Back to school

Well, now that the kids have been in school for a month, I figured I should get some pictures posted.  So far the school year is going well, but it's been hard to get in to a routine with all the hot weather related early outs we've had so far.  Hopefully the fall temps will stay and a routine can be established.

Jaren - 5th Grade

My little stair steps - 10, 8, 6 & 2

 
Bethany - 3rd grade

Kate - age 2 1/2 - she looks so little next to the tall corn!

Erica - 1st grade

St. Louis Hotel

And last but not least here are some fun swimming pictures from our hotel.  We all loved the pool and hot tub!  I really struggled with what hotel to stay in for this trip.  It had to be the right price, but I also wanted space so we weren't all crammed into one small room.  We decided on the Embassy Suites and I am so glad we did!  We had a 2 room suite so we could spread out and the kids could watch their shows and we could watch ours.  We don't have cable at home so this was a special treat to watch all the fun shows we normally can't.  :)  There was an evening reception with free drinks, pop and party mixes that was fun to go to and then we could delay supper a little while.  The made-to-order breakfast in the mornings was awesome also and allowed us to skip lunch every day and just eat a snack in the afternoon.

And last but not least here are some fun swimming pictures from our hotel.  We all loved the pool and hot tub!  It is so nice that all the kids are very independent in the pool and don't need mom and dad to assist them.  Many cannonballs and synchronized jumping took place with the kids along with tossing the football back and forth.

This girl is a fish in the water.  I forgot her lifejacket so we quickly bought some arm floaties and away she went all over the entire pool by herself!

Erica's & daddy's favorite place was the hot tub :)

So happy in the pool!

Bethany jumping one of her millions of times.

Above & below shows all their group jumping efforts.  So much fun to watch all the girls playing so well together and doing what they all love.

Playing catch with a football.  Sometimes monkey in the middle was played also and I seemed to be the monkey more than not. :)

Loved this picture of their daddy/daughter talk.

Gateway Arch - Final day

Before heading back home, we went to visit the Gateway Arch.  When we got there, Kurtis noticed the boat rides that were being offered and thought it would be fun to go.  The kids really enjoyed it.  Then we headed to arch to take a quick walk-through of the history museum before it was our turn to go up into the arch.  What a cool thing to do and so fun to look at the small windows at the top.

Distracting them from blowing the whistle while we waited for our turn to go up into the arch. :)

All nice and cozy in our capsule getting ready to go up.

Another fun thing that Jaren & Kurtis did was attend a St. Louis Cardinals game.  It was a very long game and they didn't get back to the hotel until after 1 a.m., but they had a really good time.  Here's a picture of the stadium from the top of the arch.

Sitting at the top of the arch.

Ready to head back down.