Remember my beautiful sister, Allyn, and her five kids and her husband on a boat? Well, her husband finally reached dry land and the whole family traveled from Idaho back home to Virginia. We're so glad they could stop here on their way and say hello. It was a brief stay so I had to cram a lot of awesomeness into one day.
First we all headed to the Botanical Gardens where Allyn, Emma, and Noah acted sufficiently amazed by the T-Rex in the Climatron.
Do you see Chloe's sophisticated hairdo? Lilja dressed her up like a doll all weekend. [Side story: Chloe recently made up a new Disney princess called "Princess Elisa." She has dubbed three of her dresses "Princess Elisa dresses" and she will often play songs on the piano from the upcoming movie Princess Elisa. Emma, Lilja, and Noah made all of Chloe's dreams come true by acting in a short play based on the upcoming movie Princess Elisa. I'm not gonna lie. It's not very good. I give it a 6.]
After the Children's Garden, we gathered the herd together . . .
. . . and went in search of the garden maze.
Along the way, Jeff stopped to make a Gentleman's Agreement with Lilja acting as witness.
Somehow I've been to the Botanical Gardens a million times and never known there was a maze.
Later that afternoon we dragged the kids to the Gateway Arch, which Adam declared "almost" as boring as he was expecting it to be. Not bad!
How adorable is this family? Especially sad, little Banks on the end.
That night Allyn and Aron took a trip to the City Museum. (That's where I would go if I had one day to spend in St. Louis.) The next morning, Allyn sang with me in church and then they took off for home. Thanks so much for coming to visit! Chloe and Harrison are already feeling the loss of wrestling matches and makeovers. Why, WHY can't we live near cousins?!
4 Wisecracks:
That was a TON of awesomeness in one day! I am so sorry I couldn't meet Allyn in person, although, I do believe our eyes met during sacrament meeting, that will get me through the week.
I know, I know!! We wish we lived closer to family too.
But you see your family so often, you have it REALLY good.
What a fun summer you guys have had with just about EVERY family member coming to see you.
I am trying HARD not to be jealous.
Oh, Melissa. Your pictures make me laugh and cry and then your words make me laugh and cry again. (And thanks for the heads up that this princess obsession my 4 year-old is having is going to be on for a while longer.)
That photo of Aron throwing Noah is too much. :)
That photo of Aron and Noah is a framer. (Ben says "he's got like 12 feet of air") and Chloe's new Princess movie-awesome!
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