Wonderful Weekend

Princess Bride rides on Daddy's shoulders


The gang all decked out for Halloween



Luke models his toga


Spiderman Luke


Going for a swim


Maddie the dinosaur


Lily circles the drain

The kids got out of school 2 hours early Friday and we headed up to St. Louis. John is the Pit Crew leader for the Glendale marching band and they were competing in St. Louis on Saturday. Logan however would not be marching. The cross country coach and the band director got together and had to decide who needed him more. Cross country won out, much to Logan's delight, but that did not get John out of his duties. That was ok with me and the kids because it meant we got to hang out at a hotel all weekend and visit our friends the Mindens. We ordered in pizza Friday night and the Mindens came over to the hotel. That was where we got to meet the newest member of their family, Max. Stacy and Kevin and daughter Maddie just traveled to China in August to get Max who turned one in September. He is adorable. So tiny in body but bubbling with personality. He is very much a mamma's boy which is exciting for Stacy because that did not happen immediately with Maddie who took to Daddy much quicker. Max can already say some words in English and is quite the charmer. By the end of the evening he even let me tickle him and pick him up. Maddie joined the kids in the pool.
Saturday John had band duties from 11-3 so the kids and I hung out at the pool and just had fun, I even got them to take a nap to be well rested for Saturday night.
The Mindens stopped by at 5:30 and we followed them to a Chinese buffet. Everyone had plenty of food. Luke kept eating spicy shrimp, then sucked in large amounts of air saying how hot it was but going back for more.
We followed the Minden's to Grant's farm. Normally a large park with animals, this time of year it is decorated for Halloween Spooktacular. We took a chilly tram ride into the park. The kids got to feed goats bottles of warm milk. We walked around looking at all the decorations and finally made it to the square where they had a dj playing traditional scary music. I forgot to mention that our kids were all dressing up in costumes as well. Luke as Spiderman, Lily as a princess bride, Maddie was a dinosaur, and Max made an adorable Elmo. The kids were pretty worn out by the time it was over and so we said good-bye to the Mindens and headed back to the hotel. The kids had another round of swimming before leaving for Springfield the next morning. It was a great weekend.