The Katy Trail and Jefferson City

With our bikes all fixed, Dan decided to find us a state park to go ride in.  He discovered an apparently well hidden, from us, Missouri treasure, the Katy Trail.  The trail used to be a railroad that ran across the state.  It was no longer being used as such so several years ago, the state park service converted into in a cross state biking/walking trail.  It's crushed limestone and very flat...perfect for a family bike ride.  We started out in Jefferson City.

The scenery was gorgeous.  I can say several bad things about Missouri, but I also have to admit that it's a beautiful state (even if the beauty makes my throat hurt).

 

Caden is our weak link still, but those little legs are getting stronger day by day.  He stopped often on the way out for water breaks, but after lunch, he seemed to recharge and had no trouble heading back towards the car.

 

Jaelyn saved and nurtured a spiderwort plant in Maryland.  We found it growing wild everywhere along the trail.

 

We saw a lot of nature...turtles were out in force.  The kids spotted what we think was a baby fox and we nearly ran over two black snakes.  Someone told us "there's an otter in water up ahead" (are you singing "there's a zamp in the lamp and a jurtain in the curtain" along with Dr. Suess? - I was.)  We never did find the otter or the water up ahead for that matter.

 

I just got a new lens for my camera (18:270).  No more switching lenses.  I had fun playing with the zoom.

 

 

 

How would you like to live on top of this bluff?  If you look closely at the right hand corner, you can see a huge house.

 

In total, we road 12 miles.  I was beyond impressed with the kids.  I think the girls could have gone further, but we were all pretty tired at the end.  Allie said she had pudding legs while Jaelyn thought hers felt more like wet noodles :).

 

Since we were there, we drove into Jefferson City to tour the state capital building.

 

Jefferson City is named after Thomas Jefferson.  Missouri was the second state formed from the Louisiana Purchase after Louisiana.

 

The massive steel doors were amazing.  Too bad we couldn't go through them.

 

My Griffons are scarier than the ones that guard the building.

 

This capital was built in the early 1900s.  This was is all stone as the first 2 were destroyed by fires.  After it was completed, they still had one million dollars left over.  That money was put into a special endowment on to be used for art in the building.  The ceilings and murals were amazing.

 

Just a little Missouri history for you.

 

 

We wrapped up our day with an early dinner at Chipotle followed by ice cream sundaes at home.  I wish we had discovered this trail sooner.  It would have been fun to ride the whole thing over the course of our time in Missouri.  We saw several families with camping gear riding it with their kids.

Bikes and Such

The tires on both girls' bikes went flat at the end of the last summer.  No amount of pumping would help.  It was weird...dry rot maybe?  Or just bad inner tubes.  Last week, we finally decided to either replace the tubes or buy new bikes.  Allie really needs a new bike because she's grown a ton, but we decided to make her ride her smaller one this summer so she can jump up to a much bigger bike next summer rather than buying an in between size.  Jaelyn's bike still fits her just fine ;).  The tubes only cost about $5 each, but in the middle of the changing process I was thinking new bikes would have been the way to go.  Sheez. 

We started our weekend with a Friday evening bike ride on base.  We went about 3 miles.

Randomness

These are random photos from my phone over the last week.
1. Allie said she wanted bangs the other day and I was having a day so she got them :p. please ignore her fever blister and dry skin. It's almost cleared up.
2. Roses out of the yard in a vase Dan made. Cut roses always remind me of my Grandma Molly.
3. Caden is my little reader. He's currently ready a Star Wars book that I'm guessing is about a 5th grade level
4. Gracie's newest discovery. Water comes out of this thing in the tub. I keep hearing this kerplunk type noise and find her playing in the bathtub.

Dip Dyed Hair

I get the cool mom of the day award!

The girls have talked about highlighting or adding streaks to their hair, but they are too young for anything permanent. I found a pin on Pinterest about dip dying hair in kool aid temporarily. I found two methods. The first was doing streaks and the other was dipping the ends. The streaks did not work at all, but dipping the ends worked fabulously. I love Jaelyns hair. Its only been 5 days, but it's faded to a great red. It almost blends with her hair at some angles, but when she's in the sun, it really stands out. She want to make it blue next time although I'm not sure blue would show in her hair.

Cleaning While I Sew

I've been so tired this week. I just attributed it to allergies and napped every morning until around noon when my energy kicked in. Well...I went to the doctor yesterday for a physical and learned I've been mixing up my allergy medicine. Oops. I've been taken the morning med at night and the night, makes you sleepy, medicine in the morning. Today has been so much better. I've actually cleaned half my house and gotten all the material prepped to start Jaelyn's birthday quilt. I just realized I have 8 school days to got it done. I can't believe school is almost over. Next year, if we live in Fairfax County, the kids won't get out until June 20th.

I'm Allergic to Missouri Grass and Other Things

The title made me laugh after I typed it...I mean grass as in the green stuff that grows on the ground, people :p.  Caden has been struggling for weeks with the tree pollen, but thankfully, I've been okay.  I've been watching the pollen levels on a map as grass pollen has creeped North.  Sunday, I watched Caden and a friend play tennis (I use the term "play" loosely) for twenty minutes.  That's all it took to close up my throat and start the drainage.  Grass levels hit "moderate" on Saturday.  Allergy medicine makes me sleepy so I have been very unproductive this week.  On a side note, allergy medicine makes Jaelyn meaner so she's about to fend for herself without any medicine in her.  Oye!

