Birthday Weekend

We went downtown to Bridge for Nate's birthday and the girls wore stripes!

This is my view for the next 3 months!  The little girl in the pink striped suit is getting brave and will go down the slide all by herself.  It's awesome!

Time outside = naps.  Another awesome thing about summer!

Even naps on the couch

We got a slip 'n' slide that doubles as a splash pad.

The only problem is that our yard isn't hilly enough so you have to really dive to get the full effect.  We're still working on that part!

Daddy and Violet had a little campout and they loved it! 

I popped in to say hi and Violet took this grainy picture of us.

Also, hello 24 weeks!

Updates

Violet was gifted a bike from a friend who had outgrown it.  It' awesome to see her riding and she is doing great!

Parking her bike at a bike rack like daddy.

Smelling the beautiful flowers I got for Mother's Day.  Thanks, mom!

Having some girl talk on the porch while painting our toes.

She's getting good at doing them herself! 

Reason to live in Shrewsbury #159: Cardinal's game at the park on a blow-up screen.

We got a little pool time in last week and it was awesome.

Practicing jumping in so she's ready for the big pool this weekend

We were enjoying some music at the Taste of Maplewood over the weekend

She made a friend at a Forest Park playground and they played "ring around the rosie" for a long time.

A new way to go down the slide called the turtle shell!!

Kansas City

We spent Mother's Day weekend in Kansas City to celebrate Nana's 90th birthday.  It was a great time to see family and take a mini vacation!

Most of the family had never met Violet and it was cool to see her playing with her cousins.  She was teaching Cody her dance moves!

She LOVED spending time with her cousin Lina!

We also got to celebrate Nate's cousin Katie's wedding! She was pretending to the the flower girl  - her dress from last year's weddings still fits :-)

The girls played the piano for Katie's wedding. 

Flower girl for hire!

She was a great traveler and even took a couple of car naps.  P.S.  So did the mama!

One of our favorite parts of the trip was that our hotel had a pool!!

We try to have fun no matter where we go and we had a great time in Kansas City!

Crafts

Nate built this pretty sweet craft area for Violet since the old craft area is now her baby brother's closet.  He even installed a light for her and it's great!

I found these on our street on trash day and can surely make something cool out of them, right??

Updates

We spent a glorious morning at Suson Park with the Osborns

Jake and Violet had so much fun together!

She climbed up the rock wall and for the first time ever asked me to take her picture!

SO MUCH PARK TIME!

You guys, the Keurig!!  THE KEURIG!!  It's so awesome.  Nate and I love our coffee in the morning and Violet loves to make her own hot chocolate.  This is awesome and it feels like a special treat every time we use it.  It's getting a lot of use.  Thanks, mom!!

I'm not very tired

 Violet is transitioning from 1 nap to no naps.  Some days she falls asleep, but most days she has some quiet time in her room or watches a little show.  This mama needs a little down time in the day!  Here are some pictures of her being "not very tired" lately.

Asleep in the chair after being at Suson park all day

Asleep on the couch after the Botanical Gardens

Re-enacting falling asleep in her swing (she really did!)

At least 2 days a week she falls asleep on her rug during room time.  She doesn't want to go in her bed because she's not very tired.  Duh!

Botanical Gardens

 One of my very favorite places in Saint Louis is the Missouri Botanical Garden.  It's free on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, the children's garden is awesome, and it's just so beautiful.  Last week was our first time being back this year after a long winter.  It was a great day!

We fed the fish and ducks

It was 80 degrees and the splash pad was on!

The treehouse playground is awesome!!  And...awesome for losing your kid.  We both made it home safely and had a great day!