Ten on Wednesday

1. Well we are back from our travels, after a week driving around the great state of Missouri. Our first stop was Illinios at my friend Michelle's house. She played host to us Wednesday and Thursday night. She has a big finished basement that we made into our own suit. Zane was ecstatic to see his old pal Jamey and Rowan quickly becaume best friends once again with Ruthie. Here are Zane and Jamey rocking out in the basement. Yes, their house came complete with a disco ball perfect for rocking and dance parties.

2. Michelle and I use to go to the St. Louis zoo about once a week when I lived there. Now neither of us have zoo trips very often. So we were all extremely excited about a day at the zoo Thursday. However, it being my life, we drove into a storm on our way into St. Louis and it rained till about three in the afternoon. Devistating all around. We went to the Science Center, which is free, and had a good time. Followed by pizza, but sad we didn't get to go to the zoo with Michelle and her crew.



These two are too much cuteness. They were fast friends. I can't believe they are both so big.

Zane and I use to come to the Science Center all the time when he was little and after his cardiologist visits. When he was little he was terrified of this dinosaur. This visit Rowan was very concerned about the dinosaur that is laying down and "bleeding." Lots of memories from this place. So bitter sweet to be back.

In very surprising news Zane won in the 'calm off' with Jamey. This fun thing read his brain waves and moved the ball towards the person whose brain waves were less calm. I cannot believe Zane won!



These dinosaurs were always Zane's favorite when he was little. We really never came back much after Rowan was born. It's crazy to see how big Zane has gotten since our last visit.



Little Ro and the T-Rex!



3. After pizza Michelle and I went to meet our friend's new twins. Becky is one of my oldest St. Louis friends and has been through a tough road getting to these precious little girls. Hannah and Ellie are both adorable and mommy is doing great as well. I am so glad I was able to stop by and see all of them while I was in town. I hate that my friends there are starting to have kids now and would want to do mommy stuff now that I am gone. I do love seeing them become mother's and hopefully I'm able to give them some helpful mommy advice along the way. Here are Iam with the proud mamma and both girls.

Love me some baby snuggles!



4. Our wonderful hosts made us ice cream sundaes every night, which was an added bonus to the free lodging. The kids had a great time together, as did the grown ups and we said good bye wishing we were closer to one another or were able to stay longer.



5. Friday morning we headed to the zoo, in stupidily humid St. Louis weather. I had almost forgotten how sticky it can be there. The zoo definitely did not disappoint. We saw all our favorites, Hippos, elephants, penguins, polar bears, lions, tigers, sea lions, and lots of things in between. We road the train all the way around and Zane even got to say "All Aboard" on the last leg of our journey. In surprising news Zane opted not to go to the snake house saying, "I know they are there, I remember, and I've seen them all before." Great news to me who wasn't looking forward to the huge snake house on the hill.

 The hippos were surprisingly active when we were there. Rowan loved them and called hem all RoRo the hippo after the stuffed hippo that is his namesake.

 Zane was happy to see the return of the king cobra statue. It had been taken down to be refinished, I guess, the last time we were there. See his cobra face!

 I seriously have this picture, of Zane outside the penguin house, at every age. This is his favorite place. He is never happier than when he is at the St. Louis zoo, specifically freezing in the penguin exhibit. I love seeing him light up when we are there and it is a place so full of memories for us.

 Rowan loved the penguins this exhibit as well. He got his very only, little hoppy that he names Mr. Elephant Penguin!

 One last shot with his penguin friends.



Family shot on the train. Zane has always wanted to get to say All Aboard, at six he was just the right age to do it!

6. After the zoo we headed to West County to see Great Grandma Baker. Never miss an opportunity to see your grandparent's, or parents for that matter. Georgia was good, though looking older and more frail. She was very happy to see the boys and both of them told her stories of there summer adventures, from swimming, to snake hunts. In sad news Georgia fell in the bathroom on Monday and broke her right arm\wrist. They aren't doing surgery due to her age, so hopefully it can heal up alright with a cast. Prayers for Great Grandma Georgia would be greatly appreciated.



The boys were shockingly well behaved during our lunch date. It had to be the Lord, because these two are rarely shockingly well behaved.

7. Then we headed South to Grammie and Papa's farm. First up Rowan faced his greatest fear, Shy Shy the dog. This was Rowan's Everest and I am so proud to say that he has over come his fear completely. He petted Shy first thing out of the car and even posed for pictures. It was a big step and he was very proud of himself as well.



Side note: How cute is Rowan's STL Zoo shirt? It is an adventure shirt, with a snake AND  penguin. On the back there is a monkey and a lizard. So adorable, terribly over priced, but Rowan and I both love it. Wish it had come in Zane's size.



