Botanical Gardens

One of the things on our "Summer To-Do List" was to go to the Botanical Gardens. Since Nate doesn't have camp this week, I decided Tuesday was a good day to do this. After swim team, we headed over there and were happy to find that it wasn't too crowded. 

They stopped to touch the cactus. Lila would let Nate touch it first, then she would wrap her arm around the back of his neck and touch it. Like he was going to protect her from it's prickles. It was super cute. 

This is one of our favorite spots at the Gardens - there are stepping stones across a little creek and it's been a favorite of Nate's for a long time.

We also went to the Children's Garden where Lila got her slide fix.

I love that she always likes to follow Nate.

After we arrived, I saw several other kids in their swimsuits and kicked myself for not doing this. There are plenty of water features there and it would have been a good day to get wet.

I finally decided to let them just get in the water fountain already. They were both shocked. Separately, they both asked, "Are you SURE, Mom???" Now y'all know I have self diagnosed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. This absolutely drove me crazy, but they had such a good time, it was worth it. Growth. I need to do more of it. 

Although, after they were done, we made the long walk back through the Gardens to our car...and Nate asked me no less than 34 times if everyone was looking at him because he was wet. Man, we can impart some neurotic tendencies on our children, can't we?!? I'll be having to work on that and let go a little more often:)

Springfield: Home of Abe Lincoln

We've been wanting to go to Springfield, IL for a while now because Scott & I have heard wonderful things about the Abraham Lincoln sites. Nate has taken a new interest in Lincoln and the Civil War so we knew we needed to capitalize on it. We had a free summer weekend, so we decided to take a short road trip! 

We left on Friday and it was still very rainy in St. Louis. We actually had to drive through standing water on the interstate to get out of town. Crazy weather! We arrived safely at our hotel around lunch time and after we got checked in, we headed out to get some lunch and explore. We stayed at the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel. It's a Doubletree and I highly recommend it.

The crazy people that we took with us. 

Everything that we wanted to see was mostly within walking distance, so after lunch we walked up to the Illinois State Capitol. Of course Abraham Lincoln is in front of it.

Lila loved the statues - this one happened to be Stephen Douglas. Scott & I were constantly looking up facts about famous political figures all weekend - some times we were able to piece the answers together with our history education, but it was nice to have the info at our fingertips to answer the 3,543 questions Nate asked throughout the trip.

After we walked around for a bit, we went back to the hotel so the kids could swim. We drove out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and really had the best time, just the 4 of us.

The next morning, we set out for our big day of sight-seeing. Lila is very into standing directly in front of Nate for pictures. It's lovely. And annoys the tar out of Nate. That's her goal in life, by the way.

We had to take a road trip selfie while waiting on Dad to get Starbucks.

First, we visited the Lincoln Museum. It was built in 2005 and let me just say, it was amazing. I thought it was a perfect mix of history for adults and interactive areas for kids. Nate is right in the middle of these 2 groups, so he really enjoyed it all. Posing with the family. 

After we went through the history wings - they basically started when Abe Lincoln was just a boy and ended with his funeral - we went to an interactive area called Mrs. Lincoln's Attic. They both thought it was fantastic!

We thought it was very cool that Nate was as tall as Lincoln was when he was 9 years old.

And hopefully he'll be this tall some day!

And of course, since we took Nate's picture, we had to take Lila's too.

We spent about 2.5 hours in the museum but it didn't seem that long at all. And when you consider that we had a 4 year old with us, I'd say we deserve some kind of medal. After we rested a little bit at lunch, we walked over to the Lincoln's house.

We had to wait a while before it was our turn to tour, so we took some pictures, ate ice cream, and...

took some more pictures. But it was totally worth the wait. The house is 85% original and you can feel some history in there. Nate thought it was very cool when the National Park tour guide said that he was putting his hand on the very same stair railing that Lincoln did. Of course you couldn't touch hardly anything and you had to be careful about brushing up next to the wallpaper,so I was a little worried about Lila. But she did very good and followed all the instructions.

The National Park Service has done a wonderful job with the house as well as the houses around it. The 2 block area around his house has been restored to look like it did when Lincoln lived there. You can go in a few of the houses and read about the people that were his neighbors. We thoroughly enjoyed all of it! 

This was about at the end of our day, and I know it's fuzzy because it's taken in a window reflection, but I kind of love it. This is us. The Boyle Family Four. In all our glory. Conquering Lincoln.

After swimming some more, Scott went and got us dinner and we vegged out in the hotel room. It was fabulous. Everyone slept really well that night!

The next morning, after we checked out, we drove out to Lincoln's Tomb. The website said it wasn't going to be open (I misread the website when planning our trip and yes, I heard about it from Nate) but to our surprise, it was open so we got to go inside. I was saved.

It was reallllly neat. Abe Lincoln is in there of course, and also his wife, Mary and 3 of their sons (Eddy, Willie & Tad). The other son is buried at Arlington. Just ask me, I'm all about the obscure Lincoln facts right now.

When we got home, we celebrated the Dad that lives in our house for Father's Day! I made this ice cream cake. If you've never made one, you totally should. It's just a box of ice cream sandwiches, Magic Shell syrup and whipped cream. I'm telling ya, when you cut into it, it looks like you've slaved over a layered cake for days!

Thank you for all that you do Scott! We love you!

Springfield was an excellent edu-vacation for us. We all really had a good time. I highly recommend it!

One on One with Nate

A few weeks ago, my Mom called to ask if Nate & Lila could go on a canoe trip with her and my Dad. I told her that Nate had swim team and camp but Lila WAS AVAILABLE. In the days of what seems like endless sibling squabbling, I was thankful for the reprieve. 

I was also very thankful for some one on one time with Nate. And it turns out that I got a stomach bug and bronchitis last week, so it turned out better than we could have planned it to be minus a kid! 

His only request since he had to pass on the canoe trip was to go to the Lego Store. So we went out to West County Mall to go to the store and have lunch. I know I'm his mother, but isn't he just the most handsome boy you have ever seen? I sure think so. 

And I was so pleased because he picked out his own clothes this day and he picked one of my favorite shirts. Maybe picking out his clothes for the past almost 9.5 years is going to work in my favor. That's good because when I left the house this morning, Lila had on a white shirt, white biker shorts and purple underwear. Every mother's dream.

I had to include this picture, just because. Clearly, reading Harry Potter wore Truman out.

Summer Daze

We're in full summer swing around these parts. Swim team in the mornings, maybe a camp in the afternoons, and for sure the pool after that. It's our summer routine and I kind of love it. 

During Scott's on week, he gets up very early. And despite his very best efforts to be quiet, Lila sometimes wakes up a little before she should. So she'll climb in bed with me and try to go back to sleep. She succeeds some of the time which allowed me to snap this picture. I kind of love it too. 

Swim team is going really well for Nate this summer. He looks like a real live swimmer and I almost tear up every time I see him swim across the pool. Some of you know how important swimming was to me during my growing up years, and to see Nate succeed at the sport too is just about more than I can bear. 

This would be the other side of early morning swim practice (yes, we're in a parked car). I don't want to rush her to grow up or anything, but when she's able to be on swim team too, let's just say I'll let out a silent Halleujah. Or maybe a really loud one.

City Garden

We had all day Sunday before Mimi & Paka had to fly out, so after tossing around some ideas, we came up with the City Garden. It's been a long time since we've been there, and it was Lila's first visit. 

They were excited to check it out! 

Running down to see the splash pad...

It was a definite hit with Lila!

Scott led them both through multiple obstacles courses around the little fountains and ended up getting soaked himself.

Posing for Mom...

But I guess no one wanted to pose with Dad. Poor Scott.

Lila's Dance Recital

Lila had her very first dance recital this past weekend! She has worked very hard this year in dance class and really loved it. I took dance for many years, so it brought back lots of memories for me to walk through the classes, rehearsal and recital with her this year. I'm a proud dance mom! 

Her tap dance was to "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" and was so cute. And complete with a real live big bad wolf!

Posing with K., who has become a treasured friend.

Her ballet dance was to "When You Wish Upon a Star" and was absolutely precious.

Waiting backstage between dances...the studio did a great job keeping them entertained!

Our little dance star!

She loved loved loved being on stage. The bug has definitely bitten her. She asks me every day when the next recital will be.

We loved this year of dance and can't wait until next year!

Just a note that ALL of the grandparents came to watch her recital. And NO, I didn't take a picture. I was too busy being a stage mom I guess:) But they were all here - Mimi, Paka, Nana & Wayne!

Weekend Follies

After a week at the pool, the weather turned cooler on Saturday, so we had to find an alternate activity. We haven't been to the Zoo much this spring, so we decided to do a quick trip. It was kind of sprinkling on and off, so we stuck mainly to the houses. There were still plenty of people at the zoo. Always. 

We started off at the Insect & Butterfly House. We don't go in there much so it was some new material. The kids especially liked the butterfly area. After Lila got over some initial trepidation. 

Lila really wanted one of them to land on her, but she was too wiggly for that to happen.

Nate grabbed a guide and pointed out all the different species to us. Always the tour guide.

The kids were excited that they sting rays were back. Nate & I both touched one, and Lila really wanted to, but was a little scared to do it. Next time.

Sweet girl checking out the sea lions.

Life with Lila. Always striking out on her own path. It will serve her well in life, I'm certain.

We only meant to stop at a few houses, because it was getting close to lunch time, but we ended up seeing more than we usually see on a Zoo day. They were both very good and super interested. Maybe I should suggest a "quick trip" more often?!?

We came home to have lunch and rest. Then, after doing a few afternoon activities (Easy Bake Oven and painting nails, so that I can remember those 10 years from now) - we ventured out to eat Mexican. I have to say they are really growing up. I was by myself, at a restaurant with my 2 children, and I actually enjoyed it. Now that's some growth.