The Adventures of Shane & Madison!: Summer

Of course I will lead off this post with even more soccer & t-ball shots! Here is Shane with Coach Tom. You will see that he is in a baseball hat. Dan's brother John told me that he can always tell the good players by the way they are dressed. So I dressed Shane for baseball this time.

And here are some more soccer pictures.

And more t- ball shots... Are you getting a feel for what our summer has looked like yet? Shane loves having people there to cheer him on. Papa Carolyn makes every Monday game & Papa Irwin & Papa Judy make the Wednesday games. Shane has a favorite coach too - it is Coach Katie - see last picture in the series. He talks about her all of the time - his first crush. He actually told me last week that "Coach Katie is beautiful!" Shane's coach in these pictures is Coach Mike - a favorite of Dan & I. Shane likes him a lot too. I love the picture of Madison clapping. She may be Shane;s biggest cheerleader.

Before we left for our St. Louis trip, we went to visit Aunt Debbie. Shane and Maddie both love spending time with her.

On June 23rd we left for St Louis - we went with our good friends Cathy & Dan & their son Alex. Shane could not have been more excited to get a chance to go on vacation with his best friend! It was really fun! We left really early in the morning so we could get to St Louis early enough to enjoy an outing at Grant's Farm. Our plan was to stop for breakfast near Springfield and Cathy & Dan found a place that had appeared on the food network and was famous for their breakfast. It was pretty funny looking from the outside, but the food was great.

After breakfast we headed to St Louis - specifically Grant's Farm. After lots of traffic getting into the city - surprise bridge work crossing into Missouri closed a road - we finally made it! Grant's Farm is located on 281 acres and is home to over 1000 animals! The farm was once owned by Ulysses S Grant & contains a cabin built by Grant which is the only remaining structure hand built by a U.S. president prior to assuming the office. The home is currently owned by the Busch Family - former owners of Anheuser Busch beer. The family still house the famous Clydesdales on their property. Before heading into the part of the farm that you can walk around, everyone gets a tram ride through deer park where many of the animals on the farm roam. Shane and Maddie enjoyed the ride!

After getting off the tram, we rode the carousel! Shane is all about riding the horses!

Next, it was time to walk around and see some of the animals!

After lunch, we headed to the elephant show. Most of my pictures show the elephants in front of bars - this is not what the enclosure looks like at all, it is just the area where the elephants and humans interact. The highlight of the show for Dan & Shane was when the elephant peed - it was like a fire hose and it flooded the area near the elephant! Yes, there is a picture...

Next, it was time to see more animals. We learned that Shane still loves every animal he sees - he especially loved feeding the Alpaca & that Maddie is her own person. She does not go crazy for animals like Shane did. She does not seem to like animals much at all. Are we sure she is mine? Shane was nuts about Thunder from the beginning - Maddie just tolerates him. Her lack of enthusiasm for the animals did not stop us from introducing her to them. I love the look she gave the alpaca when we held her next to him!

Next it was time to feed the goats!

It was getting late & very hot, so we headed back to the tram and then walked over to the Clydesdale barn. Unfortunately the picture with the clydesdale area was already closed for the day so we had to take our own, they are not as good, but they will have to do! Maddie was also a bit unsure of the horses, but Shane was ready to climb the fence & go for a ride!

After a long & hot day in the sun, we headed to Fitz's Root Beer for dinner. They were bottling their root beer that night so we got a chance to watch. At least most of us did. Alex was so tired from the day, that he did not wake up for the entire meal!

After checking into our hotel and getting some sleep, our next day was spent at City Museum. It is a super unusual museum where you do not really look at things - you explore them. The museum is mainly made up of repurposed architectural & industrial objects. For example, the first floor of the museum houses a life sized bowhead whale that people can walk through. There are tunnels running across the first floor ceiling which guests can climb through by climbing up a "slinky" which is old refrigerating coil. This museum is a place where adults can be kids and where there are things for both to explore. However, their are definitely some things made for adults only... as we learned. Anyways, the roof of the building has an old school bus on it that is hanging off the building. You can get in the bus and open and close the door -plexiglass keeps you from being able to fall out. The museum is also full of slides - one from the 3rd floor to the first floor which Shane loves and one from the roof (floor 11) to the 2nd floor. Here are some pictures!

