SPRINGFIELD & OTHER THINGS

Friday we decided to get the girls out of town and try something new. We headed to Springfield for the day with a handful of ideas of [free] places to go. Our first stop was Rutledge Wilson Farm Park. Penelope is really into horses (well, pretty much all farm animals) right now, so I knew this had to be our first destination. It did not disappoint!

They have cages –nice cages- set up throughout the park with corn stalks, sunflowers and other tall greenery, and various birds, such as roosters. Zack’s brain was a’stormin’ with new coop ideas, for sure! They also had tiny garden plots set up with peas, and sorghum.

The goats were actually the sweetest animals there! Zack keeps trying to convince me to get goats. I’m not giving in…holding out for my sheep!

^  HORSES!!!  ^

Streeeeetch, Penelope…

It’s blurry, I know, but I’m in it! :)

Piggies! Okay, closer to “fat hogs”, but they didn’t smell bad. I assumed they would.

They have two long “cow trains” with a hitch, probably for a tractor. This would be a fun ride!! The girls just sat in it and used their imagination.

Amelia was fascinated with the bunnies. She couldn’t stop saying “Awe!” Seriously, she said it until we dragged her away!

They have a tiny sidewalk track and have stocked it with tractor bikes. It’s adorable!

Lovely farm girls.

They also have a playground! If you can’t tell, I highly recommend this place for an outing with the kids!

We took the girls to the Springfield Conservation Nature Center after lunch (at Chipotle’…mmmm…). This place is gorgeous!

This machine was updated in the 90s! Awesome.

There are tons of facts, and ways to explore nature. Even a bird room covered in windows, were you can bird watch. My girls adore birds, it was hard to get them to move on. :)

Another photo of me! (On a roll today!)

Our map enthusiast helped us along the walking trail. Our walk was my favorite part of the nature center.

We had friends over Saturday! A rare occurrence for us! We spent all day outside. We went by the state park, fed the fish, had a picnic and played at the playground. Afterwards, we went to the river and played until the girls couldn’t play anymore. “We” caught five crawfish and one minnow. We even saw a few snakes and a bat!

The other day Penelope bought carrots and apples to feed horses, so after church on Sunday we took the girls out and fed some mules. The closest thing to a horse we could find. :)

I’m trying to enjoy the few days left of summer vacation – not that it feels like one! Any ideas?

ALABAMA

Last week the girls and I drove to Alabama from St. Louis,  We went to celebrate my Vovo’s 80th birthday! We were able to see a lot of family we don’t get to see often, including my younger brother who lives there.

^  Vovo!  ^

The surprise became less of a surprise, so we had a pre-surprise surprise the day before the party.

We stayed at a friend of a friend’s house for the weekend. It was lovely to have a place for the kids to nap and play between ‘events.’

^  Getting ready for church :)

Uncle Ben was the unofficial babysitter – he was assigned the job more by the kids than the mamas, but we certainly didn’t object!

Oh, devices…

So glad I remembered my chargers. These were used a lot! The iPad in the photo above was off, but still managed to entertain Amelia for quite some time.

We visited my Aunt Mary’s house a few times. Still one of my all time favorite places. They’re really more of grandparents than an aunt and uncle. Hard not to feel at home there. 

We also saw old friends and traveled to Florida – more on than it another post :)

SPRINGFIELD ON A SUNDAY

Zack had quite a long time off from work (Tuesday-Sunday) last week. We really wanted to take a trip but we had a lot of work to do around the house. Thankfully Dylan came to visit, Saturday. Even a change as simple as a new face in the cabin helps relieve cabin fever!

We thought we would leave the messy house behind and take a drive to Springfield on Sunday. We watched a sermon as we piled on coats, hunted down shoes, dug through the heap of clean laundry for sippy cups, and tried to ignore the mountain of dirty dishes.

We were out the door by 8:30 and enjoyed a really nice two hour drive. When we arrived, we ended up driving around downtown and some stores we tend to visit, only to find them closed. Sunday. Bravo to these businesses for resting on the day of rest, but we should’ve thought ahead. Our first actual venture into a building, was for lunch at noon with Uncle Dylan who was gracious enough to spend the majority of his Sunday helping us chase our children (Lookin’ at you Mia!) around several stores.

Our hunt for shoes earlier that morning was a big fail when it came to Amelia. We found one boot. So, we thought we’d pick up some shoes while we were out. A baby in skinny jeans and high tops – Oh, mah goodness…

Penelope visited her first candy shop. She picked out a sucker for her and Amelia, which they ate as we strolled Best Buy. We couldn’t leave without going to the fishie store (Bass Pro), and restocking our candle supply. Penelope enjoyed the four wheelers, alligators, pony toys, elevators, and golf. Amelia enjoyed the view from the safety of the cart. ;)

We ate supper at the original Buckingham's across for Bass Pro. So good! The plate above was mine, although I didn’t eat the fries, and instead ate most of Zack’s okra. Sorry, Zack…kind of.

Amelia and I have colds. So hard to keep germs away from Penelope, I can’t believe she isn’t sick yet.  Our house smells like hand sanitizer and poor Mia had a Kleenex rash.

On a happy note, Zack is glad to be back at work today! Happy Monday!