When I got Isaiah his new backpack, I had no idea I would get a glimpse into the future. I'm pretty sure my parents have some pictures of me with my backpack on getting ready to head to my first day of kindergarten. Luckily in this picture, he's headed to church instead of school!
I feel like I should blog but there's nothing really to blog about. So I'll tell about my evening yesterday.
I was really looking forward to growth group last night, because it was at the Cook's in Dunkirk and I'd never been to their house. So I was packing Isaiah up in the car when Pink called about the clothing ministry (which on a side note is now called 'Threads' and a sign will be up on the door soon). He had a woman who was in desperate need of clothes for her and her family so he took her on in the storage room. I hope that she was able to get what she needed. So I was a little bummed that I didn't get to help with the first donation from Threads, but I was on my way to GG.
I picked Dawn up and we headed off from Farmland. Had some good conversation, got to town and got lost, and all of a sudden Isaiah throws up big time in his car seat. Just out of the blue, no warning. Together we got him kinda cleaned up and headed to the Cook's so that I could clean out his car seat and head right back home. There was no growth group for us last night, but thank God he wasn't really sick. He was fine the whole evening and acted like nothing had happened.
So maybe we'll be able to get to GG next week or maybe we'll have it at our house. Oh, and I never realized how many cracks crevasses are in a car seat...
After we visited the Arch, we spent the evening with my Aunt Brenda. She has lived just south of St. Louis for as long as I remember, but we haven't stayed with her since we've been married. So this was a great opportunity to spend some time with her, as well as in St. Louis. There are tons of free things to do there, but the only things we were able to do this time were the Arch and the Zoo.
The St. Louis Zoo is amazing. It's completely free to see all of the big exhibits, and that's all we did were the free ones. We didn't even make it all the way through the zoo in the 3 1/2 hours we were there. I highly recommend stopping if you're in the area, and here's a few reasons why.
There's a butterfly house and Isaiah loved it. We've never been so close to so many butterflies at once. This butterfly was huge and had bright blue wings when they were open, but it was too hard to get an action shot.
Of course the rhino was one of Isaiah's favorites.
But I think he liked the hippo even more than the rhino. This is the first time I've seen hippos at a zoo, and it was fascinating. Luckily we made it to this exhibit before it was too crowded.
Here's a spotted hyena. I had no idea hyenas were so big! I guess my only reference was the Lion King...
My mom gasped when she saw Isaiah next to the cobra - too lifelike for her!
We spent a lot of time with the elephants. There were probably 4 or 5 adult elephants and 2 babies. Isaiah really enjoyed this exhibit as well considering he had watched Dumbo almost non-stop in the ride to and from Kansas.
What does an elephant say?
The reptile house was incredibly crowded so it was kind of hard to see many snakes and lizards. But this green snake was quite active and not easily camouflaged, so Isaiah liked it.
Who knew giraffes and ostriches were good friends?
This picture was taken about 30 minutes from our house at the end of the trip. We all felt this way, but Isaiah was the only one who expressed his true feelings.Nate, Isaiah, and I left Coldwater, KS on a Wednesday morning to head for Leavenworth, KS to spend the evening with his Uncle Scott and family. Isaiah was excited to get out of the car after about 6 hours and see his cousins once again.
Isaiah's first horse ride!
What would a summer vacation be without bubbles?
The next morning we were off to the Mighty Mississippi.
And the Arch!
Aunt Caitlynn patiently helped Isaiah up the stairs.
As Isaiah said, "TALL!"
Artistic shot that Nate took.
One day of our vacation, a few of us went to Alabaster Caverns in Oklahoma. Nate and I have been to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, which is a limestone cave. The Alabaster Caverns were so different, because it's made up of gypsum which creates lots of dirt and mud. Both cave experiences I've had were great.
Our cave guide showed us an area where the miners in the early 1900's signed their names on the cave wall. Right next to their signatures was a name that a woman wrote about 5 years ago. The guide said they wouldn't have been able to track this woman down, except she put her address in the guestbook. As a result, she received a nice letter and a $1000 fine, which she paid. So, if you're going to leave your mark - don't give them your address!
Entrance to Alabaster Caverns
Gypsum caves don't have stalactites or stalagmites. The rock is pretty smooth and some areas quite crumbly.
Nate and me with his sister, Caitlynn, and dad, Jerry.
We also crossed the Cimarron River on the way to the caverns.
And for tomorrow - the Arch!
The vacation we took last week wasn't really like any vacation I had taken with my family growing up. Our vacations were usually in Florida during Spring Break and it was just the three of us and sometimes a friend was able to go too. I guess I'm just not used to extended family vacations, so that was a bit of an adjustment, but Isaiah loved it. Not only did he get to spend almost a whole week with pappaw, memaw, and Aunt Caitlynn, but he had a whole house full of other people more than willing to entertain him.
Isaiah was the youngest of the bunch (the first great-grandchild) and he had a large audience all of the time.
Doesn't he look like a big boy? Ally and Brianna spent the most time with him, and they became his 'girls.'
This is the church where Nate's dad was a pastor in Buttermilk, KS.
On Tuesday we took a little trip south into Oklahoma. Not only are cows everywhere, but some of the roads actually go right through the pastures. Needless to say, we got some good close-up cow pictures.
On our way to Alabaster Caverns, we stopped to see the Salt Plaines in Freedom, OK. Cargill has a plant here where they harvest this salt for various purposes.