We had fun exploring, but worried a bit because the materials used are not meant to be slides, ladders, etc, so some can have some rough edges, etc. We had read that pants were a must here so even though it was 102 outside, we all wore jeans or pants. The next part of the museum that we explored was the 4th floor - designed for kids. Shane loved the train and the skate park he could run through!

Next we were off to the roof. There Dan & Shane did some climbing and some rope riding and then attempted to try the BIG slide from the roof (11th floor) to the second floor. Dan was going to take Shane down on his lap and Madison & I headed to try and find where the slide came out so we could meet them. The museum has no maps (you are supposed to just wander around... fine except when you need to find your husband and son...) Anyways, I was trying to find them when a worried Cathy & Alex found me. Apparently they would not let Shane go down on Dan's lap. He had to go alone. The slide was very wide and it was dark inside. I guess Shane instantly turned around and started really screaming! Dan jumped in after and Cathy was worried. We tried to make our way to the slide, but Dan and Shane found us before we got there. According to Dan, he tumbled several stories down, put out his legs and somehow caught Shane - he got ahead of him some how... It was scary. I really wonder why they would let a kid Shane's age go down a slide like that. That was the last of our sliding for the day! Here are some roof pictures. The climbing Dan & Shane did was really hard. Dan tried to pick up Shane, but Shane was insistent that he do it himself. A teenager saw Shane working really hard and when he got to the top, she tried to help him up. He got so mad that he did not even want to slide down. It ruined the whole experience for him. He is Mr. Independent!

After the roof, it was time for the aquarium. It cost extra to go in, but Shane really wanted to see the fish (he loves fish) and we figured it would be really cool since the City Museum is very cool. However, the aquarium was really small and not very nice at all. It is owned by a separate not for profit and is nothing special. It did have a stringray pond you could reach in & a tunnel you can crawl through. My camera battery was almost dead so not a lot of pictures here.

After a long day at the City Museum, we were off to Pi for some pizza. Unfortunately, my camera was dead, so no pictures there. The best story from pi was that we were sitting by the bar . Maddie had her back to the bar & every time the bartender would mix a martini she would whip her head around. She thought it was a bottle being shaken up! It was too funny!
The next day, we were off to the St Louis Zoo (with a charged camera). It was really hot that day so our goal was a really early start. We got there as the zoo opened and started our day in the children's zoo. An added bonus is that the children's zoo is free the first hour the zoo is open. The zoo itself is free all of the time - amazing based on how large & beautiful it is! Anyways, here are some pictures from the children's zoo. We petted some animals, including Shane's favorite (we are working at making them Maddie's favorite too) - the goats - and saw a show. I love the pictures of Shane, Alex & Maddie as meerkats!

After a long time in the Chidren's Zoo, we headed to the butterfly house where a butterfly promptly landed on Shane's head. I did get a picture, but there was little time to zoom so look closely! Maddie was asleep in the stroller for the butterflies.

After the butterflies, the boys posed on a giant bug sculpture.

Next, it was time to explore the River's Edge - a huge 10 acre exhibit that takes you through 4 continents and immerses you in the exhibit. It is beautifully done! We started out watching the bush dog, then the capybara, and then the black rhino!

Next, we moved on to the Nile where we saw hippos floating in the water! I love the picture of the hippo's eye!

After the hippos, we saw a hyena, cheetas (too far away for a decent picture) and the star of the exhibit - the elephants! We got to wact one cool off in the river. It was so hot that we would have loved to join him!

It was time for lunch - cold drinks and a chance to get off our feet! The boys all had some ice cream after lunch & Shane & Alex enjoyed drinking from a water fountain.

Next, we headed over to see the fragile forest - the summer home for orangutans, chimpanzees & gorillas. We were sooo hot by then that it was really hard to even try and take good pictures!

We then decided to head over to see the penguins! Yes, we like penguins, but the exhibit is unlike any penguin & puffin exhibit that I have ever seen - it is kept at 45 degrees so the visiter feels like they are in the arctic too. It felt amazing with 100 plus degree temperatures outside!

After some time spent in the misters, it was time to head back to the hotel to cool off!

After resting for a bit, we headed out to Crown Candy Kitchen for some dinner and ice cream. Crown Candy has been in this location for over 100 years. They make their own candy and ice cream - yum! The neighborhood was a little dicey, but the food was good and the ice cream & candy were amazing!

The next day was our last and we visited the arch or the urch as Shane called it!

