Heidi had her 8 year well child check. It was another really fast and easy one. Heidi is growing well (4’6″-94%, 80lbs-95%), didn’t need any vaccines, and there are no concerns. I was able to answer that she is a great sister, very smart, responsible, and mature. Her physical exam went smoothly and she’s a healthy, normal, 8 year old girl She started telling her doctor about how her dad is a doctor too, and that her mom sends him to work with treats. Her doctor was able to let her know that he’s had some of my treats when daddy’s working She told him I make the best treats and he agreed with her. We go back in 1 year again.

It’s finally happening tomorrow!!!! The FDA approved the vaccine for kids 5-11 years old last week Friday (October 29). The CDC met on Tuesday, November 2nd and approved it too. That gives the green light to have kids get the vaccine!!! They will be getting Pfizer at 1/3 the dose adults get. I started looking for appointments on Tuesday evening but nothing was showing up that quickly. As soon as I opened my eyes on Wednesday I started looking again. The hospitals didn’t have anything yet and Walmart was letting me look (the age didn’t block me like it had on Tuesday) but didn’t have any appointments showing up. I founds CVS and Walgreens taking appointments starting Sunday. Most of the appointments were on the hour at CVS, and I wasn’t sure how that would go with 4 appointments. Walgreens was closer with around 30 minute intervals, so I signed the kids up for Monday morning starting at 9:10am. Bob is in South Dakota hunting and won’t get home until Sunday evening, so I was okay waiting a day for him to be there before his 10am shift on Monday. I messaged Alex and 2 of my girlfriends that I was talking with the night before about the appointments since they have kids the same age. Shortly after that one of the friends, Ashley, messaged me back. She’s a pediatrician at Bellin and let me know they were going to do a clinic starting on Friday, November 5th and would start taking appointments at 1pm on Wednesday. I tried setting up a Bellin account to schedule it myself, but couldn’t figure out how to get my kids linked in my account. I called the scheduling hotline and around 12:30pm and at first it seemed like I would be able to book early, but then the program stopped her. The woman on the phone said we could get all the kids in the system at least so when I did schedule it would go faster. She said to call back later that afternoon, but didn’t seem to know exactly when things would open. I of course called back exactly at 1pm. The woman I got this time was a little slower. Her name was Ruby and talked to me about her grandchildren….. At first she tried telling me that they could not take appointments until Friday. I was able to push since I had such a reliable source for this, and she went to check with someone. She was so slow about it all and I was watching my clock going a little crazy. She comes back and says “We can start taking appointments today at 1pm. Oh, It’s 1:01, I guess that’s now then”. Yes lady, I know!! Schedule my kids!!! Then she would waste time by saying things like “I know were’ all excited. My grandkids are the same age and we’re excited to get them scheduled….” She said the words, but her actions didn’t seem to show that she understood how urgent this was for me. She asked what time I wanted her to look for and I said anything that morning, as soon as they open. She said 7am was available, slowly booked Bobby, then told me a lot of information about where to go and what to wear and all that. I really wanted to tell her to wait until all the appointments were booked and then tell me the details, but I held my tongue, knowing that would just slow us down if I asked her to deviate from the script in front of her. She told me about how we might get 2 or 3 kids at the same time slot, but might have another one later, but often they will do all the kids at once, yadda, yadda. Again, not necessary info. Schedule Bobby, move on, see what we can get, then tell me all that. Ahhhhhh!!! Well after all of that she told me I was lucky and all 4 kids were able to get 7am. Thank you Ruby! I had been keeping Alex updated on this, since she scheduled Monday morning too. She ended up calling Bellin when I did and got Brynn and Whitney 7:15am time slots. We didn’t even discuss the time before calling, but we must have both been thinking the same thing! We are going to take the kids out to breakfast after to celebrate and then drop them at school.

I was okay waiting 1 day (Sunday -> Monday) for Bob to be here, but then when I found out it could be 3 days earlier, I couldn’t pass that up. I know 3 days doesn’t sound like much, but every hour counts to me right now. Masking is optional for their school district and our kids are either the only ones in their class wearing a mask, or one of just a couple. I think they are doing their best at school, but since it’s not mandatory I’m sure none of the teachers are correcting them if it’s not on or below their nose/mouth. They also take them off for eating and drinking, so it’s not like they are protected all day, and there is no security in knowing other kids are masked to keep their germs to themselves. Pulaski is also really lax about quarantining students. I’m thankful that they haven’t had to shut down any of the classes yet, but we’ve gotten letters for all the kids that someone in their grade tested positive and to monitor the kids. So far I haven’t heard anything about students passing COVID on to each other, it’s coming from their homes or somewhere else.

