Bye Bye Blanchette Bridge

The Blanchette Bridge is near our house, and it is being torn down!  It is old, and, guess what is being used to tear it down?  Explosives!  So naturally, I took the boys to see the first chunk come down. 

 Last Sunday, at 10:15 the first explosion went off.  We were on a nearby hill with Gwyn and about 150 other people.  At about 10:14:27, a very tall man moved to the front and stood in front of us and 20 other people.  It made everyone start to stand up, so I didn't get a picture of the blast.  But here are some pictures!

The right side is carrying both directions of traffic.

Boom!

Ummm... I thought the bridge was coming down.  Turns out, just the first part was going down, and none of the trusses went down that day.  Darn it.  That would have been cool to see.  I almost wish we were down lower so we could have seen it fall into the river.

You can kind of see the missing part.

Now you can see it!  We went to the river to see what came down.

We went down and then up those stairs.  And, as usual, Gwyn had to do everything her brothers did.  Including walking up and down by herself.

The best part? Throwing rocks at the puddle near the construction vehicle.

Colin Reading

Kevin is reading, and has been for a while now.  He has books that he reads each night at bedtime.  (Or throughout the day.)  Well, Colin has wanted to join in.  So now he has about 5 books that he has memorized.  (For those who don't know, this is a stage in learning to read!)  He points to the correct words and everything.  I love it. 

For my mom's birthday the boys each decided to do a nice deed for her.  Colin's choice was to read books to Gwyn.  Here are some pictures.  She LOVED it!

Also, Sunday night Colin pretended to be a monkey.  So when it came time to read his book at bedtime, he read each page as "Who who ha ha."  This kid is amazing.

Gwyn Throws A Fit

We are getting used to Gwyn throwing a fit.  She has perfected it.  At first it was just in grocery stores, but it has spread to our house and places we visit.  Here is what it is.  She just lies down and cries dramatically.  We have yet to respond to it, but she hasn't picked up on that part yet.  It just makes me laugh!

Obviously, this one was on laundry night.

Our Bed & Breakfast

Ever since we were dating, Kevin and I have had a bed and breakfast that we have gone to about once a year.  We usually don't even tell people the name of it, but since it is closing we wanted to blog about it.

We found out in June that Linda and Alan were going to stop running Dear's Rest Bed and Breakfast at the end of 2012.  They had been running it for about 20 years, and we have been going for 8 years.  We planned on going for many more years, but this was a second career after their first retirements, and they are ready to move on.  We have some fun memories there.  The cabin is Amish-built and located in Ozark, MO s few miles south of Springfield.  It is for one group at a time, sleeping up to 6.  (2 on the main floor and 4 in the loft.)  So your don't share anything with anyone.  It has a hot tub on the deck that overlooks the hills.  They have always had Sandy, their dog, whom we love to see.  This time there was a cat named Hemmingway.  Linda found him near starvation a few months ago.  They have a wood-burning fireplace that Alan makes sure is going when we arrive on cold evenings.  (It reminds me of when I was younger, so I like to take care of the fire, even if I don't get to very often.)

The first time we went, we were dating.  (It was a few weeks before we got engaged.)  The next time we were married.  We went on a hike and I was exhausted!  We found out a few days later I was pregnant with Kevin.  The next time we showed up,  we had a four month old baby!  The next time I was pregnant with Colin!  We always had something new!

Most of our time is spent watching cable tv, and almost always HGTV.  The other time is spent in the hot tub or in line at Lambert's Cafe, which is a few miles away.  We have explored the small town nearby, walked to the stream to feed the fish (and local dog),  hiked, swam, and 8 years ago was the first time we saw or played the game Ladder Ball.  We drove to Springfield to go shopping one time, and another time we saw a movie (Avatar). We have only been there with another couple once.  The Kerr's went with us one summer.  That was right after the pool was added.

Since our first visit in 2004, they have updated many things!  They have added an outdoor room (a small enclosure in the woods with an opaque roof and screened-in walls.  It has both chairs and a hammock.  Great for reading!), a waterfall by that room, an in-ground pool, a fire pit, an upgrade on the tv, wireless internet, paved paths from the car to the house and from the house to the pool, and probably more. 

Here are some pictures.  We don't have any from the outside :( because we were too busy getting video.  We will miss it!

