An Outing

Fall in our house is full of outings. Carnivals, zoo trips, playgrounds. You name it. Anything to be outside when it's not one billion, or zero, degrees outside. This past weekend was one of our favorites, the Best of Missouri fair at the Botanical Gardens. There's a ton of good food, beers, talented artists (who knew there were so many woodworkers in Missouri???), and then, as if that's not enough, there's a whole setup for the kids. We were there for a good four hours. Thanks to my incorrect interpretation of a map, there was no southern exit from the park, so we walked the ENTIRE garden. For the last hour I was cautious with the kids as it was dangerously close to (and then past) nap time, Annie was running on fumes from samples of toffee, and John had been in the stroller on and off for three hours.

But there were no melt downs. Annie ran and ran and looked at bridges and fish and beautiful flowers and John strolled and it was basically the perfect day. I even asked Annie if she was getting tired and she said "Yes, and I think I am getting angry". But she never actually got angry. 

J and I hung out in the pumpkin patch while annie got her face painted.

"Mommy! That fish got me!"

Rick had to pretend like he didn't place her in this tree himself when approached by the garden staff. It's every man for himself in this family.

I mean, she milked.a.cow. "I squeezed it really hard. There was no milk. That cow might be broken."

Further proof that Annie really isn't afraid of (or grossed out by) anything.

J again escapes the stroller to pose for the camera.

So until the weather turns horrible, we will be squeezing the life out of St. Louis in the fall. Then you probably won't hear from us for 4-5 months.