St. Louis Magic House

The girls and I took an all-day trip to St. Louis where we left at 7 in the morning and didn't pull back into the driveway until 9 at night.  We crammed a lot into our day and I hope the two girls loved it as much as mommy did.

They've gone to the Magic House a couple of times but it's been years since our last trip and they have been begging to go back.  I really honestly thought they might be a bit too old for it but after almost five hours I was proven wrong.  They had an absolute blast and I'm so happy I let them lead the way and explore wherever they chose to go.

The Magic House is gigantic and it's pretty much impossible to get a good photo of the entire thing. 

Their favorite part of the Magic House is always the little village where you can explore and go into themed rooms and every time we've gone there's been new rooms added.  They probably spent the most time in the library because they're my little booknerds.  You can make your own library card and scan books out like a real librarian and they got such a kick out of that.

Another popular spot was the art area.  This is a new one for us but it was practically heaven for my two creative girls.  They have a craft bucket at home that isn't as popular as it used to be but they are still such big lovers of being creative.

Outside in the garden area they had a special summer beach exhibit.  We didn't go inside since the girls had tennis shoes on and the thought of them climbing back into my car with sandy feet made me cringe.  If I had known about it though I would have sent them with flip-flops and play clothes because it looked like a lot of fun.

After we left we made a beeline for IKEA.  We've never been to one before and we were excited to check it out and grab some supper.

I got the famous meatballs and they completely exceeded my expectations.  I can't wait to go back and have them again!

My June Book Pile

I read a lot of books in June and it was so nice to see my book pile growing and growing as the month went on.  There was one day I read pretty much every free second I had and I ended up finished three books.

I marked a few books off my TBR pile that I'd been eying for awhile so that made me pretty happy.  The Game of Thrones series is a huge pile of books that I am now completely done with.  There's a few other books that are set in the world or talk about the universe that I want to get to eventually but I'm not planning on it anytime in the next few months.

Bug has been really loving The Spiderwick Chronicles series and we powered through three books this month together.  She watched the movie too but didn't seem to like it near as much as the books.

Goose recommended Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and El Deafo to me.  She's read El Deafo twice now so I wanted to see what it was all about.

The best book I read this month was by far The Fireman by Joe Hill.  It was amazing and I read over 500 pages of it in one day because I could. not. put. it. down.  For those of you who don't know, Joe Hill is Stephen King's son.  My other favorite book this year was 11/22/63 by King so let me just say, them King boys know how to craft a good story.

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman was a really happy surprise that I checked out from the library solely based on the title and pretty cover.  Any book that has the word 'library' somewhere in the title or description automatically has my attention.

The only book that I wasn't really a fan of this month was The Devil's Advocate by Jane Yolan.  I enjoy reading books set during WW2 so I was looking forward to this one but I thought it was a little too wordy and not enough showy for me.

Hoping I have a good book month for July but I start back to work this month so I probably won't do as much as June.  June took a lot out of me!

Evansville Museum

The girls and I absolutely love Evansville, Indiana.  It's such a beautiful city and there's tons of fun stuff to do with kids.  We've been going routinely ever since they were babies and we always have a full day of fun.

The museum had a special display of World War II locations made entirely out of Lego's.   They were really detailed and the girls liked this section a lot. 

This ship was HUGE.  So huge I couldn't even get a full picture of it.  And see that photo on the left?  That's also made completely out of Lego's!

Their favorite part of this museum is always the town square on the first floor.  It has glass cases  where you can look in and see a reenactment of what that store would have looked like.  And the whole wing of the section looks like you're really walking through a town.  

The candy store is really cute with candy on display but as you can see they all need a good dusting!

 

What the kitchen would have looked like with the parlor through the door.  I told the girls a parlor was a fancy living room where only guests were allowed to go and if they thought we could have a living room like that and keep it clean.

No, the answer was of course no.

The dentist office is always one of my favorites with the tiny bottles of stuff and the scary looking implements they used on display.

They love the toy store and always tell me what they want out of it.

My favorite part of town are the beautiful "streets" you walk through.

We didn't have time to fully explore all of the artwork upstairs because we had tickets to their movie and had to be back in time to line up for it.  I tried to get a good picture of the domed screen and how it wraps completely around you but wasn't able to.  The movie we watched was really cute about a dinosaur and how it was born and died but honestly craning my head back and forth to see everything gave me a bit of a headache.

We did get to see a few fun pieces of art like this Andy Warhol painting. 

 My favorite art section in the museum is the wooden room with some super old beautiful paintings.

After we left the museum we visited the train museum again.  They love climbing through all of the trains and ringing the big bell in the front.  We also have to buy Goose the disgusting astronaut ice cream they sell in the gift shop that she loves.  

The weather was amazing this day.  Not too hot but warm enough we had a fun stroll on the sidewalk next to the river.  We found a bench and relaxed while Goose ate her dehydrated and gross ice cream (I really dislike astronaut food in case it's not obvious) and just watched the water for awhile.