8. Papa and Uncle JR have the most fun toys. First up the big rig, complete with the air horn. I'm sure the neighbors loved us.



 9. Rowan has been dying to get on another horse and Aunt Trina just so happens to have three! Adeline showed Rowan how to brush them and get them ready to ride. He loved his horsey, whose name escapes me. He gave him pats and brushed his hair.

 The only thing better than a horse ride is a horse ride with Papa!

 Zane got to ride the big horse this time. Don't ask me what that face is. He has to always pose for pictures these days.



10. The other big news was that Zane caught his first catfish. After years of blue gill, this was big news. He was very excited and slightly sad we couldn't eat it.









We had a great visit and loved getting to see everyone. I cannot believe that I have a teenage nephew. This is Clay, he turned thirteen in May. He is almost as tall as I am and I am afraid will have passed me by the next time I see him. He is such a sweet kid and so great with both my boys. I loved getting to catch up with all of them.

Papa has other fun toys as well including an excavator and a track loader. Rowan is into all things constructions so he was in hog heaven. Oh and there are toy CAT machines everywhere. Needless to say Rowan had a great time at Papa's house.

 Lastly, you have to have a group shot. Here are Grammie and Papa with all their Grandkids.

 Cousin pictures are my favorite. They are so much easier when there isn't a baby to hold.

 And then we faced the ten hour drive home all in one day. Rowan doesn't ever watch movies, he just isn't interested in them. He would rather talk continually for ten hours. He napped for maybe an hour and a half, but beyond that it was pure jabber and a constant stream of "Mommy, mommy, mommy." At one point we stopped at a quick shop that happened to have Melissa and Doug toys, this is a genius idea for anyone who owns a quick shop. I frantically got sticker pads and these cool new horse toys to try to keep our kids entertained. We made it home in good time and had lots of laughs thanks to Rowan's random stream of thought! Now we are back home and back to work. Trying to get our house and lives pulled back together. It remains blazing hot in OK so we are a little stir crazy.







Fourth Fun 2016

The fourth fun started when I came up with the idea to make family fourth of July shirts. Originally it was just going to be for my kids, then I thought why not make one for Zach and I, then it spiraled into a full family event. I am not sure the rest of the family was as excited about it as I was, but it was super easy and fun and the full family picture, all in matching American flag shirts really can't be beat. I sadly took that particular photo on my real camera and have no way to get it on a computer right now. Sad face! Anyway the shirts were made using painters tape and acrylic paint. I made ours while watching the U.S. Olympic Swimming trials so I felt extra patriotic. The last minute idea of adding hash tags to everyone's shirt came after making Mom's shirt. She and I both felt like she needed to give a shout out to Hamilton, her current obsession. I loved the idea and we then all got to pick our hash tags. #whatsyourhashtag was lots of fun. My hash tags were #boymom #crafty and after making the shirts #thestruggleisreal. These are all hash tags I use a lot in real life, so seemed fitting.

Here are everyone else's hashtags; mom: #A.Ham and #storyteller, Zach: #10MW (electrical engineering humor appreciated by my Uncle Mark) and #freedom, Zane: #brave #Zmoney, Rowan: #RoBaby. Here is the cousin shot I got on my phone. There are cute ones of my boys and just our family as well, somewhere on an SD card. I have to get my computer problem fixed ASAP!



Rowan 3, Everett 4, Zane and Maggie 6, Brendan 9!

For those wondering what the Richard's kid's hashtags were, E: Batman, M: idance and gymnastics, and B: Soccardriver (yes spelled with an A, from a video game)

Next up was a day of frenzied laundry, packing, and strategic loading of the car with all the fireworks, lake supplies,  food, ect. I swear every inch of our car was packed full, including the area by my feet where the crickets (cikawetts in Rowan speak) were singing away.

 Both boys found all their red, white, and blue shirts of various styles and packed with them exclusively. Rowan's style continues to amaze me. He felt strongly about this outfit needing knee high Minion socks, and his Snoopy shoes.

Zach took off  Friday afternoon which meant we had some time to play and do daytime fireworks at Grandma's before heading to the lake Saturday morning. In very surprising news it was raining or drizzly all afternoon. This never happens in July in Oklahoma, so it was a nice treat. 

 We had smoke bombs galore, snakes, pooping dogs, snap dragons, chickens that laid eggs, tanks, black cats, all the classic fireworks were done and the boys loved it. Rowan wasn't sure how he felt about the noise, but claims he loved them the next morning.

Rowan's first attempt at holding smoke bombs, he did great!

When it got closer to dusk/dark we took some fountains out to the bridge, again something we usually can't do because it's too dry and the we can't risk catching fields on fire. It was lots of fun, hopefully mom's neighbor's enjoyed our slightly loud show!