I’m looking forward to my kids being vaccinated for many reasons. Thankfully our family, and even our extended family, has stayed healthy this entire time. I feel like it’s the week before my 21st birthday and I’m worried I’ll get caught drinking when I made it that far without any issue I feel like once the kids are vaccinated I can breath a sigh of relief. If they get sick, it will be minimal. Bob and I are still masking indoors since that’s what’s recommended by the CDC, even though we’re vaccinated. Once our kids are fully vaccinated (mid December) I’ll feel comfortable ditching the masks for our whole family (pending things don’t change). When I’m with my kids I mask to be a good role model and show them we’re in this together and that their heath is important to me. When I’m by myself I mask to be a good mom and not bring anything home to them if I get a breakthrough case. I’m also so excited for my kids to get vaccinated so they won’t be a carrier (systematic or not) and inadvertently get a friend, family member, or person in the community sick.

So many people that are against the vaccine mandate talk about their freedom and rights. The problem with that is their choice to not get vaccinated and not mask is impacting my family’s freedom by risking their health, potentially quarantining my kids, and making us miss events and plans. Once my entire family is vaccinated their choices won’t have such an impact on my loved ones.

I just realized that the kids will be officially fully vaccinated on December 10. Bob received his first shot on December 18^th last year. He was one of the first adults to get vaccinated, and now our kids will be one of the first kids to get vaccinated! It took 51 weeks, but we all made it. This might be our final step towards normalcy and I am so excited to take it tomorrow!!!

It’s so easy to sign up for things and then live our crazy schedule. It happens slowly and I slot things in as we go. But then when the schedule is set and I have to write it all down for a sitter, that’s when I realize how nuts it is! I wanted to write it down now, so future me can see what was going on in our family.

Monday: Easy day. The kids take the bus home from school and get here about 4:15pm/4:20pm. The piano teacher comes over around 4:45/5pm and they kids take turns doing piano lessons in the living room. Bobby and Heidi are each for 30 minutes, while the twins are staying at 15 minutes for now. Everyone is doing excellent and it really highlights how far the big kids have gone now that we are looking at the music they started with again. Piano finishes around 6:15/6:30pm and we have dinner. However, 1 time a month I have a virtual PTO meeting at 6pm, so I give the kids instructions to be good listeners and cross my fingers while I retreat to my bedroom or the basement to lead the meeting.

Tuesday: Easy day again. Heidi does voice lessons on the computer from 7:15-7:45am. The kids take the bus home again, and then I leave around 4:30pm to drop Heidi off at cheer practice from 5-6pm. Bob and I started a sand volleyball league, so a sitter will come over for 2ish hours and we get a chance to see some friends.

Wednesday: Crazy. I pick the kids up at school at 3:45pm. 2x/month I lead Girl Scouts at my house from 4-5pm. If it’s one of those weeks I drop the 3 boys off with my neighbor Stephanie so she can bring them to ninja class with her son from 4:30-5:30pm. If it’s not a Girl Scout week I drop them off at ninja. As soon as Girl Scout ends I drive Heidi and Brynn to their dance class that starts at 5:30pm. I then drive back to my neighbor’s house so I can get the 3 boys. If Bob happens to not work that day, he will go get them at ninja and bring Bobby to Swim Team in Pulaski that goes from 6-6:30pm. If that’s the case I then drive to meet Bob at a central location to get the twins from him. If Bob is working, Bobby hast to miss swim team. After getting the boys from wherever, I go back to dance to pick up Heidi and Brynn at 6:15pm. They have been getting out a few minutes early a few weeks in a row, which makes me look ‘late’ to get them, but I’m there before 6:15. I know a lot of the parents stay in the parking lot so it’s not a big deal, but to me every minute counts!! We then drive to drop Brynnlee at her house. We drive to the YMCA so the kids can all do swim from 6:55-7:25pm. If Bobby was at swim team, Bob will bring him to join swim lessons late. We then come home to shower here. Up until this last session I used to shower everyone at the gym. However, now that the boys are getting older I don’t use the family locker room, and I don’t want them to try to figure that out on their own in the men’s locker room. It used to be so LOUD in the family shower trying to get everyone in and out. Also there were only 3 showers so if we didn’t get one immediately there was a long wait.

