The Fourth, Tyler Turns 39, Parentals Arrive, Carriage Accident

Since we arrived home from Missouri in the early AM hours on Sunday we spent the day recovering. Monday was the Fourth of July and we were hosting a BBQ so I spent that day cleaning, grocery shopping and baking a cake- I decided last minute we should celebrate Tyler and Grace's birthday at the BBQ (they have the same birthday). It was fun to sing to them and I got Grace a fanny pack full of some "emergency" things for her trip to Spain. It was more like a gag gift but she said she loved it- she is just super nice like that though. Besides celebrating birthdays, we also lit some sparklers and set off a few small fireworks. For how much money Tyler spent on fireworks, I was a little disappointed, didn't feel like much, but I think it was still enough to make the kids happy.

After the BBQ Tyler and I stayed up far too late watching the last 2 episodes of "Stranger Things" so we slept in late and by the time we got up and at it, it was basically lunch time. I'm living life like a teenager this summer. That night we had to host dinner again, but this time for the Sister Missionaries so I spent the afternoon prepping for that. They were a little awkward at moments- telling us how one of their companions peed their pants, speculating that we are as old as their parents and getting off on tangents during the lesson- but overall a good time.

Wednesday Steven was supposed to have his first tennis class but it got cancelled due to weather and rescheduled for when he has camp. Boo. That afternoon the weather cleared up and we met a few friends at Heritage Park. As I was leaving I started to see spots and by the time I got home I had a really nasty migraine. I haven't had a migraine in forever and I have not missed them one bit. I blame it on the fact that I have been staying up too late and sitting in the sun. Honestly I still feel like I haven't quite shaken it. It's not as awful now, I had some yucky nausea before, but it is an uncomfortable ache. 

Wednesday night, despite the migraine, I started watching "Stranger Things" with the boys. I am not in love with them watching it, I don't think it's super appropraite for them but "all their friends are watching it" :/ As Tyler pointed out, they'll probably watch it at some point and at least if they watch it with us we can skip bad parts and discuss inappropriate things. Whatever.

Thursday was Tyler's birthday and for his birthday he wanted....to do nothing. So boring. He got spoiled with gifts from the kids and I (Lego sets, "stupid" shirts, a funny sign) and phone calls from family. We went and picked up his cotton candy cake in the afternoon. I was lucky to get the cake because apparently they weren't taking orders, even though another person had told me they didn't need much of a heads up. So I got a cake that maybe had been laying around for a bit? But it was a lot of fun to have it (even if the next day it ended up rock hard and smushed down from the humidty). We also went out to dinner at Red Robins where we had a fun conversation where we all came up with downfalls for different super powers. And when we came back from dinner Grams and Poppy had arrived so they got to enjoy the banana pie I had made and the cotton candy cake too!

Friday was a pretty chill day. Our neighbor, Sharon, allowed Lucy to join in her garage sale so Lucy went and sold some water bottles and some of my puzzles. The only people who bought water were...my parents ;) But she did sale 7 of my puzzles. I am proud of her for being willing to put in the time to make a little money and maybe next time she will put in some effort too. Steven also had his first tennis lesson. He got stuck with the younger kids because he's a beginner but I think he did well. I am glad we are doing this so he will have some basics down before joining the high school team. He is not glad and his only remark was that it was confusing. Maybe someday he will thank me?

Friday afternoon the Mays came over for a little bit and Tyler and Poppy went and did some "manly" shopping and went out to dinner. Glad they were able to bond.

Saturday Lucy did part 2 of the garage sale and this time our family was the only one to buy from her. Disappointing I'm sure. Then that afternoon we went to Greenfield Village. This started off rough- the children doing all the annoying things that children do- bugging each other and complaining. I was feeling frustrated because I feel like now that my kids are older they should be easier to take out in public. Ben also had a wicked bloody nose and we had to spend a good amount of time letting him bleed out over a trash can. Then we came across a historic baseball game and sat in the shade to watch it and it was really fun to watch- they didn't use gloves, the umpire wore a top hat, there was a live band. We decided after that to start heading out and they all got better attitudes so it was feeling like we were at least ending on a good note. 

