Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day 4: Art And Animals

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Day four started out with another trip across the river. The girls helped us get safely across with their river crossing ritual. Our destination? Forrest Park. It is a huge beautiful park in St. Louis and was home of the 1904 World's Fair and Summer Olympics. Our first stop in Forrest Park was the Art Museum.

Aunt Heidi, Uncle David and all the kids

Emily, Aubrey and Meagan

After getting a little culture into these kids, we walked over to the Zoo, where they felt a little more at home.

These penguins are up high, above our heads. I was walking past one when it almost violently pooped on me. I was about 2 inches away from getting it right in the face. Thankfully my timing was spot on that day.

The St. Louis Zoo is one of the most beautiful zoos I have ever been to. Because I have been to so many different zoos before in my life time. But still, it is a beautiful zoo with beautiful buildings. And it's free! And it was cold but not freezing so we were able to enjoy our day there.

Steve and Roy

Grandpa with 9 of his 15 grandchildren

Aubrey and Josh

After the Museum and the Zoo, we all went to Ed and Lisa's house where we had pork tacos waiting in the crock pot for dinner. Then it was a long night of hanging out and playing games. The dance game that we had rented the night before for the wii was constantly being played the entire night. Sometimes there were only a few kids playing, sometimes we had all the kids and some of the adults playing. We all had fun with this game.

Finally! Mike and Sheila and their 3 kids arrived from Kentucky! Steve was so excited for them to get there. Because he was finally able to see his brother. And his new gun that Mike had been keeping safe for him.

These crazy texting cousins, Spencer and Sierra, were finally reunited

Addy had been waiting patiently our whole trip for Reagan to get there. Reagan is the closest to Addy in age of all the cousins.

Cheeks the squirrel came out for a visit

Mike wasted no time getting in on the Axis and Allies game the boys were playing

We had cake to celebrate all the November Birthday's. The Birthday people are from left to right: Addy, Asher, Tyler, Austin and Rhonda. Amanda now lives in Illinois and was unable to be there that night so we called her on the phone and sand Happy Birthday to her.

Best Cousins Em and Meg

Reagan and Aubrey

Austin and Asher

The girls started making our attack plan for the next days Gray Thursday shopping expedition.

Tortilla face Addy

Spencer and Josh. They had missed each other so much and they were so excited to spend some quality time together.

I can't remember what time it was when we finally called it a night, but I am sure it was already Thanksgiving Day before we headed home and fell into bed. It was a fun day.

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day Three: The Arch

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

On Tuesday while all the cousins were in school, we took the kids downtown to see the arch. Steve's sister Heidi came with us. I think the last time we went to the arch was when Emily was a baby. So even though the memory of the arch is seared into my claustrophobic brain, none of my kids really knew anything about it. It was a freezing cold rainy day down by the river.

We had no plans on going up in the arch (I've been up twice and that is 2 times too many for me). But when we got there Steve couldn't believe that his kids had never been. So he wanted to take them up. They had this model of the sweet little pod you slowly ride up the narrow little arch in as you hope and pray that the power doesn't go out and you don't get stuck somewhere in the middle of the arch clawing out your pod mates eyes as you gasp for your next breath. I explained to the kids that if they wanted to go up the arch, this is what they would have to go in, five people at a time, knees touching and all. After my pep talk, Emily and Aubrey were the only ones who opted to go up.

So Steve took the girls up and Heidi, Zac, Addy and I hung out in the museum downstairs. Here is the view they had from the top of the arch.
Steve and the girls up top. The height of 630 feet and the gentle swaying motion of the arch having no effect on them what so ever.

The Arch Museum

I found this quote from one of the Wright brothers interesting. It says, "When my brother and I built and flew the first man-carrying flying machine, we thought that we were introducing into the world an invention which would make further wars practically impossible..."

Steve, Emily, Zac, Addy, Aubrey and Heidi in front of the Old Court House . This is where the Dred Scott case and the Virginia Minor case were tried.

Dred Scott

Emily in one of the courtrooms

On our way back across the river. Each time we crossed a bridge the kids picked their feet up, held their breath, put their arms above their head and crossed their fingers.

FREEDOM! All the kids were finally out of school for Thanksgiving break so we were without school night bedtimes! We all met at Steve and Heather's house and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and had a roaring good time. While we were sitting out by the fire the girls kept us entertained by singing camp songs.

Aubrey and Addy hangin' with Uncle Steve

It turned into a crazy free for all

On the way home from downtown we stopped and rented a dance game for the wii. This was the first night of many endless nights of dancing. We also rented the new Modern Warfare game for the boys so they are in another room on a 2nd wii playing that.

One of our family's favorite pastimes. Playing Farkle. Only we have been playing it a lot longer than any of you have been playing it on facebook (back when it was known as 10,000) and we play by the real rules, not the facebook rules as poor Cody found out. Don't mess with us and our farkle. Snap.

