Another Busy Summer Week

Lots of little joys happen during the weeks of the summer....


Shawn takes a moment to get a hug from his adoring fans after filling in for a friends softball game.

Nicolas is a bit cold and wet after the last day of Sports Camp at the Y.

Verizon had their race car at the Edwardsville store and the kids thought it was very exciting to go see it. Mommy even got in the act and tried out the big tool that unscrews the lug nuts on the tires.

Lexi and Nicolas love the new van and the ability to watch TV during any trip that is at least 30 minutes (our rule). Mommy & Daddy love the wireless headsets they wear!

Uncle Tim

Uncle Tim took part in the first open mic night at Bobby's Frozen Custard. It was fun to get all the family together to watch him play. Although I can only guess how nervous he must have been. Good Job, Tim!

His daughter Edie looks on proud as her daddy serenades her.

Lexi has fun as Nicolas takes photos with Mommy's camera.

Going for a Ride

I admit that actual four-wheelers make me insanely nervous and I am not fond of them for my kids! They do seem like fun but too many medical people in the family with too many sad hospital stories I guess. But thankfully this isn't a real four-wheeler because I thought Nicolas looked simply adorable riding around on our friends, the Swiatek's, driveway in all the gear (even the chest gear).

Fun playdate!

Can You Believe this Weather?

This has been a rare site this summer! Lexi and Nicolas have not spent as much time in suits this summer as we would have thought. And we have some cute suits!!! Here she is at Josie's (aka Dooda) birthday party. Luckily the weather that does seem to be norm (rain) stayed away just in time for us to get 90 minutes of swimming and a bite of cake in before it came. The kids still had a blast even if the water was cool and the sky was overcast.

But what the heck is up with this summer... or should I say "The Summer that Never Was" as I have heard it coined. Temperatures only seemed to break 90 degrees for a week this entire summer. My kids luckily love swimming so very much that they are willing to go to the pool even on days nobody else is up there and the water is cold.

What is up with this weather though? Any answers? The cooler summer is great except it has also been too wet. Rain all week again. You do realize September is going to punish us for this and then all the pools will be closed!

Maryville Homecoming is a First

Lexi goes to one of her first parades. Okay, she was in the Edwardsville Halloween Parade two years ago. And then last year I think we got to the Glen Carbon Homecoming but it must not have made quite the impact because she stood there astonished at this parade and said,

"Mommy, I am just standing here and they are throwing candy RIGHT at me!"

Of course! Wouldn't you throw your candy right to someone who insists on wearing a pink tutu, sparkly tennis shoes and a pink Super Girl cape to her parade?

Nicolas also felt the need to wear his batman cape. Aren't they cute?

They got their faces painted. Lexi was a matching flower and Nicolas supported his Cardinals. This was the first time he allowed them to actually paint on his face. Oh... that is NOT a cigarette in his mouth. I need to get better at photoshop so I could have removed the guilty sucker stick!

Mommy and Lexi go for a ride on the Ferris Wheel.

Nicolas takes his ride with Daddy.

Fireworks on the Fifth!

Sadly the rain dampened our 4th of July plans to go boating with friends on the 4th. Although, it turned out to be a very nice evening hanging at their beautiful new house, eating Chrissy's yummy cooking and watching the kids make their own snow storm in their front room (will upload that video soon).

The next night Holiday Shores put on their great fireworks display instead. And we got to enjoy two nights of friends, fun and fireworks!


All the boys were ready for the fun to start. The hardest part for them was the waiting and anticipation.

This was Lexi's first trip on a boat. She was having a great time.

Can you tell?

For Nicolas it was a bit longer day. He had golf that morning, then we ate lunch at Sunset which took a bit longer then expected... then on to Grandma Birdie's house for a BBQ which was capped off with fireworks with friends... he was a bit tired by the time the fireworks started. I am sure the rocking of the boat helped with that too!

Did you miss this years fireworks? Well then enjoy a little of what we saw but hear it the way I did... with Lexi singing her version of "High School Musical" as she watched. Mind you... never seen the movie yet!

Next Sport Please....

Okay, we have had soccer, t-ball, bowling and now on to golf. Nicolas takes on Tiny Tour at Sunset. He looks forward to his golf group each Sunday. The week of this photo (sorry, been two weeks ago now as I am behind still with this summer photos) they got to hit marshmallows and water balloons. He had fun!


Add this to the list of sports he is already better then his Mommy at!

Five Vetter's at Six Flags!

