St. Louis Trip - Part 2

During our visit we stayed at the Moonrise hotel, which is located on the popular Delmar Loop. If you're planning a visit to St. Louis soon, we would highly recommend this place!

View from the rooftop lounge at our hotel.

City Museum - This is not your typical museum. It is an eclectic funhouse made out of random objects found in the city. I think Brett enjoyed this place just as much as Leah, maybe even more!

The Magic House - Hands-on children's museum where Leah learned everything ranging from the Presidents and the judicial process to insects and plants.

Gateway Arch - Josh and Leah standing in front of the Tallest man-made monument in the US.

Leah posing in the car that takes people to the top of the arch.

St Louis Trip - Part 1

We made the most of Brett's Spring Break by taking a trip to St. Louis. The four hour drive was well worth the added excitement. It was nice to get out of Iowa City so that we could show Leah that there is more to do during the winter then just hanging out at the mall...

We met up with Brett's old roommate, Josh, who was able to show us all the cool places to visit. One of those places was the Zoo. Leah loved it...

The chimps would come up to the glass and stare back at all the people standing on the other side. It was so cool to see them so up close.

Each time we tried to take a picture of Leah near the reptiles she would get this concerned look on her face and repeat "NO!" until we took her away. She was not a fan. I guess she takes after her mommy.

This was the best photo I could get of her near the lizards... she is already trying to get as far away from the glass as possible.

Leah loved riding the "choo choo" around the entire zoo. There were four stops on the ride for people to get on and off, and each time we'd stop she would look up at us and sign "more."

Cool play area for tots...

Leah and daddy enjoying the warm weather at the zoo.

Leah loved seeing all the animals, especially since she had read about most of them in her books. We also took full advantage of the warm weather. It was a treat to finally be able to walk around outside without a jacket on.

Stay tuned for more pics from our trip...

Our Day at the Beach

While we were in California, we went to the beach to take photos with Brett's side of the family. Leah looked so cute with her bow and mini skirt...

Leah Before

She loved playing in the sand and running around. Unfortunately, our adventurous little girl got too close to the water... the next thing we knew Leah was saying, "Uh Oh momma."

I was tempted to leave her in the outfit, since she looked so cute. But Brett, the more rational one in our relationship, convinced me that she needed to be changed out of her drenched clothes.

Of course we forgot to pack a change of clothes. Luckily, Leah's cousins came to the rescue. Cousin Jack let Leah borrow a pair of pants and cousin Mckenna let her borrow a sweater. Good thing Leah can still fit in to size 6 months!

Leah After

Despite the early setback, we had a great time at the beach. Leah LOVED it! We also came away with some really great photos. Remembering how much fun the beach is makes us miss living in California even more.

Family Photo

Pictures From our Winter Break

We are finally back in Iowa after a hectic trip to California for Christmas. It turns out that taking a vacation with a kid is not much of a vacation at all. It was great seeing our family and friends...keeping Leah so far from all her cousins is the hardest part of living in Iowa. Here are a couple of pictures from highlights of the trip:

The Coppenger-Side Cousins (from left: Lilly, Jack, Leah, Mckenna, and Fletcher)

The McCoy-Side Cousins (from left: Ashlyn and Leah)

ROADTRIP: part two

We made it!

We had so much fun in California visiting with all of our family and friends. To add even more excitement to our trip, we were able to take Leah to the Aquarium of the Pacific and Disneyland. Here are some photos from our visit:

Leah with her Cousin Fletcher

Leah with her favorite princess.... BELLE!
Mickey's House

Unfortunately our plan to take Leah on some rides at Disneyland was cut short. During the four hours we were there, we only went on two rides. The first ride was The Pirates of the Caribbean. The second ride was The Scary Adventures of Snow White. As you can see in the first picture below, I made the mistake of feeding Leah some crackers on the ride. Within minutes of stepping off the ride Leah threw-up. After that, we decided that we would spend the rest of our time walking around the shops. We still had a great time and we can't wait to go back next year when Leah can appreciate it a little more. :)

ROADTRIP: part one

The drive out to CA:

Stopping in Vegas:

50 Track

Ryan Dudek is nice enough to let me take one of his well maintained fifties and mess it all up. Here are a couple laps around the 50 track:

Trip to Galena IL - Part 2

As Brett mentioned in his last post, for Memorial Day weekend we drove to Galena, Il for a short family vacation. We took our pop-up and stayed at a family friendly campground for three nights. (perfect camping for us - Walmart on one side for all those items we forgot and Culver's on the other side for late night ice cream runs.)

During the day we spent our time site-seeing in Galena. We had a blast learning the history of the town; in the 1800's it had a population bigger than Chicago! It was even home to President Ulysses S. Grant for a few years, whose house we were able to tour. We also took a boat ride on the Mississippi river and a ghost trolley ride around the city. Oh, and I can't forget the shopping on main street. Unfortunately for Brett, we were able to fit some shopping in for me each day!

Our Campsite

Leah had such a great time!

Some of the sites...

Trip to Galena IL

Megan, Leah, and I spent Memorial Weekend visiting Galena Illinois. Here are a few photos from the trip:

Ulysses S. Grant, Leah, and Megan:

Grant with his son:

Brett with his daughter:

Riding the Ski Lift up from the bank of the Mississippi River:

Leah playing with Daddy in the pool:

Posing for pictures in front of the oldest house in Illinois: