Parks, Parks, Parks

The weather has been super nice here lately (in the 70s) so let's just say that not much has been getting done in the house. We have taken plenty of walks, fed our neighborhood fish until they were stuffed, chalked up the driveway and visited several local parks.  Ava is quite the cautious one at parks but after this week and seeing all her friends can do, she started to lighten up a bit.  In all the pictures though she still looks very unsure of everything and kind of like it's torture to be there.  Trust me though, she's been having a great time.  Really she is :o)

Soup Party Madness

Well there wasn't really madness but it was a lot of fun.  What is a soup party?  Well, we invite all our friends and family and ask them to bring a crock pot full of their favorite soup to share with everyone.  We provide all the drinks, crusty bread for dipping, desserts and the fire pit.  Although this year we really didn't need the fire pit because it was in the 70s.  Every year there is plenty of soup and everyone leaves stuffed.  

Did I take any pictures of all the wonderful soups?  Of course not because we were all too busy filling our tummies.  Trust me though, they were all so good!  This year we had about 10 different soups and all that I tried were super yummy.  There was clam chowder, squash, cream of mushroom, taco, chicken curry, potato, chili and the list goes on.  There were plenty of desserts in case the soup wasn't enough for you.  S'mores, caramel apples, brownies, witches hats, eyeball cupcakes, pumpkin cookies (recipe coming later this week) were just a few of the sweets.  I know the kiddos at the party ate their fair share of sweets.  A caramel apple with chopped pecans hit the spot for this preggo lady that night.  It's a great time to relax with friends and family and just enjoy the weather.  I'm already plotting next years party and all the soupy madness.

Where are you Fall?

This past weekend we had all these outdoor plans for Saturday and it was windy and cold.  We went to Strassenfest in Chesterfield and it was so chilly we didn't even stay for a brat.  You know that street fairs are all about the food, so I was bummed that we didn't stay for any food...at all! After Strassenfest we were going to head downtown to the Taste of St. Louis Fair.  Due to all the wind and cold, we opted for a warm Bread Co. lunch of soup and bread.  

This week has been gorgeous weather wise.  The next few days will be in the low 80s which is great for some outdoor fun.  Yesterday we spent a few hours at MOBot with some friends and enjoyed all the sun and slides and flowers.  We even fed the huge ugly coy fish in the Japanese Garden.  We have plans to go pumpkin picking this weekend but it just seems wrong to pick pumpkins in 80 degree weather.  Very un-fall like to say the least.  I'm not complaining about the weather because I hate being cooped up all winter with no outdoor playtime but I just don't want mother nature to skip right to winter.  

Hilton Head

We spent 2 sunny filled days on the beaches of Hilton Head and it was a perfect break from the walking of Savannah.  We have never been to Atlantic beaches only the Gulf so I was anxious to see the difference.  

I was pleasantly surprised by how nice and compact the sand was which made it super easy to walk on.  Ava loved sitting on the edge of the water and building drippy castles.  She sat for hours playing and building things in the sand.  Steve and I took turns playing with her in the sun and then relaxing under the shade of the umbrella.  There were plenty of things to discover and one day her friend Carter was there to play with her as well.  

We can't get enough of the beach.  Love. It.

Sunny Savannah

We traveled to Savannah for a week with our friends and their little one.  Savannah's a place I've wanted to visit for a while now and I somehow convinced the rest of the crew to come along too.  Steve kept asking me the weeks leading up to the trip, "So why are we going there anyway?"  I tried explaining that it's a city with a lot of history and it's really pretty but that didn't sound like a reason for us to drive 14 hours to get there in his mind.  He was game though and for that I was very appreciative.  I still don't think he knew what to expect until we got there.  

We stayed in a nice little apartment in the historic district which was right in the heart of everything.  We did lots of walking (in 90+ degree weather), had a great tour by Savannah Dan whose wearing the stylish suit and hat above, ate a ton of great food which will have it's own post later and relaxed.  Some of the highlights of Savannah were visiting the creepy yet beautiful Bonaventure Cemetery, touring the Owens-Thomas House, walking the riverfront, strolling the many streets and squares of this beautiful city and visiting Old Fort Jackson.  There were fountains for the kiddos to run through and lots of friendly people sitting out enjoying all that Savannah has to offer.  If you've ever thought of visiting, I can say that you definitely should.  Beautiful, southern city with lots of personality.

Magic and Pizza

Friday night we visited the Magic House with some friends and their littles.  We had a blast.  The Magic House is a great place for exploring and all our kids are reaching the age where they really have started to enjoy the Magic House.  Every 3rd Friday night from 5:30 to 9:00 you can get in for free with your family.  Just thought I would pass that along to all the fellow St. Louisians looking for something free to do.  We made it for about 2 hours and then a few meltdowns started to happen, so we opted for some pizza down the street.  Steve and I had never been to Dewey's Pizza so I wanted to try it out.  The pizza was fantastic and the kids were so good.  We were out chatting and eating until after 9:30 with one of the other couples and their kids.  Ava was in seventh heaven.  She was so good at dinner and it looked like she was finally learning the secret to what grown-ups do after they put the kids to bed and she was LOVING it.  She was giddy that we were still up when it was dark out and she was with her friends!  Steve and I left that night saying we are definitely doing more things like to fill the rest of our summer nights.