 Rowan was NOT enjoying the loudness.

After a late night of fireworks, we were up pretty early and heading to the lake. We made a pit stop for supplies and found these fun shades! See the joy and energy in this kid's face prior to the weekend at the lake. Wait till you see his picture on the ride home. Total lake hang over!

This weekend's project was the start of the bunk beds for the cabin. Able and Zach had been working on cutting the boards and getting everything prepped for assembly. They got one set put together and up and there is a matching set that is going to go up on the other side of the room. A project for a different weekend. They look amazing and added much needing sleeping space to the cabin. Very rustic, cedar, with the added bonus that the bottom bunk can fit a full size bed.

While the men were hard at work in the morning, the rest of us got right to swimming. Zane's swimming has improved by leaps and bounds and he spent the weekend doing cannon balls off the docks, swimming around, diving, doing hand stands, all the wonderfully fun things you do when you're at the lake. He got new red, white, and blue swim trunks for the occasion. They are a little big so they should be good for next years 4th celebrations as well. Rowan is feeling more adventurous with his swimming these days as well. He kicks and paddles around while in his life jacket or on a noodle. The water was lower so he could walk pretty far out and still be able to touch. There definitely still needs to be a lifeguard on duty but thankfully I don't have to always be in the water.





 Of course we caught lots of fish. Possibly the same fish repeatedly, but lots of fun none the less.



 The beauty of the Fourth of July at the lake is that you get to play and swim until it's dark. It doesn't get dark until almost ten. This meant lots of extra cousin fun time. There was a lot of standing around watching fountains on the dock, sparklers, night swimming, all the things you do to waste time until the big event. This year I got glow sticks and flags for everyone which kept them all entertained as well.

Uncle Mark, Allison, Uncle Scott, and Kathryn were all there as well. Good to have some of my generations cousins there for the fun. Uncle Mark got his very own 'stripe' last year and Zane had heard lots about it. They shared their battle wounds, both proud members of the zipper club now. Neat stuff!

For those of you familiar with the lake, who are wondering if there were sand burrs all over these blankets, the answer is a resounding Yes! But as long as they didn't walk on them it was ok.

The show was great again this year, with a little less than enthusiastic participation from our lake mates this year. I mean come on guys, cheer for the big show, we know you're watching. I think a few people were holding out for yesterday or this evening so not a lot of other fireworks going off. Then it was off to bed in the new bunk beds, with Zach and I joining the children in the living room since the bedroom was very toasty. 

It was a long night to say the least with lighting, thunder, sleep walking, kids falling out of beds, crying about being to cold, the whole nine yards. With all of this and staying up until 11pm, Zane was still wide awake at 7am and in the lake by 8am. We had a nice chat on the dock, watching the fish jump, before anyone else woke up. I love the idea of sleeping at the lake. It's much nicer than the 45min drive back to moms. I love the lake in the morning, when it's cool and the water is still. But I do also love sleeping so we'll have to work out the kinks of the new bunk beds. I did get to swim laps in the lake in the AM both days, which was lovely.

Grandma, Able, and Kari went to town in the morning to get a new AC unit for the bedroom, to fix part of the sleeping issues, but were there in the afternoon for more fun. Uncle Able is the cannon ball master and gave lessons in diving, cannon balls, and swimming to all the cousins. Rowan did his first cannon balls off the dock this year, a huge milestone if you are a Dotter, well I guess Blakley, grandchild.

CANNON BALL!!

This year's new additions included some fun floaties with handles that the kids can hold on to. Rowan loves to relax and enjoyed all the different flotation devices. The grown ups got new toys as well, a pair of kayaks, which we've long talked about getting. They were lovely and very relaxing. I will definitely need to do some kayaking on my Maine vaca.

Uncle Able and I!

The kids giving Uncle Able a tow back up to the beach.

No one napped yesterday, so everyone passed out on the car ride home. They had been up late for two days and played hard. Swimming really takes it out of you. Here is Rowan when he woke up on the ride home. Ro had a tough time, with a severe lake hangover! He needed lots of cuddles when we got home and did not enjoy the neighbors doing fireworks until all hours of the morning last night.



I worked today, but hear that the boys had a great time at the Edmond 4th of July parade. I had a good day, no complaints, just in some desperate need of some sleep before we head off on our next journey to the show me state on Wednesday morning!

I am sure I have a lot more adorable 4th pictures on my camera and will share them just as soon as I figure out my computer debacle. But those are the highlights!











I worked today, but hear that the boys had a great time at the Edmond 4th of July parade. I had a good day, no complaints, just in some desperate need of sleep before we head off on our next journey to the show me state on Wednesday morning!