Parks & Rec

One of the wonderful parts of city living is all of the parks. There are 4 parks within walking distance when I'm not pregnant and it's not freezing or boiling outside, otherwise there are only 2 to which I'll willingly shove a double stroller full of 2 large-for-their-age children.

Our favorite park is Lindenwood. The kids call it "The Rocks Playground" as it is one of the few parks we frequent that still has a pea gravel floor instead of recycled tire mats. It has huge shade trees, many different jungle gyms for kids of all ages and the kids can dig in the rocks. It's rarely crowded, the moms are always friendly and Daniel makes a new buddy every time we go. Wherever we move to next year, we'll still make a point to come back to Lindenwood.

Clifton Park is the closest and is in the most idyllic setting; nestled among big old houses, next to a huge pond with fountains and nice gardens. When we first moved in, the pond was stocked with fish and the playground was well kept. But since then, a parks employee who was trying to treat an algae bloom mistakenly poured pesticide rather than herbicide into the pond, killing all of the fish. And because of its secluded location, teens and degenerate adults choose Clifton Playground to engage in multiple unsavory activities and often leave the evidence behind on the ground. When Daniel began asking what the graffiti on the slides said I had my reservations about Clifton Park. The second time I found a used condom on the playground I decided this park was now off-limits for our family.

But the granddaddy of all parks in St. Louis is only 6 minutes (by car) from our door. Forest Park is amazing for so many reasons. The free zoo and museums, the waterfalls, the fountains, the bike paths, and our most recent favorite; the river rock beach. When the park redirected the canals and waterways several years ago, they added a small beach made of those smooth, rounded gray river rocks. From what I recall, these rocks cost a fortune at garden centers. And I have to confess that my children have likely thrown hundreds, if not thousands of dollars worth of river rocks into the canal in Forest Park. Sorry, city tax payers. There is something very satisfying about throwing rocks into water. They can do it for hours.

Christmas....Phew.

Santa arrived by firetruck-guided sleigh this year. Daniel asked for a flip-over car and a Transformer. Addie asked for a super hero costume. This was Addie's first face-to-face with Santa. She looked a little scared but warmed up to him after he discovered her weakness...candy canes.

Daniel and I made cookies for the Christmas party at his school. It was fun to see him be all boyish and spazzy with his friends. And I was relieved when a pro like Mrs. Luecke had to repeat herself at least twice to get 4 year olds to follow instructions. It's them. Not me.

The first family celebration was Christmas Eve at Great Grandma's new place. 14 people in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment. It was hot and the kids couldn't run around and there were a lot of breakable things within reach and white carpeting and I struggle with claustrophobia and Steve was working. But we still had a good time with cousins we don't see often and Addie received her first of many dress-up costumes.

Christmas morning at home...this was my favorite part. Steve pulled up the driveway a minute before the kids and I ran downstairs so we were all together to open gifts from Santa, sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, and watch the snow fall. Daniel got the first of 2 Optimus Primes....awesome.

Addie got her super hero costume. Santa ordered it from this shop on etsy that makes custom capes. So cute.

Addie's crime fighter face. Watch out.

After a lazy morning we headed to St. Charles for Christmas brunch at Sara & Bill's. I love hanging out with these guys. The food is always amazing and Blake and Austin wrestle with our kids the whole time we're there. More awesome presents for the kids and good time with family.

The fourth and final Christmas celebration the day after Christmas at Gram & Paw-paw's. Great Aunt Joann, Great Uncle Virgil and cousin Colleen joined us for a yummy dinner and more present mayhem. We had some quality time with Uncle Jason, Aunt Marie & baby Tucker, too.

And one last Christmas surprise...we welcomed 2 new members to the Hahn family. Meet Daniel and Addie. Daniel is top left. This morning while I was helping human Daniel in the bathroom human Addie fed the fish about 3 weeks worth of fish food. Tonight the tank is hazy and green, but the fish are still alive.