When I haven't been sleeping, I've been working on our itinerary for our South Dakota Trip.  It's all planned out and I've started making the reservations.  It's going to be so much fun.  On our list is visit the Badlands, the Minuteman Missile Site and Wall Drugs (which I've been told is a must see tourist stop.)  Then we'll drive to Mt. Rushmore to see it, Custer State Park, and Crazy Horse Memorial.  In Hot Springs, we'll see the Mammoth Site were the kids will get to be junior paleontologists and maybe go through Wind Cave.  We'll also drive into Wyoming to see Devil's Tower and stroll through Sturgis and see the wildwest show in Deadwood.  I'm sure once we check into hotels in each area, we'll learn about even more things we should do.   It's going to be a fun filled, packed full, memory making adventure and I can't wait!

4th and 5th Grade Track Meet

Today has been a fun day.  I started with Muffins with Mom in Caden's classroom.  He made me a "If you give a mom a muffin" book and gave me a corsage made out of a coffee filter.  Sweet.  After that, I raced to the middle school track to watch the girls' track meet.

 

Jaelyn started out running the 800 meter.  I think this picture is kind of funny.  Jaelyn is in orange and black in the center of the picture.  Most of the other girls are a head taller than her.

Long Jump

 

I don't think she placed in anything, but she had fun and tried her best which is all we can ask for.

 

Allie ran the 400 meter, and did the high jump and long jump.  She tried 3 times to get over the high jump, but her legs caught the bar every time.

 

 

On a side note, I am proud to live in a military community.  A local soldier that died in Afghanistan was brought home today.  There was a procession from the airport on base.  I was at the track meet so I didn't actually see it, but I heard stories about people standing on the side of the road waiting to show their respect and honor the soldier.  Flags off post where flying at half mast and I saw several signs in windows on Main street recognizing the Specialist as a hero.  It makes me proud that some many people would put a hold on their lives to pay their respects.  I know there are parts of this country where that would not happen.

GeoCaching in the Park

I think I mentioned we went to a geocaching event in the park a few weeks ago.  It turned out to be a dud, but we still managed to have fun while we were there. 

 

The girls hardly ever play nicely together.  It was nice to see them getting along and actually enjoying each other for a change.

 

No dogs allowed on the playground.  Gracie wanted to play with her kids so badly.

 

 

Jaelyn had fun walking along a high log beam.

 

I even gave it a try!  I'm the cool mom who plays with her kids, not just watches from the sidelines :p.  I hope they remember that someday. (Notice the baggy jeans :).

 

This was Caden's preferred method of balancing on the log.  He'll never make it on Survivor.

 

Randomness

We have had crazy weather.  Rain, cold, even snow flurries.  In the middle of the all the rain, I commented that we should start building our ark.  Caden, with all seriousness, said "Mommy, we don't have to build an ark.  After God flooded the Earth, he put a rainbow in the sky as a symbol that he'll never do it again."  Guess who's been reading a Bible story book at bedtime?

Jaelyn amazed me last week.  I bought a pile of books at the book fair and she latched onto one:  Dog Diaries.  She had her nose stuck in it for days.  She was reading at breakfast, in the afternoons, even during Allie and Caden's choir concert. This is a girl who does not like to read and can throw quite the fit over reading at night.  I'm heading to the library today to see if they have the other 2 in the series or any other books by the author.

In healthy news, my pants are too big...like falling off, baggy big.  I love it.  I can button a couple of pairs of short that were way too tight last summer.  I hit my pre-pregnancy weight a couple of week ago.  I never got down to it after having Caden.  I still have a few inches to go, but I'm happy.  Dan has also lost several inches.  We are going to continue on our quest to stay healthy.  The biggest thing I miss is cheese.  I needed sharp cheddar for a recipe the other day and OHHHHH did a slice ever taste good.  I told Dan it tasted better than a coke (the other thing I miss and don't tell me diet because those are nasty.)

There's probably lots more randomness, but that's all I can think of for now.  :)

Prayer Request

I'm not going to stress, I'm not going to stress, I'm not going to stress.

But seriously, how can I not????   We are about to make a huge move (again).  I'm starting to look at areas and schools and housing sites.  There are so many things to consider:  Commute, schools, cost of housing.  I know God's got it all worked out and I'm going to do my best to not worry.  I would love prayers.

Craftiness

Here are the rest of the crafty pictures.

 

Jaelyn is learning to quilt!  Unfortunately, we can't turn the feed dogs off on her machine so any free motion quilting she wants to do has to be done on my machine.

 

My T-shirt yarn crocheted rug.  I'm already starting a new pile of t-shirts for another one :).

 

I finally added the nylon lining to my new beach bag my mom crocheted.  I'm all ready for the pool.  I just need some warm weather!

 

I made Allie this super easy peasant dress a few weekends ago.  Love Pinterest!

 

Jaelyn wants a rock like mine for a door stop.  She's getting a fish for her birthday!

 

I finished Jaelyn's teddy bear for her.  She just needs to stuff it and give it a face.

 

I'm learning how to put in zippers.  I love these little bags.  They only take about 20 minutes to make.  I've made 3-4 of them.

 

Allie ripped her "gingerbread" so I made her a new one.  It's kind of scary, I know.  I love the yarn wig I made her!

 

I always have a towel with drying dishes on my counter.  I made this from pinterest.  Towel on the back, pretty on the front.

 

 

I've been planning this purse for a while.  There are several things I'd do differently for another one (and I might give them one to Allie and make me a new one that's not so bright.)  That said, I'm really happy with how it turned out.

 

My quilting sampler I've been working on for a while.  I've ripped it out several times.  I'm still not totally thrilled with it.  The stick people should be a solid dark color.  The skin tones just didn't show up, but it is what it is.  I'm not redoing it.  It'll hang on the wall and annoy me until I decide to make a new one :).