St. Louis Vacation!

For the first time ever, we took a family vacation that didn't involve seeing family! We have several great friends in St. Louis and when Lexi's best (girl) friend, Keira, moved there last month, we decided it was time to make the trek! Our long weekend was filled with toy playing, sprinkler play, and a visit to the Science Center . . . plus some downtime for Mom & Dad! Despite a LOUD ride home, it was a perfect weekend! Thanks, Hackers!

The Next Babe Ruth

T-Ball is over (dare I say, "finally"? It was so hot sitting out there at the games!) Definitely the highlight of the season was getting a trophy at the end!

Birthday Adventures

Lexi started her 5th birthday (July 20) with a breakfast birthday cake from Grandma! Breakfast of champions, right?

Then lunch and presents at Fritz's railroad restaurant!

Yes, that's gum!

Today we continued the celebration with the best surprise EVER, orchestrated by Daddy . . .

Riding Daddy's friend, Linda's, white pony, Pepper!

"At me, Daddy, at me!"

Trotting was too scary, better keep it to a walk!

Thanks, Linda!

Milestones!

Not to be outdone by Lexi's 5th birthday today (plenty of pictures to come, don't worry!), Frankie had a milestone of his own last night!

At 10:15pm, after Daddy had already gone to bed, I snuck into Lexi's room to grab my running clothes so I wouldn't risk waking her at 5:45am. Sitting, calmly, outside her room was little Frankie, working a sticker book! He'd climbed out of his crib, turned off his fan and sound machine, and reclosed the door to his room! The little stinker would've slept on the floor outside her room all night long if I hadn't seen him! I guess he's ready for a big-boy bed!

Tough Tumbles

We Wonkas have had a tough 24 hours of injury!

1) At nap yesterday, Henry fell out of his crib! I still have no idea how he did it other than his big head made him lose his balance! He's fine and I lowered his mattress to keep him in!

2) At her last T-Ball practice, Lexi was hit in the face with the ball! She was a trooper, though, and even got back in the game after a few minutes of consolation from Mom.

3) Henry woke up at 6:45 screaming this morning. His leg, past the knee, was stuck in the rungs of his crib! Apparently, I'd forgotten to put the mesh bumper back on when I moved his mattress down. It took at least 2 full minutes for me to get him loose!

Here's to an accident-free day!

House update: 20 more days! The gutters are on and they're staining the hardwood floors. The deck & patio work will begin next week!

We went to Blackbob Bay, Olathe's new "waterpark", with some good friends on Monday!

Brotherly Love (& house update)

Frankie & Henry have a special bond that mostly involves wrestling. It's cute to see Henry be able to start interacting already, though.

The exterior of the house is almost completely painted (a dark, dark green that looks almost brown in certain light) & the exterior stone fireplace is done. The microwave & oven (but not cooktop) are installed. 25 days and counting!

Stone, Stone, and More Stone

The word of the week at the new house was "STONE" - granite countertops, exterior stone, ceramic tile floors and backsplash! 30 days and counting!

Master bathroom tub

Guest bathroom floor

"Tumbled stone" backsplash (Frank's splurge)

Master bathroom shower

Fireplace (duh!)

Exterior stone, exterior paint coming this week if it ever stops raining!

Granite countertop in kitchen

Wonderful Wichita Week!

We went to Wichita as a family last Saturday (the 26th) then Frank left us there while he came back home to work Tuesday-Friday. After we spent the weekend of the 4th in Wichita as a family of 5 again, we headed "home" yesterday. It was nice to break up the time living with my parents and we had a perfect week and a half there! Three trips to the zoo, three sleepovers with cousins, swimming at the waterpark, watching a lady use a metal detector at the park, drums at Andrew's, a bottle of cashews, birthday party for Henry, and fireworks! It doesn't get any better than that!