Sunday Synopsis: Three Weeks

Okay, any chance I can catch you up on the past three weeks in three minutes? I'll try to move fast or it may never happen!

Fourth of July in downtown St. Louis:

Ran a 4-miler with my friend Rachel (simple race, sure, if you haven't taken a MONTH break from running to move across the country!!)

Parade down Market Street:

Airshow over, under, through, and around the famous arch!

Fireworks under the arch at night:

It was AWESOME to experience so much of the city in one day. Thanks to our friends Rachel and Jesse for showing us a good time! :)

Playgroups

I have great outing options for me and the kids through church, a medical organization (WUMCHA), and just informally with friends.

(WUMCHA Welcome Brunch on the top floor of Barnes Jewish Hospital)

So far we've done Frisco Train Shop:

The wading pools at Tower Grove park:

The wading pools in Citi Garden (right in the heart of downtown St. Louis)

(Can you see the arch in the background? I love it!)

 Grant's farm, with a very eclectic collection including elephants, zebras, Texas longhorns, camels, and the famous Anheuser Busch horses, to name a few. It's like the Wheeler Farm of St. Louis, but much bigger. There's a tram ride in, and James kept standing up. The tour guide repeatedly called over the PA for a little boy in a blue shirt to sit down. Took me a moment to realize who! We particularly loved the elephant show where the front row is kindly provided with umbrellas to protect them from the shower of water the elephant sprays out of his trunk!

Concerts for Children in the Piper Palm House in Tower Grove. Emma was chosen from the audience to conduct the string quartet! :)

Botanical Gardens. In my top three favorite things about St. Louis (along with the arch, and, hmm, maybe the zoo, except we haven't made it there yet!)

FYI, we haven't paid a dime for any of this. One of the many reasons St. Louis is such a great place to live!

Home and Garden

"Reclaiming the land," as my dad would say, is happening in our backyard. We have so much natural growth, things LOVE to grow here in the Midwest. We have pulled out bags and bags of weeds, Virginia creeper, tree shoots, etc, in hopes of cleaning up a bit and discouraging the mosquitoes and chiggers. Sad little James has a dozen mosquito bites on his face today, even after we bathed him in deet during a yard work session yesterday. Andrew has mowed and trimmed, doing a beautiful job, and James (with his love of cords and all types of electronic appliances) begs, "More mower, Daddy," "More trimmer, Daddy," every time he sees them in the garage.

Emma has LOVED biking back and forth on the sidewalk in front of our house. She said just yesterday, "Little girls need time to ride their bikes." :)
Decorating is moving slow, but I promise to show photos when it's somewhat "done." After five arrangements in the kids's room, I finally discovered one that was functional, cute, and really opened up the space in there. Andrew spends every spare minute sanding the boards he purchased to build a small swing set for the kids.

Emma is our little outdoor explorer, catching "rolly polies," fireflies, and just yesterday, a toad. :)

 

A friend shared some African violet leaves with me, and they have since sprouted roots, so I repotted a few, hoping that from one leaf, many flowers will grow, just as with one friend, many more friends and experiences will grow with us here in St. Louis.
Our most recent addition arrived yesterday:

Now Andrew's life is complete!

Library

I LOVE libraries, I always have. I remember Andrew and I going to a local library in college for a date, I love them so much. Well, we are within reasonable walking distance of two libraries--one city, on county--and we are loving the library programs. We have been participating in summer reading where the kids earn prizes for minutes logged. We are finishing out the summer here with just over 600 minutes for Emma. We hope to get more next year when we can start at the beginning, instead of half way through. We also love the summer "Wacky Wednesdays" with an hour-long children's entertainer. One week it was Juggling Jeff (Google him, he's awesome), and some wild bird sanctuary that showcased tarantulas, owls, rats, a python, and a vulture. Pretty exciting stuff. Emma's not scared of anything, but  for me--with our kitchen littered with dirty dishes (plugged sink, waited a week for the plumber) and my wild imagination--I had to make an excuse for James and me to step out as they dangled the rat in front of our faces.

MUNY
St. Louis is home to the oldest and largest outdoor theater in the nation, the MUNY. We had a FABULOUS night at Les Miserables. I loved Javert's voice best of all, and it was neat to hear him sing and swear by the stars under the stars. :)

Swimming Pool
Can you believe you get all this for $4?? I felt like we were in a full-blown water park. The kids love the lazy river, we went around half a dozen times. One of my top three favorites!

(Emma is on the slide)

Grocery Shopping
The last time I moved, adjusting to a new grocery store was perhaps the hardest part, and I think that is the case for this move to St. Louis. I never really considered myself a foodie, but it's crazy how many stores I have to run to to get everything we need. Prices are ridiculous! So, we go to Aldi, a penny mart that only takes cash, you bring your own bags, and a quarter to use the cart. The first time I went in, I thought it was way to ghetto, but they have good food for SUPER cheap (milk is a dollar less than anywhere else) and great imported German chocolates to keep the kids happy while we shop. :) However, they don't consistently carry all produce, just what is local, fresh, and cheap, so I have to run to a separate store for something like a jalapeno or cilantro. Also, I don't prefer items with sugar or salt added (yogurt, applesauce, tomato sauce, etc.), so we have an extra trip for these things. To think, my previous grocer had inexpensive items, along with bulk foods (I can't find bulk bins anywhere here), whole wheat options in pastas, flours, etc, all for an affordable price. Oh! How I miss my Smith's Marketplace!

Congratulations if you made it this far! Sorry to ramble on. I love the adventure of the move. It's great to take different streets and go exploring around town. A few weeks after living here, Emma asked, "Mom, why aren't you using Siri [iPhone GPS]?" I proudly responded, "Because I know how to get around without her!" We are, in short, getting around great, and having a wonderful time. :)