Buds!

Open Doors

Today we spent the day touring St.Thomas as part of Doors Open St.Thomas. I didn't intend to go to too many places, but we kind of got going and the boys were having such a great time and even seemed to be excited about learning, so we kept on . . . though for Kylie's sake, we probably should have quit much earlier!!! Our first stop was Jumbo - the statue which is very cool. It's something that is close by, but I think I only saw it once as a kid and thought it was so cool. Jumbo was part of a circus and was hit by a train in St.Thomas while pushing a baby elephant (Tom Thumb) out of the way (I think that's the story anyway . . . ) All of the kids - even Kylie liked the "big elephant!"

Then we headed across the road the the military museum which was a big hit with the boys because of course there were cannons, guns, knives, battleships and other war stuff.

This was a mock submarine that the kids could play in. Since museums are mostly "hands off", this was fun for them. They got to type our their names in morse code and look at ships through the periscope.

We then visited "the church with the purple steeple" because Kevin really wanted too. I didn't take any pictures there, but it was a neat church and the stained glass was beautiful. They also served us with coffee, juice, and cookies before we left.

Then we were off to the railway museum which was also very fun. They got to go inside this steam engine and pull on this lever (which was VERY HARD) which starts the train. (but not for real)

All of them peaking out of the trains window.

It's amazing how huge a train really is!

Inside the caboose - and Kylie is where she really needed to be at this point - BED!!!

And of course model trains and villages which were fun to watch and chase.

This one the boys got to hit the switch to start and stop it and therefore was the spot they just kept coming back too.

And then it was definitely time to go home - but it was a fun day for the boys and I'm glad I went. Doors Open is a really neat opportunity to see your community and visit places you think you'd like to see, but never get around to. We'll definitely keep our eyes open for it again next year!

While we were away . . .

. . . Kevin and Kade stayed with my mom and dad. They had an excellent time and did lots of fun stuff. I could only imagine. But, my mom, being the creative and thoughtful mom and Oma she is, put together a little booklet for the boys (and Jonathan and I) so they could remember their time at Opa and Oma's. I thought this was just the best idea ever and the boys LOVE it too. They keep wanting to read the book that Oma made. So here is a copy of the book to share because it really is just quite cute and special.

Thanks mom so much for the keepsake and of course thanks a million to Dad, Mom, and Uncle Evan for taking such good care of the boys.

Double Cousins

We had Summer over for the day a few weeks ago and it was so much fun. ! I got so many cute pictures of the girls, that I just had to share them . . .