Thursdays: Crazy. I pick up Bobby, Heidi, Brynn, and Heid/Bobby’s friend Ava (who is in cheer with Heidi, but in Bobby’s grade at Hillcrest) at parent pickup at 3:45pm. The twins take the bus home with Auntie Alex’s house. They hang out there for a little bit and then she takes them to dance class with Whitney. They are in different classes, but at the same time. I pack their little bag with their dance shoes and snack in their backpack that morning. Their class is from 5-5:45pm. After I pick up the big kids I take them all the GBE so the 3 girls can change in the bathroom. I get Heidi’s hair set and leave her there at 4:15pm for lessons and team practice from 4:30-6pm. I then take Brynn to drop her off at her gymnastics that starts at 4:30pm. Bobby hangs out in the van with me for all of this, so I let him play on his iPad. Bobby and I come home for a short while, and then we leave to pick up Brynn at 5:30pm. We go to GBE and Bobby and Brynn play on the iPad for a bit while Heidi finishes up. We then go drop off Brynn at her house about 6:15pm, and pick up the twins. Our next stop is our neighbor’s so I can get their son, Levi, and drop Heidi off with them so she can play with his sister Ali. I take my 3 boys and Levi to Boy’s Class at GBE from 6:45-7:30pm. I either go run some errands or eat dinner in the van while they are getting energy out. When they finish we drop off Levi, pick up Heidi and head home.

Friday: We seem to have something fun going on most Friday evenings, but when we don’t Bobby has swim team from 6:15-7pm.

Saturday: From September through mid October Bobby had flag football at 9am in Pulaski.

Now everything is going to be shifting a bit. Ninja is done on Wednesdays. Bobby’s Saturday flag football is over, but an indoor league is starting on Thursdays. This is conflicting with Boy’s Class this week, so I’m not sure how we’re going to work this out. The schedule comes out soon and we’ll figure that out. On Saturday mornings Bobby has basketball at the YMCA (fundamentals and scrimmages), the twins are on a wait list for basketball there (just fundamentals), and Heidi has gymnastics. The twins are also starting their first flag football league and that’s on Saturday late morning/early afternoon, so we’ll see how we can make all that work too! The boys are all signed up for wrestling. That starts mid December for Bobby and early January for the twins. It’s 2x/week. The twins can only go on Tuesdays because it conflicts with their dance on Thursdays. Bobby is supposed to be Monday and Wednesday, but just signed up for baseball too. The practices conflict completely. Basketball practice starts early November, so it won’t be an issue for a little bit, but I’m waiting for clarification on the schedule from the coach. It looks like there are just practices and then 1 tournament. If it’s just practices I’m hoping he can skip 1x/week so he can keep up with wrestling and basketball while they overlap. I need to find a personal chauffeur for these kids!!!

I’ve been thinking a lot this past year about how the kids’ hugs change. Bobby and Heidi are at the stage that they give me a good squeeze around my waist. The twins are about to outgrown the stage of wrapping tight around my thigh. I have such vivid memories of doing dishes or prepping dinner in the small kitchen in Roanoke and feeling little hands pulling up on my legs to a standing position from crawling. They would hold on tight and look straight up at me with the biggest, proudest smile on their face. There were times that I would get ‘trapped’ in that position because I was the only thing preventing them from falling back down on their bottom. The hugs are moving higher on me, but they are still as tight and I can still feel how much they are depending on me in that moment, even if it’s not primarily for balance like it once was. It sounds unfathomable to know that in the not so distant future these hugs are going to be around my shoulders. Gosh I love those hugs so much!!!

The kids finished up another round of swim lessons. They are still staying with kids in levels 1-3 being grouped together and levels 4-6 together. I don’t know if they seperate further at the younger ages, but Bobby and Heidi have been in the same group. This session Brent and Chad were with Mr. Owen (one of the teachers we have often!) and 2 little girls. Bobby and Heidi had Ms. Arielle and were with one other girl.

The kids were given their mid-sesison report at the end of September. At that time Ms. Arielle said that Bobby (level 6: stroke mechanics) didn’t have his breastroke or butterfly, which is fitting with what his swim team coach has said), but “achieved” everything else. When Bob was around in the evenings Bobby would have swim team at the middle school from 6 to 6:30/6:45 and them come late to swim at the Y from 6:55-7:25pm. The guy who leads swim lessons now filled in for Bobby’s teacher (and the twins at one point) and we found out that he coaches the boys Pulaski High School team! Bobby’s Y instructor said he’s “awesome” at front crawl and “can improve on” his breast kick. Ummm….I think she meant breast stroke? Today’s Certificate of Achievenment had his passing everything, writing hes “awesome” at Butterfly and “can improve on” Back Crawl. She wrote a note on the front saying “Great swimmer!! Level 6 or swim team!”. Hopefully we’ll be able to move to just swim team, but it can be so hard trying to fit everything in when Bob isn’t around in the evenings.