I'm usually sad to see Christmas end and I hesitate to take down my decorations. This year I had a meltdown on December 26th, exhausted and completely overwhelmed by new toys and zero storage space. I took the tree down last night just for the breathing room. And we started a "garage sale" pile in the basement. Next week we're moving Addie into Daniel's room so we can turn her room into a playroom and I will get my living room back.

The Pumpkin Patch

Last week my super cute nephew Tucker was in town so we met him at the pumpkin patch for an adventure. Tucker isn't quite old enough to enjoy everything Rombach's has to offer, but he had a good time hangin' with the pumpkins and he found Daniel to be quite entertaining.

Gram lifted T on to the tunnel so he could watch Daniel yell "HELLO!" into a hole in the tunnel top. Tucker thought it was pretty funny. The kids inside the tunnel might have lost some hearing.


After exploring the fort, the old fire truck and tractors, and making obligatory animal noises at the farm animals we headed out to the field. Steve was playing around with the camera and somehow made the pumpkins glow in this one.


Finding the perfect pumpkin can be exhausting....


After a quick nap, the kids found their favorites and we headed home. Thanks for a fun afternoon at the pumpkin patch Gram and Tucker! Jack-o-lantern pics to come....

I Left My Heart...

Four days with my husband, our best friends, and San Francisco. And since the kids were enjoying sleepovers with Gram & Paw-Paw and Aunt Sara it was a true vacation. (Kids, if you are reading this one day, please hold judgment on that last statement until you have children of your own.) We had burritos in The Mission, bought trinkets in Chinatown, saw a man riding naked on his bike near Fisherman's Wharf, watched Ashley play soccer, drank wine at Gundlach Bundschu in Sonoma, drove down the coast and watched the sunset, went to Capatola Beach, Steve tried surfing (and actually did well for his first time out, ) we ate one of the best meals ever at Wood Tavern, and spent some good hours in between laughing. My favorite part was the laughing. I miss hanging out with Brian & Jen regularly. I learn so much from them about serving, leading, loving, parenting, cooking, I could go on and on. The McKillips relocated to San Francisco 3 years ago and have been trying to convince us to move there ever since. I would so love to. I love the culture, the people, the weather, the scenery, the proximity to beaches and mountains, the food, the pace, and the McKillips. For now I will try to apply a little SF mindset to my STL life. And start saving for our next visit.

The First Game

(I think it's funny that none of the kids are looking at the camera.)

I love that St. Louis loves baseball. I love that when I say "We're going to the game," everyone in this city understands I mean the Cardinal game. Daniel & Addie attended their first game this week and it was a near perfect experience. We rode the Metrolink to the stadium, which was a highlight for 2 train-crazy kids. Uncle Jason, Aunt Marie & Tucker met us there with hands-down, the best tickets we've ever had. Just look at how good our seats were...

I told Daniel that these are likely the best seats he will ever have so he should try to remember it. We ate yummy (overpriced) food, had a great time with our family, sang, clapped, cheered (which kind of frightened Daniel) and saw a really good game. Cards beat the Giants 5-2.

"Watch Mimo, peeease?"

This is the summer of Finding Nemo (or "Mimo" as the kids call it.) The kids are obsessed with the movie. Addie asks to watch it every 20 minutes or so. And gets really mad when I tell her no because we just finished watching it. But their obsession came at an ideal time. Last weekend we went to Atlanta to visit Uncle Jason, Aunt Marie & baby Tucker and to celebrate Tucker's baptism. The Georgia Aquarium is also in Atlanta. We spent a good part of Saturday there, petting the sting rays and sea stars, seeing some crazy gigantic manta rays and bazillions of other fish besides. Addie could have spent the whole day petting the shrimp. But Daniel loved everything. He was so into it. He asked lots of great questions and told us facts about the different sea creatures. But the end all be all for him were the whale sharks. He was so excited to see them he was shaking. Too bad the kids ran out of steam (and Mommy ran out of patience) before we got the see the coral reef exhibit. Guess we'll have to make another trip to see Mimo and his friends.