Silly Stuff

          Not only did Grady wear this swim diaper as a hat, but he forced me to, as well (no photo of that). He would say that my "biper" was dirty and make me switch to a clean "biper" over and over again.

Grady loves to wear boots- mine, his, or dad's.

         Grady likes to pretend he is going to run an errand. He gets his hat, his "person" (purse), and keys and says he is "going to Wal-Mart, see you tomorrow."

Grady after getting into my toiletry bag. 

        One of the prizes Grady got at a Halloween party was these inflatable...swords? I don't know, but they were loads of fun (for both!)

Grady's "ABCBs!" (Disregard how messy the apartment is in all of my videos!)

Halloween Festivities!

       We have been busy the past few nights going to Halloween and Fall Festivals in town. Here are some pics, and Grady gives a video recap at the end. 

Nana and Pop Visit

         The first thing we did was impress Nana and Pop with our celebrity connections. Here is Nick Cannon from America's Got Talent. They were auditioning people right near the Arch, so we watched for a minute. He was riding in a Clydesdale drawn carriage sponsored by Anheuser-Busch (they sponsor lots of stuff in St. Louis).

      We visited the St. Louis Zoo again, this time hitting the carousel and some of the animals Grady didn't see last time.

       Grady was especially excited to see the giraffes! He thought they were scary because they might bite him. When I said they wouldn't bite him, he said, "Go play!" Then I said that they would bite him if he tried to play with them.

       Something else Grady thought was scary were the penguins. It is just too cold and loud inside the penguin habitat. He remembered it being scary last time we visited.

       We visited Union Station, which is now a mall. There were some beautiful ceilings in one area, but mostly just a mall.

       Pop and Grady also took advantage of the hotel's pool.

        This picture was taken approximately 6 PM outside of Rigazzi's restaurant. It was famous for being the place where Al Capone was arrested. When we finally got seated and ordered after 2 HOURS, we realized he was easily captured here because the wait was so long!!

       We also drove through Lone Elk Park and saw elk, bison and deer wandering in the woods (and road). Grady really couldn't see from his car seat, so he got to sit up front in Pop's lap. 

          We had lots of fun with Nana and Pop! And Alex was there, he just didn't make the pictures.  :(

Me-mommy Visit

       Last weekend we had the pleasure of having Me-mommy visit! We stayed in St. Louis one night and came back to our luxurious apartment for the other two nights. In St. Louis, we visited the City Museum. It was very interesting. Lots of places to climb. It would be especially fun for the older cousins, but Grady could not enjoy all of it. He did like the big ball pit...

   talked Me-mommy into going down the slide with him...

and climbed the trees.

        Alex was really interested in taking Grady to the plane that was suspended several stories in the air, seen below. (Do you see the kids climbing through the "slinky" from the plane, way in the air?) Alex took Grady and climbed up a very narrow spiral staircase to get to the plane. He was worn out, but it was worth it! Grady enjoyed "flying" the plane.

      We then went under the Arch and toured the little museum they have. It was pretty neat- a stuffed bear and horse, a tee-pee, old West wagon, and this leather boat we are so thoroughly impressed with. 

       That night, after getting lost several times (with a GPS!) we finally found the restaurant where we wanted to eat. It was called Crown's Candy Shop, and since it had been featured on the Food Network, we thought it should be pretty good. The menu selections were basically just sandwiches that were okay. When we realized that they had a contest, "If you can drink 5 milkshakes in 30 minutes, they are all free" we realized that it was on that show where the guy does the food competitions. So it was not on the Food Network for the delicious food. BUT, the food was fine and the Hot Fudge Sundae was the best I had ever had. Homemade hot fudge that you couldn't eat if you had dentures. Grady enjoyed a little bit of everybody's "i hweem."

       

     Back on post, we visited the plane, boat and tank Grady always asks to "sit on." 



      He still did not get to sit on them, as there were signs forbidding it, but he did get to see them up close.

Guess What? Punkin Patch!

         We went to the local pumpkin patch last Friday. Grady was so excited. He would say, "Guess what? Punkin Patch!" over and over on the ride there. (He finally learned that you are supposed to say something after you say,"Guess what?" instead of just laughing.) 

We went on a hayride...

       The kids got to pick out pumpkins, but Grady liked picking them up and chunking them. He broke one pumpkin before we could stop him.

      There was also a petting zoo that Grady was very excited about, until we actually got up close to the ferocious baby goats.

       Finally, we enjoyed hot dogs...

    and s'mores.

A "Green" Weekend

       No, we weren't recycling. The first "green" activity was to go to the Frogtober Fest in the next town over! The Frogtober Fest was name for a rock jutting out of the side of the embankment next to the highway that  was shaped like a frog, and then subsequently painted like a frog by a local artist.

 Isn't this quaint?

      The Frogtober Fest had a few arts and crafts booths (camo dresses for your daughter anyone?--not me!) some deep fried selections, a jump castle, pony rides and emergency vehicles to climb on. Grady loved climbing in the fire truck and ambulance. If you ask him if he had fun, he would say, "Uh-huh. Dog poop." That's because he stepped in some kind of poop (I think horse) before walking all over the fire truck upholstery. Oops!

     He also wanted to ride the ponies. Actually, he wanted to ride the big white horse, but we talked him into the pony. (I was really surprised because last time he was around horses and Christmas he was very scared.) 

      Grady enjoy the first 2 laps on the pony, but then the pony got and itch and started twitching its body. Grady started sliding off the other side, so I had to grab him to keep from falling. He cried and wanted to get off the horse. If you ask him if he had fun riding the horse he says, "Uh-huh. I fall off." I correct him and say, "No... Mama caught you! You did not fall!"

     His other "green" adventure was on the golf green with Dad. 

      He spent half of the time using the club as a rake and the other half climbing on the parked golf carts.  I sat home and relaxed with a glass of ....grape kool-aid.