Spring Break at Lake of the Ozarks

Both Bryce and Owen had no school last Friday, so we decided to take a short trip to our resort at Osage Beach on the shore of the Lake of the Ozarks.  We stayed in a nice one bedroom condo right on the shore of the lake.  One of the first things we did when we arrived was take in the the view from our balcony. Then we decided to get a bite to eat at Golden Corral.

We all had delicious food that we loved.  Along with the regular buffet fare Bryce had a lobster tail, Owen had ice cream and chocolate covered marshmallows, MayLynn had a strawberry on a stick, and I had steak and shrimp. 

The next day we went shopping and found hats for both of the kids.  Owen is a dedicated Cardinal's fan, so the logical choice for him was a Cardinal's baseball cap.  MayLynn had no interest in the baseball caps, but she found a Tinkerbell hat that she has worn as much as possible since.  After shopping we all went to see the Lego Movie.

The days were warm enough that we were able to spend quite a bit of time playing outside, and although the resort only had a small playground, the kids just loved being able to be outside after being cooped up inside so much this winter.  We even tried playing some Frisbee, but there was a bit too much wind to make them go where we wanted.  Instead we played a modified version of fetch that the kids seemed to enjoy for a lot longer than I would have anticipated. 

MayLynn also showed that she's getting bigger as she mastered the art of climbing up ladders and even tried to imitate Owen's climbing prowess - though lucky for me, she kept herself fairly close to the ground.

On our way home we made a short stop at Meramec Caverns to stretch our legs.  We didn't do the cave tour since it would have been a little bit too much for little legs, but it was a nice break in our drive.

I also had fun watching Owen and MayLynn learn how to cope with limited space and short attention spans in the car.  I especially enjoyed it when Owen pulled out his books to read, and MayLynn lost interest in her activity to listen to him.  I have hopes that despite their age difference they will be able to get along when they want to.  Ultimately we had a wonderful weekend trip. We had fun as a family, had a chance to relax, and had a chance to see more of this state that we have called home for the past 3 1/2 years.   

Owen's Spring Concert

Owen had his spring concert at school yesterday.  Their theme was "Oceans of Fun" and they sang several songs about the Ocean and fish.  Each kindergarten class had a special song that they had prepared and a poem that they recited.  Owen's class sang the song "1-2-3-4-5." Here's a video with the song:

The poem that they recited was called "Five Little Fish:"

I was very proud of my boy.  He did very well in his program and he looked ready for a party in his Hawaiian shirt. We love you Owen!

Catching Up

So, I'm a little over two months behind on letting the world know what's going on with the Allen Family, so let me try to remember and share a few pictures from that time.  Our Christmas was wonderful. We had a nice quiet day at home with just the four of us.  We spent time together, played with new toys, and shared a lot of hugs and smiles.

Next on the list of things to catch up on is the fact that our little of family of four will become a family of five this upcoming summer.  Our baby girl is due on July 4th, and she will be born in Utah, after we move back to the Davis County area in May and June.  Bryce is going to start working for Weber State University in Ogden, Utah, this upcoming fall and we're getting everything ready for us to move our family across the country.

We've also been having a very cold and long winter here in St. Louis. Owen has had at least 5 snow days so far and with all the snow, ice, and frigid temperatures (as cold as 30 below zero - brrrrrr!).  We've had a lot of snow, but we haven't really been able to enjoy it because it's been too cold to go outside in it.  We've found other ways to keep entertained inside and we've read a lot of library books and practiced our writing and coloring skills.  I'm soooo ready for spring through and hope it comes soon.

Then we have the event that finally prompted me to get caught up on my blog.  Today MayLynn turned 2 years old and I feel so blessed to be her mommy.  She is cute, energetic, and very charismatic.  Her favorite things right now are fairies and teddy bears, so we incorporated both into her birthday celebration.  I made a simple birthday cake for her (sky blue with white cloud lettering) with a Tinkerbell cake topper.  I finished it last night, and first thing this morning she was asking for birthday cake and Tinkerbell, so we had birthday cake for breakfast.  

As her birthday present this year, Bryce and I took her to Build-a-Bear and she got to make a new best friend.  Savannah the bear was born and they have been inseparable since.  They've had dance parties, had lunch together, watched cartoons, and even walked Owen to the school bus together.  

So, despite my lack of blog posts, we are still here.  Our kids are growing, we're getting ready to move, and we are wrapping up this chapter of our lives and looking forward to the next one.  

 

 

The Allen Family: 2013 in Review

The Holidays Begin

Holiday preparations are well under way at our house, but before I talk about that, I want to share a couple of pictures from back in November. 

The picture on the top left is one that I took at Owen's Veteran's Day concert at school.  They sang a collection of patriotic songs and had a lot of fun.  The rest of the pictures were taken on Thanksgiving. We left town for a couple of days and went to Branson, MO. We met up with our friends, the DeGraws, for Thanksgiving Dinner and we had fun playing games and eating a delicious meal.  It was my first time ever cooking a turkey and it turned out beautifully.

After Thanksgiving, we started decorating for Christmas.  I finished crocheting our stockings after Christmas last year, so this is our first year with our new stockings.  We also have managed to fill up our Christmas tree with our 10 years of memories.  I also put up my nativity sets in my hutch this year to keep them safe from little fingers that like to get into everything. To top it all off, we have the count-down chain that Owen made at school to keep track of how many days until Christmas.

And last, but not least we had a gingerbread invasion.  I made gingerbread men and the pieces for a gingerbread house earlier this past week. Yesterday Owen and I decorated the gingerbread house. Owen did most of the decorating and I just put the frosting where he wanted to stick the candy.  We had a whole lot of fun and Owen thought it was the "best day ever!"