Heidi is in Level 5: Stroke Development. At the mid-session report she was surprisingly scored the same as Bobby, although the expectations for the levels are much different. For example endurance is only 50 yards for Heidi but 150 for Bobby. The front crawl, is 50yds for Bobby but 25yds for Heidi. He also has to do a flip-turn. Back crawl, Resting Stroke, and Breastsroke (Bobby also has to open turn, whatever that means!) is 25yds for Heidi and 50yds for Bobby. For “Tread Water”, Bobby is retrieve object off bottom and tread for 1 minute. Heidi is scissor & whip kick for 2 minutes. Bobby’s butterfly is 25 yards and Heidi’s is 15yards. Ms. Arielle said Heidi is “awesome at” her Back Crawl and “can improve” on breast stroke and tread water. At her end of session report she had less “achieved” than at mid-session! Not sure what’s up with that. Was Heidi not trying as hard, did something get messed up? At this one she only “achieved” Front Crawl and Resting Stroke.  Heidi will continue to stay in Level 5.

Brent and Chad are in Level 3: Water Stamina, and Mr. Owen said he officially wrote that they should stay there next time, but they are “so close!” to level 4 and he wants to wait and see how the next session goes because so much matters on who they would get as their instructor in level 4. He said a more experienced instructor would be good for them, but didn’t think a newbie would be comfortable with it. At level 4 they move from the shallow side of the pool by the windows over to the far lap side! At mid-session Brent and Chad each “achieved” one skill the other hadn’t.  They both “achieved” Submerge (retrieve object in chest-deep water), Water Exit independently, Jump/Swim/Turn/Swim/Grab (10yds), Wim on Back (15yds), Roll (back to front and front to back. Brent also “achieved” Swim/Float/Swim (25yds) and Chad “achieved” Swim on Front 15 yards. They are both working on treading water for 1 minute and then exiting. Mr. Owen wrote that Brent and Chad are both “awesome at” submerging and “can improve” on Tread Water. Brent does love to jump into the water and never has to plug his nose. For the first time ever they got one certificate of achievement for the both of them at the end of the session. The “achieved” everything except Swim on Front 15yds and Swim on Back 15yds. They are still “awesome” at submerging and “can improve on” swimming on back. They will stay in Stage 3: Water Stamina for the next session, and we’ll revisit if they are ready for level 4: Stroke Introduction for the winter sessions.

The boys had their well child check today. It was a really simple and easy one. They took the kids stats (all great), asked how they’re doing with sleeping/eating/etc, and checked them out (lungs/mouth/eyes/ears/etc). The kids loved the part where they got to jump high, stand on one leg, walk the straight line, walk like a duck, and squeeze the doctor’s fingers. No vaccines needed this appointment, and they come back in a year.

Brent is 46lb 6oz (54th percentile) and 3’11” (77th percentile). Blood pressure was 98/60 and BMI is 14.76 (30th percentile). Chad is exactly 1 pound and 1 inch more than Brent. He’s 47lb 6oz (59th percentile) and 4′ (89th percentile). Blood pressure was 100/62 and BMI of 14.46 (20th percentile). Again, the BMI chart is so goofy at all ages! Brent still looks thinner than Chad, although Chad looks to have had a recent growth spurt and has thinned a bunch. Youl would never guess that Brent’s BMI is the higher one! This heigh difference has made all the difference this summer though, as Chad crossed the 48″ mark do to some of the rides on his own (like the Giant Slide at Bay Beach), or drive the bumper cars at the county fair.

We went on our first family trip in I don’t know how long this week. We went to St. Louis for Bob’s conference. I’ve been able to travel with Bob to some of his conferences in the past, but we’ve never brought the family. This is the first time that they’ve all been old enough that I’ve felt confident that it would be fun for me while Bob is busy. The biggest push though was that my friend Erica and her family live in St. Louis and we haven’t seen Erica and her husband Tyler since we all lived in Wisconsin back in 2012. Erica was a bridesmaid in our wedding and the last time we saw them Bobby was a newborn and she had a (newly) 1 year old. We moved to Virginia for residency, she soon after moved to St. Louis for her residency and our paths never crossed in Wisconsin. She has since had 2 more kids (Eli, 6 years old and Luke, 2 years old), and I had Heidi and the twins.

