Goose's Twelfth Birthday

My baby turned twelve a few weeks ago and it broke my heart.  She's supposed to be a little girl on my hip for the rest of my life.  :(

For her birthday cake she wanted another computer game cake.  This year it was Animal Jam and she asked for this very specific top hat.  I tried my hardest and she said she liked it so I guess that's all that matters, but this was probably the hardest homemade cake I've ever made.

 We have a whole slew of annual celebrations that we do for birthdays in our house.  They get to pick a cake and homemade meal, a restaurant to eat at (no holds barred in this area), and we try to do a special party or event.  Goose wanted me to cook chicken quesadilla's, to eat the big man steak at Patti's Settlement and then take her best friend to Holiday World.  We bought season passes for all of us at Christmas and they were best present idea ever.  We've already gone four times this summer and we still have a month left on our passes.

For her birthday morning I covered her door in crepe paper but she's a moody preteen girl and refused to come through it.  So she carefully peeled off some tape and stepped through it for a few days until I finally took it down.  *sigh*

 For her quesadilla's I throw a buttered tortilla into a skillet, cover it entirely with cheese (Fiesta is my fave!), put cooked chicken, crumbled bacon, and pico de gallo over half and once the cheese gets a little melty you can flip the other side over the one with all the toppings.  A couple minutes to brown and it's done.  It's Goose's current favorite Mom Meal.

We took them to Patti's for the first time last Christmas and even though it was bitterly cold, we had a fun time walking around and looking at all the lights.  This time it was a lot nicer weather, but we I think we all kind of preferred the winter experience.

Goose got her steak and was a happy girl.

We took her to Holiday World and it poured on us most of the day but it cleared the parks out and her and her BFF spent the entire day riding roller coasters over and over.

I love you, little Goose!  You are silly and beautiful and so smart.  You were my number one baby.

Disney World 2017

We surprised the girls with a trip to Orlando a few weeks ago and it was a secret six months in the making.  The girls woke up at six in the morning and we told them they were going to Disney World and we were leaving right then and there.

Before Disney we ate dinner at Medieval Times and it was probably the highlight of the trip for us.  The girls are already asking when we're going back.

Beside the castle is an authentic medieval village and you could go inside them.  We only went through the torture chamber but it was really interesesting.

The last time we stayed at Disney we were in one of the moderate resorts and we both agreed that the amount of time we actually spent in our hotel was not worth the extra money so this time we went for one of the value resorts.  And it was not the best choice.  The hotel was clean and fun but it was in desperate need of an upgrade.  The girls loved that our maid posed their dolls everyday, though!

We only spent one day in each park and while we got to ride pretty much everything we wanted to, it would have been nicer to take our time and not power walk through the parks.  I walked 25,000 steps the first day alone!

We've already decided we're going back quicker than five years like we did this time.  We love Disney!

2017 Adventures: Dixon Springs

We didn't go hiking near as much last year as we did in 2015 because we found out Bug had allergies and asthma and it took us a long time to get it under control.  Being an hour away from the nearest hospital and no cell reception was too scary for me so we just stopped hiking.

This year we have Bug on some new medicines that seem to be making her symptoms better and she feels a lot more like herself finally.  So I promised we would try it out and see how she feels.

January was abnormally warm for a couple of weeks and there was one day that was a perfect 70 degrees and sunny so we headed out to try a brand new hiking location in the Shawnee National Forest.

Dixon Springs is a beautiful little park with a swimming pool and some amazing scenery.  There are giant boulders you can climb on and the entire area is surrounded by bubbling creeks.

The best part of Dixon Springs are the waterfalls that are almost hidden in the back of the park.  When we first started our hiking adventures two years ago Goose wanted most to see a big waterfall and oddly enough this was our first one.

There's a bridge spanning across the falls and it took us a while to find where it started but it just meant traipsing through more of the pretty area.

On the top of the bounders there is a tiny road with three old churches side by side on it.  They were all identical in varying stages of disrepair.  This was the oldest one and our favorite.

After taking a break at the playground we went searching for another area to explore and found a hiking path called Ghost Dance Canyon.  This path was incredibly tiny and hard to maneuver and I'm not sure we even completed the entire trail but it got to where we were climbing over slippery moss-covered boulders and we thought it would be best to turn back.

We did get to see a lot more of the rushing creek on it though.

You also pass underneath the highway and the bridge looks so giant as you are underneath it.

Across the street from the park is a store called The Chocolate Factory and they are popular for making shaped chocolates.  There are chocolates that look like deviled eggs, bacon, flowers, and Goose's favorite, mice:

Our first hike of 2017 was so much fun and we are looking forward to a lot more adventures this year!

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!