We are Floored!

It is just about a week into June.  Cory and I have been off for the summer for nearly 8 days now.  Ahh...the Perks of being a teacher.  Summers off!  So we have been sitting back, sipping our diet cokes (well, coke zero for me), and catching up on our Judge Judy episodes.

Yeah. Right.

We have been "floored" with how much work we've managed to squeeze into the first week off. I almost think we've been working harder that first week than we do while schools in session.

First cleared off the main level of the house. No more books, toys, movies, electronics or furniture.  Then, we ripped up all the 600-something squared-feet of carpet on the first level of the house. And the pad, too. Plus, we plucked up all those pesky staples holding it all down.   I hate those staples. What a pain in the tushie!  (Literally and Figuratively!) 

Here are two out of the three rooms w/out furniture and whatnots:



So bare...

Since our main living area was other wise occupied...I was on Kid-Duty.  I did a pretty darn good job keeping those two lil' boogers busy and out of the awesome carpenters' way. 

We hung out a lot in the Master bedroom watching shows, reading books and cuddling.  We learned to examine toys for leaking battery acid while we were playing on my new comforter.  We've googled solutions to this bad battery acid blunder...but we have yet had time to check out their effectiveness.

Being the Supermom that I am, I took the kids to Grant's Farm.  By Myself!  They were perfectly behave and loved every second of it.  

Owen loved the turtle.  He stared and talked at it for a good 4-5 minutes.  The turtle was surprisingly active, eating and walking around.

 We ate snow cones and pretzels and nachos.

Well, Owen didn't eat the snow cone. He wouldn't even try it.  But he sure did have a good time mushing it about and trying to feed me.

The kids loved the train ride and hunting for their animals.

 Another day we headed up to Strawberry pickin' with the neighbors.  Bethany loved it. Owen didn't. He couldn't stand that stinkin' straw in his shoes.

What a lovely girl! 

We even had time at Faust Park.  Which is perhaps my favorite park.

After 4 days of running around town; hanging out at parks, restaurants and grandmas--the floors were finished!

Then it was back to carrying all the furniture, books, games, china, etc back in the right spot. But not before installing lil' felt pads on the bottoms of things that could potentially scratch our awesome floors.

It is super nice to FINALLY have the house in order. We totally enjoy these new floors.  They were worth the money and inconveniences of waiting and running around.

Step aside Dora...

Dear Dora,

Hola!  I just wanted to let you know that it is time.  Dora, it is time for you to step aside...
there is a NEW EXPLORER in town

She comes complete with her map & her own monkey-like side-kick.

This new explorer isn't afraid of traveling ahead, looking out for all the crazy villians out there.

Nope. She certainly wouldn't be afraid of a pile of wood...

Now Dora, there is no need to feel threatened by this one. He gets so distracted by simple leaves.

 

and still needs his Momma to drag him about...



But Dora...that other lil' girl...she's gunning for your job! Watch Out!

Too Long...

Man, it has been too long between posts. What has it been? A week and a half....See, a week and a half in the blogging world is probably equivalent to a year.  I really do try to update more often than that. But right now I am struggling to stay afloat with being a working mama again.  Notice I don't even care about being a relaxed, well-rested working mama.  Just being a working mama is enough for now.

So if you've been wondering what we've been up too since we last spoke corresponded, I am here to serve.

Well, we've been to a couple of parks. The kids really enjoy getting out.  They loved Suson Park. Owen has seemed to form a special relationship with the chickens.  He really, really seemed to be in tune with the lil' cluckers.

He even sat down several times to engage in some bird-brained conversations with the chickens.

Bethany was totally engrossed with the pig's poop and focused on it far longer than any animal around.

Bethany and Owen both stuck their heads through the little holes of the randomly painted background. I wonder the origins of these things. Really, who decided to paint a picture on large piece of wood and then say, "Hey! Let's drill holes in this here picture and poke our heads through."  Just seems weird. But Bethany insisted on doing it and we don't like letting our girl down.

We rounded out our time at the park with much "needed" time on the playground.  They both seemed to master the equipment and had a blast.

It was a blast visiting Suson Park.  I think I am going to challenge ourselves to visit all the Missouri and St. Louis County parks in the St. Louis area. This park had so much to offer and we could've spent a lot more time there if it weren't for our rumbly tummies.  I will keep the blog up-to-date with our Parking adventures and hopefully we will be able to knock out quite a few different parks around the area in no time!