We left on Sunday, June 20th at 3:30pm after Bob finished up his 6am-2pm shift in the ER. We haven’t driven more than 2 hours in the car with the kids since pre-covid when we would drive 14-17 hours between Wisconsin and Virginia regularly. We had found that leaving around 3-4am worked best, so the kids got some sleep and then would fall back to sleep in the car for a while. We would get to our destination before bedtime and the rest of the trip would be pretty normal. We had tried leaving before their bedtime, or right when they woke up, but those scenarios had their own problems. This trip was the easiest trip by far. The kids are all in at least booster seats, so they are so much more comfortable. We recently gave them all their own iPads so they were able to watch movies with headphones on. This meant I could drive in peace and Bob could work on his computer the whole 7 hours with minimal interruptions. We stopped 1 time for dinner (Culvers in the van) and gas, and arrived in St. Louis around 11pm. We checked into the Union Hotel (where the conference is), and got the kids set up in their adjoining room from us so they were in bed right after midnight.

Everyone slept in to between 8 and 9am on Monday morning! It’s also great that they are starting to understand sleeping in. Until very recently (and often still), they wake up at 6:30/7am no matter what time they go to bed. We were able to organize ourself in the morning and then head out to lunch. We picked IMO’s Pizza since it was near the zoo, and later found out it’s a staple St. Louis place to try and their pizza is very unique. They use a white processed cheese known as Provel. Provel is a trademark for a combination of three cheeses (provolone, Swiss, and white cheddar). It tasted very processed, and we definitely prefer good ol’ mozzarella! But we’re glad we could give it a try. There was some rain in the morning, but thankfully it passed through right before we were able to meet up with Erica, Tyler, and their kiddos at the zoo at 1pm. It was so great to see them, and didn’t feel like 9 years had passed at all!! Erica is finishing up her pediatric rheumatology fellowship at the end of this month after doing the MD-PhD route in med school. She’s so smart and driven! She will be staying on in St. Louis as an attending and doing research. We stayed at the zoo until they kicked us out at 5pm. Heidi and Eli took a minute to warm up to each other, acting shy, but became quick friends and were holding hands around the zoo. We were able to see the bears running around playing, as well as all the other fun zoo animals. We took the train around and Brayden and Bobby were able to spend some time together in a seat on their own in the back. Of course the girls were together, while the twins were sometimes together and sometimes with me. The zoo was awesome (and free!)!!

Bob had to do some work stuff for the conference, so the kids dropped him off at the hotel to get that done while we went to Target to get some food for the hotel and some things that I forgot (like a belt for myself). We picked up Bob, who had been able to catch up with our friend Jack while we were gone and then we chatted with for a bit while Bob brought our groceries up, and went back to Erica and Tyler’s for dinner. We were able to see their place and they provided us with a wonderful cookout dinner! The big boys played a lot of baseball, the girls played in Eli’s room, and the twins enjoyed their dog and play set. We were there until around 9pm having so much fun! The kids wanted to stay and kept asking when we could come back! We’ll see them on Wednesday eveing for ice cream. When we got back to the room Bob taught Bobby and Heidi how to use our emergency flip phone to call me if there was a problem. We put them to bed, locked them in, and went down to the hotel to have a drink with Jack and catch up a bit. It’s the first time we left them like that and it went perfectly. We were able to see the light show in the atrium during our time with Jack. We were down there from about 10:30-11:30pm and the kids slept and had no issues.

Everyone slept in again until 8-9am on Tuesday. I actually had to wake up Bobby a little after 9am because we had plans! Bob had 2 talks to give, so the kids and I made plans to meet up with my mom’s boss Tabitha who lives down here. She has a 2 year old boy so we drove to where she lives, across the river in Illinois, and played at the park. We met at 1 playground, played for a long time there, and the kids moved on to playing in the pond. Once they got nice and dirty we went to the van, changed into their swimsuits, and drove down the road to a splashpad, playground and stream. It was such a fun place! The kids had a blast and I was able to get to know Tabitha. My mom has told me that we would really get along and she was right. She’s a sweet young mom who’s my age. I’m so glad my mom set me up on a playdate

We came back to the hotel about 1:30pm, made sandwiches in the hotel, watched some of the movie Luca, and headed down to the pool. We were down there from about 2:30-4:30pm. The kids had a great time playing and swimming while I enjoyed them and also did some of my crosswords. It was so relaxing and fun! Bob finished up his 2nd talk and came to meet up with us. We walked around the Union Station area for a while, and then came back to the room to shower and change for dinner. We went down to The Train Shed, there was a 20-30 minute wait, so we went over and got some drinks while the kids played on the playsets. We went back for dinner (Brent spilled his water 2 times, the second time breaking the glass on the floor!), and then went to check out the Ferris Wheel. We were able to go on that for the 15 minute ride, going around about 5 times and reaching 200 feet in the air. We all loved it! We were able to get home about 8pm and get the kids to bed at a more ‘normal’ time for the first time this trip.