After looking at the Arch from the outside, it was time to go to the top! Shane could not wait! he still tells us that we took elevator 2 up to the top and elevator 5 down. He loved it! Here are the pictures of us waiting for the elevator and us at the top & Maddie & I on the elevator on the way down.

Before we left St Louis it was time for one last stop. Lunch and cupcakes at Jillian's - apparently she was the winner of Cupcake Wars on the Food Network. I have never seen that show, but these were amazing cupcakes! Just ask Shane & Maddie!

We had a great trip!
We got home on a Tuesday & Shane was back at soccer on Wednesday! He loved it!

After soccer, it was time to play in the park!

Then it was T-ball time! We loved Coach Mike! He was great with Shane! Papa Irwin & Papa Judy were at this game.

Here are Maddie's 10 month pictures!

Look at her trying to stand - not yet, but she is still trying!

We headed to Summerfest that weekend. Shane and Maddie loved it! What isn't to love? Good food, good music & tons for kids to do? Shane loved taking the sky glider with Papa Carolyn! Both kids loved the splash pad! I am reminded of Shane's second time at Summerfest when he was 16 months old. We did not realize there was a big splash pad, so we had no swim suit & no swim diaper. We could not keep Shane from the water, so he ran around in his regular diaper - it was hysterical! This year, we were prepared!

After the splash pad, it was time to play in the park! At least for Shane it was - Miss Madison fell asleep!

After playing in the park, it was time for Shane to play in a band - he was at Summerfest after all! They had a great activity where kids played instruments and sang along with songs. Here is Shane in the band!

Next, Shane tried his hand at making a tie dyed t-shirt. His looks great!

Next, we had dinner & it was time to ride back on the sky glider with Papa Carolyn, get some ice cream & wait for Joey! He was meeting us there after his game. Shane could not wait!

After a long night, we headed back to our hotel in downtown Milwaukee. Here was our view from our room.

The next morning we packed up & headed home. Shane loves pulling luggage! Look how sweet Maddie & Papa Carolyn are! they matched!

Shane & Daddy have had a blast playing together this summer! Shane loves daddy!

On July 3rd we headed to Touch A Truck in Plainfield - it was super hot out (103), but we had promised Shane we were going. When we got there he was too scared/shy to go in any trucks. Maddie took care of that. She had no problem sitting in the cars or trucks & there was no way he was going to let her have all the fun! After sitting in a few cars/trucks, we took a train ride & then Shane played in the kid area and had fun climbing a few bouncies!

The next day we celebrated the 4th of July - I posed the kids for my typical holiday pictures - look how sweet the picture of Maddie by herself is!

Our good friend John came over with his then partner (they were on the verge of ending an 8 year relationship then & have since ended it) Garret & their dog Spanky. Dan's mom, Cathy, Dan & Alex also came over. We ate and then Cathy's Dan launched a bottle rocket & we all headed out to the fireworks! It was a fun night!

Look how pretty the moon was on the 4th - next year I will bring my tripod to shoot fireworks! Later that week, we met Kristine & Connor at the Children's museum in Naperville. I do not have a ton of pictures because the museum was so crowded!

That night, we headed to Milwaukee to watch Joey pitch. We saw him pitch in two games, but we forgot the camera for the last one so these are all the shots I have. The park was terrific - brand new and super nice. Joe was able to get us all tickets and Shane was so excited! He made Joe a sign and was determined for him to see it during the game! Shane is also in love with Gill, the Lakeshore Chinooks mascot. Here are the pictures from the day. I love the pictures of Julia & Maddie!

Danny in the tire race - I was over zoomed here!

Maddie & Charlotte!!!!

I love this shot of the three brothers!

Love this one of Joe & John & Geri!

Shane loves having Alex over - it is always a fun day when they get together!

OK, it is naked baby time! I took these shots while we were getting dressed. Shane and Thunder are such great friends! Maddie is indifferent to Thunder and not too wild about any animals, but Shane is an animal boy! Maddie loves soccer balls though!

More soccer pictures!

More t-ball pictures! I bet everyone hounding me for t-ball and soccer pictures are sorry now! :-)

Plainfield Fest was a blast this year - we headed there with our neighbors Kim & Tom & their youngest kids Isabelle & Madelynn. Kim's older daughter Kailey met up with us and her & her friend took Shane & Isabelle down the giant slide!
Before we could leave though, Shane and Maddie invented a new game to play with Dan - this must be why they love him so much. Anyway, they play school bus and ride on Dan AKA the bus.