There's this beautiful building right beside the water and we wanted to go in but didn't have time.  I think it might be a tourist bureau but no matter what it is, it sure is pretty!

After the museum we went to eat (and sadly realized this was probably their last time being small enough to play in the Chick-Fil-A playplace) and then did some shopping at the two story Barnes & Noble that they are obsessed with.  

My girls and I had such a fun day together!

Exploring Farmlife

The girls recently had a couple of days to explore their great-grandmother's barn lot and they fell in love.  They've been regularly coming here their whole lives but this was the first time I let them out completely on their own to explore and they discovered new things every time they went outside.

Their favorite part of the yard was the pond, I think.  We spent the most time there, walking around in circle after circle and searching for the giant bullfrogs.  They are so loud that we would hear them clear across the farm and would come running to try and see them before they jumped into the water.

This is my grandpa's woodshed where he worked cutting things out for us to paint when we were little.  I still have a lot of things he made for us and after we explored inside of it I found some more hidden items, too.  I can't wait to clean them up and stain them so they all match.

The big red barn was where my brothers and cousins and I would play.  We would open up that big door in the front and climb up the ladder into the hayloft.  Unfortunately, it's fallen into ruins inside and I told my girls they couldn't even step foot inside it anymore.

We raised pigs here in the pig barn and no matter how many years it's been empty I still sniff the air when I get near it because the strong pig smell is so ingrained on me when I see this yellow building.

Out in the back of the yard is a pile of old rusty farm equipment.  I think it's a giant pile of tetanus waiting to happen, but they have been obsessed with this corner for weeks.  Their favorite thing is the old truck of my grandma's.

My grandma's cat (the girls named him Carrots) loves to get on top of the buildings and look down at you.  The girls thought this was hilarious.

My grandma was born and raised in the mountain township and her dad took care of their farm for them.  I've never asked if the old equipment she has in the yard was some of my great-grandpa's or if it's just stuff she bought at estate sales.  We have pictures of him using a horse drawn wagon just like that first one though.

They had such a good time having adventures at their great-grandma's.  I love it when they come in all dirty and grinning and exhausted.  The dirtier the kid the happier the kid.

My May Book Pile

I was finally able to move jobs towards the end of the month and my reading immediately started to pick up speed again.  Being in a hostile workplace was not conducive to enjoying my free time so it was a miracle to me when I actually finished a book.

So if you're wondering why there's mainly children's books in here it's for that reason.  The bigger books took me ages and I wanted more of the lighter, easier reads.

I want to watch the new BFG movie but when I mentioned reading the book I was disappointed that Bug had already read it in school so I ended up having to read it by myself.  It was honestly the worst book I read in May.  It was boring and didn't make a lot of sense and I don't even understand how it would appeal to anyone.

Broadchurch by Erin Kelly was my top pick for the month and it was also my favorite book I've read since 11/22/63 back in January.  The writing started off a bit choppy but by the halfway mark I was hooked and I hope I can watch the miniseries it was based off soon.

Glen O. Jones Lake

Bug and I recently went to Glen O. Jones lake and had a great day just the two of us (Goose was in school or she would have been our sidekick, of course).

Glen O. Jones Lake is a great place to go if you enjoy camping and fishing.  There's really not a lot else to do.  There's a jungle gym at the top but it's small and the lane to get to it is pretty steep.  We passed a couple of hiking trails but they didn't look very well taken care of and were completely deserted which is a no-no for us three girls.

I couldn't get a lot of pictures since it was packed with people but I got a couple of pretty shots.

The lake was beautiful and sparkling.

I wish the Tecumseh statue would have been in a better spot than the corner they have it in.  It's all the way at the top of the drive, far from the lake, and it's dark up there.

The lake is located in the Shawnee National Forest and is actually just minutes away from the area where my family is from.  I used to go to my great-grandparents home all the time and I remember it being so much fun to be in the 'mountains'.

My April Book Pile

 April was a long month for me.  Between Bug's numerous doctor's appointments, end of school antsiness, and my general hatred of my job, there wasn't much for me to enjoy about reading.

I know I usually talk about my favorite and least favorite of the month but I honestly didn't have any real standouts in April.  If I really had to choose I would say Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King was the easiest read.  I wish I had known in advance that it was a thriller and not a paranormal type book.  It might have made me like it better, but I was a little disappointed when I was expecting typical King.

The overall least favorite for the month was pretty easy to choose.  Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas was so boring I felt my hair grow.  It took me ages to read this book and the only thing that finally pushed me through was the Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon.  I stayed up late reading on it and finished it the next day.

I realized recently that I think I've only had one 5 star read this year so far and that was 11/22/63 way back in January.  No wonder I feel book burnout.  I haven't had a great read in months!