On Wednesday Bob had some meetings on the computer, so the kids and I went to explore City Museum. The website did not do it justice, just someone at the conference suggested it to Bob. It was awesome!!! We were there from 10:30-1:30pm and only left because we wanted to get back to the hotel for lunch. The kids were also getting tired becuase it was such an exciting place! We walked there since it was about 0.7 miles away. When we left the hotel at 10am they were doing the light show in the lobby. It was a fun, colorful show for the kids. They enjoyed watching it and dancing to the music! When we got to the museum we had to wait in a long line to get into the general museum, and then another line to get tickets to the rooftop. We found out they sold out quickly and were for specific time slot. We decided to do the first one from 10:30-12:15pm. The roof had an old bus that was hanging over the edge that the kids could play in and pretend to drive. There was a gate covering the front door, but the kids could open and close it. We had a lot of fun in there near the end of the time slot because it really cleared out at the end. There was a really tall slide that you could climb on top of (in a small cage thing) to get to the top. I did it too and it was really cool! There were so many things to climb up, climb in, and explore. The people up there started doing this thing where they tried to run up the side of a slide that was at a good incline like the Warped Wall in Ninja Warrior. The kids tried their best but didn’t make it up. There was a Ferris Wheel up there, but it wasn’t in use at the time. We were up there the whole time period and then went to explore the other outside area. There were so many tunnels and paths to get everwhere. I climbed with the kids and it was a tight squeeze! I often had to put my bag in front of me while doing the acrobatics because there wasn’t room for it to be sling around me while I maneuvered. There were 2 old airplanes to climb through, some cool wire spires to go up high in, a castle dungeon, slides, and a metal walking path like you were in Avatar. We played inside a little bit, mostly in the grated tunnels that went everywhere and down a long slide. I didn’t join them in those tunnels, but stayed in one location so everyone could come back to me every few minutes. If my kiddos were any younger, it would have been such a stressful day trying to keep track of everyone! Some of the tunnels were hidden and they went up and down to other levels. Even the slides went from one floor to the other. It was such a fun day with them!

We came back to the hotel and had a late lunch in the room. Bob was finished for the day, so we were able to go out as a family. When we left the hotel we were able to watch the fire show in the water outside our hotel. We continued on to the Mirror Maze. We told the kids to not touch the mirrors on purpose, since that leaves handprints and makes the illusion less believable, but to also keep their hands infront of them so they don’t run their face into the mirror. Chad put his hands straight up in the air and started walking. It was so funny, but wouldn’t help him out at all! We said to put their hands down and just be careful Brent found a nice corner to dance in and it looks like an awesome team dance! There were a few fun rooms to explore. One of them had all these doors that had fun/funny things behind them when you opened up a little slot on them. We saw vampire eyes and a cow! We went back into the outside commons area, grabbed a drink for the adults, and the kids played on the train playset again. We then played a round of mini-golf. The kids did a great job listening, staying off the green, hitting the ball an appropriate strenght, and (as always) encouraging each other! Bob and I each got a hole in 1 It was 18 condensed holes, and the final result was in birth order, with Bob doing the best. We came back to the hotel and looked for a place for dinner. We decided on Schlafly’s Tap Room, only 0.3 miles from our hotel. We were able to sit outside in the biergarten. Bob ordered a flight of beers and I tried their cider. It was all really good! The kids got lemonades in cute coffee cups with the lids with the small opening. Heidi thought that was extra cool and wanted to bring her cup home. The weather was great and the food was delicious. The portions were huge! The twins got the chicken tenders off the kids menu and they were as big as the plate and over fries. Bobby got a burger off the adult menu and added a fried egg, his new favorite thing to do with Daddy. Heidi got a grilled cheese that was on Texas Toast that was huge too. I got the fish sandwich and couldn’t even fit it in my mouth. Bob’s Ahi taco’s were the smallest dinner! When we left we had a few boxes of leftovers, but wasn’t sure what we’d do with them since we don’t have a microwave in the hotel. We passed a couple homeless men that we were able to give it to. The kids really liked that we were able to help them out.