Grandpa Jim and MaeMae were feeling the itch to go to Six Flags. They couldn't go without kids, right? I mean, you look a lot less silly on some of the rides if you look like you are doing it for a five year old! Well, at the last minute we all decided to take the trip to Six Flags of St. Louis. We were going to get there early so that we could head home if Lexi got too tired in the afternoon. She still naps at about 2:00 and sometimes I have to wake her up after 2-3 hours! So would she last the day? I doubted it. Jim and Mary drove separate as they weren't sure they would want to leave as early as us.

First thing was the characters at the entrance. Of course we had to be greeted by someone in fur!

Then we were off to the Ferris Wheel!



Lexi and Nicolas were a bit nervous at first with the height but then they got comfortable and started giggling and gazing. We had to ride it again a bit later when we met up with our friends - Chrissy, Gavin, Sydni and Aidan Stevens. (the bottom photo is Nicolas in the car with them... he fit right in wearing his yellow shirt.)



Here is a little glimpse of the trip. Sadly I missed the biggest laughs and giggles which is what cued me to start this video. Have a fun time on our Ferris Wheel trip!




Next we were on to the Merry go Round. We each picked our horse. The kids didn't understand why there were only horses. They are used to riding the one at the zoo with all the animals.

We also did Thunder River. MaeMae wanted to do this right away. Um... okay... are you sure? You do get wet on this ride! Apparently she had not ridden it in decades.... before they changed it up and made it more fluid! We got soaked. Lexi appeared to be traumatized. Now, keep in mind her dear, selfless Mommy threw my body in the way of all major tidal waves and Lexi came out pretty darn DRY!

On to more rides...

We headed over to the kiddie area for a bit. Met up with the Stevens family and let Chrissy take her older two for some bigger rides while Aidan joined us on littler ones. Must admit, our kids are in that awkward age of the kid rides being almost too young but they are too little for the big kid rides. Lexi was very angry that she was not tall enough for the bumper cars! And don't even get her started on why she can't ride the big kid swings. When she got off the swings in the little kid area she was livid because they were so boring! Remember, she rides the big ones at the local carnivals over and over and over.

A bit of fun with the old time cars! Or, as the kids call them, Lizzy (from the Cars movie).

Nicolas Goes to the Big Leagues!

Well, he made it! He made it to the Cardinal Field! Okay, maybe he didn't make it onto the actual grass of the Cardinal field but he made it to the dirt AROUND the Cardinal field. And, he was pretty excited about it!

Nicolas' Koury League was able to walk the field with other teams before a game. Doesn't matter how many kids get to do it or how many nights they do it... this was one BIG deal to our little five year old t-ball player.



His friend, Aidan and Aidan's dad Clay hopped in our new minivan (that story later) and we all took a ride to the stadium in the heat and evening sun. Then we stood in a long line of teams and waited for our turn. Silly me followed the instructions and took Lexi up to our seats knowing they said only the players could walk the field. Well, once we got all the way up there (and it was a long way) I asked if I could stand by a lower rail for a better shot only to be told that I could go down to the field for photos. AUGH! The teams were starting out of the gate! We ran.... and ran... and my little three year old never complained... we ran... and got down to the lowest area. We made it!

They walked the entire way around the field. Even got on the Jumbo Tron. But of course I didn't notice the Jumbotron thing until they had JUST past it. Next year I am going to be prepared for this!

Lexi enjoys some lemonade on this hot night. She was a real trouper!

Nicolas enjoys his Cracker Jacks while sitting with Aidan and Tyler.

Thank you!

Earlier this summer I sent a request out to friends to help me support the Collinsville Faith In Action group by donating something from their business. Some wonderful local businesses came through for us. So I want to send a big ol' Thank You out to them. And also invite anyone reading this to patronize their businesses!



First, Wang Gang's! The yummy Asian style eatery that my friends Jamie and Ryan O'Day recently opened. The food is scrumptious and the place is awesome! Order for delivery, pick up or go there and have a seat!

Next was the wonderful and fun Heroic Adventures owned by Scott and Cathy Croft. Love you guys too! Heroic Adventures is an awesome comic and game shop in Edwardsville. Two bidding wars were going on over these hot donations!

Once Upon a Toy... is there a path from my home to their front door? My kids love going to this toy store and I love the people there. They donated all this (except we aren't sure where the frog came from). Amazing travel games and toys. And a great place to do your toy shopping. There are so many more toys out there then just what Mattel and Fisher Price make! Better toys and a better selection. Go to Once Upon a Toy in Edwardsville or LagoonaMagoo Toys in O'Fallon or at The Mills. The service there is not even comparable to what you get at these big mass toy stores. They care about their customers and their toys!



