A Great Weekend with the Topeka Grandparents!

We had a wonderful weekend in Kansas with our Topeka relatives! Our first stop was Friday at the Kansas City Zoo. Isabelle particularly loved visiting the chimpanzees in Africa. We got to see them being fed (and boy do they love that!) and Isabelle and an infant chimp got quite cozy...through the glass.

On Saturday we joined a group from Penny and Thad's mission church, Vida. We headed to Wakarusa, Kansas for a Bean Feed! The ham and beans are cooked over an open fire in a huge pot. Combine that with cornbread, sides and home-made pie and you have an incredible meal.

Then we headed to a visit with Great-Grandma Ruthie where we had a balloon fight (started by Ruthie herself) and a lovely chat. After a quick nap (for Isabelle and Mommy) we headed to Gary's Berries, again with the friendly folks at Vida, to pick pumpkins, find our way through a corn maze, a relaxing hayride and lots of trips down a giant slide. There was also fun to be had in the corn pit and hay stacks. A funnel cake and kellte corn rounded off the evening and then it was back to the house for dinner and sleep.

We were going a hundred miles an hour the whole weekend but we had a great time.

The pictures didn't display in the order they happened. You'll all have to use your detective skills to figure out what's happening in each!

Pumpkin Pickin'

Another gorgeous-weather weekend meant spending time at Eckert's. We picked pumpkins and took a fun wagon ride. We also walked to the Swansea Kingdom playground and played our hearts out before walking the mile and a half back to the house.

The Best of Missouri at the Botanical Gardens

We had such a great time together at the Botanical Gardens. We climbed all over statues, decorated a pumpkin, built a bird house, made a silly crown, decorated a doughnut, played with dancing water, had Isabelle's face painted and so much more!

Eckert's Fun

We had a great time this weekend spending some family time outside in the gorgeous weather! We built a scarecrow, picked apples and played on a tractor! We can't wait for pumpkin pickin' time!

Lake Ike

Thanks to the little rain shower we had this morning our backyard is now a lake. We are flooded from the fence to the top of the retaining wall. Erica called this morning with news that her basement is flooding! Our street is strewn with leaves and branches and our once pile of fire wood is now driftwood.
Bummer.

30th Birthday and I may Never sleep again

No, these two are not related. I celebrated my 30th birthday on Friday at Absolutely Goosed with some friends and then again on Sunday at Eleven Eleven with more friends. Next weekend we're celebrating with family. It's pretty much a birthday double-weekend extravaganza! Hurray!
I joined face book today. I got home from work and after putting Isabelle to bed I got on and spent almost an hour and a half on there messing around. It is so addicting! Just like blogging! I need to sleep but I keep clicking on profiles and reading about old friends. I really must finish this and go to bed!

Disney!!

We took a trip to Disney World a week ago and had an amazing time! JP, Isabelle, Grandma Tina, Papa Rick and I stayed in Port Orleans, French Quarter on the Disney property. We went to the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and back to the Magic Kingdom. Not in one day of course! We had breakfast with the princesses on our last morning. I will never forget Isabelle's face that morning. She dressed like Cinderella (thanks Aunt Kitty!) and looked adorable. She made a wish on a wishing star. The picture above shows how seriously she took her wish.
When we went to Hollywood Studios we were named Disney's Family of the Hour and had one wish granted. We chose to see the Playhouse Disney show. Isabelle got to meet June, Rocket and Leo from Little Einsteins! We were taken in and got front row seats and were given lots of goodies. Isabelle had a blast! There are a few extra pictures at the bottom of the page.
Our trip was definitely a success!