Splish, Splash in the Sink

 I gave Jonah a bath in the kitchen sink at the church we stayed at on Choir Tour and he loved it! I might have gotten a little carried away with the bubbles, but there were lots of teenage girls around and Brian was very concerned about "protecting his manhood!" =0) 

 

Jonah is such a good baby, and he was very easy on Choir Tour. Some people think it's just crazy that I would go and take 3 young kids on a trip like this, but I love it. Yes, it is a LOT of work, but so much fun! Memories that I will always cherish. One night as I was trying to get all three of the kids to go to sleep (at 10:30!), I sang song after song to them. When they were all three finally asleep, I sang "Child, You are more precious than silver, Child, You are more costly than gold, Child, You are more beautiful than diamonds, and nothing I desire compares with you." It really was such a sweet, special time, as I prayed and sang over them, while rocking Jonah to sleep.  My greatest desire for them is that they would grow up knowing that God loves them, thinks they are precious, valuable, and beautiful. That he created them to have a relationship with him. And secondly, that they would know how much I love them!

 

Being the Hands & Feet of Jesus

One day during Choir Tour, we went to a place called the Dream Center. It was in a very low income, not so nice part of St. Louis. We spent the morning walking door to door, handing out flyers about the meal program, praying with people, and picking up trash along the way. I was a little hesitant about taking the kids to do this, but I'm so glad we did. What a great lesson for them to learn, about being the hands and feet of Jesus. It is good for them to see that not everyone has the nice things that they do...a nice home, a room full of toys, a closet full of beautiful clothes, a refrigerator full of food...things that we take for granted all of the time.

Mackenzie thought picking up trash was just about the most fun she had ever had! She found a beer bottle cap that she just really loved and wanted to keep as a treasure...uh, NO! (I was very thankful for the plastic gloves...there would have been no picking up trash otherwise!) Madison picked up trash too, but she was more interested in going up to the doors with Daddy to talk to people. 

Jonah was just along for the ride, happy as could be, with lots of teenagers to entertain him!

Just chillin'

River Boat Ride

After going up in the Arch and touring the Court House, we hurried over and jumped on the River Boat. It was very hot and we were all starting to wear down, but it was still fun. We sat in the shade and just enjoyed being still for an hour or so. It was neat to see the Arch from this vantage point. This was just one of many fun things we got to do while we were in St. Louis. I do have to say that the worst part of this whole experience was having to get up the huge set of stairs at the end while holding (sleeping) Jonah and basically dragging Madison behind me, while Mackenzie whined the entire time. Brian had to push the stroller up the extremely steep hill. By the time we got back to the car, I said, "Stick a fork in me...I'm done!" After a Diet Coke and a chocolate dip cone at McDonald's, I was somewhat revived! 

This little Captain is definitely adorable!

A Quick Trip to the Court House

After going up in the Arch, we all walked across the street to the old courthouse in St. Louis. We got there a few minutes after everyone else, and by the time we were ready to go in, they were all coming out. We had a very short amount of time before we had to be on the river boat. We had just enough time to take a few quick pic's (of course!) and Brian & Mack went inside to look around for just a few minutes. Mackenzie was too funny about these pictures. She gave me specific instructions for how she wanted me to take them, and I finally had to tell her we had to leave and couldn't take any more. Hmm...wonder where she gets that from!

Madison, on the other hand, wasn't too impressed with the courthouse or taking pictures. She was just happy to be sitting on the steps playing on the iphone!

Here is a very distorted picture of Brian & Mack inside the courthouse.

It was a long, hot walk, but Jonah was a happy boy riding in his stroller.

 

 

Check out these poses! She did this all on her own...I was just the one snapping the pictures. Oh how she makes me laugh! I hope she doesn't lose any of this spunk as she gets older! Yet I'm a little scared about what that will look like in the teenage years!

 

 

Daddy fixed her skirt...he didn't like it blowing up in the wind.  =0)

Up, Up, UP in the Arch

On Wednesday afternoon, we did something that I never thought I would do...we went to the top of the Arch. That seems like a panic attack just waiting to happen, but I didn't have any trouble with it. Mackenzie, on the other hand, was scared to death. She was fine once we got up there, but on the way up she was terrified. I hated it so bad for her, but I was so proud of her for doing it even though it was scary. Right before we went to the top I went in the gift shop and bought the girls a notebook and pen...that turned out to be a smart plan, because when we got to the top, they loved looking out the windows and drawing pictures of what they could see. I'm glad to be able to say I've been to the top, but I probably won't ever do it again! Once is enough for me! That's a LOOOONNNNGGG way up there!

Before going into the Arch, we had a picnic lunch in the park. 

See those little specks directly in the middle of the arch? I was desperate to get this picture of Brian pushing the kids in the stroller under the Arch. So desperate that I walked...and walked...and walked...to get far enough away to get it!

UP we go! Mackenzie was trying to be brave, but she really was terrified. Thankfully the ride to the top only lasted a few minutes. That little "egg" thing we rode in was TINY!

I didn't walk all the way across...I was perfectly happy standing on the side we came up on. I tried not to think about the fact that it was moving a little bit.

Here is a video Brian took of everybody up in the Arch.

All smiles once we made it to the top!

Bonus Points for me...getting the notebooks was a good plan!

Headed back down...whew!

I bought the picture that they took when we were about to go up in the Arch. It came with this stock photo and I realized that the hotel we stayed in at the beginning of the week is a huge part of the photo. I thought that was pretty cool!