Lastly, but certainly not least, was a donation from farther away. My absolute favorite travel pillow for kids! It is the Rest Upright Pillow. I love this pillow. My kids love this pillow! I wanted to post a photo here with them using it but the last time when I actually remembered I had Shawn run in to get the camera, I thought i had a cute photo... and there was no disc in my camera! Augh!

Rest Upright Pillow donated one of their pillows for my basket. I was more then a little impressed! They aren't local. They aren't a family or friend. They are a company elsewhere in the country who read my email request and felt connected enough to send this. Who better for you to buy your travel pillows from? I mean seriously?!?! If you can't figure how it works out then just take my word for it. There is no other kids travel pillow out there that actually holds that head up and supported when they get a bit older and aren't able to just lean their heads back in the huge car seat anymore. Nicolas' head just bobs forward no matter how I prop it... unless I use this pillow! Plus it is SO comfortable!

Anyway, Shawn and I donated a ton of stuff for an amazing travel basket. It was full of fun travel toys, books and candy. We were lucky enough to be able to add this donated pillow. I got in a bidding war just because I wanted this pillow. It was crazy! I already spent $60 on the contents of the rest of the basket. The pillow itself is less then $25 on Amazon. Economically a smarter choice to just go buy another one. I sure don't need a bunch of candy for the kids... okay, the Moon Pies in banana flavor were also tempting. Yet I kept bidding against other people far beyond that price because I need another pillow for our future travel plans. Okay, actually even want one for myself but don't spread that around.

Sadly... I did not win! Another guy got it to take home to his two nieces. I hope they appreciate what they have! I know I will once I order another one. Now, does it come in pink? They do come in this fun animal shape too. The one in our basket above was navy blue.

Happy at the Homecoming

June meant time for Glen Carbon Homecoming. We decided to go down on Friday night since Saturday and Sunday were going to be so busy with Father's Day. It was HOT! Should we brave the heat? Shawn was playing in a golf tournament in Missouri so I would be taking the kids by myself. Well, they really wanted to go and they look forward to it each year. So we went.

We ended up going with our neighbor and her two kids, Jack and Hannah. The first thing we did was the swings. Lexi's favorite! They freak me out because they go so fast and she seems so small. But she loves them and they said she was tall enough last year so I guess this year she is ... taller. She ended up wanting to ride them over and over.

Then we went and rode some other rides.
(augh, why is it that this always distorts the photos... will do it another way and relink tonight)

They always have so much fun in the ball pit. Notice who's head is fully buried in the photo with Lexi in the balls. I know ... YUCK! But I never get cuter photos then the ones in there!

We took a break for some Italian Ice in cute Cardinal caps. Yummy! I had some too. Perfect for the heat. Actually, I don't know who prayed the hardest but some how it was cooler down at the Homecoming then anywhere else. It was not too bad!

Then, an amazing thing happened. After playing way too late into the evening with our friends the Nafziger's and Swiatek's which included a big round of tag and chasing Lexi... Sledgehammering a car, and more... Brett decided to do some Karaoke. He did a great song for himself and then did a song he thought would bring up his kids to join him. But it was too late into the evening and all were too tired. Except wait... a young boy who is terribly shy creeped up on the side of the stage and actually went on the stage when Brett waved him over. Lexi of course followed as she would be on stage for any reason. But Nicolas knew this song... every word. It is a whole different story on why he knows so many John Denver songs.

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

I can just see him singing sweetly, shyly in the mic every time Brett held it up. Shawn and I stood there with our jaws open and tears in our eyes. Our boy! Our brave little boy!

And when the song was over and the people clapped, Nicolas walked shyly off the stage and came over to bury his head in his mommy's side.

Off to bed with them until next time.

Summer Fun at Metro Camp

I cannot believe how behind I still am on blog photos. Sorry!!!

Nicolas took part in half a week of Metro Church's Kids Kamp. It is always attended very well and one that Nicolas really loves. We didn't go the first two days. It was so very rainy and the camp is outside. But the camp went on with the rain and without Nicolas. The theme of the camp was "Under the Sea" and I must say God does have a sense of humor! I believe there was 800+ volunteers and campers this year. Nicolas had a great time and made new friends even in just the two days he was there. So once again we attended their family carnival on the last night of camp. And once again we had fun!


They had the kids come into the church and get on stage to sing the songs they learned that week. I was so proud of my little guy! He is coming out of his shyness more and more! He wanted to go on stage and he even sang!

Then we went and played lots of carnival games that the church members created.

Both kids had a blast doing just that. And thanks to Erica's babysitter, Lexi got a little help going through the bounce house maze and down the slide.

Looking forward to next year and Lexi is looking forward to getting to go too!