Heather and Addy

Aubrey, Addy, Meagan and Sierra

Thanksgiving In St. Louis Day One

Thanksgiving In St. Louis Day Two

Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day Two : Quiver River

Monday, November 21, 2011

Since all the cousins had school on Monday and Tuesday, my poor kids were left alone with the adults. We went Monday morning with Steve's sister Heather and her husband Steve H., and Steve and Heather's sister Heidi for a hike. We went to what I believed to be Quiver River until we arrived and I saw the sign: Cuivre. So in order to be fan-cy, I started pronouncing it like the French, mon ami. And because I'm annoying, I looked for opportunities all week to bring up the name and speak it like a true French lady. Because if you've seen me in true form, you know what a lady I am.

It was an absolutely beautiful hike, and we loved every minute of it. Here are a few pictures for your viewing enjoyment:

My beautiful children (FYI: I'm still thinking/typing in a really bad French accent)

Moss! We don't see a lot of moss where we live and there was so much of the beautiful green stuff along the trail.

Family Photo op

Steve and Heather

Beautiful, beautiful sights

Tree acne. You just want to go up and pop it, don't you?


Aubrey and Me

After the hike we were all famished. So we went to Imo's pizza buffet, a local favorite.

We didn't get together with everyone that night since the kids still had one more day of school. We decided it would be a good time for us to have some alone time with Steve's dad, Roy, and his Stepmom, Rhonda. We took them, and Steve's brother David, out for dinner. And because one buffet in a day is not nearly enough, we went to a Chinese buffet for dinner.

After dinner we all took a little trip to Sam's and Walmart to pick up a few supplies. Because a vacation is not really a vacation until it includes a trip to Walmart.

Thanksgiving In St. Louis - Day One

Monday Morning Musings - How I Almost Died And Ruined Christmas For My Children Forever

Well, last nights storm was really a let down. No drama. At all. Hardly anything I would categorize as a storm. It's a good thing, really.

I was so excited to wake up this morning. The start of a brand spankin' new week. A week much much better than its predecessor. I don't remember having any coughing fits last night. I was able to sleep in my own bed in a semi reclining position. All last week I was sleeping on the couch in the living room because I had to sleep sitting straight up, or I felt like someone was sitting on my chest and I could only take little tiny shallow breaths, and the corner of our sectional provided 2 good high sides to support me.

Most of last week is one cough laced blur. I do remember very clearly almost killing myself. My nights on the couch were not pleasant. I had coughing attacks all night long. And darn me I have this thing about taking cough medicine. I can't and won't do it. I kept falling asleep with cough drops in my mouth. At one point on one of the nights I felt a big cough coming on so I sat up to brace myself. I sucked in to start the cough and WHOOP! That cough drop sucked itself right down my wind pipe. For a split second I thought, "So this is how it ends. Me out here on the couch, alone, a cough drop blocking any chance of taking another breath, and my poor children will wake up and find my cold dead body when they come down in the morning to turn on the lights on the Christmas Tree." But just as fast as I thought that, I coughed and POW! Out came the lozenge and I lived to see another day. And my children will not be destined to have gruesome flashbacks for the rest of their lives every time they see a Christmas tree.

By the time I made the decision to go to the doctor it was Wednesday night and I could see that there was no hope of my getting better on my own. It was kinda like when I was in labor with Zac for 9 1/2 hours without an epidural and by the time I decided that I was not going to be able to get the kid out naturally, I wanted the epidural right then. Because it was physically impossible for me to endure one more contraction. But dang that anesthesiologist who seemed to take his own sweet time getting there. I was the same with the doctor. By Wednesday night I thought it was physically impossible for me to endure one more coughing spasm. So I decided I would call and make an appointment to go in to the doctor first thing Thursday morning. Then Thursday morning happened. And I was unable to find a doctors office open. So I had to wait until Friday. The doctor said she thinks I have bronchitis. Surprise. I had figured as much by then. I am feeling so much better today. Not 100%, but so much better than last week.

The kids started getting sick the other day, but their illnesses seemed to have a shorter duration. They rested up with their 2 days off of school due to the winds and loss of power at the school, plus the 2 weekend days, and they were good to go to school today.

My mom and Lauren just took Addy to see the Muppet Movie they have been promising her they would take her to see. Steve is at work. So I am home alone in a quite peaceful house. Yeah right. Lauren's dog Eli is here and he is being anything but quite a the moment.

You know what its like when you get home from a trip and you have all this catching up and unpacking to do. Yeah that's where I am, only add a weeks worth of catching up because I didn't get anything done last week. I still haven't unpacked my suitcase. I'm not complaining though. I am just glad to be on the mend.

Now if I can just find a way to get that darn Direct TV guy out here before Wednesday to get my satellite fixed, all would be right with my world....

The Wind Began To Switch, The House To Pitch, And Suddenly The Hinges Started To Unhitch

We had a bit of a windy day yesterday. I gave up trying to sleep at 4 AM Thursday morning. There was a wind storm going on outside and a hacking storm going on in my lungs. I decided to spend the rest of my sleeping hours on the couch in the kitchen watching TV. As soon as I walked out of my room, this was the first sign of the storm I saw.

