Take me out to the ballgame...

On Wednesday, Jas, Livi, Joey, and I headed to our last St. Louis Cardinal game for the summer. I think it was my favorite game of the year. Granted the Cardinals didn't win, but the weather was gorgeous, Livi and Joey were so well behaved, and we just had a great time as a family! As summer vacation comes to a close, I love looking at all of the memories we have made...I truly cherish these times!

(Olivia took the picture of the Arch/Stadium...not bad for a 5 year old!)

Happy Anniversary Fun Shop

This week the Heiple clan went to Lincoln Park for the Funshop Anniversary celebration. Fun Shop is a local pre - preschool program for children 18 months - 3 years old. Olivia attended Fun Shop shortly after Joey came home from the hospital as a way to give her more mommy one-on-one time. Joey attended the program last year to give him more socialization with other children. Livi and Joey LOVED going Fun Shop every week and having mommy's full attention!

The Fun Shop's 35th Anniversary celebration was a lot of fun. It was held out at Lincoln Park, and pretty much took up the whole park. They had all kinds of games, face painting, trucks/cars for the children to explore, jump houses, entertainment, food, swimming, ice skating, and much more! Livi and Joey absolutely loved it! I think their favorite part, though, was when they met Elmo in person. Livi still talks about how she met Elmo in person, and gave him a hug...too cute! It was a wonderful night out!

Car for Sale

That is right...we are saying good-bye to the Jimmy. This loyal car has been in the family since I started college in 1998. It has been a faithful friend for many years! If you know anyone looking for a car for their teen driver, it would be a good vehicle for them. Despite it's age, the Jimmy is still a very dependable car.

Heiple Vacation

On Saturday, Livi, Joey, and I traveled home from Indiana Beach so we could get ready for the Heiple family vacation. We took off on Sunday morning and headed for St. Louis to see the Cardinal game. Before the game, we all met at the hotel and checked in early so the kids would have a chance to swim. It was a neat pool, half of it was inside, then you swim under a wall and you are outside. It was cool!

After cooling off in the pool, we had some supper and headed to the stadium for the game. It was a hot one! It was still an exciting game, but unfortunately the Cardinals did not win.

On Tuesday, Jas, Livi, Joey, and I traveled to Milwaukee and met up with the Heiple clan. On Tuesday night we all went to another Cardinal game. This was the first time any of us were in the Brewer's Stadium which is actually a dome. Again we saw a great game and this time we brought home a win!

On Wednesday, we all woke up and headed down to a small water park. The water park was conveniently located in our hotel. Olivia went down a water slide all by herself, and Joey went down his first water slide with Jason. Needless to say, our little fishies had a blast in the pool!

Then we all packed up, checked out, and headed to the local Children's Discovery Museum. I was really impressed by the museum! They had an amazing ocean/sea life exhibit with lots of aquariums, an old boat to explore, and an old submarine. There was also an area where we were able to pet sting rays and other fish. They also had A LOT of hands on experimental exhibits that had to do with weather, sound, motion, robotics, music, etc. Livi and Joey had a great time running around and exploring. The museum was right on the Lake Michigan coast, so the kids were also able to go out and see all of the sailboats, lighthouses, and just take in the largeness of the lake.

Finally around 4 we all packed up and started for home. I was really impressed with Olivia and Joey's patience in the car. After all of the traveling to Indiana, the Cardinal game, and then the 9 hours to and from Milwaukee, they did a fantastic job! We all had a wonderful time, and loved having time with our family. A big thank you to grandma and grandpa Heiple for treating us to an amazing summer vacation!