We came back to the hotel for a short while, and then called valet to get our van. It took over 20 minutes again, when they keep telling Bob it will be 5 The only successful time we’ve had with that is when I was alone with the kids on Tuesday. I called from the room and it was waiting for us when we got there! We drove to meet up with Erica, Tyler, Brayden, Eli and Luke at Ted Drews, a popular custard place here on the historic route 66. We didn’t get there until about 8pm, and the line was still wrapped around the back of the building! Thankfully, the line went quickly and there were a lot of windows open to take ordered. It felt a lot like Leon’s in Milwaukee. It was good, but the custard in Wisconsin is better I’m glad we could check it out and see our friends one more time before leaving town!

Our last full day was Thursday. Bob started with a meeting on the computer, and then took Bobby on a run down by the arch. The kids and I hung out in the hotel room until they came back all sweaty and looking very related They had the same sweat marking down their shirts. I’m so impressed with Bobby! We all got our swimsuits on and went to the pool. It was cloudy and the water was pretty chilly, but we had a lot of fun throwing water balls, kicking the football across the pool, throwing each other in, and swimming the lenght of the pool. It worked out well that we had the pool all to ourselves for almost an hour. Brent really impressed me by jumping in the deep end and then swimming almost the whole length. I know he could do the whole thing if he wanted. Chad was doing a great job too, but would go to the edge to hang out every once and a while. Heidi swam the whole thing no problem. We had their life jackets but nobody needed them today. I’m so happy that they are becoming strong, confident swimmers! We came back up to the room, showered, and at our final lunch. It worked out well that we finished up a few of our groceries.

At noon we went to the aquarium. It’s pretty small and connected to our hotel, which is super convienent. It started out with this cool ‘train ride’ with video of St. Louis going past the windows. We rode the rails, then flew in the air, dove into the Mississippi, and then shot over to the Gulf of Mexico! The seats vibrated and they really made you feel like you were dipping and turning along the way. We were able to see some small sharks, rays, jellyfish, pretty fish, piranahs, and all the other standard fish. The kids could touch small fish and rays. We saw how some small fish that live in the mangroves shoot water up at insects to capture their food. They had a fun topography thing where you could move sand around and the colors would change to make it look like a lake, beach, hill or snowy mountain! The kids were able to pick out some souviners from the gift shop, using some of their birthday/Christmas money. Brent and Bobby each wanted a stingray puppet that’s pretty cute. Heidi got a sequin otter and a pom mermaid keychain. Chad got a shark stuffed animal and some plastic toy turtles. Bobby also got a sequin shark and Brent got a sequin turtle. We wanted to go to the Carousel next, but there is lightening in the area, so they had all the attractions shut down. The kids wanted to play on the playgound with their stuffed animals for a while. It was great seeing them create games and play with each other!

Around 1:45pm we headed back to our room so Bob could do a meeting and the kids could relax. There was rain in the forcast so we weren’t sure what that would mean for our river cruise we booked for 4:30pm. It was looking pretty iffy for a while, but it ended up clearing up in time! We walked the 1.5 miles down to the arch and walked through some parks and a sculpture garden on the way. There were some circle bike racks that were empty that Bobby turned into a fun obstacale course along the walk. It was so cute seeing the twins following Bobby and then Heidi doubling back to join in. We walked through the park by the arch and walked over the bridge to stand above the Mississippi. On our way to visit the arch Chad started having a hard time with the walking. He said his neck was broken and his legs weren’t working. He was so sad and pathetic walking slowly with his head laying to the side. He kept going through! We checked out the outside of the arch, but we weren’t able to get tickets to ride the tram to the top. Tickets sell out weeks in advance and I didn’t realize that. There was a food truck by the river that we grabbed some food from, including a funnel cake. It rained on us a little bit, but it wasn’t bad. We then went on the boat for our hour long river cruise. Bobby and Heidi had a fun time exploring the boat and everyone liked checking out the water. On the way back to the hotel we took a different path and walked past the baseball stadium. There was a game that night so it was so cool to walk through that fun atmosphere. The stadium is sunken in the ground and you can see through the gates as you walk past. The street next to the stadium was closed to vehicles so there were so many people walking between the restaurants and the stadium. We want to check out a game next time we come to town!

