to make a run for it while we were inside eating dinner. . .we all said we would have loved to see how she manuevered herself out of the box and off the porch. After many, many tears from Maia and repeated explanations that Audrey wanted to be back in the woods, Maia decided to put Samsy back in the woods too, "because she could break if she stayed in the box." Of course no trip to Gran and Poppi's could be complete without a trip to Annie's Playground. . .an awesome playground built in memory of a young girl from that area who was killed in a car accident. I'm always touched when we go to that playground by all the life and laughter. . .how meaningful for this family who has experienced such tremendous loss.

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Two-Wheelin' It

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This is just one of those achievements worthy of a blog post. . .Maia has ditched the training wheels and is now riding a two-wheeler!!!! It all started when I was home in PA at my parents for a few weeks (we were having some home renovations done so the kids and I fled the dirt and chaos) and Maia learned the art of balancing on a scooter. After several days of scootering all over the driveway, she asked to go on one of the big bikes and within 10 minutes she had it! Since returning to St. Louis the kids and I have gone to Forest Park and Maia has biked on the trails while I've jogged with Caden in the jogging stroller. This is one of those experiences that has really made me feel like my little girl is growing up. . .no longer is it just me pushing her around the park, but she is old enough, and strong enough, and has enough endurance to take herself around the park. I know it won't be long before we are going on some serious runs together!