But on our way out we suddenly hear this really loud galloping coming our way. We turned around and there was a closed carriage coming down the road with 2 black horses galloping at full speed and this is not normal for Greenfield Village. I made sure the kids were all on the sidewalk and we watched in horror as the carriage ran into a lamp post on the otherside of the street from us. Debris flew into the street, pretty close to us. We stood there unsure what to do as we watched the driver stumble down from his seat and then those inside the closed carriage spill out in a daze, all their stuff (including an empty baby carrier) fell to the ground. The worst, honestly, was the horse that had gotten run over from the carriage and was in a twisted heap underneath it. It was really horrific and I am grateful no one got hurt. There were other people on the scene and we knew we'd just be getting in the way so we decided best to just go home. It shook us all pretty good and I am worried this might make the girls less than excited to go to Mackinac Island next week which is full of horse drawn carriages. I certainly have developed a new anxiety.

Missouri

Tuesday during the day I had a nice time at the beach with my friend Stacey and her kids. Then the boys went to the temple with a large group of teens from the Ward that evening.

Thursday we left to Missouri. I had hoped to get out by 6am but we got out at 7am. Mostly because we stayed up late watching Stranger Things, I managed to get Tyler interested in the show too. Thankfully I forgot about the time difference so according to Missouri's time zone we did get out at 6am. The trip went smooothly and we did our usual stop every 2 hours and at each stop the kids would switch from audiobook to screens or vice versa. We listend to "The Magic Misfits" which wasn't the best book ever but the kids seemed to like it enough. I was not impressed with one of the main characters having 2 dads but whatever, I guess children's lit has to be all kinds of inclusive these days.

We also made a pit stop at Uranus Indiana. I had stopped by a Uranus Missouri with my mom before so I had to hit this pit stop. Unfortunately we decided to follow the signs instead of Google Maps and basically ended up taking a 10 minute detour before finding it. It was worth it. They have all sorts of funny things for sale there so I got Tyler a great shirt for his birthday. They also have super yummy taffy that I snacked on throughout the trip.Plus you can't beat the poop hole photo op outside and the dinosaur photo ops.

We beat Mariah's family to the VRBO so we had some time to chill after the 8 hour trip. I once again did good with the lodging. It was clean, roomy and in this quiet historical neighborhood, across the street from a beautiful cathedral. Plus it was really great that we shared a wall with Mariah's family but all got our own space. 

When Mariah's family got to the VRBO we chatted for a bit and then determined we were all hungry so we went and got dinner at Fitz's. Mariah's family knew all the good food places but it also meant that we were going to places that weren't super cheap. It was hard to calm down my frugal brain that didn't love spending so much money on food. However, the food was good and they were famous for their Root Beer so everyone enjoyed some good Root Beer. I even indulged in a root beer float with the kids. The only drawback to this place was it was slow, and we were there for at least 2 hours. I will say that I was impressed throughout the trip at how well Mariah's little ones did with waiting. I swear my older kids started losing it before they did.

After dinner, we went back to the VRBO and put our kids down to bed. Then we went over to Mariah and Jeff's VRBO and stayed up late chatting with them. I really do enjoy their company. We talked a bit about Tyler's dad and every time I am reminded at how much Tyler IS his dad. They have the possibility of moving to Michigan for Jeff's residency in a year and I know it's low on their list but it would be so nice to have them in the same state. 

Friday morning the kids were up early as per usual. Mariah's family took a bit longer to get ready so the kids and I walked to a nearby park and played for a bit. Once everyone was ready we headed to the St. Louis Zoo. All you have to pay for is parking so that was nice. It was a really hot day (90's and humid) so we were all melting and barely lasted the few hours we spent there. Penny's fav part was all the elephants. Ben definitely loved the penguin habitat where you could up close and personal with the penguins. Plus it was freezing so we all got to start shivering instead of sweating. Steven loved the Prairie Dogs because they reminded him of his guinea pigs. And we didn't get a pic of it but Lucy loved the bear we saw roaming around it's cage. Mariah's kiddo, Red, got excited every time he saw water, it was pretty cute. 

The kids, of course, were very insistent that we needed to visit the gift shop before leaving- frequent reminders about that. Lucy got a polar bear stuffie, Penny got a elephant stuffie and Ben got a penguin stuffie. Now we have 5 million and one stuffies. Steven couldn't find anything he liked, it's hard being a teen. Then we went back to the VRBO and had lunch (leftovers from dinner and easy macs). 

