Home Sweet Home Musings - Day 1 in Virginia

And so on the evening of July 16th, we packed up the van and headed out for the 12+ hour drive to VIRGINIA!!! We left at about 9:30 p.m. CST on Thursday night and ended up arriving in Richmond just before noon on Friday. Paul drove most of the time, I finished the drive once we hit Virginia. The kids slept until about 5:30 a.m. which made things easier. But, those last few hours were tough since we stopped constantly for the kids. The driving all night thing was a good idea, in retrospect.

Once we arrived, Paul and I got some shut eye while Mom and Dave enjoyed having the grandkids ... Later, we hung out in the yard and enjoyed spending the afternoon together.






After a wonderful dinner (my mom is such a great cook!), Mom herded us outside for some s'more making! It was a lot of fun. Alex had a BLAST, even when he inadvertently put a still burning marshmallow right into his mouth. Yikes. He was fine but he scared us all half to death!







First thing on Saturday, we got ready and headed over to see Crystal and Lucas who were heading to the beach for the week. It figures that the one week I'm in town, she's out of town! But, we got to hang out a bit before she left which was heaven for me. I've missed getting a daily Crystal fix! She's one of my closest friends and I miss her so much! And, Lucas was born AFTER we moved to Missouri so this was the first time I'd met him in person! He is so sweet! And adorable as all get out. We enjoyed getting to know him a bit! Maybe next time we can plan better so we can spend some more time together! Either way, it was great to see them!

Watermelon Musings

I think that all 3 of our kids would and could eat watermelon ALL day if we let them. They are watermelon FREAKS. So, Paul cut up some for the kids to enjoy outside one night and they had fun eating and playing. Well, Alex said he wasn't hungry & ended up doing more playing than eating. But, the girls ate almost the entire plate by themselves!




A stick sword ... he's obsessed with swords right now. He actually wants a lightsaber (yes, the weapon from StarWars) but he made do with this stick ...

Sami will kill me when she sees that I posted these. She was cracking me up (and herself up, too) as we hung out. She's hilarious!





Alex wanted a picture of us so we did the whole hold the camera out and hope for the best thing. Not great but cute.


And, for the finale, Sami began doing her MOVES for us ... she's trying out for cheerleading and spent a lot of time practicing. I love this shot of her in a headstand!

Sibling Musings

One of the best things about having Sami with us was watching the kids all enjoy each other's company. The twins are really fortunate to have Sami in their life. She's amazing with them and they look at her as if she walks on water. On a random Sunday, she got Meighan all dressed up in her ballet gear and they had fun dancing around the living room, having fun ...





I must say that I think that we have some very beautiful children ... Paul makes gorgeous babies!


Look at the way Meighan is looking at Sami ... see, like she walks on water!

Carousel Musings

My friend Stephanie's sister was giving a birthday party for her daughter and invited the twins to come! Meighan was very excited to be invited to a party! The party was at the Faust Park Carousel. The carousel is very cool. It's an original carousel built in the 1920's that was originally at Forest Park Highlands. It was the only thing left standing after a fire in 1963. It was restored and installed at Faust Park in the late 1980's. So, we spent an hour celebrating Alexi's birthday by riding the beautiful carosel. My photos aren't the best - the light in the carousel building isn't always the best. But, here they are ...

Here's Steph ..

I'm sure Sami was bored silly! We love this photo because its the look she gives Paul when he annoys her!

I have NO IDEA what Paul was doing here but I HAD to include it ...

So, there it is ... the Faust Park Carousel! We had a great time!