So you want to go on a road trip?

So you want to go on a road trip? Well, my little family has been on a couple of road trips over the past couple of weeks and they have gone better than I expected because I really prepared a lot for it.

I kept an eye on sales at Walmart and Target and got some Color Wonder supplies, crayons, note pads and stickers. We also got a portable DVD player on sale at Best Buy and took all our Disney movies (Thanks Trey). Lots of Kum & Go stations have Redbox kiosks, so we were even able to rent a DVD or two. A cooler full of drinks and snacks was Daddy’s brilliant idea!

We made frequent stops to stretch legs, go to the bathroom and to nurse the baby. We stopped at a couple of free local attractions along the way to run off a little energy and tried to find kid friendly places to eat (Steak N Shake and Chick-fil-A top the list). We may not be making the best drive time, but sometimes slow and steady wins the race.

St Louis

My family and I recently came back from a trip to St Louis to meet up with a fellow "Baby Lady" for the first time. We got there late Friday night and when we met for the first time; it wasn’t awkward at all! We ran up to each other and hugged like old friends. My husband and kids were up in our room, but her husband witnessed our giddy embrace with rolled eyes. We got settled into our rooms at the Hyatt with an awesome view of the arch (Thank you Priceline.com) and rested up for a fun-filled weekend!

On Saturday morning, we headed to the local zoo (free admission) and spent the better half of the day wandering around looking at all the animals. For a free zoo (we did have to pay for parking), it was incredible! We took turns pushing babies in the strollers and teased each other for our bad stroller driving. One child may or may not have tried to climb a short fence to an animal enclosure… good thing it wasn’t the lions!

That evening we headed down to the arch to let the kids run around before dinner and they had a blast together!

We went to dinner at Angelo’s Taverna and it was delicious! Great wait staff, huge portions, good prices and delicious food. If you are ever in town, you should stop by. We had so much food that we couldn’t finish it all and we had to get dessert to go (hey, it’s vacation)!

Sunday morning we got up and loaded our cars up to leave the hotel, went and had breakfast at Denny’s and then headed to The Magic House! It was $9.50 a person and worth every red cent. We were there for 4 hours and didn’t see about a third of what they had to offer. What a neat place for kids and adults to play! They really do have tons of fun things to do and we could have easily been there all day.

They had a whole little town type of thing set up with a grocery store, bank, electric company, fishing pond, ice cream stand, car shop, library and a hospital nursery. It was so neat!

Zoey LOVED the water table!

Even the babies had fun together in the little baby play area!

What mother doesn’t dream of her child becoming president at least once? They have an Oval Office so you can see for yourself how cool they will look behind that desk. I’ll be making election buttons soon 

It truly was an awesome trip! I wish it had been longer, one weekend wasn’t long enough with such a fun family. Our oldest still talks about her friends and asks for them by name! It really felt like we had been friends for years and not just Internet friends that were meeting for the first time!

Fall project

Well, it looks like fall is here…

Wait, it’s still in the 80s here in Arkansas!! Oh well, the calendar says it’s fall and pumpkin spice everything is out; so I am saying it’s here.

I decided to do a fun fall project with Zoey! I went to Wal-mart and got some of the decorative plastic pumpkins they have for $.97 and some kids craft paint. I dressed her in an old shirt, covered the table and let her paint! I only let her use one color at a time so we could do it again if we wanted to. Two-year-olds don’t know to not mix paint colors.

I chose plastic pumpkins because they last longer so I can keep them forever and compare each year; and so we can give them as gifts to family.

This project was obviously followed by a bubble bath. We don’t mind getting messy in our house!

The big one is for us and the little ones are for grandparents. She is so proud of them!