We were able to go right to the carousel and go on a ride. We probably walked about 5 miles that afternoon. I’m so proud of the kids doing that with no complaining (besides Chad for a little bit before the arch).  We decided to spend the last night in St. Louis cuddled up with the kids in the hotel room and watched The Little Rascals. The kids and I haven’t seen it, so it was a lot of fun!

On Friday morning we packed up our things, dressed nice, and went down to the hotel restaurant for a ‘nice’ brunch buffet. It was our 10 year anniversary, so we were able to give each other anniversary cards and celebrate with the family we created  

We dropped off Bob at the rental car so he could drive to Kansas City to see some friends for the weekend. The kids and I made the 7/7.5 hour drive home to Green Bay. It is so easy now that they are older and now that they all have an iPad with headphones We stopped once in the early afternoon at McDonald’s to use the restroom and pick up food for the car. I also got gas. We then had 1 more stop right after we crossed the Wisconsin boarder at a rest stop to use the restroom. It was just starting to rain so we ran in and ran back to the van. It’s just so easy to travel with them now!!! I didn’t need to pack a whole bag of snacks, or change out movies, or listen to them debate which movie to watch, or stop every 2 hours, or carry anyone, or change diapers, etc. We got home around 7pm and were able to unpack and get to bed like normal. It was such a wonderful trip and we had SO much fun the whole time!! I am so proud of how great everyone listened, slept, and got along It ended up being a perfect 1st family trip to somewhere other than Virginia.

Bobby had his 9 year doctor’s appointment today. It was very basic and straightforward. It’s interesting some of the questions they still ask the parents, like if he is staying dry through the night. He’s such a little man that it actually took me back! He didn’t need any shots today, but before his next appointment they will do a blood draw to check lipid levels and whatever else is standard. Bobby’s blood pressure was 108/60, he’s 4’8.75″ tall (95%), 82lb 14.4oz (91%), and has a BMI of 18.10 (80%). When the doc was telling us where Bobby landed on the growth charts he said “And you are almost 83 pounds, which of what appears to be pure muscle!”. Bobby did have a tank top on and does have pretty inpressive arm muscles for his age.

Heidi’s last Intermediate Gymnastics class at the YMCA is coming up and they handed out evaluations today. Her instructors are Sarah and Jenny. For the last eval she “Masted” all the skills for the Floor (Vertical Handstand, lung, finish; Wall walk to forward roll; cartwheel on a straight line; kick over off panel mat; backward roll down cheese to feet), but this time needs to polish her Wall Walk to Forward Roll. It was the same for Valut (Good compression of sring board; Squat-on onto vault; Three bounces to table top position), but now needs to polish her Three Bounce skill. For Bars she “mastered” Bigger Casting and Three second mill circle hold off bar, but now Three Second Mill loved to needs polishing She “still needs some polishing” in Pullover mount with 1-hand spot and Back hip circle with 1-hand spot. Beam is the only one that improved. She’s “mastered” Horizontal high kicks and Straight jump using arms to lift. She newly “mastered” Pivot turn on high toes, and  Lever, lunge (must show weight on hands). She still needs some polishing on Step,leap, land. I’m curious if Heidi didn’t do as well this time around, or if it’s just how the evaluator is feeling during the time? Or if it’s a different evaluator? It doesn’t matter, but I find it interesting.

Ms. Sarah wrote “Heidi did AWESOME! (underlined) I loved your hardwork! Next time we need to work on listening! I hope you come back and work hard, you’re so close to moving up!” Grrrr…..HEIDI!!! The girls are spaced out so much this year due to covid restrictions. I could understand if she was chatting with a friend and not listening, but is she just in her own world? While she’s at lessons I’m not able to watch since I’m shuttling the boys all over the place. We need to get those ears working properly!!

Heidi’s the only one in swim lessons right now. The twins were able to continue on with their private lessons through the end of April, but then our schedules got too busy and we weren’t able to make it to any of the times available (only during the week). Bobby is on swim team now, so lessons are a thing of the past at the YMCA for him.

Today was Heidi’s last lesson and she received her ‘report card’. This was a short sesson and not much changed from the last time, except she apparently wasn’t trying as hard because she moved down from “achieved” to “taught, but yet to receive” for Endruance  (any stroke or combination of strokes for 50 yards). Everything else was the same, even that she is “Awesome at” the Front Crawl and “Can improve on” the Butterfly. We are going to have to take a hiatus for the summer and pick back up with Level 5: Stroke Development in the fall.