Our entire front porch was full of tumble weeds. As I sat on the couch, it was too dark to see what was going on, but I kept hearing big things hit the side of the house. I had never heard the wind blow with such ferocity. And we get some pretty good wind storms in these parts.

Around 6 AM Steve and the kids (except for Addy who managed to sleep soundly for another hour or so) gave up trying to sleep. So we sat and watched as the sun started to rise and bring into our view the scene around us. Thankfully, the chicken coop still seemed to be intact.

We saw that the flashing had come off of our fireplace. And there were shingles all over the yard. Thankfully that is the extent of the major damage we suffered. We were very blessed. The very first picture in this post is what remains of my mother's deck that was attached to her house before her huge pine tree fell on it. The front right corner of the picture is of the lower part of the deck. The tree is across the upper part of the deck and awning. Also under the tree is her beautiful brand new grill she got for her Birthday in August.

I started typing this post on Friday. It is now Sunday night and we have another wind storm coming our way. Back to the story of Thursday...

It is reported that in some places the wind reached 102 miles an hour. It started blowing sometime before 4am and didn't stop until after 12 noon. I think everyone in our neighborhood that had a shed no longer has one. During the storm we watched our big huge window in our kitchen flex the entire time. Flex in, flex out. Flex in, flex out. I am so thankful it is flexible. At one point we were standing at a window looking at the field across the street from us as a big blue porta potty made its way toward us. Thankfully it stopped way before it got to our house. Our power was out all day. My mom's power went out before ours on Thursday and it just came back on a few hours ago (Sunday afternoon). Here are just a few pictures Zac took around the neighborhood. I have been sick and really haven't left the house except to go to the doctor but I hear this is pretty much the scene all over our county.

I don't think there was one vinyl fence that was undamaged in our neighborhood.

We have a ton of commercial and residential building going on around us so there was trash from construction everywhere

These are condo's being built. The whole middle section of this building collapsed.

There are big beautiful trees down everywhere.

Since I am sick and the kids are getting sick, we have been holed up in our house all weekend. And our satellite TV isn't working so we can't watch the news. But from what I hear the governor has called in the National Guard and has declared a state of emergency. Like I said before, we have another wind storm that is just starting now. It is supposed to last until 11am tomorrow. It isn't supposed to be as bad as the last storm, but everyone was worried because of all the debris from the last storm. My mom said at her church today her Stake President had all the wards go for Sacrament Meeting only and then told them to go home and secure all the homes in their wards and then all the homes in their city. My mom and Lauren and Lauren's dog Eli are staying with us tonight. They said on their way over here it was the same sight in our neighborhood as it was in their neighborhood. Everyone was out with trailers cleaning up all the mess. Steve said that he saw online that there was a huge line of trucks and trailers making their way to the dump today.

There are a few feelings I have about this whole situation. First and foremost I am thankful that no one was seriously injured. My mom was sitting on her couch in front of her sliding glass window as the tree fell right in front of her on her deck. Just a foot more in the wrong direction and the tree would have gone through her house and she would have been hurt.

I also think this is a great test of our emergency preparedness. I think for the most part, we were prepared, but there are some things we certainly need to work on. This helped make those things clear to us. I believe we are living in the last days and this destruction we are seeing all over is only the beginning. There is more to come and I am sure it will be worse. I want to be prepared to see my family as safely through it as possible.

Also, it SUCKS being sick through the whole thing. Like really, really sucks. It has been hard for me. I have hated it. I hate being the one people have to check on. I have the bestest neighbors and friends in the whole world and they have been bringing in meals to us through this whole thing. But it makes me feel like a loser that when there are much more important and pressing things they could be doing, they are worrying about me and my family. It makes me feel bad that the whole neighborhood was out working together today and we were all snug in our house coughing our lungs up and wasting away with fevers. I am so thankful we live in such a fantastic place where people can be counted on to come together and help and serve each other.

But it made me realize that as grateful as I was for the service given to me and my family, I don't want to be in this position the next time. I need to take better care of myself and keep myself healthy in my old age (I'm gettin' up there and I add another year soon) so that I am able bodied and when a real disaster with real consequences (I'm not trying to down play this latest one, I just think there will be worse to come) is upon us, It doesn't have to go down like this last one. I want to be the person out there helping others. I don't want to be stuck inside my house waiting for someone to come and help me.

Thank you to everyone who did think of us and checked in on us and who brought in delicious meals when you had much more important things to do. I love you all. We live in the best neighborhood ever. And now the wind is really starting to pick up outside so I think I will turn the computer off.

The wind began to switch, the house to pitch, and suddenly the hinges started to unhitch. Just then, the Witch, to satisfy an itch, went flying on her broomstick thumbing for a hitch. And oh what happened then was rich. The house began to pitch, the kitchen took a slitch. It landed on the wicked witch in the middle of a ditch. Which was not a healthy situation for the wicked witch.......