trip to st. louis

so we spent about 5 days visiting st. louis recently. and as always, it was a great time. i love being back home. my sister was home as well. it's not often that we are all there together. so it was really nice. we celebrated a few occasions... my sister's birthday, mother's day and my parent's anniversary. even though i'm a grown adult with a family of my own, i love being with my parents and sister. there is always that familiar sense of security and comfort and ease... that feeling of complete unconditional love and support. they still make me feel like i'm so special and they still encourage me by telling me how proud they are of me... even though i'm 34! it bums me out that i will always have to fly to see them. but i'm thankful for what i have and that they are not too far away.

addison had a great time during our stay too. we had a playdate with my one of my high school friends and her sons, played at a nearby park, got together with her cousins for a bbq, went to a petting farm, went out to eat, played a lot with new toys, etc. unfortunately, i didn't get to capture everything that we did. i didn't bring my camera. just had my cell phone. but here are a few activities i did get...

she discovered a couple new games like memory and the board game, candyland... which by the way, she was obsessed with! candyland is the perfect boardgame for kids her age. and literally, candyland was on her brain morning, noon and night! she wanted to play it ALL the time! i don't know why or how i didn't get a picture of that game. but here she is playing memory with "ti-ti".




cruisin' with garfield ("the cat with the plaid hat" as addie called him)...







at grant's farm... oh my gosh, how cute is this baby goat??!!! my maternal vibes were going crazy. i wanted to cradle the thing in my arms!



oh my gosh, how cute are they???!!



"i want to pet him!"






these little newborn goats were adorable, but a few of the older babies get a little TOO excited when you walk in the pen with that bottle of milk. one was trying to suckle on my cell phone while i was trying to pry another one sucking on addie's shirt! hence this picture...




and then just being plain goofy in the car... i love the sequence of these pictures. she was playing with her hands/fingers (she recently discovered crossing her fingers) and then she kept wanting me to take pictures of her. she'd say, "take another one!" and then she'd do a different pose. it was cracking me up!







this one looks like some sort of kiddie gang sign!