Bison and goats and camels, oh my!

This past weekend we headed to Grant's Farm with Uncle Ky, Aunt Mer, Carter and Taylor.  Grant's Farm is one of the many free family friendly attractions in St. Louis.  You read that right, free.  And they serve free beer! Anheuser Busch is the best.  A kid friendly AND parent friendly attraction - check! While we didn't take advantage of the beer this time around, I'm sure we'll do so in the future. Especially since Ky and Mer are moving within walking distance of the place.

After parking, you take a long tram ride through the grounds, over hills, past Ulysses S. Grant's cabin, and animals of all sorts.  And these animals are close.  Like too close for comfort (at least for Uncle Ky who was a little freaked by the close proximity of the bison to his seat).

At the end of the tram ride are a number of animals that you can see, pet and even feed. Our favorite spot? The goats chugging milk from bottles.  Lill's giggles during this part of the visit were just priceless. At the end of it all is a large beer garden with concessions to fuel up for or cool down from your visit. It was a beautiful day to get out and explore with cousins and we'll definitely be back!

Lilly enjoyed the up close and personal animals

Our Phoenician Friends

I don't even know if that is a word, but I was trying to figure out the Phoenix version of 'Michigander' and that's what Google suggested.  I'll take it.

You may recall our trip to Phoenix this past March for some warmth and sunshine as well as to visit our dear friends, Andy, Andrea and Nicholas.  Well, this August we were lucky enough to receive a visit from them! They stayed with our other friends, Paige and Chris, but we spent as much of the weekend together as possible.  Corey even spent the night there one night; sipping fancy bourbon (or so I hear) and reminiscing about the Northwestern days.  They got in on Friday so we all headed over to the Larose's.  The kids played and the parents caught up. The kiddos then took a group bath before bedtime.  (Lill went down over there such that mom and dad could enjoy dinner with the adults and spend some more time with the Stone's during their visit)

Saturday we made our first visit to the City Museum before an afternoon nap and then adult night out. We went to I Fratellini, a quaint little restaurant with delicious Italian cuisine and a wonderful ambiance.  Wonderful food with even better company; all while relaxing without kiddos?  What more could you ask for?

Sunday the crew headed over to our place for a pool party and barbecue.  Unfortunately the weather didn't really coopoerate at it was unseasonable cool (which is rather ironic as the last time the Stone's visited, Labor Day 2013, was unseasonable sweltering...they just can't win).  The kids and dad's got in for a little bit and the kids enjoyed playing with the water for hours to come.  We ate, played and enjoyed our last day all together before the Stone's headed back home.

It was a wonderful weekend and is so fun to watch these great college buddies reunite.  While so much has not changed, so much has....like the number of 'mini-me's' running around.  And next year will just add 2 more.  That's right, the Stone's shared that they are expecting as well just a couple months after us!

Exploring at the City Museum

It's a...

Bouncing Baby Boy!!!

I still don't really get why they say that...but the ultrasound technician said that he was moving all over the place so she was having trouble getting all the views she needed.  She managed to get them all, just required a bit of maneuvering from her and mama :-)

Lill came along and was a bit concerned by what the doc was doing to mama on that bed thing in the dark.  Once we found 'the goods', Grandma took Lill out to the hallway to run around and let off some steam. Corey and I stuck around to confirm he had all the parts; arms, legs, cute little feet, 4 chambers of the beautifully beating heart, two kidneys, etc.  Most important of all, it seems we have a healthy little guy on our hands (or, in my belly).

We ended the evening by picking up carry out, heading home to share the news with big boy cousin, Carter and the rest of the family.  We whispered the news to him so that he could tell everyone.  He was very excited to shout, "IT'S A BOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"

Pure Michigan

Am I the only one who literally gets chills when the Pure Michigan ads come on TV or the radio? Needless to say, I had been counting down the days (seemed like even more than usual) until our trip Up North.  As soon as the weather gets warmer and summer arrives; we (Corey is now a believer!) start dreaming of relaxing days on the beach and sunsets over the water.  But at the same time, we clearly don't want to wish away the fun that is summer!  Either way, the summer always manages to fly by and it's time for our annual trip to Traverse City!

We packed up the car, hit the road at 4:15am CST and were to our destination by 2pm EST. Watching Lill feel the sand between her toes, waves splashing up on her feet and chasing ducks for the first time were all priceless moments.  Leading up to the week, the forecast wasn't looking too ideal.  Highs in the low to mid 70's and quite a few days with rain in the forecast.  I'm happy to report that the weatherman was wrong (shocking, I know!).  The week could not have been more perfect.  High 70's and sunny everyday.  It was just warm enough to be out on the beach and get in the water without being too chilly but not too hot to hang out outside (especially with Lill) all day. Lill loved playing in the sand, chasing the ducks, and making new friends.  Grandma and Grandpa loved spending a whole week with their little Lill and Corey and I loved some relaxing time on the beach and even a couple of date nights.  (Note: Vacations with grandparents are THE BEST.  They were always willing and excited to feed her, play with her, take her to dinner so Corey and I could have a date night. Some people say that vacations with little kids are hardly that and I would have to say this was definitely a vacation, and felt like it, for us.  Thanks mom and dad!!!!)

