Grandpa Raymond's visit

We were very blessed to have a surprise visitor come to our house Thursday night!  Evie was especially excited to spend some quality time with Grandpa Raymond.  Friday night, we went to one of my favorite restaurants: Olympia's!  Opa!  We then went to DeMun Park and played a little while.  Evie had a great time being pushed by Grandpa in the swing.  She also showed off her skills of going down the "big" slide.

I was looking forward to spending our Saturday morning at Grant's Farm, but unfortunately they were closed due to a private event.  Instead, we headed to the zoo where we got to see the 2 week old giraffe!  (I forgot my camera, so no pictures, unfortunately).  Since Mike enjoys trains, I decided to splurge and we all took a ride on the train.  Evie enjoyed snuggling up to her grandpa as we went through the tunnels.  It was so cute!  Lucky us, Mike treated us to Gus's pretzels for lunch!  Yum!

Unfortunately, Mike heads out tomorrow morning.  I know Evie can't wait until the next time she can see him!  All in all- a great weekend so far!     

PF Changs & The Butterfly House

Sue's last day in St. Louis was a great one, despite all of us being slightly under the weather.  I started my day by sleeping in! :-)  Once we all got up and dressed, we headed to PF Changs.  Marcus especially enjoys PF Changs when he is congested, ordering the spiciest thing he can so that it clears up all of his sinuses.  Evie was a definite 2 year old as she enjoyed jumping up and down in our booth while eating rice & chicken with kid chopsticks.  Needless to say, there was food everywhere!

We then headed to the Butterfly House, one of my favorite St. Louis attractions.  Evie enjoyed the beetles...yes, somehow the beetles won against the butterflies.  Evie was slightly afraid of the butteflies at first, but Grandma made her feel better.  I enjoyed taking pictures of various butterflies and flowers.  Our next stop was the carousel where Evie enjoyed riding with Grandma.  All in all, a great day!

Marcus, Evie, and Sue at the Butterfly House

 

Eckerts Fun!

We went to Eckerts today...as in we, I mean, me, Marcus, his mom, and Evie.  While us adults had a great time, Evie (has a slight cold)...not so much! 

We arrived at Eckerts, talking the whole way about picking only good apples off the tree and doing fun things with the apples when we got home.  Evie was pretty excited and got even more excited about the tractor/wagon ride to the apples.  We got off the wagon and set Evie loose.  She just stood there...I guess she dislikes long, wet, yucky grass covered in rotten apples and ants, bugs, bees, etc...  Marcus picked her up and we were off picking our apples.  We tried to get Evie to pull apples off the tree, but she would limply try with only one hand.  I think our whole apple adventure lasted not even 15 minutes.

We got back on the wagon, purchased our apples, and then walked around the country store.  Evie had so much more fun shopping (I know this surprises all that know Evie...haha).  She found a little kid shopping cart and was off to collect her goods.  She picked out a little pumpkin, and then to my surprise had a box of pumpkin sugar cookies!  She was a pretty good driver, only running into one or two people along the way.

We then ate at the Eckerts restaurant.  Evie and I especially enjoyed the biscuits and apple butter!  We then headed home and Evie (and I) took a 3.5 hour nap!!!



Annual Eckerts family pic



Evie trying to find that baby apple.

 

Evie and Marcus telling secrets.



Raymond family fun!



Evie shopping



Second blog! :-)

We are very excited that (Detroit) Grandma will be coming tomorrow for a visit until Monday!  We have so many plans for this September tradition, one of which will include Eckerts and apples galore!  Two years ago, Evie was a baby and was carried from tree to tree.  Last year, Evie would pick up any and all apples, mostly rotten ones.  We are anxious this year to see if we can teach her the difference between good and not so good apples.  I am also excited that she will get to help me make the apple pie this year! 

Evie's 1st year to Eckerts (pictured with Grandma Raymond and Dad):

Evie's 2nd trip to Eckerts:



Stay tuned for Evie's 3rd trip to Eckerts!

My first blog!

I am going to try out this blogging thing. Now please keep in mind, I am not a writer. My strengths are puzzles, math, and following directions and nothing to do with creativity nor grammar. So no judgements, please. :-)

I decided to start blogging to share with our family and friends our life here in St. Louis. I am also hoping to increase the frequency I journal Evie's life. My mom wrote little stories down from when we were little and I am hoping to do the same for Evie. I usually end up journaling just about once a month. Perhaps if I know that the grandparents look forward to this blog, I might have the energy and will to journal multiple times during the week. And besides, I am a much faster typer than I am writer.

So, thus begins Raymond Crossing. I hope you enjoy!