Kevin in the blue chair we used to fight over, before the couch upgrade.

Av view of the living room and fire place.

View of the kitchen and dining area, from behind the blue chair.  The stairs to the loft are included.  The entire cabin is Amish-built, so there are no nails.  Very cool to see!

Hot tub from the dining area.

View of the hills in autumn.  The picture does not do it justice!

Gwyn's Hair

She really doesn't like her hair in her face, so Gwyn's hair is almost always pulled back.  I try to keep it down the day after a bath, but it ends up soon after breakfast. At bath Sunday, I actually saw her with her hair down.  I feel like I never get to do that, so I took some pictures to share.

Halloween 2012

If you remember, last year Kevin was a mummy, Colin was Batman, and Gwyn was supposed to be a ladybug.  She screamed every time we put the costume on her.  Well, she must have remembered that.  The first time I walked towards her with the bumble bee costume, she turned and cried.  We finally broke down and tried to put her in it, hoping she would calm down.  The pictures pretty much explain it.  In the end, I just told people she was going as a temperamental teenager.

As for the boys, they were Hulk and Wolverine.  One afternoon I was waiting for Kevin at the bus stop.  Colin came out wearing his Hulk costume.  It was adorable to see this miniature Hulk yelling "Mommy!"

Gwyn Helps With Laundry Again

Why I Love Kindergarten

Outer space with a rocket and aliens.

More rockets and the moon.

His monster.

"I like rain play because it is fun."

"I made a snow angel."

"I like to go down the waterslide." (Or as he thinks, waterflied.)

"I like to jump in a pile of leaves."

"I like summer.  I like to play in the pool."

Something about how artworks transforms in school.  His people are actual people, not sticks anymore.  (But those pictures are still adorable.) But nothing can top the phonetic spelling!

McWeekend September 2012

I know, FINALLY!  The Kerr's blogged, and I mentioned it, but I wanted to still include some of our pictures.  These are the ones from the best pumpkin patch in the world.

On the turn, right before Kevin falls.  (He is in the lead!)

He is no longer in the lead.

Colin and I rode the tractor over to the pumpkin farm area, where you can pick out a pumpkin.  In the distance is part of the play area.  There was still more than that!

Some of the logic puzzles for families.  You had to walk certain paths to solve them.

The best picture I have of all the kids.

This kid flew across the wall!  We need to get him climbing!

Gwyn Update

Here are some updates on our big girl:

She says a lot of words.  I tried counting, and it has to be close to 100.  Some of her (and our) favorites are: Colin, Bubby (which is both brother and Kevin), strawberry, blueberry, Corduroy (the bear), bus, airplane, cheek, chin, nose, mouth, eye, hair, mummy, daddy, noooooo!, fish, moo (what most of her animals say), jacket, bean, bear, meow, doggy.  She is not only saying mulitsyballic words, but also putting words together.  Mostly, it is words with please.  The most common one is either "book please" (which sounds like "bu eeeee) or "up please" (ba eeeeee).  For those two words sounds kind of iffy, you would be shocked to hear how clear her bigger words are!  (Although jacket is still ya-eeeee.)

Her stats: weight- 26 pounds (85%)  height- 34 inches (95%) 9 teeth (FINALLY one came in in the back, but still waiting on the others...)

Her favorite books: In A People House, He Bear, She Bear, Goodnight Moon, a book on colors with textures and smells, and Sleeping Beauty

Her favorite foods: bananas, beans, ham

Her favorite activities- reading books, taking care of stuffed animals/dolls, reading books, play peek-a-boo, read books, dance, snuggle, suck thumb while holding her corner of her blanket (each blanket has a special corner), play with brothers

She is a strong-willed girl.  She lets you know what she wants!  She yells a lot already.  Often, very often, she squeals loudly, and laughs loudly.  She is our loudest child.  But they are happy squeals, so it is hard to get mad at her.  She has to do anything her brothers do, and doesn't like to be told that she can't do things.  She loves to chase her brothers around and scream with them.  The boys are PHENOMENAL with her.  They often stop playing to chase her and run around, or wrestle.  She is so happy she screams.  They both take care of her as well, and Kevin gets her down from her chair in the kitchen, and Colin keeps her in the grass when I pick them up from daycare.  When she fusses, the boys are sometimes there before Kevin or I even ask for help.  They look out for her!