After lunch we had some R&R time. Wesley and Tyler napped, the rest of the kids chilled on the couch watching TV and I chatted with Jeff and Mariah. Once we were all recharged and ready to face the heat again we drove out to the Gateway Arch. We unfortunately couldn't actually ride the tram up it because it was booked solid for days (it was a holiday weekend) but silver lining, that saved us $100. Instead we took some pictures, touched it and went into the museum. The museum was like an airport in that they went through all our bags before we could enter but it was worth it for the a/c. Also they had an exhibit that showed the views from the top so Steven insisted on taking some "fake" pics because he wants to trick people into thinking we actually rode the tram.

When we finished up at the Gateway Arch it was time to get some food. We went to this neighborhood called The Hill that was full of Italian restaurants. Parking was an absolute mess and it was so peopley but I guess that's part of the experience. We ended up eating on the patio at Favazza's because they could seat all of us but that meant not much relief from the heat. Once again expensive food and it took forever to get the food. Apparently I am not in love with authentic Italian food because I like Olive Garden's fettuccine better but I can now say I have had a genuine Italian food experience. When we finished up it was back to the VRBOs to get the kids to bed. Then more chatting with Mariah and Jeff until late in the night.

Saturday we took the morning slow and got everything packed up and the VRBO cleaned up. Then we went and got soft pretzels at Gus's Pretzels that was just down the street. I had been eyeing the place since we got there. The pretzels were really cheap so I expected them to be small but they ended up being good sized and we had way more pretzels than we could eat. They were yummy though and provided for a good snack the rest of the day. I especially liked their cinnamon sugar bites.

We had a bit of a hard time getting to our next destination, the City Museum, thanks to a parade that had blocked off the street we needed. Thankfully a nice police man directed us on how to get around the parade. Tyler was so surprised that I wanted to pull over and ask the officr for help. I  guess I am more like my dad than I realize sometimes. The City Museum would have been a nightmare for me if I had younger kids, I don't know how Mariah didn't get overwhelmed. This is basically just one giant jungle gym. There are tunnels and slides and billions of things to climb and explore. It was really cool for the kids but it was so peopley and tunnels and slides would take the kids to different levels of the museum. It would be so easy to lose a kid there. Thankfully Tyler and Jeff are good at crawling after the kids. There were a lot of tight spaces that there was no way I was going in them. I think my claustrophobia has gotten even worse with age. 

Some things of note from our visit there...the kids were all brave and went down a 10 story slide. Ben and Steven both climbed in this terrifying tunnel that took them from the 2nd level to the 3rd level, with nothing below the tunnel. And they both were really helpful in getting Jessie and Red through that tunnel, it was sweet. There was this "skate park" with a super creepy tunnel that they all went in with their Uncle Jeff when I refused to go in. There was a unicycle rider and a juggler (that dropped things more than he should) and a lady that danced while twirling her really long braided hair... That last act was really weird.

The a/c in the place was not so great so we once again were sweaty messes so although the kids had a blast, they were definitely ready to leave after a few hours. We had a late lunch at Fire House Subs and the kids were introduced to "Friends" which was playing on a TV there, man that show is scandalous. Steven kept shaking his head and saying, "that's inappropriate". 

When we were done eating, it was time to say goodbye to Mariah's family. I hate goodbyes. Then we did a quick stop at Cahokia Mounds before heading back to Michigan. The mounds are basically hills that Native Americans made. We walked up the largest one, Monks Mound and it was a really beautiful view from the top, plus it was cooler up there. I can understand why people build their religious places up on hills. It also made me wish we had hills and mountains in Michigan. 

And finally our trip was done and we just had the 8 hour drive home left. This time we listened to "Eragon". I'm hoping the kids will get into this series like they did "Wings of Fire" but nothing seems to get them interested quite like that book series did. The drive was fairly smooth- we saw a beautiful sunset and then lots of fireworks, found a place to get some fireworks of our own for the BBQ we're hosting on the fourth, our car didn't break down and....we got pulled over by a cop! So that was fun. Apparently our brake lights keep getting stuck on so yet another issue for us to fix. But it was nice of the cop to let us know about this problem.