10.21.2016

Goforth Visit - July 2016

On July 4th some special visitors arrived!  My sister and her family had been at a family reunion in southern Illinois about 45 minutes away for Greg's family, so they (obviously) made a trip to St. Louis while they were here.  The added bonus was that Greg's sister's family and his dad and Sandy came along too.  We had such a great time!!

Jason's sister Cyndi and her family were in Florida that week and they graciously offered for Kelly's family and Gennie's (Greg's sister) family to stay at their house.  It worked out perfectly!!

They arrived in town just in time to head up to the O'Fallon 4th of July festival.  Parker got some snuggles in with Nora before we left...

 We rode a couple rides, but the lines were long so it was pretty short lived.
Our neighbor Cayden, Charlie and Jack
The boys got to do the bungee trampoline:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHej-wbeNPk

Then we just hung out and waited for it to get dark for the fireworks.  A whole group of our neighbors were there so we had a big spot reserved with our blankets and chairs and it was perfect.
 Kind of blurry, but so sweet after the fireworks walking back to the car...Jack was pushing Catie, walking next to Parker, Clare and Charlie
 We wanted to show the Johnsons a bit of St. Louis (first timers), so Tuesday morning we headed down to the ol' St. Louis Arch!   It was a VERY hot day and the arch grounds are under construction so we had to park fairly far away and walk.  BUT, we had fun.
The whole crew! (Jason was working and Larry & Sandy hadn't arrived in STL yet)
Elevator ride up!



 At the top!!



That night we hosted a family gathering at our house so all of our aunts, uncles and cousins could see Kelly and the crew and meet Greg's family.  Several of Kelly's high school friends and their families came too.  It was a fun night, during which I took zero pictures.  Oops!

Wednesday morning we headed to Grant's Farm.  We arrived right when they opened, which worked out perfectly.  It was a rainy day on and off, but it felt great compared to the sweltering heat the day before.






Catie wasn't into feeding the goats, so Eric got to use her bottle





 When it started raining, we headed to the (covered) bird show, which was pretty cool.




It just so happened that the Pirates were in town, so of course we had to take in a Cards game with our favorite Pirates fans (the Johnsons).
Grandpa & Graham walking to the stadium
 Before the game the out of towners went into Ballpark Village to check it out while Jason and I manned the fort outside with these crazy kiddos...




 Last inning.  We needed our rally caps because our Redbirds were losing.  Sadly, it didn't work this time.
Thursday morning the Johnsons headed home and Sandy had left already too, so we just had a low-key day at Grandma and Grandpa Lang's house.  Papa G (Greg's dad) brought over a old style crank ice cream maker, which was a fun treat!  Everyone took a turn...
Friday Kelly's family and Larry all headed home.  We had such a great visit with them once again.  It was so fun having Greg's family here this time too!

Nora at 7 Months

Nora turned 7 months old on the 4th of July!  She had a big 7th month!  She started eating vegetables, which was so much fun!  She loved everything she tried, just like her brothers.  We took it slow, and this month she tried peas and sweet potatoes.



Nora also got her first (and second) tooth this month.  The first one (bottom left) came in on June 7th (right after she turned 6 months), and then her second (bottom right) came in on June 20th.

Check out this naked baby at her 6 month check up!!  Those are the cutest rolls I ever did see...
Nora LOVES bath time!  We were still using the infant sling in the big bathtub and it was working out well, though she was starting to outgrow it.
Just before the 7 month mark, we switched over to the ducky bathtub.  Nora thinks she's hot stuff now!!

This month Nora started blowing raspberries too!!  I don't have video evidence, but it's awfully cute!

She also started rolling over from tummy to back this month, which opened up the wonderful world of tummy sleeping!!

 She is of course still smitten with her big brothers, and the feeling is definitely mutual.

Just some other pictures of our sweet girl this month...



Here is Nora's 7 month photo shoot.