Date night!

First boat ride!

Family pic back where we got married :-)

We rounded out the trip with a visit back to Troy to see Great Grandma (and attend my friend Kelly's wedding!)

Momma and Me

Corey recently passed his last of many actuarial exams. Awesome!
Corey got an all expenses paid trip to Vancouver for his final seminar and to receive his 'diploma' from the actuarial powers that be. Awesome!
Lill and I joining him would mean taking more days off of work in August, a long flight out west, Lill's third trip in just a few weeks, a two hour time change with a 1 year old, all while pregnant...not so awesome.

As such, we decided that it made the most sense for me to stay home with Lill while Corey attended his final seminar in beautiful Vancouver. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried before the trip about what lie ahead; four days of playing the role of full-time working single mom. I give a lot of credit to the single parents of the world. I am thankful everyday for Corey and the awesome father and house caretaker he is.  We share all duties; taking care of Lill, laundry, cooking, upkeep around the house. That's how we're able to both keep a successful career while balancing the home/family/play life that keeps us going and our sanity :-) That's why the thought of not having his support for four days was hard for me to imagine. I expected that I'd get to today and be exhausted and begging for a 'break' from mommy duties. I'm happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised. Albeit, I give credit to Lill for putting on her best behavior for mommy and work for being supportive of me working a little less than normal this week but Lill and I had an absolute blast. I took a break from any worries about keeping the house in perfect condition, making sure the laundry was caught up on, or making sure the yard was perfectly groomed and just focused on spending time and having fun with Lill. Trips to the park and target, going out to dinner with MaMa Coco (Grandma), taking walks with Ty and swimming in our backyard meant getting to spend great quality time with my rapidly growing little lady, watching her explore and experience new things. I even got around to finishing my book (Gone Girl) in the evenings.  BONUS! (Great book that I definitely recommend.  That says a lot from the gal who couldn't tell you the last book that she finished. And Corey just informed me that the movie is coming out in a few weeks.  Woo hoo!)  I digress...

And because a post wouldn't be complete without some pics.  A few from our 'girls week'.

Trying on daddy's shoes

Ready for a swim playdate with the neighbor boys, Mark and Henry

Showing off her bracelet and momma's purse

Ready for the first game of the season!  Go Green!

What's new?

Man, oh man, have I been slacking in the blogging department!  That usually means we've been too busy enjoying life for me to spend an evening uploading pictures and blogging.  I must say that I have no complaints.  July and August have been crazy, but crazy fun at the same time.  We've made a long visit to Traverse City/Troy, attended two weddings, spent a weekend in Chicago, had out-of-town guests and even a few date nights in there (event specific posts to follow!).

As I sit here and think, 'it's September in a few days', I realize how much you all miss by me not having the regular monthly updates of Lilly's first year.  I often hear, "How's Lill?  What's her newest trick? Is she walking? Does she say any words?" and I realized I need to give the people what they want!  Without further a due, a 14 month update...

She's walking, A LOT.  She likes going on walks down the street, Ty in tow, being pulled in her wagon, and sitting/reading/eating/drinking water/snuggling with Ty in her chair (what a great purchase!).  While she mastered the skill of going up stairs months ago, she is slowly but surely mastering the skill of going back down.  This is a bit scarier for mom and dad, but we're getting used to it and learning to 'trust' her to be careful.  She loves dogs and basically all animals for that matter. She's continuing to learn new body parts; hair, ears, nose, tongue, feet, belly, to name a few.  We've started working on animal sounds as well.  She does a mean sheep and pig! Meals are always exciting as she's trying new things, loving something one week and refusing to eat it the next, and starting to learn how to use utensils.  (Anything to make her feel like a big kid/grown-up, she loves).  She certainly is learning the sound of her voice and realizing the loud noises she's capable of making, whether by screaming or grunting. She points at EVERYTHING.  "dat...dat...dat..."  She wants so badly to communicate with us (and seems to get frustrated when we don't understand), so hopefully she'll start using some of the words that she's been understanding for some time now soon.  While she can kind of say 'mama', 'dada' and 'tyty', she's not horribly consistent.  The newest word? "Bay-bee".  Hopefully that means she's excited to be a big sister/helper.  Wishful thinking probably, but I'll take it!