Chicago

Torrey had to work in Chicago for 2 weeks so we decided to drive up (it's only about 5 or 6 hours) and stay with him. I hadn't ever been to Chicago and thought this would be a great time. The kids were great in the car and I loved all the farm land in Illinois. It is very rural all until about 60 miles out of Chicago.
Day 2 we went to Legoland. The boys loved it!

 The first exhibit was the Indian Jones Jungle, they were a little freaked out but still amazed at what a lego can make.

 It was Taylan's lucky day! He dresses as Batman everywhere we go, yes even with a cape. So to see Batman as a life size Lego figure was right up his alley.

 Legoland is actually a great place, it is one fee for entrance and then they can do any of the exhibits there. Rather than have to pay more for one thing or another.

The last exhibit was a life size of President Obama. Triton thought that was great.

 On the last day we went to Navy Pier. They of course wanted to ride the big Ferris Wheel. Don't you just love Taylan's outfit...he refused to change out of the "howrse shurt." Not ideal for pictures:)

 Triton looking out over the water at the Pier.

 Chicago Skyline...and Triton is so done with pictures at this point.

 Taylan watching Batman on the way home.

Illinois sunset on the drive back to St. Louis.

Visiting the St. Louis Arch

I am bound and determined to visit as many areas around us while we are here. We learned the hard way when we found out that we only had 3 weeks to say goodbye to Boise that we needed to do all those things we had put off for "some day." You never know when you'll be moving on.
So I purchased a Groupon (an intenet coupon) for Riverboat Tours of the Mississippi river and Arch area. All 3 boys (torrey included) gave me a hard time about leaving the house on a Saturday morning to go tour, but in the end they liked it.

 The boys near the Arch

 Taylan watching a riverboat ferry come up the river.

Triton with the Arch behind him

 Taylan resting on Tor's shoulders.

 Stone commemorating the Engineer of the bridge (yes Torrey thinks he is funny)

 Triton was so sad that we wouldn't pay to ride the carriages.

Triton was not impressed with the 60some odd stairs up to the Arch.

The park area just under the Arch. We were all amazed at how huge the Arch is, we will have to go back to ride to the top of the Arch.

B and Pa Visit!!

Granny B and Pa came to visit us for 6 days in October, they made the lonnnng drive from Idaho (yes Farmer Dean had to drive.) It was so great to show them our area and assure them that we are safe. We did a lot of touring around the countryside, took them to all our favorite restaurants and let them spoil the heck out of the kids.

 Taylan at Daniel Boone's home. He wore his coat like a cape all day and loved to dig in the dirt.

 I adore this picture of them walking in sync. Pa is explaining something and Tay is soaking it all up.

We went to a Pumpkin patch and Taylan could care less about pumpkins but was very in to all the animals. He had to pet all of them.

Looking at the fish at Bass Pro Shop. It reminds me of the Cabela's in Boise.
We had so much fun with B and Pa, it was so great to have them in our home. I am not sure what was worse, my tears to watch them go knowing I wouldn't see them until Christmas, or trying to retrain the boys that life was back to normal when B and Pa weren't there. All in all, we are blessed to have such a great family. We can't wait for Don (torrey's brother) to visit in November and for Lacee and the boys to come stay at Thanksgiving.

Washington DC

Torrey had to work in Baltimore for two weeks, so the second week the boys and I flew out and joined him.

The first day we drove to Mount Vernon, which was the home of George Washington, it was my favorite place to visit when I went to DC with my mom and sister. But I am not sure if it was jet lag or just that it was 90degrees, I didn't get many pictures there like I wanted to. This is Torrey, Taylan and Triton watching the blacksmith.

 Torrey and Taylan in the air and space museum under an airplane

 Torrey and Taylan at the Natural History Museum near the Dinosaurs, Tay loved this area.

The boys in front of a mural about early aquatic animals

 My lovely travelers at the Mall area with the Capitol behind them, at least Triton is excited about his blow-up space shuttle toy.

The boys in front of the Washington Monument

 Living in a motel for a week, with no car, we would walk a mile or so to the Dollar store and then back. They got quite creative with toys and were so good about playing together

 One of the days we caught the shuttle to the amtrack, rode it to Union Station, then ride the metro to walk 4 blocks to the Zoo. We quickly realized we are spoiled Westerners to hop in a car to get everywhere quickly.

 Taylan on the amtrack, he loved the window seat.

Taylan at the Zoo by the Zebra. The nice thing about D.C. is all the museums, zoo, ect are free once you get to them.

 Taylan wanted to see the Panda, then they were so disappointed that he was too tired to entertain them. But it was fun to see a real panda.

 The final night we took them to a Medieval Joust Dinner/Tournament. We definately reccomend this for boys!

 Taylan looking at the knight figurines. he sat there for 10 minutes.

Triton loved eating a whole chicken for dinner, Dragontail soup (tomatoe) and bread with no silverware...which is how he regularly tries to eat.

St. Charles home

Click on the picture of the house.
It will take you to a site called Picasa, on the left above the pictures is a button to click for a slide show.
Enjoy!

Family Update

Alright, I admit that I am not the most up to date blogger. But I am going to try harder now that we live so far away. Which needs explaining itself...as some still might not know we moved or why.

We have moved to Saint Charles, Missouri. It is a suburb on the west side of St. Louis on the other side of the Missouri river. The cities near St. Louis all finger in and out of each other. So instead of having one suburn of 70,000 like Nampa is to Boise, there are like 80something smaller cities of anywhere from 3,000 to 20,000. Even though it all seems the same to me:)

ANyway, Torrey found this amazing job in St. Louis, we had been looking around for a few months as his job situation began to "fizzer" but honestly, I had to look on a map to know exactly where Missouri was. Yes I'd heard of it but didn't know it was as far south as it is.

In late July we flew out here for job interviews and to pick out a house, we flew home, i went to Dallas a day later for a week, then the Cabin for a few days then came home, packed and we were gone. That fast.

It had only been a month since the job interview and moving in to this house. Mind you the home I picked out when we came in July fell through and I had to pick one out on the internet.

With the help of Lacee and Houston, we drove out here driving 18 hours! the first day then the final 6 the next.

We lived at Rennaissance Suites for a week waiting on our moving truck. Triton calls it our first home...fine by me!

Triton started school and Torrey started work the following Monday and we are feeling more normal now.

our new address is:

932 Squirrels Nest Ct.

Saint Charles, MO 63303

and yes we have squirrels, the little turds eat my bird food:)

Stay tuned for pictures of all our new adventures!

Grant's Farm

On Saturday September 11th we took went out on one of our first adventures. We are finding that a lot of places in the St. Louis area are free like the zoo, historical sites, museums, ect.
We took the boys to Ulysses S. Grant's farm. It is called Grant's Farm. It is about 20 minutes from our house and was fun to drive a new route and see some animals!

Taylan with a Clydesdale

At the Clydesdale Stables

<>

taylan loved the pigmy goats!

<>

Taylan could run over and visit the burro while the rest of us ate lunch. He was in heaven!