Crisp Family Visit

This weekend we had lots of company! Grandma and Grandad Crisp, Uncle Lane, Trenton and Jenna came to visit.

Will's First Boo-Boo
Before they arrived on Saturday morning, Will, Daddy and I had a relaxing morning at home...Mama and Will love it when Daddy is home with us! Just about every day, Will plays at our front window to look outside. Our window sills are low and perfect for pulling up (with Mama's help). He was standing there while Daddy was trying to get the video camera going. Just as Daddy was getting the camera out, Mama and Will looked toward him, and before we knew it...Will lost his balance and down he went. Banging his chin on the window sill. He didn't cry for long and it was only red for a while. It hurt Mama worse I think!

So after a long nap, all was fine and our guests had arrived! We enjoyed a trip to the City Museum - talk about a mad house - everyone else had the same idea to escape the heat! Today we visited the science center too! What fun we all had!

At the City Museum - Will's face was really irritated from all the teeting/drooling...can't decide if he looks cute or a little "devilish"...

Trenton and Jenna really enjoyed the giant Mouse Wheel!


This reminded me of the Bible song "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" - we all got it stuck in our heads!

Shirley Temple

Happy 9th Birthday to my niece Abbi! Aunt Stephanie, Abbi and Grandmother came to St Louis to go to the zoo and celebrate Abbi's big day! She even got to pet the sting rays. For some reason, Abbi has found a fascination with Shirley Temple...movies, songs, dolls...and she's discovered "googleing"! So, after some digging, I found an idea for some cute "Shirley Temple" cupcakes. We also all had genuine Shirley Temple "cocktails". What a celebration. Abbi had found a $125 doll on EBAY even...Mark and I settled for a $20 one from a local collector...she said "it would work". Uncle Mark also threw in a turtle that he found in the backyard with her gifts. Come to find out, it might be a snapper - so they've already released it to the "wild" aka Grandmother and Papa's backyard. Aunt Stephanie says she'd never seen a turtle move that fast to get away!

Happy Birthday Abbi!

7 months...

have come and gone...I guess it will never slow down. I'm just going to have to keep up, huh? So Will turned 7 months on the 4th of July actually. It took me a couple of days after getting home to get his picture taken in his chair. So here it is! What a big boy!

Milestones:
Sitting up
Sticking his tongue out
Grabbing for EVERYTHING
Rolling everywhere
2 teeth already, and more on the way I'm sure

Chicago on the 4th

Our first family vacation (sort of)! What an adventure. We chose Chicago to go see our friends that recently moved there from Connecticut. Chris and Angela orginally lived in St. Louis, but since have been on the east coast. We're glad to have them back in the Midwest. They have 3 little ones now, Mason who turns 3 and twins Carsen and Claire who turn 1 all this month!

Our adventure began on the road last Friday. We made a stop in Springfield, Il, a little less than halfway, to visit President Lincoln's home there. Will got lunch and we had a chance to stretch our legs. Really, it was a great place to see. Glad we made that stop. Will did fantastic and really traveled well.

Next stop: Chicago.

We loved Chris and Angela's home and neighborhood. We enjoyed some DELICIOUS Chicago deep dish pan pizza on Friday (Mark was in heaven). Then just enjoyed the evening catching up. Saturday was a lazy day too - a little shopping for the Mama's and Mason, then dinner out for just the grown ups. Angela's cousin is staying with them over the summer to help with the kids and she was kind enough to watch the kiddos (all the babies were already in bed) while the grown ups got to enjoy some time away. And we saw a few fireworks too!

For the 4th, we celebrated by going downtown to join all the crowds for Taste of Chicago. Had a Chicago dog, some Eli's cheesecake and got to see the Magnificent Mile, the lakeshore and admire beautiful downtown Chicago. We even stopped for some Garret Popcorn (Chicago special = caramel corn + cheese corn) - it was great! That evening we cooled off at home with some steaks on the grill and good old watermelon!

Our weekend wasn't long enough before we had to head home. We wanted to make a stop on our way out of town to visit the store IKEA. I'd heard lots about it. Boy was it AWESOME. I could have shopped all day. It's Gi-normous! We spent 3 hours there (including lunch too). So off we were on the road again - already 1:30 pm. Will had a little rougher trip home, wanted to stop more often, which made for an even longer trip...but he made it just fine!

Happy Independence Day America - and thanks to all our veterans and servicemen that make our freedom possible!


Daddy, Will and Honest Abe (in the background is Lincoln's home)


All the kiddos, Angela, Rachel & Mama.


3's company - meal times where lots of fun!


Will's first swing ride - he loved it!


Just chillin' in the back yard.


Carsen pushing Claire in the cozy coupe.


Aren't they all so cute!


Will's new buddy Carsen.


The crispycritters on the 4th in Chicago!


Will was a sleepy dude after all the fun!


Mason shows us how old he'll be soon - what a big boy!